100-pound Celebration!

I had my 100-pound celebration recently, hosted by my friend Melisa.  (She's the one on the right.  The one on the left is my friend Brenda.) 

We had a display area just inside her house with collage frames that show the progression of what God is doing in my life. 

 

 

From this

 

 

to this.

 



 

 

Collage of me from birth to age 18, Made To Crave (one of the tools that helped me lose 100 pounds), and a steak, egg, and cheese on a biscuit from Yuckdonald's (more on that later). 

 

 

 

Collage of me from 19-38, bowl of white rice (what I used to eat when working late at night so I would have energy.  It didn't usually work.), some race pictures, my Gasparilla 8K medal, and the cross that I nailed the word "overeating" to.  (Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there.  Galatians 5:24)

 

 

 

 

Collage of me from 39-41 and the questions about my journey that Melisa and I made up.

 

 

More race pics (midnight 5K in 2012), A Hunger for God by John Piper, and the printouts of the questions and my responses when I did The Lord's Table online Bible Study.

 

Some of my race bibs.

My old fat clothes!  The top is a size 3X and the shorts are a size 26/28.  The way they're hanging they don't look all that big, but they are. 

More of Jesus, Less of Michele!  That's what it's all about!

Look at these encouraging friends I have who came to help me celebrate this milestone!

Clockwise, Lynette, Wendy, Rob (my brother), and Cassie

 

Lisa and Pat (Terry's husband - How is there not a picture of Terry in here?)

 

Crystal, Brandice, Melinda, Tatiana, and Fancy

And encouraging family!  I love them!   

My dad and mom! 

 

Randy eating salad.  Yes, salad.  With lettuce and tomatoes and everything.  And no bacon bits (not that there's anything wrong with real bacon).

Jeff, Cheryl, and Sofia

 

How is there not a picture of my precious Brianne in here?  She helped by making a PowerPoint of my past, present, and future (my Ragnar 200-mile relay race coming up in February). 

I had been gathering ideas for food and décor from Pinterest for quite a while.  I wanted the food to taste yummy and be representative of what I actually eat.  I eat mostly real food now, what grows in the ground or on the ground, and very little packaged, processed, fake, food-like stuff.  I don't eat salads all the time, but I do like them so we had a couple different kinds and wraps so people could make a salad sandwich. 

 

 

Lots of fresh fruit (strawberries!) and veggies, but also brownies - dark chocolate brownies with strawberries that I picked mixed in.  Yum!  My chickens (Helen, Jane, and Penny) supplied the deviled eggs.  

 

 

 

My friend, personal trainer, and nutrition coach, Brandice Lardner of http://fitnessinfusiononline.com/brought this plate of veggies with 100# artfully placed!  Love it! 

 

 You better believe there was a chocolate fountain!  It wasn't the focal point of the party, but we did enjoy it!  Moderation is the key. 

Look at that beautiful cake Melisa had made!  I love the colorfulness and the message!

 

I had the idea of making a paper chain with 100 links to give people a visual idea of how many 100 is.  It starts behind the chair, goes up to the top of the window, across, down, drapes, goes up again, and hangs down.   

 

 

Then I decided to make one of the miles I've run in official races.  57!

 

And one of miles I've run in training.  This includes boot camp and fitness club workouts.  1156!!!  I've run one thousand one hundred fifty-six miles/workouts in training!  So that 57 miles I've run in official races is like the tip of the iceberg and the 1156 is like the huge part of the iceberg you don't see because it's underwater.  Wow!

It starts at the bottom of the door, goes up to the top, drapes,

 

 

drapes, drapes, draaaaaapes,

 

draaaaaaapes,

 

draaaaapes, drapes,

 

drapes, drapes,

 

drapes, drapes,

 

drapes, drapes,

 

 and when Brianne and Fancy ran out of room they did this!

 

 

 

 

Look at me serving cake and not stuffing my face with it or licking my fingers!

 

This is one of the things that started my weight loss.  I used to go through the Yuckdonald's drive through and order a steak, egg, and cheese on a biscuit instead of on a bagel because I was saving carbs that way.  I was so deceived.  Yes, I was saving a few carbs but I didn't need that sandwich at all.  There are almost 700 calories just in the sandwich, roughly half of the calories I should have in a day!  Not that I count calories, but still…!

On two different trips to the beach I collected sand, brought it home, and weighed it to get 100 pounds.  It halfway filled this storage bin.  I had to take about half of it out and put it in smaller buckets to transport it to Melisa's house and even then I had to have my daughter help me lift it into and out of the car.  How did I used to carry this around on my body 24/7??? 

 

 

I love color, and Melisa sure provided it!  I'm so grateful to her for helping me plan and for hosting this party!   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 18 - Wednesday

Down 0.8 pounds since yesterday, 15.6 from the beginning, and 91.6 pounds from my heaviest weight. 

I’m in awe of what God has done and is doing in my life.  91.6 pounds.  Do you know what that looks like?  Here are a few examples of women who weigh 90 pounds:

This is what I’ve lost.  This is what I don’t carry around on my body any more.  Whole people.  This is what you can see.  What you can’t see that I don’t carry around anymore is greed and selfishness.  Or at least not to the extent that I used to; God’s still working. 

I’m in awe of God. 

From Made To Crave:

“Let the Holy Spirit speak truth to your brain until it affects your taste buds.” 

“The real reason for grounding ourselves in the truth that we are made for more is ‘so that you may know Him better.’  [Ephesians 1:17]  The more we operate in the truth of who we are and the reality that we were made for more, the closer to God we’ll become.” 

Today is my last liquid day.  Tomorrow I eat fruit salad for breakfast and veggie salad for lunch and supper, but I can add chicken, eggs, cheese, and dressing to it, unlike the first two days of the fast.  I look forward to enjoying God’s gift of food and chewing again!  I pray that I can be disciplined in enjoying and not go overboard. 

Day 16 - Monday

Down 0.8 pounds from yesterday, 14.2 from the beginning, and 90.2 from my heaviest weight. 

I’ve hit the 90-pound mark!  Thank You, God!

Thoughts from Made To Crave:

“I had to see the purpose of my struggle as something more than wearing smaller sizes and getting compliments from others…It had to be about something more than just me…I determined to make God, rather than food, my focus.  Each time I craved something…I used that craving as a prompt to pray.” 

I’d been doing that for a while but had slacked off.  I’ve started doing it again. 

Today should be a good day of catching up on reading Made To Crave while Brianne’s in class.

I’m ready to start chewing again.  Thursday I shall!

Day 14 - Saturday

Down 0.4 pounds from yesterday, 12.6 from the beginning, and 88.6 from my highest weight. 

I just went for a short walk and ran a little bit of the way (less than 50 steps).  It felt strange.  Now I need to lie down for a little bit. 

Thoughts from Made To Crave:

“I had to see the purpose of my struggle as something more than wearing smaller sizes and getting compliments from others…It had to be about something more than just me.”

“I determined to make God, rather than food, my focus.”

The author asked if there could be any benefits to listening to my cravings rather than trying to silence them.  My answer was that when I crave a particular food I could ask God if it’s because my body needs a certain nutrient or I’m just remembering how good something tasted.  Or do I need something that’s not food? 

Day 12 - Thursday

Up 0.2 pounds from yesterday, down 12 pounds from the beginning, and down 88 pounds from my highest weight.  That gain is just normal fluctuation.  I didn’t overeat overdrink. 

I finished reading A Hunger for God and have started Made to Crave for the third time.  I might have to get another copy of it after this!  I’m doing the questions at the end of each chapter and will do the workbook too. 

Thoughts from Made to Crave:

“…my body is not my own and that I need to honor God with the way I choose to treat it.” (a testimony at the beginning of the book)

“Made to Crave is not about weight loss; it is about complete dependence on God.” (another testimony)

“I’m a simple Jesus girl on a journey to finding deeper motivation than just a number on my scale for getting and staying healthy.” (underlining mine)

I identified with the two of the rationalizations listed for not tackling my sin:

I’m good in every other area.

I make so many sacrifices already.

“Read the story of the rich young man in Matthew 19.  ‘Jesus meant this for any of us who wallow in whatever abundance we have.  I imagine Jesus looked straight into this young man’s soul and said, ‘I want you to give up the one thing you crave more than me.  Then come, follow me.’”

“When Jesus says, “Follow me,” it’s not an invitation to drag our divided heart alongside us as we attempt to follow hard after God.”

“Nothing changes until we make the choice to redirect our misguided cravings to the only one capable of satisfying them.”

“It’s about recalibrating our souls so that we want to change – spiritually, physically, and mentally.”

“The very downfall of humanity was caused when [a woman] surrendered to a temptation to eat something she wasn’t supposed to eat.”  Whoa.  That’s serious. 

“I am made to rise up, do battle with my issues and, using the Lord’s strength in me, defeat them – spiritually, physically, and mentally – to the glory of God.”  YES!!!

Those are just things I underlined in the introduction!

“…whatever we’re craving will always depend on whatever we’re consuming.”  [We crave what we eat.  Think about it.  Do you crave poi?  If you grew up in Hawaii you might.  I’ve never been to Hawaii and never eaten poi, so I’ve never craved it.  If you clear things out of your life that offer no real benefit, you’ll eventually lose your taste for them.

Finally, in question one at the end of chapter one, Lysa talks about a commercial a weight loss company had that personified cravings as a little orange monster that followed a woman around all day.  She asked how we would personify our cravings.  A year ago I wrote that for me a craving would be a giant monster whose reach is so vast it really doesn’t even need to move itself.  It just opens its mouth and eats whatever it wants, no questions asked and no thought involved.  It would laugh at me viciously because it knows I have no power over it.  It would be very confident in itself.  Of course, this was all before Jesus changed me.  Now when a craving comes, which is rare, there’s a struggle.  I fight it with prayer, scripture, activity, and setting a time 1-1/2 hours in the future when I’ll allow myself to eat in a controlled way. 

Three months later I answered that question by saying that when cravings come now they still roar but not as loudly.  I don’t cater to them anymore. 

Last night I said that my cravings now are words that logically present their case and make a lot of sense.  Their job is to make me eat what I don’t need to eat or at a time I don’t need to eat. 

In the past year my cravings have gone from (almost all-) powerful to weakened but persuading, or at least trying to persuade. 

I just got a slow dictator whom I don’t do very often so I don’t know if I should speed her up or not.  She’s been talking for about a minute just stating her name, the patient’s name, and the doctor she’s dictating for.  My thought was that I need to get a smoothie or some veggie soup to drink before I tackle this.  NOOOOO!!!  That’s wrong!!!  I already had some of each and I’ll have some more soon.  I don’t need food to deal with difficult situations. 

Finished that dictator.  I sped her up twice and will do it again the next time I get her.  I now have a smoothie at my desk but I did that dictation that I thought I couldn’t do without any!  Thank You, God!

I found this picture on Pinterest.  It doesn’t need me to comment on it. 

Still Day 1

Okay, I had Brianne take a picture this afternoon to document the start of this journey. 

I actually like this picture.  That's an added benefit of the weight loss these last few years.  I don't automatically dislike pictures of myself. 

I had a salad of spinach, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers for lunch with salsa dressing.  The salsa is from Carmelita's and I've said for years that I could eat it with a spoon and forget the chips because it's so good!  It still is, but it seems very salty this time.  Fish tacos I had at Tijuana Flats the other day were very salty too.  I don't like much salt anyway, but these were extra salty.  Now the salsa.  Am I getting more sensitive to salt? 

I also had the salad for supper then went to the store for veggies for the broth starting Tuesday.  I wanted to go to a produce stand and get more unusual veggies, but I was at Wal-Mart with my parents, so that's where I shopped.  I got beets, carrots, green peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, and yellow squash.  I'll add the leftover salsa, onion, and whatever appropriate spices I have on hand.  This is a good start.  The next time I need veggies I can try for more unusual ones.  At least this time I got a variety of colors!

Confession:  I made a cup of tea this afternoon and put half & half in it.  There's supposed to be no dairy on this fast.  My thought was to use it up since I have a half-pint.  I could freeze it, but it's a pain to thaw milk.  I have poured food down the drain as a sacrifice or just to remove the temptation, so I have that option.  I did that just tonight with the little bit of eggnog-flavor creamer I use for tea.  Anyway, I won't have dairy again until February 2 or 3, when I'm transitioning out of the fast. 

One more thing:  I saw this as I walked into Wal-Mart tonight:

A new cereal from Kellog's - Krave.  It's little pillows of grain with chocolate inside.  Or I could get the kind where even the pillows of grain are chocolate.  Or I could've chosen caramel Cheerios (dulce de leche).  Ai yai yai!  I don't expect any better from the world, but still...siiiiiiigh.  Really?  I didn't read the box, but my impression is that this is being marketed as a fairly healthful option.  Seems to me it should be marketed as junk.  Maybe I'm overreacting.  The fact that it's called Krave and one of the books that helped me so much on this issue is called Made to Crave did not escape my notice. 

Stepping off my soapbox now. 

Working and then sleeping.  Good night.  :-)

Day 1

Good Sunday morning, friends!

I haven't posted here since the Jingle Bell Run almost six weeks ago.  I've still been running, but there hasn't been much happening to report on.  Until now. 

More than two years ago, when I was doing The Lord's Table Bible study at www.settingcaptivesfree.com I did a 20-day fast that is part of their Phase II.  I loved it!  It was a time of getting rid of much of self physically, emotionally, and spiritually and of getting more of Jesus.  For a few months now I've wanted to do it again but the timing wasn't right.  Now it is.  Today is day 1.  I'm finishing up my fruit salad for breakfast:  apple, orange, banana, peach, and pear tossed with a little orange juice. I'll have it for breakfast tomorrow too with some strawberries.  I forgot to take them out of the freezer and I don't want to put them in the microwave and have them be warm.  For lunch and supper today and tomorrow I'll have a veggie salad with salsa for dressing.  No meat, cheese, creamy dressing, or oily dressing.  Tuesday will start the liquid portion of the fast:  water, juice, smoothies, and veggie broth.  No potatoes or meat in the broth and no dairy, protein, or peanut butter in the smoothies.  That will last for 16 days and the last two will be transition days out eating fruit salad for breakfast and veggie salads for lunch and supper but I can add back in meat, cheese, and dressing. 

I plan to blog every day about how things are going and what God's teaching me.  I expect the usual lessons about denying my flesh, etc.  I want more now, though.  To be honest, I want weight loss.  The last time I did this I lost 17 pounds and gained back 4 (which is to be expected) for a net loss of 13 pounds.  I'd like to do at least that this time.  That's not my primary motivation, but it is a motivation.  My primary motivation is to remind myself that I can live with a lot less food than I've been eating and that it's God who sustains me, not physical food.  I slowly got away from following the eating plan The Lord's Table recommends.  I wasn't overeating like before, just not being diligent.  I was still fasting one day a week most weeks but would occasionally skip fasting just because I wanted to eat.  Flesh was starting to rear its ugly head again.  I know I gained fitness last year by starting to run seriously, completing two 5Ks (!), doing two 8-week sessions of fitness class and now ongoing weekly boot camp with www.fitnessinfusiononline.com.  I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that all that fitness caused muscle gain and consequently less actual weight loss.  I'm glad I'm more fit, but I want weight loss too.  I'm human and a woman, and I want weight loss!  Just being honest.  Hopefully God will change my perspective through this fast so that reason fades into the background and more spiritual reasons arise.  Yes, I see the inconsistency here and I'm admitting it to you. 

I got on the scale this morning and it said __________.  You didn't really think I was going to tell you the actual number, did you?!  :-)  I also measured, but I'm not going to tell you those numbers either.  I will report weight lost every day and a final weight and measurements.  I'll report what God shows me and how I'm feeling physically.  I'll have Brianne take a before picture this afternoon and post it. 

I still have to work this whole time, but I'm going to stop running and stop going to boot camp.  I'll walk some in place of the running, but not 3-3.4 miles like I have been doing. 

I've started printing out the emails I sent out with my last 20-day fast so I could read them and remember what it was like.  I'll do this one by blog instead.  My regular Bible reading is in Luke so I'll share insights from that.  Also, I'm reading A Hunger For God by John Piper again.  If I finish it before the end of this fast, I'll re-read Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst and share insights. 

I would appreciate your prayers for the next three weeks and your encouragement.  You can leave comments on this blog.  I'll be sharing announcements of new posts on Facebook so you can access this blog easily, but I don't want to blow a trumpet announcing the fact that I'm fasting. 

If anyone has a juicer I can borrow for this time, please let me know.  I'd like to give that a try in place of making smoothies in the blender all the time.   

So, picture this afternoon and insights if I have any.  See you then!