Commandments

My plan for the next couple of weeks is really trial and error.  I will begin exercising but I will not narrow down a specific diet plan for a few weeks.  Instead, I will eat less and abide by my commandments to guide me through my journey.  You may follow along with me or think of your own commandments but my commandments are things I struggle with doing so I have to commit to doing the opposite. 

Commandments

1. I will not drink soda or other sugar filled drinks.
2. I will not eat junk.
3. I will eat six small meals a day.
4. I will drink at least ten 8oz glasses of water a day.
5. I will pray and workout everyday.
6. I will not QUIT!

11:57pm

As I write this blog, I have three minutes until Dec. 1, 2010 and the start of my new life.  I'm both excited and sadden.  Why am I sad? Well, to be perfectly honest it's because I will not be able to do whatever I want when I want.  I know it's sounds silly but I will have to teach myself discipline and I know it's not going to be easy.  I have to wake up early in the morning to pray, go to the gym and eat breakfast.  If you're not use to doing these things early in the morning then you will have to make it a habit.  Today is the beginning of the end of a new beginning!

Epiphany!

Sunday, while I was in church, God told me what I needed to do in order to lose this weight and be sucessful.  Scriptures.  In His Word lies the answers I've been searching for all this time.  How?  Well, the Bible tells us to, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33).  I haven't been living by this scripture instead I've been putting myself first and God second.  Wow!  I can't believe I just said that.  Well, it's the truth because if it wasn't I would've allowed myself to get as big as I am now.  Food and serving God goes hand in hand and the sooner I, and my fellow overweight brothers and sisters in Christ realize this to be true than we will change our lives. 

When Matthew 6:33 popped in my head, I also realized how I can put God first while I'm changing my eatting habits.  I am going to find all the scriptures I can about strength, endurance, health, and food.  Once I've complied these scriptures together, I will recite them when I need to.  I will recite them before I eat dinner, when I'm working out, when I think I can't go any further and when I want to give up.  By doing this I will truely put God first. 

Part of My Plan

I need to trick my brain into thinking the food on my plate is a lot of food or what I've come to recognize as a "normal" plate of food.  How can I do this?  Every meal I eat will be served on a saucer not a normal plate.  Also, I will serve myself with a tablespoon not a serving spoon; therefore, placing less food on my saucer.  With these two small changes I believe I will trick my brain into thinking I'm eating a lot when I'm eating more than half of what I normally eat. 

Finally, I was debating weather or not I should eat the 100 calorie snacks and today I decided no.  For the first couple of weeks, I am going to go through a sugar "withdrawal".  I am going to force my body not to crave sweets like I normally do and rely on natural sugars from fruits.  Why so drastic you ask? Well, because I've been addicted to sweets my entire life and it's time for a change.  I remember when I was a child my parents would give us a dollar, sometimes less, and my siblings and we would immediately run to the corner store and by whatever we could with that dollar.  I can also remember being sent to high school with only a dollar and every morning I would go to the store up the street from the school and by nachos and a pretzel with cheese and eat that as breakfast.  Yes, my mother made us breakfast every morning but I really like junk.  Yeah, it's not just sweets. 

As an adult, these same bad habits has transformed into my adult life and every time I go to the store, I buy junk.  Sometimes I'm not interested in eating it and it sits in my cupboard for days but I must buy it.  That's bad and I want to stop but it's unconscious.

Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and the food was oh so good!  I only had a plate and a half and still couldn't finish all my food.  I'm so glad I decided to start my challenge after Thanksgiving because I don't think I would've stuck to my challenge on Thanksgiving day.  Yesterday people kept asking me "When are you starting?"  Maybe it's because of all the food I ate or maybe it's because they're excited for me but either way I have family and friends and my blogger readers and Facebook group and most importantly my husband excited and ready for me to start.  December 1, 2010!  SO EXCITED!

Anyway, today my husband said he's interested in seeing how I handle Christmas dinner.  I told him simple, I going to eat a little, very little, and move on.  I got one of the best pieces of advice from one of the women in my Facebook group.  She said her doctor told her if she wants a piece of chocolate cake then to eat it but not the entire slice and to make it a reward for something accomplished.  This is really an awesome piece of advice!   My goal isn't to starve myself but to teach myself how to control my eating habbits.  Therefore, when my husband made that statement, I knew excatly what I was going to do for Christmas.  Eat little and enjoy the food before me without seconds...or thirds.

One Week to Go - Dec. 1, 2010

Today marks the one week mark until my official weigh-in on Dec. 1!  I'm excited and nervous at the same time!  I'm excited about the change and I can see myself feeling and looking better on March 10, 2011 but I'm nervous about the struggle I have to endure before I get there.  I have a tone of questions running through my head:  Will I lose 100 pounds in 100 days or will it be less? If I lose less, am I a failure? How much weight lose is acceptable if I can't reach 100 pounds?  I know I shouldn't stress and I'm trying to relax but it's difficult.  I don't want to let myself down or people who are encouraging. 

One thing that's helping me is my faith.  I was raised in church and my mother use to quote a scripture to us when we would say the word "can't".  She would say, "I can do all things through Christ that strength me. (Philippians 4:13).  This will be my motivation scripture when I'm jumping rope, on elliptical machine and incorporating new healthier food in my life. 

Plans for the Future

Once I lose all my weight, I plan to pay it forward just like the theme for Biggest Loser this year.  I grew up in Philly and every time I visit the city, I see people getting fatter and fatter and the ages of these people are getting younger and younger.  The most disturbing part is most of the obese people are young African American women!  I'm outrage at the sight of children learning bad habits from their parents and parents teaching their children what they've learned.  However, I understand they feed their children based on their income and what they can afford.  Sometimes, it's what's affordable. You can say all you want it's not as expensive to eat healthy but I disagree.  I know from experience that it's hard to feed your children  on an one income home.  I am one of six children and my mother was a stay at home mom who stretched food to make it last.  My father worked hard everyday to provide food for his family but sometimes it wasn't enough.  They did not believe in living on the system and that's commendable but they forced my mother to do what she had to ensuring every child had three meals a day. 

My goal, once I've reached my personal goal, is to help these women and men who are single mothers and fathers teach their children how to live healthy productive successful lives while on a budget.

Paying it forward has always been a goal of mine.  It saddens my heart to see so many young people in the city go through what I've endured as a child.  If anyone out there reading my blog then I need your help.  I need your encouragement so that I can reach my personal goal to help better my community. Let me know you're out there and if your goal is to lose weight, lets do it together.  Lets be weight loss buddies!

Thanksgiving

Yesterday was awesome! I had my family over for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner and we had fun!.  I woke up at 5 a.m. and started cooking. We had a very full menu! Thanksgiving is the best time for family and food. So, here it is the day after pre-Thanksgiving and nothing I ate yesterday was healthy. I know but technically I'm not starting my "life changing event" until Dec. 1. So technically I didn't cheat.  My family isn't into eating different food or eating healthy and that's why all the food I cooked yesterday was full of sugar, fat and loads of calories.  I have plenty of leftover and truthfully I will eat it for the next two weeks or until Dec. 1. What are you doing for Thanksgiving? Hope your Thanksgiving is healthier than mine!

Getting Ready

Today is my first blog! I'm so excited because in 14 days, Dec 1, 2010, my journey to a healthier me will begin! I can't wait for my knees to stop hurting, to more about eating right and looking how I feel on the inside.  I never saw myself as an "fat" person. I've always felt that I am smaller than what I see in the mirror. Pray for me! I need to do this! I need to get this fat off of me because I have so much more life to live!

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