New Year New Me 2017

You know the title of my blog post today is what every person says at the beginning of the year. We all have a vision for the new year and many people make resolutions that by the 15th of the month are a thing of the past. Well I am not like every one else so I am declaring my new year, new me mantra today! Well not really, I actually began the year with this idea in mind and it has already been a long 15 days. I started the year with a 21 day Daniel Fast that I am in the midst of now as this will be my 3rd week starting today. I have been vlogging over on YouTube as I feel like this is going to be the year that I am going to push through my insecurities and finally get myself to a place of consistently eating healthy and exercising. The idea is to start the year off by consecrating myself to the Lord with the Daniel Fast and then continue to allow the Lord to guide me in my food choices and my exercise routine. I invite you to come over to YouTube and follow my journey.

Losing4Christ Weight Loss Journey 2017

 

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(Day 31) Recap, Wrap Up and What’s Next

This has been an amazing month of blogging for me. I am excited to have made it to the finish line. I completed a total of 25 posts in the month of October and I am really proud of myself. I have quite a few takeaways that I want to share but first let me recap the purpose of my “31 Days of Transforming My Temple” blog series. At the beginning of this series I said that “This 31 day challenge will set the course for the rest of my life.” My goal was to begin a journey to transforming my temple which is my body. My desire is to walk with Jesus learning to become balanced in body, mind, soul and spirit. So let’s recap my original goals:

The following were the steps I committed to taking:

1. Each day I will pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide me in my food choices. – Need to work on this
2. I will be transparent and accountable to the sisters that God has appointed to walk with me at this time. – Done!
3. I will support my decision with walls of grace and mercy. Should I fall into temptation and veer off the course set before me I will grab hold of grace and mercy, repent, receive forgiveness and continue moving forward. No turning back, no quitting. This is a lifetime journey not a diet.- Done and ongoing!
4. I will move my body. I will begin to exercise at a slow pace even if it’s just 5 minutes a day increasing each day as I build endurance and stamina. – Need to work on this

I also committed to the following for the 31 days of October:

1. Green Smoothies for breakfast and healthy meals for lunch and dinner. – Quit on day 2 or 3 
2. No sweets – meaning no cookies, cakes, pies, ice cream, etc. – Nailed it! Yesss!
3. 3 liters of water per day – Nailed it! Yesss!
4. Up to 30 minutes of exercise 6 times a week. Starting slowly at 5 minutes and increasing each day until I’m at 30 minutes which will then be the minimum daily goal. – Need to work on this one

Now here are the small victories that I shared on day 19:

1. It has been over two months since I drank soda and I now drink upwards of 3-4 liters of water a day.
2. It has been 19 days since I have eaten any type of desserts or sweets. Now 31 days!
3. I have been transparent with my accountability partner for 19 days. Now 31 days!
4. I released 4 pounds that I don’t plan on getting back Woo Hoo

My weight loss for the month was 4.2 lbs. I went from 374.6 to 370.4. I weigh in on Thursdays so I did not weigh myself today so I will settle for the loss of 4.2 lbs as being the final for the month. I don’t want this to be about a number on a scale because that is what contributed to my downfalls in the past. Yes I will watch the number but I will not make any goals now or in the future on how much weight I want to lose in a specific time frame. Many people would disagree with that but I know myself and I would rather focus on bringing the spiritual into the physical as I follow Jesus and walk with Him on this transformation journey.

Takeaways related to the writing challenge with write31days:

1. I can write every day! Or at least almost every day.
2. I can be bold and courageous to share transparently the things I am learning in this transformation journey.
3. I can only be victorious by focusing on Jesus and letting Him lead the way.
4. I love the blogging community.

So what’s next?

Well the “31 Days of Transforming My Temple” blog series has now come to an end. But the transformation journey continues. I will be writing about this journey as the Lord leads. I can’t say that it will be every day at this point but I know that if I am learning how to live balanced in mind, body, soul and spirit by bridging the gap between the spiritual and the physical, then I know that others will be encouraged as well. I believe the Lord gives us revelation to share with others. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to be on a journey with like-minded people who are moving towards the same goals. I have met some really great people along the way and I look forward to meeting new friends as time passes.

It has been an absolute pleasure to have you along with me on this 31 day journey. Before you leave I just want to bless you with these words from Numbers 6:24-26:

“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.”’

(Day 29) Beginning The Fifth Week of My Journey

Here we are at the beginning of the fifth week of my journey. We are also nearing the end of this blog series and I am please to be able to show a 4.2 pound loss from October 1st. What I see represented by these numbers is that I began a sprint and then plummeted by the beginning of week three but then I really started working on those baby steps. The first two weeks I tried to forge ahead with what I knew worked. Then by the beginning of the third week I really started to let myself be led by the Holy Spirit. It has been a wonderful learning experience for me.

I am learning that truly I am a spiritual being housed in a physical body and there has to be balance between the two. Jesus used natural and physical illustrations to teach spiritual truths. I am learning to have such a beautiful balance in my life that is seasoned with grace because every day is not so balanced. Oh but I feel like I am living out what Paul talked about in 1 Corinthians chapter 2:

“But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” – 1 Corinthians 2:9-12 NKJV

This may be the fifth week of my journey of transforming my temple but I feel like it really is just the beginning. I am so stirred in my heart to see how God is going to continue to not only transform my body but my mind as well. I’m so grateful for you coming along side me in this journey as I walk with Jesus learning to live abundantly and be balanced in mind, body, soul and spirit. ~ 1 Corinthians 6:19 – “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”

(Day 18) Be Still

This morning at church we had a few minutes of being still in the Presence of God. It was such a time of refreshing for me personally since my life has been so overwhelmingly busy. We live in such a fast paced society that many times we have trouble finding the time to really slow down and spend an intentional time of stillness. We read in Psalm 46 verse 10 –  “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Do you sense the heart of God beckoning you in this verse?

Today as I read this verse I am seeing Father God extending His hand toward me inviting me to sit on His lap and just listen to Him. He says, “Be still and know that I am God”. I feel a sense of protection in this verse. He is God and He will be exalted among the nations and in the earth. God is the highest level authority there is. He is in charge of it all. I take comfort in that knowledge and I rest today.

As I look at my schedule for this week, I see so much to do and yet so little time. Just thinking about it all causes me to feel heavy and burdened. How can I balance it all out to put God first and make time for exercise and healthy meals? My intentions were to prepare meals in advance this weekend and yet it was not done. Already I am feeling overwhelmed, then I read what Jesus said,  “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 ESV

Deep breaths.

I will be still. I will take Jesus’ yoke upon me and learn from Him and find rest for my soul. I cannot go into this week feeling stressed. I will not go into this week feeling stressed! Philippians 4:6-7 says “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” I will take my schedule to the Lord and ask Him to help me to walk out my week with a peace that surpasses all understanding. I will be anxious for nothing and be still. I am not perfect and I don’t have to be. I just need to take it one step at a time.

(Day 6) Moving Forward

Today’s blog is the result of a post I made in an accountability group I am involved in on Facebook. I believe that it is good for you to read as well since I have a suspicion that if you are reading my blog today that you may be on your own journey to health and wellness. So the following is for you too!

“For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it, like a garden of vegetables. But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that the Lord your God cares for. The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.” ‭‭Deuteronomy ‭11:10-12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I believe we can pull application from these verses for our journey to healthy living. Some of us are literally entering new territory, our journey is beginning and we have come from places of bondage and defeat. “But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that the Lord your God cares for.” Can you see what that looks like for you today?

There is a land of hills and valleys ahead which means that we will have our ups and downs, we will have our days of victory and our days of weakness but what does it say? The Lord your God cares! Oh hallelujah! Can you sense the joy in the journey?

The next verse says “The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.” Oh sisters our God is watching over our journey. He is watching over the land we are entering into not just today but from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

We are set up for success! We just have to allow the Lord to guide our footsteps and keep our eyes fixed and focused on Jesus! We cannot look back to our own personal Egypt because there’s no room for us there anymore. When things get hard while moving forward push through! Push through! Why? Because we are not to go back to the land of defeat and bondage. Amen?

Amen!! Hallelujah!!