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.