Whale or Mermaid - How amazing am I?

I didn't write this but absolutely love what this woman wrote. So well done! Please read; it's quite enjoyable and share. ♥ A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?" The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way: "Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness. They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia. They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires. Mermaids do not exist. But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish? They would have no sex life and could not bear children. Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad. And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side? Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale. At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends. We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies. We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated. Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "

Temptation

The First Temptation

"And [the serpent] said to the woman, 'Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?'" - Genesis 3:1

Let's talk about temptation. Go back to the big one, the first one - the Devil tempting Eve in the Garden of Eden. Have you ever read the passage in Genesis 3? Note what he does.

1. He raises questions about the trustworthiness of God's Word.

2. The seeds of doubt are planted in Eve's mind.

3. When Eve says she's not to eat of the fruit or she'll die, the Devil replies cunningly, "You surely shall not die."

The ultimate liar accuses God of lying. He makes his word seem true and God's Word seem unbelievable.

Think about temptation in your own life. It usually means believing your way is better than God's way. For Eve and for all of us, when we begin to doubt the Bible is reliable for living life the best way, we begin to give into temptation--we buy into the lies and half-truths of the world.

For Eve and for all of us, it leads to spiritual death. Decide to believe God's Word--it is the best way. Ask God to give you strength to live it and resist temptation

Whatever happened to Thanksgiving????

Why is it that Thanksgiving is becoming a lost holiday in the commercialization of all the holidays? I went to Dunkin Donuts over the weekend to get pumpkin donuts for church. I get donuts or some sort of treat to go with the coffee at church every week. I always do a theme for the seasons. So it's fall we need fall treats. I started in October getting a different fall treat every week, mini cupcakes with fall leaf sprinkles, munchkins (from Dunkin Donuts) with fall colored sprinkles, you get the picture. So I had had the pumpkin donuts when they first came out, and had bought some for work, and I thought were great,so I was waiting until closer to Thanksgiving to get them for church. Can you believe it, it is only the middle of November and pumpkin donuts are out of season??? What has the world come to? Pumpkin is a Thanksgiving treat, not a Halloween treat. And Dunkin Donuts does not even have the munchkins with the fall sprinkles either anymore. What happened to Thanksgiving??? Why is it a lost holiday?? With all the commercialization now a days everyone skips from Halloween and goes directly to Christmas. Is it really that important to get a whole extra months jump on the Christmas season, just to sell more useless stuff to people who can't afford it in the first place.

Thanksgiving Traditions

In many American households, the Thanksgiving celebration has lost much of its original religious significance; instead, it now centers on cooking and sharing a bountiful meal with family and friends. Turkey, a Thanksgiving staple so ubiquitous it has become all but synonymous with the holiday, may or may not have been on offer when the Pilgrims hosted the inaugural feast in 1621. Today, however, nearly 90 percent of Americans eat the bird—whether roasted, baked or deep-fried—on Thanksgiving, according to the National Turkey Federation. Other traditional foods include stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. Volunteering is a common Thanksgiving Day activity, and communities often hold food drives and host free dinners for the less fortunate.

AND PUMPKIN PIE !!!! See Pumpkin has always been a Thanksgiving thing...

BUT Anyhow, enough of that rant.

My food has not been great lately, been under a huge amount of stress and been eating my way through it. I haven't exercised in a week and a half, but I am going to go to the gym tomorrow.

I made it through one Thanksgiving dinner, and it was not too bad. Two more to go, and then it's on to Christmas. Although Christmas at our house does not center around food all that much, there are all the darn holiday parties where you have to have snackey foods and you must at least have a glass of wine, which we all know is just empty calories.

Erma Bombeck, No One Diets on Thanksgiving
What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

Thanksgiving just around the corner

I just came to the realization that Thanksgiving is only two weeks away. I am doing Thanksgiving three times this year, so weight loss may not be in the forefront of my mind. I have a dinner this Saturday for church, and you know how church people eat. Then Tuesday before Thanksgiving we are having dinner at work. Then of course THE Thanksgiving dinner with family. Although this year it won't be that big. Just Shane and I, hopefully the kids will come and the in-laws. Shane's dad really hasn't been feeling that well, but he says he will try to eat with us. This is also the reason it will be relatively small. My family does not live close and the ones that do have their own things planned, and Shane's family doesn't live close either (except Mom & Dad).

I have worked out exactly twice since joining the gym two weeks ago. Getting a slow start, but I'm starting. Next year by this time, I'm going to do a half marathon, so I gotta get on it. I haven't worked out this week, but hoping to get back at it on Monday. I am so busy with church, work and family that any free time I have, exercise is not the first thing I want to do. I know it should be, but really isn't.

Shane and I went on a marriage retreat last weekend. It was really great. The only thing we had to pay for was our food (which was not cheap either). It was just a great time for us to get away and leave all our problems at home.

Biggest Loser this week, they sent home two players. And of course they were two good players. Bob visited them at their house after the show and they had continued to lose weight and looked great. I wonder if anyone actually goes home and doesn't lose any weight. That would be a little embarrassing, I would think. And why do these people always cry when they leave, it's a game and somebody's gotta go home. Oh I would probably cry too, just cuz I'm emotional like that.

Trying to decide if I want to jump back on the wagon before the holidays or wait til after. My boss suggested that we do a biggest loser here in the office starting the first of the year. That sounds like a great plan to me. Tammy and I are already on board. I know he wants to get the guys in better shape, but we can do better because we know how and we know what we need to do.

My water has been better today, and I really didn't do too bad with my eating...oh wait, I did finish off the pumpkin loaf Tammy made me this week. But i had my 90 calorie pimento cheese on 100 calorie sandwich thin for snack and two 120 calorie tuna salad on 100 calorie sandwich thin for lunch. Back to my oatmeal for breakfast tomorrow, so I'm going to be on a better track. I also have a pumpkin latte addiction right now, but I do not stop at Starbuck, I make my own, with pumpkin spice coffee, 4 calories per cup X2 (large cup) 1/4 c skim milk and 2 splenda packets. So it's very calorie affordable.

Anyhoo, that's all for now.

“The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends” ~ Unknown Author

"Your body is the baggage you must carry through life. The more excess the baggage, the shorter the trip." ~ Arnold H. Glasgow

Hump Day, Biggest Loser and New Followers

This is pretty much how my life is, When my ship sets sail, I will have either forgotten the day, or I'll be at the airport.

Whew!!! It is finally Wednesday. Everyone is always telling me I'm wishing my life away, just wishing for the weekend to get here sooner. Well I guess that's true, but the weeks just drag by and then my weekend flies by. I'm looking for a new prospective on life, so maybe when I find that I won't always be wishing my life away.

Speaking about new prospective, I have been listening to a Tony Robbins podcast (I guess you would say), I'm not really sure where it came from, but I started listening to it yesterday. Hence the reason I'm looking for a new prospective...It is called "Get the Edge". I just started listening yesterday, so I'm not that far into it, but with a great motivational speaker I'm sure it'll be great.

The Biggest Loser - I actually missed the first episode of the Biggest Loser, but it's on my On Demand, so when I get some time I'm going back to watch it (hopefully). But I did watch the second episode yesterday. I don't know why, but I get great motivation from seeing Jillian push someone to their limits. I know that I would give up the first week. When I'm working out, and I'm at the point where I think I can't go any further, I think what would Jillian scream at me at this point? Then I can go a little further.

But the weigh in's were awesome last night. How can one person lose 41 pounds in 2 weeks? Is that really possible? How much do they work out there? And if they are all cooking, eating and working out together, how can some lose that much and others only lose 12 pounds? I would love to win the lottery and be able to have a personal nutritionist, cook and personal trainer. But would that make it all better?

Tammy and I were discussing this just this morning, does the time that the contestants have on the ranch really give the time to mentally prepare for what is ahead? Does this "fast" weight loss give them enough time to wrap their mind around the mental aspect of the weight loss? The girl that was voted off last night (Allie) was 22 and had had gastric bypass surgery at the age of 14. First of all why would someone do that to their child? Is that really the only way that a child of 14 can lose weight? And it didn't work !!!!

Yeah!!! I have new Followers. I just noticed I am up to 26 now. Yeah me!!! Now I'm going to have to step up my game on this blogging thing. Sometimes I get lazy or busy and don't have enough time to blog, not enough time to read blogs, not enough time to comment on blogs. But I'm hoping to get better at this.

Last week I talked about inspiration. I read some great blogs and get a little inspiration from each one. But lately I've been going through a lot of things, some people say I have the worst luck of anyone they know, but sometimes things get in the way of our journey. I am going to do this, I am on this journey to get this done. It will probably take me longer than I anticipated, but I will get it done.

Quote for the day -

Try accepting the things in your life instead of focusing on wishes that might never happen. Life can be tough, but avoid wasting all you energy focusing on it because you still have a lot to live for.

You control you emotions.

Your thoughts and actions have to coexist with desires in order to function. Instead of being down about life, think about your goals and how you can accomplish them. Keep your thoughts positive, visualize the life you want every day and move towards your goal by working on your next plan of action.

Inspiration & the Biggest Loser

Ok this pic has nothing to do with my post, but thought it was good.

I have been inspired. All the blogs I read are inspirational, but two or three imparticular (all are listed on my blog roll).

The first one is Sean at The Daily Diary of a Winning Loser. I started reading his blog last year and have found it very inspirational. It keeps me going sometimes when I think I cannot go any further. He has been at this for a long time and has lost a great deal of weight, and doing it the healthy way on his own. I have learned alot from his blog, and can't wait for the book (a definiate buy, even on my strict budget).

Secondly, is my friend Tammy at From Fat to Fab. She got me started blogging, and actually wanting to lose this weight. I kept telling her I wasn't ready to get started again, yet. We even worked out together for a while, but life and circumstances got in the way, and we have found different workout partners. I have found her blog very motivational, and inspiring also. She also trained my hubby to eat healthier when they were roommates, so he really doesn't mind eating the healthy stuff I cook.

And thirdly, is Pam from The Rest of The Journey. She has inspired me to do a half marathon and also to do the Biggest Loser Husband vs Wife Challenge. She has a lot of good ideas, and is very motivational. I have also stolen some of her recipes (From Apples to Zucchini) and the hubby loves most of them.

I also stole this badge from Pam (hope it's alright) !!!! I would make my own, but apparently I am not that smart.

I'm not sure if the hubby is totally on board with the Biggest Loser Husband vs Wife Challenge, but he told me he would do it if it makes me happy. He always wants to make me happy.

So we started our Challenge on Monday, but we are going to do our weigh ins on Friday. Our starting weights were:

Billie 198

Shane 220

For our first weigh in our results are:

Billie 196 ( -2)

Shane 219 ( -1)

That's just a smidge over 1% of percentage of body weight lost, so we aren't going to count that just yet.

We really didn't get off to a tremendous start, we have been watching what we eat and I am cooking healthier. We haven't gotten the exercise worked in yet, but we will be doing that next week.

There was a lot of stressful situations this week. I had a migraine for three days and only got six hours sleep in three days, which is a big reason I did not get in any exercise. That and the fact we haven't joined the gym yet. I know, I know we could walk around the neighborhood or go to the park, but it's just not really the same to me. It feels as if I'm not really working out.

I LOVE THE BIGGEST LOSER!!!! I was so excited about the premiere episode this week, and then I had a family emergency and missed it. It shows on the On Demand listing, but this episode has not shown up in the list yet. I'm hoping it's there tonight so I can watch it. I saw the first 20 minutes of it and then had to leave the house and didn't get back until 3am. I really hate to see people struggle so much, but it's inspirational and motivational to see that they can do it. I'm not one to push myself further than I think I can go. I'd be the one that just quits because my knee hurts or I'm out of breath. Just because it's too hard.

I did attempt a bike ride earlier in the week, mainly just goofing off with the kids, but boy am I out of shape. I only went about a 10th of a mile, if that. The first little bit was great, it was downhill. Then comes the hard part back up the hill the to the driveway. I got about two driveways up and had to stop and walk the rest of the way. I couldn't catch my breath and had to sit down. Now it could have been the fact that it was the 2nd day of the migraine, but probably not. Probably more likely that it was I'm just out of shape!!!

But anyhow, I'm back on track and we're going to do this !!!!! Yes we are !!!!

I am trying to put on a happy face and get through the stress that is bogging me down. Gotta get to working out, eating right and drinking my water. This challenge will help me to get ready for that half marathon I am bound and determined to do next year. I will do it!!!!

I found these quotes on Goals & Goal Setting, Words to live by

The virtue lies in the struggle not the prize. - Robert Monckton Milnes

It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Who aims at excellence will be above mediocrity; who aims at mediocrity will be far short of it. - Burmese Saying

In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia - Author Unknown

God does answer prayer...and Weigh Day

Well first I'll report on my weigh day, weighed in at 198 !!!! Back to One-derland, and planning on staying there. That is a 2lb loss this week. Good for me. It's been a rough week, I've tried to watch what I eat, but sometimes stress just gets to ya.

Yesterday, there were cupcakes lurking in the office from a birthday the day before. OK, Ok, I bought them for the birthday, that's my job as office manager, I take care of the details of the office. But I really thought I'd be able to resist them. I did have one on the birthday, but Tammy looked up the calories and I figured it into my budget for that day. Yesterday, they were still there. Tammy even asked if I wanted to split one with her, and I said no. We ordered lunch out yesterday, not a bad lunch I had a roasted chicken, spinach & artichoke wrap. Sounded good (and healthy) but they didn't have a calorie count online. However, as I was getting ready to leave the office I stopped to clean up the kitchen and those cupcakes were there calling my name...Lord help me, I just had to have one. I wasn't even hungry, the sweet tooth just got the better of me. Today, if all the cupcakes are not gone, they go in the trash.

Dinner was good, I had made Shepherd's Pie the night before, so we had leftovers.

Today's food has been ok. I had Oatmeal with 1/4C of skim milk; 2 non-fat, sugar free vanilla lattes (my weakness - much like Starbucks but I make my own); a Chicken Melt sandwich and cottage cheese; an apple and a handful of grapes. I not sure what I'm making for dinner yet, but it will be something with Chicken and veggies (squash, zucchini, peppers and onions - and I need to throw some mushrooms in there too).

I have still not been working out. I have been so busy and stressed with other things going on that I just haven't gotten there. We have not joined the new gym yet, hopefully this week, then there's no excuses.

Now to my answered prayers. To those who have read my blog you know that I have been in some financial difficulties because my ex sued me, and I was looking at having to pay his attorney fees of about $3500. Well last night after I got my paycheck transferred to the savings account and the rent money from my rental house transferred, I pulled out the order to see how much I was going to be short. For some reason I thought when I looked at the paper it was $3,511, but when I got it out last night it was $3,302. With all the money I had been putting into my savings account (no bills were paid this month), I had a total of $3,343. I DID IT!!!!! I have all the money needed to keep me from going to jail. I have been praying and stressing about this. I finally just gave it all to God and said this is what I have, if it's your will for me to go to jail so be it. God did not want me to go to jail apparently, and I have all the money together. We are going to the bank Saturday morning and get the certified check.

God is good if you just trust in Him and don't lose your faith. Now to put this weight thing in his hands. I can do it !!!! I just have to put forth a little more effort and it is possible.

2 Corinthian 12:9 says "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." How can I be so weak? How many times do I have to fall before I get it right? Questions like these have plagued me for years - many years. I was familiar with failure. In fact, I was so comfortable with it that accepting a gift like God's incredible favor and grace was difficult for me to comprehend, let alone embrace as truth in my life. I am learning how Christ could work powerfully through me because of my shortcomings He gave me something I hadn't had in a long time - hope.

Now I no longer have to pretend to be strong. I can admit my mistakes, mishaps and failures, and I have a God who loves and forgives me anyway.

Today is today and tomorrow is a new day, a new beginning, a fresh start.