1st Weight Goal Met! :)

I am thrilled to finally have a chance to write about meeting my 20 pound goal! We weighed in again last Wednesday, and I couldn’t wait to share my good news. But now here we are 6 days later…. Finding the time to sit and blog is a challenge. Herein lies the reason why I never thought I would be a “blogger.”  

Anyways… it was crazy to see that I had lost 5 more pounds since our last weigh in at the end of our 30 day cleanse.  So I lost 20 pounds in 40 days.

Jason is still doing well and has not had a bad headache since we began this journey. He has now lost a total of 24 pounds. Even more fun is that he went from a size 40 in jeans to a 36. When we were married almost 12 years ago, he was a 34x34. He’s almost back to his wedding day size!! My favorite change is that he is now wearing his wedding band again. He stopped wearing his tight ring when I had to get my ring cut off last summer. That was a low point for me. It had been many years since I was able to get my ring off. Right after Christmas, we got my ring repaired and made bigger. Wish I knew that my finger was going to be slimming down. Now my rings are so loose, I worry about them falling off.

I’ve been thinking more about how our eating habits have changed. Most people would look at the changes we made and call it a DIET. It is important for me to remind myself that I am doing the opposite of depriving myself. I am being more selective about what I put into my body. It’s about giving me and my family an abundance of awesome nutrition. Embracing these new habits as a WELCOMED lifestyle change is the best approach. I admit, I do have moments when I think of it as a “DIET.” It’s human nature I suppose to rebel and resist healthy changes: “What do you mean I don’t get to eat whatever I want, whenever I want, and as much as I want!!” (I’m chuckling as I imagine an adult throwing a toddler like tantrum.)

 Fighting my inner food rebel is a worthy battle. Most days this fight is easier than you’d think. I’m sleeping GREAT, shedding pounds and excess body fat, and I am NOT EXHAUSTED at the end of the day. The cleanse we did was not originally designed for weight loss. It was designed to get toxins out of our bodies. But the weight loss is an absolutely FANTASTIC side effect. In fact, the weight loss and need for more energy is what motivated me to do the cleanse in the first place. I am so thankful to be where we are, and I don’t want to go back to how it used to be. And over time, the foods I want to eat are the healthier ones-the kind of food that I can enjoy whenever I want.

So far I’ve been posting about what we’ve been losing. I wanted to share a few things I have gained. In no particular order…

1.)  MORE PRAYERS FOR MY CHILDREN!

 So one of my least favorite daily tasks is to stand at the refrigerator and fill up my ½ gallon jug with water. Now when I’m stuck standing there, for what feels like forever, I am finally using the prayer page that has been on my fridge door for years. “31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Children” All 31 of them are wonderful, but here are a few of my favorites:

SALVATION: “Lord, let salvation spring up within my children, that may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.” (Isaiah 45:8, 2 Timothy 2:10)

A SERVANT’S HEART:  “God please help my children develop a servant’s heart, that they may serve wholeheartedly, as if they were serving the Lord, not men.” (Ephesians 6:7)

PASSION FOR GOD: “Lord please instill in my children a soul that ‘followeth hard after thee,’ one that clings passionately to You.” (Psalm 63:8)

If you would like to see more or print off your own copy, here is a link: http://keepingitpersonal.com/pray-for-kids/

2.)                       MY OLD BROWN BELT!! I am now able to use my brown belt again. It’s a cute belt that I totally grew out of. Not only can I wear it again, but now I’m into the second hole!!!

3.)                       FRIENDS! I am now part of several Facebook groups filled with people who are on the same journey we are. It’s very encouraging to learn from them and to post any questions I have. I’ve not met most of them, but I still am thankful for their support.

There are people I do know personally who I have been touching base with more. Love my new connections with Matthew and Amanda, my awesome neighbor Kim, Lia Hasier (My Wildtree Rep), Fred and Sue, and Velma. Also as people join us in our journey, I look forward to connecting with them as I help them and cheer them on.

4.)                       FULL BATHROOM TOWEL COVERAGE                I noticed a couple of weeks ago that my bathroom towels provide complete modesty for those occasional moments when I have to venture out of the bathroom at inopportune times. In fact, there is even a little overlap. Not sure if anyone out there can relate to this, but as they say, “It’s the little things!”

5.)                       MORE ROOM ON MY CLOTHES DRYING RACK  Just the other day, Jason gave me the official  okay to start drying his work clothes in the dryer. I also recently started drying most of my clothes. I was not a fan of fluffing the wet clothes for 20 minutes before hang drying them. (I often forgot about them- sometimes even with the timer set.) I also was not a fan of having to empty the drying rack when the next week rolled around and I needed more space. This is definitely a laundry game changer!

Well, I better wrap this up! I appreciate those of you who stuck it out and read through this long post. If you want to learn more about how you too can start losing (and gaining), I would love to share more. 

Peak Cleanse: 30 Day Results!

It’s time to share our 30 day results! Our last day of the nutritional cleanse was Sunday, but we’ve actually been continuing with the program. I’ve been itching to type up this post, but I hosted my very first Wildtree Freezer Meal party on Tuesday. So I was busy getting ready for that. It was fun! I love having all those healthy meals waiting for me in my freezer. So without further delay, here are the final results! Jason is down 18 pounds and about 16 inches. I am down 15 pounds and about 30 inches. I’ve posted some pictures below. My plan is to continue what I’m doing until I am near my goal weight. Then I will switch to a maintenance plan.

I have lots of thoughts to share with you, but today I’m just going to share a few things. I am very thankful for where we are today. It’s exciting to think of how God has brought us to this point. There were so many times when I would think, “Oh, I wish I could be thinner. It would be so great to look and feel better.” I basically accepted the fact that I was going to always be a heavy person. It was just who I was, even though I wanted to be thinner. But I never pursued that goal because it seemed impossible to get there.

I still have at least 40 pounds to lose, but now I KNOW it is possible. One of my personality traits is that when I set my mind to do something, there is no going back. If it wasn’t for Matthew sharing his success story with us, we never would have found this great company and their products. I am so EXCITED that I now have the tools I need for success. And it’s not just about looking thinner. What the pictures don’t show is the increase in energy I have found. I also am grateful to be a much calmer Mom who is less stressed during the hectic moments of parenting 4 young children. That might be the best benefit of all since my greatest desire is to show Christ’s love to my kids.

I look forward to posting our progress and sharing more thoughts with you. Enjoy the pictures.  If you are interested in learning more, I would love to share with you. Just let me know!

Peak Cleanse: Weigh In #3

Today was our 3^rd weigh-in day. I set my alarm so I would wake up early and get my exercising done before the kids woke up. The night before, I even set the scale out in our bathroom so I could weigh-in before running. Well 30 minutes early, my Katelyn alarm went off. She had thrown up on her pillow. I think it may have been caused by the large piece of chocolate bunny I gave her after dinner last night. Lesson learned!! Anyways—after cleaning up the mess and tucking Katelyn into our bed, it was time to weigh in. I did not lose any weight this time. As I stared at the scale and heard the thunder outside, I couldn’t help but think, "What a great start to the day so far….."

I was of course disappointed, but I gave myself a pretty good pep talk. For starters, it is a certain time of the month. Also I know that the main goal of this lifestyle change is to be healthier- not just to see a certain number on the scale. And of course you can’t put a number on feeling great! As I was running, I also reminded myself that I’ve been adding on my extra weight for the last 15 years or so. It’s going to take time to reach my ultimate goal. The pep talk was much easier too after my hubby helped take 4 quick measurements before he left for work. So although I didn’t lose any pounds this last week, I did lose some more inches since last time I measured! (abdomen= 1.25” , buttock = 1” , waist = 1”, and chest- stayed the same (I’m okay with that since I have already lost 4.5” inches there). Today I am down 20" (that I know of) and 14 pounds lighter. Not too shabby!

Jason lost 2 more pounds for a total of 15 pounds. I’m excited for him because last night he finally came home (Day 25 of our 30 day Cleanse) and said it was the first night he came home from work and didn’t feel like he was dragging. He still had some awesome energy to spend time with us. Now keep in mind, yesterday morning he was up at 4 am and went to F3 for a hard core workout. So impressed with his commitment!

 I’ve been feeling great and loving my new found energy since the first week, and I was wondering if Jason would ever get there. Looking forward to seeing how the next few evenings go. Another improvement for Jason is that besides the first few days of the cleanse, he has only come home one night with a milder headache since we started. Typically he’d come home 1 or 2 nights a week with a pretty severe headache that often made him nauseous. I’m hoping that headache-free nights continue to be the new norm.

Although disappointed about the weigh-in today, I am not discouraged. And I am definitely not even tempted to jump ship. I’m committed to this journey, even through choppy waters. There are many things about this cleanse that I am enjoying. One thing is I have come to really like the taste of my shakes. My favorite is when I blend them with lots of ice. Then I pour my chocolate “ice cream” into a big bowl. It’s crazy because I feel like I am treating myself to a big bowl of ice cream for breakfast. Another aspect that is great for me is how quick and easy it is to feed myself for my two shake meals. There is no thought that goes into it and I know I am getting lots of healthy nutrients. One last thing I will share is how often I am eating now. I’ve known for a while that it’s better to eat smaller amounts more often. I just never got the “smaller amounts” part down. My meals would be so big that it only seemed appropriate NOT to feed myself again until another meal time. Now I eat 5 times each day. The time passes so quickly and before I know it- it’s time for another shake or it’s snack time. 

So this coming Sunday is our last official day of the cleanse, but I know it’s really only just the beginning. I thought it would be fun to share two pictures with you to end today’s post. The first picture is from May of last year. It was Mother’s Day. The other picture is from just this past Sunday on Easter. I was trying to find a comparable picture but I discovered something. There are not many pictures of me with my children. I probably deleted any pictures that were not flattering. Also, last Mother’s Day, I distinctly remember placing my four kids in just the right places to minimize the amount of ME that would be in the picture. I also have a signature picture maneuver that I always used. (I learned it from someone else and love it!) It’s called the TURTLE. Whenever you take a picture, you’re supposed to stick your head out and push your chin forward. It makes your face look much thinner and you only look silly if someone is watching from a side angle. Although the TURTLE has been a tried and true picture pal, it is easy to say goodbye. Here’s to more pictures of me with the kids!

Peak Cleanse: Weigh In #2

I’ve been looking forward to blogging about our 2^nd weigh in. Wednesday was such a beautiful day to enjoy time outside with the kids that I didn’t have time to write a post.

So we weighed ourselves on day 19 of our 30 Day cleanse. I stepped on the scale first and I’m thrilled to report that I am down 5 more pounds for a total of 14 pounds!!! So when it was Jason’s turn, I was surprised that he had only lost 1 pound. I told him he probably lost a lot of inches. Last week when we weighed and measured, he lost more in weight and I lost more in inches.

So even though we didn’t have a lot of time that morning to do all 14 measurements, Jason let me do 4 of them. With just measuring his abdomen, buttock, chest, and waist, he lost 5.125 inches in the last week. So he has lost a total of 13 pounds and 13 inches (that we know of).

I can’t believe that we are more than 2/3 of the way through our 30 day program. I am optimistic that I will reach my goal of losing 20 pounds. It’s crazy to think that if we wouldn’t have made this healthy decision- I’d still be 14 pounds heavier and have no idea how much better I could be feeling.

I am eager to share what I have found with others! I’m sure many people who have read my posts would love to lose weight and gain energy. Actually- I would say most people in general would agree that they would love to shed body fat, look great, and feel great. So if that is you at all—I would love to talk with you.

 Before I know it- Day 30 will be here. I am eager to do all my measurements again and my final weigh in. Can’t wait to give another update!