As I sit here completely exhausted after my workout, I'm realizing I haven't updated the blog on the 30 Day Shred lately! Today completes day 24 I believe.. actually I've sorta lost track.... I'm on Level 3 now, and can't believe I've made it this far!!! I found a new Jillian Michael's DVD last week on sale for $7.99 and added that to the mix yesterday! It's her other new one that I didn't own called No More Trouble Zones. (the cover says... "Eliminate Love Handles, Muffin Tops, and Wobbly Arms for Good!") I am SORE! But I feel like I'm in a constant state of muscle fatigue and soreness anyways, so bring it on! I love that feeling.
Jessica D. and I are making our date to celebrate 30 Days with smoothies!!!! Just a few more days.... and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself not working out every day... I think I'll just take 1-2 days off a week. Have a great evening!!!
"Even though their supersize family (and Jim Bob's fundamentally grandiose nature) might lead you to believe these people are a bunch of unstable crazies, if you watch you'll find they are some of the nicest, most solid, decent and charming folks you'll ever hope to meet..."
Wow, where do I start this post? I'm not normally doing posts about how I'm feeling healthwise.. but it's about time! After years of wondering what in the world is going on with my body, I was finally diagnosed last week with hypothyroidism (low thyroid). After every baby was born, my symptoms increased and increased... I was tired, freezing cold all the time, my hair was falling out (and still is 2 years after giving birth!), have heart palpitations, dry skin & hair, front of neck was sore/painful, dizziness, fogginess, vision issues... you name it, I feel like I've been struggling with it these past years... BUT had been seen by dozens of doctors, cardiologists, and even the ER at one point and I was always "fine." I knew I wasn't fine, but after blood work, my tests always came out perfect. Can you say frustration??
Recently, I decided I wasn't going to give up getting to the bottom of this, and went to see someone new. Who I LOVE... let me know if you live locally and want her name. We had a consult, did blood work, and found out that along with hypothyroidism, I also have a severe vitamin D deficiency, along with a goiter in my neck. (a growth on my thyroid) I just started treatment for all these things, and am feeling great. When I had blood work previously, she told me that certain things need to be tested... and they just hadn't tested for it or they would have found my problem. Also, I never knew the importance of Vitamin D and Iodine, and how much they do for your body.... it's amazing, check it out!!!
Yesterday, I came across the story of Katie... I'll let you read her story below for yourself. Prepared to be amazed, humbled, and inspired! But here's a hint... she's 21, an American who lives in Uganda, and has 14 daughters! You can follow her blog here.. and learn more about Amazina Ministries.
Something I've heard about, but haven't had much of a chance to play with is digital scrapbooking. I'm not a scrapbooking gal, but I love playing with photos and graphic design! Today I played around a bit to make us a new header for our blog, and this is what I came up with... it would have taken me hours and hours to come up with my ultimate favorite header, but I'll settle for this for now! It takes forever to download background papers, alphabets, and cute little things to add to it! So I downloaded the first cute set that caught my eye... I really liked our old wintery background, but it just didn't match... so here's to another blog background change! Does she ever stop??? nope
Off to the showers for me, just finished Day 16 of 30 Day Shred!!!! Woo Hoo! Missing a day is not an option, plus it's becoming fun to work toward a goal!
Lately, you may have noticed a lack of pictures that were not swiped from Google on here. Our camera is on the fritz.. and I'm not sure why. Maybe I'll break out some oldies but goodies soon to go along with my posts. Ta ta, have a great weekend!
there once was a lady
who had lots of babies
who worked out everyday
to take the inches away
her muscles were sore
like never before
and now she's ready to snore
day 14 is looming
but she doesn't feel gloomy
she feels super spastic
to get in elastic
and at it again once more
the beginning and end of my career as a poet
Sunday night we went to a This Hope concert at church. They are a group of 5 men who now live in Georgia, but grew up here and do an insane amount of concerts each year. Including one at our church annually! We really enjoy them. Anyways, we went as a family, and invited some dear friends along as well.
Near the end of the concert, they did what most people would call an "altar call".. you know the drill.. "Heads are bowed, all eyes are closed.. no one is looking around... slip your hand up if you prayed that prayer for the first time, or truly meant it for the first time..." Usually about once a year, I'm at an event where this is done... it's a rather strange thing if you ask me. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm definitely all for notifying church leaders or others if there are those that need someone to come alongside them in their new walk with God through Jesus Christ.. and doing this sort of group prayer to invite Jesus into your life and heart is great, it's the nudge some need that aren't ready to do this on their own. And maybe a reminder of all that God is and has done for us is just what they need to make that step... it's a perfect example of us loving our neighbors.
I'm all for the prayer aspect, folks... but the slipping the hand up? Who started this practice? And how does this look to someone who does not attend a church where this is a practice or doesn't attend church at all... and may be turned off by this seemingly odd practice? And I couldn't help but think (and please excuse me if this offends you) that it is just a way for those who are doing the ministering to keep track of how many people have accepted Christ at one of their events. I've visited Baptist churches where this is a regular practice, and for them it's probably just as routine as walking in and taking a church bulletin and finding a seat. They probably don't think anything out of the ordinary is up. I'm totally thinking outloud here, in this mini-rant, and am part giggling to myself about it all. I would hate for those who are looking in at how we as believers in Christ are living our lives and STARTING our lives in Christ to have this as a stumbling block to their step of faith. No magic words, or prayer spoken in elloquence, or hand slipped up at the perfect time without making a rustling sound, can make a holy miracle happen.
The Bible says in Romans 10: 9-10,
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
End of story. He will invade your life with the most welcome invasion. You just need to invite Him in. He will penetrate your thoughts and pitch a tent on your soul. Forever.
No matter how odd the whole hand in the air thing is to this mama, I am grateful for the message my boy Drew heard the other night. You know, Drew is growing up in a home and church that speaks truth to him day in an day out... and I was shocked the other night when my good buddy told me she spied Drew slip his hand up after praying. My Drew has always been a boy whose brain has been years ahead of his body and age. And at age 3 he decided that he just couldn't be good, and was on his floor sobbing. I talked with him about Jesus, and about how he helps us and about how he forgives our sins if we ask. Drew at that tender age, said that he wanted Jesus to come live in his heart and forgive him for not being good. I prayed with my son that day... and as we both cried and hugged I knew I would never forget that moment or even where we were sitting. (In front of the dresser in the boy's room, which is now the girl's room!) So the other night, I was excited to see what he would say about the concert, and decided to just tell Jeremy and wait and see if he mentioned it right away. Well, we got home, it was late and we all had a snack. In a wobbly voice tight with emotion Drew said, "Mom? Dad? This night has been quite the experience for me..."
Jeremy and I huddled around him and asked him to tell us what had happened. He said that he knows he asked Jesus to come into his life when he was younger, but he said in between sobs, "Now, I really meant it."
He asked us if we'd come and cuddle on the couch with him, so all 6 of us ended up piled on our loveseat, in a moment I also don't think I'll forget. He then went on to ask us to pray that he would "go after God." To which we said we already were, and would keep on praying that. As he walked down the stairs to go to bed, he asked in his still emotional voice if he could sit up and read his Bible for a bit. And we said... duh.. YES! So a bit later when we tucked him in, he had read the first 6 chapters of Genesis... such a sweet, sweet boy.
But this is my boy that always wants to be on the "bad" side.. you know, be the villain. This is my boy that will push any sibling out of the way to make it to the top of the stairs first. But this is also the boy that told a good buddy this morning that he didn't want to run around and chase the girls to tease them because he had CHANGED. Those words were told to me by the mother of this boy who was so thankful to have an example of a changed life for her son. She expressed that she had been trying to help her son understand what it all means... Jesus... Forgiveness... Change. And now, she said, it will open the doorways of communication with her son. Wow. I was speechless as she was teary-eyed. And couldn't believe my son, without any prodding or reminding, truly was CHANGED. It is amazing grace indeed.
Completely multitasking today to get this workout in... I'm sitting her in my jammies at 11am, but in a few minutes will be downstairs, doing the workout while my boys do the school I've laid out for them to do on their own while I workout... I just know that if I let this day get away from me it will be really hard to fit in later today! Especially after I've showered. I have an appointment in 2 hours..... and Grandpa Dave is coming to watch the kids for a bit while I head out. Hoping this works as planned! Here I go!!!
And there were some questions from some of you...
*I am cutting out sugary treats like cookies, candy, baked things, etc... but not ALL sugar like in bread and yogurt. Just things that are known sweets!
*And yes, I have taken before pictures... twice last year I think... not much has changed! So I'm using those photos as my baseline to compare to! I already feel such a difference in 5 days, it's incredible! I'll probably weigh in on Fridays to see if any poundage is lost. I'm not so concerned about that to start, because I already feel great!
Happy day!
Today marks Day 5 of my 30 Day Challenge... exercising 30 Days in a row with mostly Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred and a few other workouts thrown in to mix things up. I have really been enjoying this, really! I've exercised at different times in the day each day, but am trying not to stress myself during the day if I don't get it in early along with a shower. The other night, after a busy day out, I had to squeeze it in at 10 pm, which was NOT ideal in my book. But I was determined to do it. So I put Jillian on our TV quietly... then put a movie in my laptop closeby turned up loud with subtitles! It rocked!!! I could totally forget I was working out, but could keep up with what the gals were doing in the workout at the same time!!!! So that is my "I really don't feel like doing this today" trick... try it!
Also, the no sugar thing is going well too! Surprisingly, the will power and desire to lose this last bit of weight has been way more important to me than a few passing bites of sugary things. Even though I LOVE them! So in 10 days, I have had 2 spoonfuls of frosting that I just couldn't pass up. :) Other than that? I've steered clear, something I never thought I could do. This is not by any means an easy thing to do. I am not blessed any longer with a metabolism that can handle eating crud all day... since having 4 babies grow in this belly of mine things have sure changed!
I know this about myself and am tired of goals unreached! I make goals about writing articles or books... (neither of which I've worked on in ages) about healthier food choices, about books I'm gonna read, about being more patient as a mom, and the list goes on!!! But the one goal I make and remake about every 3 months is to lose the last 10-15 pounds that are clinging on this lady! Lately, I've been praying and asking God to HELP, I have NO willpower on my own as far as healthy eating goes... I can workout everyday but if I'm still eating crud my work is in vain! Because I just don't lose a thing. Food is the key for me.
