Wednesday Weigh-In

Weight Loss Wednesday is a weekly post I will be sharing each week.  My goal is to be transparent!  You will see the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly. 

Let me start with the ugly:  I gained 3.5 pounds this week.  My fingers deeply desire to tell you why it's not my fault.  I have excuses:

• I went to a business meeting where the hostess is a gourmet cook it would have been rude not to eat
• My ankles are puffy so I must be retaining water
• I've had an incredibly busy week and was exhausted last night when I raided the left over chicken and yellow rice

However, the truth is simply this:

"If you live your life animated by the flesh--namely, your fallen corrupt nature--then your mind is focused on the matters of the flesh. (Romans 8:5a)

Truth #1- That hostess which is a gourmet cook is also a precious friend and she would have fully supported me in my goal.  I WANTED to eat her delicious cooking.

Truth #2  Yes!  I have puffy ankles, but there is certainly not 3.5 pounds of "water" hanging out there. 

Truth #3  It doesn't matter how busy I am I have choices to make.  Life and death in the spirit choices and I chose DEATH!

So what do I do?  Where do I go from here?  

BUT, if you live your life animated by the Spirit--namely, God's indwelling presence--then your focus is on the work of the Spirit. (Romans 8:5b)

The truth is that for me, this journey is about so much more than my weight or my health.  It's about spiritual FREEDOM!  Christ died for me so that I might have LIFE and have it to the FULLEST!  The next verse in Romans 8 sums it up perfectly:

A mind focused on the flesh is DOOMED TO DEATH, but a mind focused on the Spirit WILL FIND FULL LIFE AND COMPLETE PEACE.--Romans 8:6

And so I hang onto the verse God gave me for this year: 

I am confident that the Creator, who has begun such a great work among you, will not stop in mid-design but will keep perfecting you until the day Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, returns to redeem the world. -- Phil 1:6

Weight Loss Wedneday!

Weight Loss Wednesday is a new weekly post I will be sharing each week.  My goal is to be transparent!  You will see the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly. 

Let me start with the ugly:  I did such a good job of maintaining my weight loss through December.  I played with 5 pounds.  When I went up, I would strategically make choices to go back down.  

When December came I found myself pulling in to rest and renew.  What started off as a good thing quickly became too much of a good thing and led into complacency and laziness.  

I went from being on-the-go to being on-the-couch.

  

I found that I don't do well in large seasons of margin.  Too much downtime allows me to drift into laziness.  I begin to  believe that I deserve to let go of everything and just do what I want to do. 

(Whose voice is that?)  

That is why we ought to pay even closer attention to the voice that has been speaking so that we will never drift away from it. -- Hebrews 2:1

I was shocked to discover that from the second week in December to the week after Christmas  I had gained 10 pounds.  WHY?  Because the second lie I began to believe was that I needed to eat all the things my heart desired before I restarted my Take Shape For Life program.  I'm so thankful for the WORD OF TRUTH: 

John 10:10:  The thief approaches with malicious intent, looking to steal, slaughter, and destroy; I came to give life with joy and abundance.

Though the enemy wanted me to fall back into old habits, the lover of my soul came to GIVE ME LIFE!  He revealed that I needed to stop, repent, restart!

The GOOD:  Today is my one week weigh-in and I've lost 8 of the 10 pounds I gained.  I am sure that much of that is water but it's still good to see the scale represent my actions of obedience.  My goal is to remember that obedience feels so much better than food could ever taste.

On the program forefront:

I've fallen in love with one of their new meals:

I LOVE IT!  I did discover a trick to make it better!  Let it SOAK.  The directions tell you to add 2/3 cup water, stir, cook, stir, cook.  The trick is to add water and let it sit for 15-20 minutes before I begin to cook.  It makes all the difference.  I add just a touch of sea salt and 1 T of Parmesan cheese and viola'....the perfect dinner. 

I'm excited to begin week two and to officially move into new weight loss.  Though 8 pounds was wonderful this week.  I am doing baggage maintenance by having to lose again what had already been lost. 


And so I hang onto the verse that speaks tenderly to my heart and soul...... 

I am confident that the Creator, who has begun such a great work among you, will not stop in mid-design but will keep perfecting you until the day Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, returns to redeem the world. -- Phil 1:6

Details On The Diet!

I loved all the questions about the diet the previous post stirred up. Every single time I share my heart or talk with others about my "why" it ignites a fire.  This post is dedicated to understanding exactly what Take Shape For Life is!

What is Take Shape For Life and what made it different?

• It's an eating program filled with healthy foods that are helping heal my body
• It's a program that gave me simplicity and consistency
• It came with a FREE personal Health Coach that prayed, encouraged and equipped me for success. 
• It's a program that you can just pick up and use.
• It wasn't free, but it was affordable
• It's system "Habits Of Health" began to teach me how to eat and live the rest of my life.

Simplicity:  I lost all my weight while on and off the road speaking at three day events, living out of other peoples homes, and going out to dinner all the time. 

Speaking with my friend Lynn at the Florida Parent Educators Association. 

How Does It Work? 

This program is designed to set you up for success!  You eat 5 delicious, nutrient dense, protein packed mini-meals a day and 1 lean and green meal.  That's it!  Oh and you have to eat every 2-3 hours which is kinda weird at first.  Learning to respond to my body proactively rather than react to physical hunger was harder than I thought, in the beginning.  Once I got the hang of it I fell in love with this habit of health. 

Your 5 meals not only taste good, they are packaged and prepared for you to grab and go. Carry them in your purse and fast food looses it's appeal.   

It's important to note that weight loss is only one part of this program.  It's more about getting healthy and then STAYING that way!  

Take Shape For Life was co-founded by Dr. Wayne Anderson.  He is a critical care physician who works at John Hopkins University Hospital. As a doctor he became discouraged that his job revolved around treating symptoms rather than the underlying cause.  He knew that one of the biggest hindrances to losing weight was the american lifestyle of busyness. He helped create a program that gave it's users consistency through simplicity.  He knew that we needed accountability, encouragement, and equipping and so he became to raise up health coaches that could work more intimately than a clinic or office ever could. 

What Is A Take Shape For Life Health Coach?

A health coach is YOU, it's ME, it's ORDINARY PEOPLE who desire to help others just like they've been helped.  Take Shape For Life knows that those of us who have walked in this bondage are going to be the most passionate.  One of the reasons I finally decided to become a health coach was because studies show that TSFL Health coaches are 5X more likely to completely lose all their weight loss and then keep it off!  

Take Shape For Life equips their health coaches through online and in-person training. They give us the "how" but our journey gives us the WHY! 

My coach, Mary Jalbert has been encouraging me for months to step out and become one myself, but my pride kept me away.  I didn't feel adequate because I am still in the midst of my journey.  However, listen to how the Lord changed my heart:

As a homeschooling mom I love being plugged into what I'm doing.  Three years ago God called me to become aSupport Manager with Classical Conversations.   Not because I had all the answers, but because HE wanted to grow, teach, and refine me in a new area. 


This past week I was in the midst of interviewing a precious mom to become a program director with CC. As I explained to her how becoming a Support Manager with Classical Conversations helped me become a better homeschooling mom through all of the required training and equipping a huge light bulb went off for me.   

My role and responsibility gives me accountability.  It makes me better, more focused while in the midst of my journey.

Hear my heart!  My job is not to talk you into beginning this journey.  Only the Lord can show you if this is HIS will for you. We see today but HE sees our tomorrow's.  No program will work until HE gives you the want-to. 

Also, If you have a program that you are using and love, please stay the course!  Stick with it!  Remember, the plan is simply the vehicle. God calls each of us differently.  This program is really the only one that has worked for my personality and lifestyle, but I've had friends who have used and loved totally different programs.

If you are struggling and wanting to check out TSFL's eating and mentoring program is a fit for you, email me. My heart and passion is to walk with those who want to leave Egypt (slavery) and head out to the promised land. (freedom)  

This calf you crafted by your own hands.  It is not God; therefore it must be smashed to bits! -- Hosea 8:6

Remember, we're better together!  As a health coach my goal is to get you (and me) to the Lord so HE can smash to bits this calf that keeps us from living our life fully and abundantly for Him!

Finishing The Good Work HE Began!

Last year I began a journey that I had started many times without much success.  It was a journey to lose weight.  The date was May 3rd and I came broken, hurting, and without much hope. 

The Lord had graciously placed a precious woman in my path two months earlier at a baby shower.  She was a health coach with Take Shape For Life and felt drawn by the Lord to talk with me.  I'm so very grateful.

Her name is Mary, too!  Mary Jalbert!  She is a beautiful Godly woman who has raised up eight incredible children.  However, her family's life was forever changed and impacted a few years ago when her beloved husband suffered a heart attack at a fairly young age.

 

Mary's husband, Butch before his heart attack

Not only did Mary's husband survive, it changed all of their lives!  (Little did they know it would eventually change mine as well) 

Mary and her husband were introduced to a program that impacted their life in ways they could not imagine or fathom.  Not only did they lose approximately 60 pounds together, (50 for him and 12 for her) but they have kept it off for two full years and now help others do the same. 

Butch Jalbert, healthy and whole

MY STORY

I don't know how I ended up in such bad shape?  Though I've struggled with weight my entire adult life it had never gotten as far out of hand as it had become. 

I was so busy homeschooling my children and helping others do the same that I lost track of time. I kept thinking that I would start a diet.....tomorrow, next Monday, after my anniversary, when school was out, when school starts back up, when I get home from my moms, when the kids are older, you get the picture.

The truth is, I LOVE MY LIFE!  It's not perfect but I know the ONE who IS and HE delights my soul and gives me purpose.  However, there had been a dark cloud that began to impede on my busy wonderful life. My health!  

As I gained the pounds my joints began to ache so severely that I would have to take ibuprofen and/or tylenol every single day.  I was always exhausted. I began living my life and making my plans around my energy and pain levels. My blood work had even come back showing that I was on the cusp of a diabetes diagnosis.  Yet, I loved food more than I loved feeling well.  I felt so stuck in this area.  

In addition to the physical state I was in there was an even bigger problem..... my spiritual state.  I kept proclaiming my love for my Lord and yet my actions showed I spent more time thinking and dwelling with food than I did with HIM. (ouch)  I truly wanted to change this one area, but every diet I tried started great and ended badly.  It felt like an intrusion into my life.  I didn't want to be heavy, but I didn't want to change my eating.  (See the problem here?)

Bread, cookies, and french fries had become my God.  I professed my love of Jesus Christ, yet I turned away from HIM to comfort myself with them. 

Here's the problem with idols...they're a facade.  Food gives us a temporary comfort, but a lifetime of heartache, pain, and finally death.

This picture was taken at that infamous baby shower where Mary Jalbert initially approached me about changing my health!

30 pounds later! 

Because I have a lot of weight to lose, 30 pounds may not seem like a tremendous amount in the big picture, but look at what that little bit did for my health:

• My blood pressure went from 141/90 to 118/70
• I went from 60mg of pericardia to 30mg. 
• My doctor is weaning me off all meds.  (After 7 years)
• My hot flashes greatly diminished
• I became less cranky
• I had more energy
• My joint pain greatly diminished
• I could think better
• I found JOY once again in normal daily activities
• My relationship with the Lord took on a whole new level as I walked in obedience.
• I went down two full sizes in clothes. (Check out pictures to come)
• I had more sustained energy
• I slept better

30 pounds put JOY back in my journey

I have to honestly tell you that in the beginning I didn't really believe it would even work. Do you know it took me two full months to call Mary Jalbert after our initial conversation?  From March until May, I couldn't stop thinking about all she had shared.  I hoped and I dreamed but I didn't trust my track record. I feared wasting our family's money on yet another diet that probably wouldn't work.  

One morning HE changed all that when He showed me that it was okay for me to not trust in my own ability.  I just needed to cling to and believe in HIM when I could not believe in myself.  

"Not by might, nor by power, but by MY spirit says the Lord"-- Zeph 4:6

(This became my 2013 life verse)

I finally made the phone call and began a journey that changed my life!  The Lord used Take Shape For Life as HIS vehicle to transform and change the way I think!  (Romans 12:2) 

LET ME BE CLEAR:   CHRIST changed my heart, Take Shape For Life was simply the vehicle He used.

In September, my husband and I went on a 7-day Alaskan cruise to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.  Because this was a rare, once-in-a-lifetime trip we decided that I would take a break from my TSFL journey from September through January. 

I purposefully planned to work on maintaining through the holidays and then to come back and complete my journey in January. Now that I am back on it I realize this is not something you go off and on.  This is my life.  This is how I want to eat and live the rest of my life.

Feeling so much better!  This picture was taking with my friend and cruise consultant Mazie Middleton as our sail date approached.

I believe losing that weight gave me a huge gift in Alaska.  I was able to hike, ride on the airplane without a seat belt extender, and do all kinds of things without taking medicine to get through the days. Thank you, Lord!

My 2014 verse fires up my heart to finish STRONG!

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work in you, will continue HIS WORK until it is finally finished!" -- Phil 1:6a

If you find yourself interested in the program I used and want to check it out, please make sure you contact me before you investigate.  I can show you how we did it on a budget.  If you go through the company it will cost more.