Happy *Insert 2010 4th quarter holiday here*!!!

Happy day everyone!

It's been quite a while since I've blogged.  A lot has happenned since my last post.  I haven't been doing well with healthy eating and exercising.  Not well at all.  I lost focus and unfortunately, a little faith.  I was once so confident that God didn't want me to have an unhealthy body.  I still believe that, but I lost my confidence in being able to attain a healthier me.  I felt sad.  What's worse, is that I cannot fully comprehend the root of my sadness.  Is it just the lack of healthy progress in the past 9 months?  Is it the lack of motivation over the same amount of time?  Is it that I'm feeling my clothes getting tighter, but not seeing any weight gain?  Is it worrying about my even more obese boyfriend?  Is it my super hectic work schedule?  Is it missing serving in my church?  Ok, I just realized I probably just wrote all the reasons.  I guess that's why some people believe writing is cathartic.  You're able to write everything that is ailing you and that's the first step to healing.  And these are things that have been ailing me.  Well, what's ailing me is not being able to work through it.  I've always been able to fix issues.  But I'm so tired of trying to fix things.  Lord, help me.  I surrender!  Help my unbelief!  Please rid the things in my life that is hindering my progress and my relationship with You.  Help guide me to be a woman that allows Your light shine through.  Amen!

VLOG!!!

Hello All!

So, I'm excited to post my first vlog because it was so ridiculously easy...so enjoy and have a blessed day!



Sorry if the camera shakes...I was laying down in bed...I'll remember to place my laptop on a solid surface next time! :-D

Gourmet

Monday was one of those days I was able to enjoy one of the few...er, only perk of my job. Our new ad agency came in from out of town and we all went to a super fancy 5 star restaurant for dinner. It was gourmet and it was delicious! LOL I think I ate so much less because I was savoring the food that I know I wouldn't event attempt to cook. I had a lot of left overs! I'd like to do that on a daily basis with every single meal. Now, I certainly won't dine regularly at a gourmet restaurant to do so, but I know that when I take the time to cook a meal, I savor it more than something that can just be "thrown" together. When I lost my initial 47lbs, I cooked for myself every single night. I became a master at cooking for one. I shouldn't say cook, because I treated it like my creation. Every spice was heavily considered before adding and every element of the meal was measured for caloric accuracy. It's something I really miss. So, tonight I will go back to "meal creating." :-)

Speaking of which, I'd like to introduce you to the one HUGE discovery that helped me tremendously in cooking delicious, yet healthy and low-cal meals: Miracle Noodles!

These are 0 calories, 0 fat and 1 carbs. Yes, you read correctly! It is made of a Japanese root and water. Super simple to make and takes on the flavor of what it is cooked with...kind of like tofu. I like using it in virtually all pasta recipes...like my all time favorite, Fettuccine Alfredo. Actually, I like the Alfredo sauce more than the fettuccine. It goes on any pasta I can get my hands on...and it is GREAT with Miracle Noodles. Which leads me to my next point, Hungry Girl. This is a website that is full of awesome ways to cut calories on everyone's favorite dishes...such as Alfredo sauce! Now, Hungry Girl uses Tofu Shirataki noodles for this recipe, but I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy the texture of those noodles...so that's why I heart Miracle Noodles more! :-)

Based on my ramble here, it's pretty evident what I'm going to make tonight: Miracle Noodle Alfredo...with some chicken and veggies of course, can't forget that! :-) I haven't made this in a while, it will come up to around 300 or so calories for the whole dish and it is a very generous dish at that!

Thanks for stopping by again! I pray your day is beautiful and filled with the peace Christ has granted us.

<3
Melissa

Planning for the "Q4 Burn"

**So, I started writing this blog on Sep 25--horrible I know, so much time has passed! But I still wanted to share what my thoughts were at that particular moment and later show what my thoughts are currently**

First, I want to thank my wonderful friend and fellow blogger, Mrs K for giving me a wonderful blog award. 

I will treat it more as a great person award, because let's face it...I'm not as talented as I'd like to be on blogging, LOL!! Either way, a wonderful person gave this to me, so I am quite honored!

So I had an idea to make the last quarter of this year a serious one regarding weight loss. I know I will have some challenges especially with the holidays coming up, but I want to experience going through everyday with God and fitness on the brain, lol. I want to see how my body, mind and attitude will change if I apply myself to this process every step of the way.

**That was the end of my draft--short, huh? Anyway, here are my thoughts now (Oct 24)**

So, clearly, I didn't kick off the "Q4 Burn." But it is not too late! I just celebrated my 28th birthday (Oct 20) and I decided to really lengthen it to the the "Before 30 Burn." I know it is quite reasonable to lose over 150lbs 110 lbs in 2 years and I'm going to do it. Now is the time, as I know my fertility is in jeopardy being this overweight. And even though I don't have a husband, I'm hearing "the clock" ticking as of late. Will I do anything about it? Not really, I know my husband and children will come on God's time, not mine....but I'm definitely thinking more about it lately. So, I'd like to have developed all the healthy habits I will need to raise a healthy children and stop the cycle of obesity in my family.

My brother and sister-in-law purchased a great scale that measures weight, body fat, bone mass and water for my birthday. My scale refused to weigh me since last month (only giving 0.0), so it was a perfect gift. :-) I decided to use it today with all its body analyzing awesomeness, here were my results:

312 lb
57.6% body fat
24.9% muscle
39.5% water
3% bone

Now, I know it's not completely accurate, but it's what I have and I'll work with it! :-)

My weight is not too bad considering I haven't really been trying the last month.

Body Fat is bittersweet because no one wants to see that over half of their body weight is attributed to fat, however it also means if I maintain the same proportion of muscle mass and lose the body fat, I really only have about 100lbs to lose, not 160 or so. I figure this because 57.6% of my current weight is about 179lbs. If I want to be about 25% body fat by my 30th b-day, then I would have 32.6% of body fat to lose...which is 102 lbs of my current weight. My math is probably flawed somehow, but I'm in a good mood because of this and I won't mess it up by trying to fix it. :-D

Muscle--I build it so easily, it's not even funny. I've determined my brothers and I have a mesomorph body type. We gain weight and muscle easily, but we can lose it easily too! It's just a matter of staying active. I know this because both of my brothers are athletes and not obese. I was pretty athletic in high school--you know, when I was doing athletic things, LOL...not so much now, but I'm changing that! I'm pretty certain that if I'm diligent every single day, that I can lose this weight by my 29th birthday, but I'm not by any means an arrogant person...I will humble myself and know mistakes will be made, so that's why I have my end goal of my 30th b-day.


Water--I've read the importance of your body being a certain water percentage, but I'm not sure why and what percentage. I will have to read more about it.

Bone--I guess this will always be the same right? I think I've stopped growing. I mean, I grew 2 inches in college and just recently learned I grew another inch since then...so I'm officially 5'9. I think I'm done. LOL

I know this has been a super long post, but that's what has been on my mind lately. :-) I'll make it a point to blog on my off workout days (like today).

*In my bible study this morning, I came across the verse that inspired this blog and my weight loss (and made me start up again after a month-long hiatus!):

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. --Psalm 139:14 NIV

xOxxOOXXooOOXX,
Melissa

Need some mojo

Ok, I was feeling pretty good about myself when I posted my last blog.  I was all: "I can totally do this!" then the week bogged me down and lost my mojo this week.  Grr, I can't stand when these things happen!  The enemy is messin' with me into thinking I'm fine the way I am....uh, no I'm not, I literally have to lose half of myself, lol!  I prayed that God will break this crazy bond I'm in!  Paul was soo right in his 1st letter to the Thessalonians.  Pray without ceasing (1Thess. 5:17).  During my initial 47lb weight loss, that's all I did...everywhere I went, with anything that I was doing, I did for God and His glory.  I think I got too comfortable.  I "ceased" the continual prayer.  Sure, I did before bed and when I got up in the morning, but not continually.  So, in the same way that I decided to follow Christ, the same way I decide today to pray without ceasing. :-)

I joined a great website that keeps track of my food intake and exercise.  I was part of one before http://www.fatsecret.com/, but I joined this one because I find it easier to navigate and use.  It's called http://www.myfitnesspal.com/.  Both sites are free and of great use.  I love FatSecret because of the community on there.  There are plenty of success stories on there and they have a lot to share.  So, I joined myfitnesspal to just enter my food and exercise and I'll stay on FatSecret for the uplifting community.  Myfitnesspal also has an awesome ticker that I can put on my blog.  So I did!

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

Isn't it purdy? lol Looking forward to showing the lost LBs. :-)

Ok family, I'm out for now.  Have a great day! :-)

*Try to find God in your surroundings.  In any tree or cloud or flower or in a loved one's spirit.  Enjoy it, it's a beautiful gift.

Goals, goals, goals

Hello everyone!

Well, I wanted to share my goals.  A part of starting this blog is to be accountable to my friends and family on my health status and my efforts in improving them.

A few years ago, I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes.  This crushed me, I was only 23 years old.  I didn't take it seriously and ate the same way and wasn't 100% compliant with my meds.  I was barely living.  I started getting serious about my health earlier this year.  I went to an endocronologist and saw that my fasting blood sugar was 374 mg/dl....very scary to say the least when normal levels are 70-120 mg/dl.  I was also 336lbs @ 5'9" tall.  I definitely had to do something about it!  So, with the support of my sister (in-law, but she's my sis!), I embarked on a journey to lose weight and get healthier.  I went down to 289lb in 3 1/2 month's time.  Yup, that's 47lbs lost. :-)  My fasting blood sugar went down to 89 mg/dl.  Oh yeah, I was on cloud 9, lol.  A short vacation set me off track by quite a lot, but not enough to be back where I was.  I gained back half the weight I lost and I'm ready to jump back in this again.  I realize my efforts will never be for a short period of time...this will be lifelong.  When I succeed, I will have to continue to work very hard to stay.  I feel like I'm rambling, I was supposed to state my goals...ok, here they are:

-Reach 175lbs (maybe a size 12??--not sure, the last time I was this weight was probably in the 5th grade)
-Keep BS at normal levels of 70-120 mg/dl
-I've read that a healthy waist size is half of your height in inches.  So, that would make my healthy waist size 34.5 in...that's the ultimate goals (reduce visceral fat!!) :-)

Like I said, I want to stay accountable, so I will post my weekly results.  Here they are for this week:

312lb
193 mg/dl

I also want to post my measurements on a monthly basis.  Here they are for this month:

(in inches)
Waist (at navel): 53
Bust: 58
Ribcage: 48
Hips: 54.5
Arm: 16.25
Elbow: 12
Thigh: 29.75
Calf: 17.5
Knee: 17
Neck: 17.5
Ankle: 9

Ok, that's it for now folks.  I'm off to a healthy day and week.  I pray yours is healthy too. :-)

*Always tell your loved ones that you love them when you finish speaking with them on the phone.  Tomorrow is never guaranteed.

I Know Who I Am

Hello and thank you for reading my very first post on my blog.  I've always thought about creating a blog, but never seriously considered it until a friend of mine (Mrs K) created one and encouraged me to do the same.  So here I am, writing to, well, space.  Feels kind of weird! Well, I guess I should start off by stating the focuses of my blog:

-Seeking God in every situation and seeing Him in all things
-Weight loss
-Maintaining relationships (of all types)

If you have ever met me, the first word you would probably use to describe me is bubbly or jubilant or joyful...any of those fluffy words, lol.  The truth is, I probably used that as a pretty good mask.  I had a lot of pain, depression and self-hate hidden deep for quite awhile.  Yup, those were past-tense verbs I used there.  I'm grateful to say that those days, hours, minutes are behind me...praise God!  I've discovered that I was wonderfully and fearfully made (Psm 139:14).  I've always read that I was, but didn't believe it until earlier this year.  I'll go further into detail on how this came to pass on future posts...because honestly, I still don't have the words for it.  I'm just still in awe of what God is doing in my life at this moment, I can't quite articulate it!  Just know for now, that I AM truly bubbly and jubilant and joyful...no more masks, no more pain, no more fear.  I know who I am and I LIKE it! :-)