Tomorrow is the first day of a new month. Which means payday for us! ;)
It is a big grocery shopping day. I plan to make good healthy choices. I also plan to be more moderate then usual with the sweets and junk food, although probably not as moderate as most people. I'm working on the gradual changes.
One of the tricks I have learned is to get used to healthy things to the point that you actually like them and want to have them before you start taking away the unhealthy things. That way you are not going from something you love to something you hate.
My physical health changes I want to work toward this month are healthy breakfasts and walking daily.
I picked the breakfast because it is an easy one for me. I already enjoy healthy breakfasts foods, as well as some unhealthy ones. But since I like healthy cereal and I enjoy eating fruit, I think it will be easy to make healthy breakfast a habit. I want to start with what I think will not be as difficult. If I can have success in the small things, then I think it will encourage me to work up to the larger changes.
The walking is not going to be a big deal either, because I'm not going to make it a big deal. I'm starting with five minutes. That's it. Five measly little minutes. If I miss a day, so what? I'm not gonna make it up (unless I just happen to want to). I'm just going to try my five minutes the next day. Each day is new and fresh, no hang overs from the days before.
I'm through with beating myself up for not meeting some standard (I Hope). If I start doing that again, I would love for someone to gently point that out to me. Remind me of my resolve to not hang on to unnecessary guilt (is any guilt necessary?).
As far as spiritual changes to work on, I'm taking a New Testament Survey course at college to count toward my Humanities credit. It's really cool. I think that is enough for right now, with the exception of beefing up my prayer life.
Somethings been bugging me. I have not been kneeling before the Lord in prayer. I still pray a lot, but it has become very informal. It has been continuous, as in frequently through out my day, including sporadic prayers lifted for people when I learn of a need. However, most of my praying has been happening while I have been laying in bed, and in my car driving down the road.
I have a history of not being able to focus during prayer. I think that is why I developed the short, frequent prayers. If I keep it short and simple, then there is not much time to get mentally off track. It has been heart breaking and spiritually discouraging to not be able to pray without loosing focus. I question my sincerity and my devotion to the Lord. Yet, I honestly can't help it. My heart wants to draw close to Him, and have a super close connection. However, my faulty brain and my flesh get in the way. I love a line from one of Chris Rice's songs, "Freedom from myself will be the sweetest rest I've even known."
I also have a problem with becoming intimately close to the Lord which has a connection to kneeling in prayer. It is a deep rooted problem, which is a major deal in my life. It effects many areas, and the worst is my relationship with the Lord.
So, my prayer goal is to spend a short amount of time on my knees in prayer. I want to physically show respect and admiration to the Lord. I plan to use the time praising Him and thanking Him. Other than gratitude and admiration, I want to keep whatever I pray about very short (and hopefully sweet), that way I won't get bogged down with frustration and discouragement if my mind starts to wonder. Then I will continue as I usually do as far as the rest of my praying goes. Eventually I hope that I am able to grow in this area. Another thing about the walking is that I want to use that time to pray as well. Some of my most effective prayer times has been while I have been taking walks. I know five minutes is not long, but my goal is baby steps, so that's OK.
If I am unable to because of the emotional problems I have, then I don't know what to do. I don't know how to proceed if some of my junk rears its ugly head.
For housekeeping, I struggle with this so much, I think that small changes will be of more benefit in the long run as well. I have a bad habit of letting my dish washing wait until the next day. This makes it difficult because so many times I have to wash dishes before I can cook. This adds to my cooking frustration (I really don't enjoy cooking). So, my goal is to have all the dishes washed before I go to bed each night. Again, this probably seems petty and really small, but I think this is going to be a major confidence booster. I'm hoping to draw encouragement from reaching this goal.
I intend to spend the whole month working on these things. If it does not come right away, that's going to be OK. I'll continue to try until I have changed my habits, little by little.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Did everyone think I abandoned my quest?
I have spent quite a bit of time thinking things through. I have collected opinions and I've been doing some reading about diets, weight loss, and exercising. I've also been searching my heart and seeking the Lord's will in this matter.
I'm not going to continue in the First Place weight loss program. There is some healthy things to learn from in their material. However, I believe it is going to be impossible to follow the program and the commitments. After time spent reflecting and praying, I don't believe God is going to hold me to those commitments.
I am still wanting to try Weight Watchers. They hold meeting right up the road from where I live in a community center which also hold a gym, weight room, and indoor swimming pool. They offer water aerobics and a water walking class. There is also a basket ball gym and aerobic and yoga classes. Many people, especially elderly people, walk inside the upstairs area. They have a really wide hallway. People use it like many who walk the malls for exercise.
I had not joined WW earlier because the meetings that were being held during the time I had someone to watch my children was on the same night as a college course I was taking. The class is over, so I'm thinking of going up there now.
There is also the option of joining online. I am interested in that as well, but I think I may do better if I join an "in person" group. The draw back to joining on line is that it has to be paid whether you are using it or not. If you join a group for meetings you only have to pay when you attend the meetings. If I needed to hold off on spending money for this, then it would be easier if I went to meetings instead of doing the program online.
I have not gotten the membership for the fitness place (the same place in which the WW meetings are held) because of some financial drawbacks. We've had car repairs to take care of two months in a row. I am still wanting to do this, though.
In the reading I've been doing, I've found some very encouraging tips. Frequent short and moderate forms of exercise are just as beneficial as hard workouts. A short walk, briskly picking things up around the house, mopping, or a dance with a partner are all easy ways to fit little bits of exercise into your life. These things count.
Also, an interesting fact is that if you reduce your diet by 100 calories a day, you can loose 10 pounds in one year. If you burn an extra 100 calories a day in addition to cutting back 100 calories, you can loose 20 pounds in one year. That does not seem like a major undertaking, but it will carve out 20 pounds of excess weight. It makes it seem easy when you consider doing small things instead of looking at it like "hard work."
I think part of my problem is also that I think in terms of the whole problem and the whole amount of weight that I need to loose. If I could just think in terms of today, or one change at a time, then I think that would help me out a lot.
In the past it has been helpful for me to make one or two healthy changes at a time. For example I switched to 2% milk, then 1%. I'm working on skim now, but I still prefer the 1%. I've switch from ground beef to ground turkey. I've slowly cut back the amount of sugar we use in our tea. I've switched to sugar free chocolate for our milk. I'm trying to switch from candy bars to granola bars.
I think if I pick one change each month, then I may have more success. I'm thinking of posting the change I'm wanting to make. I want to include things besides diet and exercise. I think I will add things like housekeeping and spiritual issues. I want to keep them small and simple. It may be best if I aim for lower than I want to go. That way I will have a better chance of success. As time goes, I can build on the changes.
I don't want what I am doing to be set in stone. I need flexibility and I need to feel that if I drop the ball, it's no big deal because I can just try again, or choose to try something else. For now, I believe this is the best way.
I'm not going to continue in the First Place weight loss program. There is some healthy things to learn from in their material. However, I believe it is going to be impossible to follow the program and the commitments. After time spent reflecting and praying, I don't believe God is going to hold me to those commitments.
I am still wanting to try Weight Watchers. They hold meeting right up the road from where I live in a community center which also hold a gym, weight room, and indoor swimming pool. They offer water aerobics and a water walking class. There is also a basket ball gym and aerobic and yoga classes. Many people, especially elderly people, walk inside the upstairs area. They have a really wide hallway. People use it like many who walk the malls for exercise.
I had not joined WW earlier because the meetings that were being held during the time I had someone to watch my children was on the same night as a college course I was taking. The class is over, so I'm thinking of going up there now.
There is also the option of joining online. I am interested in that as well, but I think I may do better if I join an "in person" group. The draw back to joining on line is that it has to be paid whether you are using it or not. If you join a group for meetings you only have to pay when you attend the meetings. If I needed to hold off on spending money for this, then it would be easier if I went to meetings instead of doing the program online.
I have not gotten the membership for the fitness place (the same place in which the WW meetings are held) because of some financial drawbacks. We've had car repairs to take care of two months in a row. I am still wanting to do this, though.
In the reading I've been doing, I've found some very encouraging tips. Frequent short and moderate forms of exercise are just as beneficial as hard workouts. A short walk, briskly picking things up around the house, mopping, or a dance with a partner are all easy ways to fit little bits of exercise into your life. These things count.
Also, an interesting fact is that if you reduce your diet by 100 calories a day, you can loose 10 pounds in one year. If you burn an extra 100 calories a day in addition to cutting back 100 calories, you can loose 20 pounds in one year. That does not seem like a major undertaking, but it will carve out 20 pounds of excess weight. It makes it seem easy when you consider doing small things instead of looking at it like "hard work."
I think part of my problem is also that I think in terms of the whole problem and the whole amount of weight that I need to loose. If I could just think in terms of today, or one change at a time, then I think that would help me out a lot.
In the past it has been helpful for me to make one or two healthy changes at a time. For example I switched to 2% milk, then 1%. I'm working on skim now, but I still prefer the 1%. I've switch from ground beef to ground turkey. I've slowly cut back the amount of sugar we use in our tea. I've switched to sugar free chocolate for our milk. I'm trying to switch from candy bars to granola bars.
I think if I pick one change each month, then I may have more success. I'm thinking of posting the change I'm wanting to make. I want to include things besides diet and exercise. I think I will add things like housekeeping and spiritual issues. I want to keep them small and simple. It may be best if I aim for lower than I want to go. That way I will have a better chance of success. As time goes, I can build on the changes.
I don't want what I am doing to be set in stone. I need flexibility and I need to feel that if I drop the ball, it's no big deal because I can just try again, or choose to try something else. For now, I believe this is the best way.
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