I learned a very valuable lesson this month. How do you keep positive despite obstacles trying to knock you down? How do you just keep moving? As many of you know, I absolutely love the Mercy Me song "Move." It has been a great motivator for me since it came out and is keeps me moving in all walks of life.
But motivation hasn't come easy when I got my first cold of the season. What's a little cold you ask? It's a 2 weeks of can't do anything is what it is! This cold has been going around, and it most certainly takes away your get up and go! I don't know that I've had a simple cold hang on so terribly long. Started with the sinuses draining and eventually moved into the chest. I still have the nagging cough, but I was able to walk the boys from the parking lot today to the school building without getting out of breath. I call that serious progress. :-)
So, when I realized it's the last day of the month, so I have to take my measurements, I cringed at the idea of stepping on the scale that I was trying to avoid all month. And almost came to tears at the idea of putting a measuring tape anywhere near me. My Beachbody coach, Mary, has been awesomely telling me to remember this isn't a 90 day change, it's a lifestyle change. And she encourages me that despite two weeks of not being able to workout, I can still keep plugging away.
How easy would it be to quit right now? How easy would it be to step back into my old routines and forget that I have an ultimate goal that I am working towards that could take a year or more to reach? VERY. Which is why I decided to step on that scale and why I decided, through my tears, to measure anyway. I didn't lose any weight this month. I anticipated that as eating out became a better option the past few weeks when we weren't feeling well and none of us had the energy to lift a finger, let alone a pan. But I decided I had to measure anyhow. It's my commitment to Beachbody to measure and check in. So I took that measuring tape and put it in the places to measure. First my right arm, then my left. Around my chest, my waist and hips. Then the thighs. I wrote down each and every number not having a clue if they were an improvement or backslide. I had a hard time writing the numbers down because I was seriously crying. I'm an emotional soul anyhow, but the fact that I hadn't lost any weight really weighed heavily on me (excuse the pun).
I brought my numbers into the office space and sat down to my computer feeling as if I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. After bringing up my numbers in Beachbody, I just stared at the computer. And stared for quite sometime. Owen even asked me if I was okay. I couldn't believe my eyes.
It said I lost an inch around my waist and TWO on my hips!! Seriously, I went back into the bedroom and measured again. I just didn't believe it. I know what I ate; I know what bad habits I had started back up on. I knew I had taken the easy way out! So, the results for day 60 is that I have now lost a total of 2 1/2 inches from my waist, 3 1/2 inches from my hips. I've lost approximately 3% body fat and my arms have been reduced by 2 inches. I lost 3 inches from my chest. The shock of it all for me is the fact that despite not losing any weight, I still lost everywhere else (besides those stupid thighs which I think I might be measuring wrong).
So this morning on my way back from taking the boys to school, I had a heart to heart with the Lord. I promised him that I wasn't going to beat myself up about September. This isn't a 90 day commitment, as beautiful Mary Smith would say. This is my life and the life of my family. This is a lifestyle change, and there is no cheesecake out there good enough to make up for the incredible feeling I get after a great workout!
My lesson today, my friends, is that if you feel like taking the easy way instead of the right way, talk yourself out of it. The rewards on the other side are so much brighter and so much better. If you see me out and eating something I shouldn't, please ask me about it. It might be a special treat, but it might be me slipping. If you see me out, ask me about my workout for the day. October 1st starts a new day, so Kenpo will be calling my name despite the busy day ahead of us. And if all works out the way it is supposed to, I might be able to squeeze in a yoga just to get these muscles moving again today!
Keep your chin up friends as I can see a brighter and better view on the horizon and it is really beautiful!
Want to share my motivation with you... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EuV5goIkb0&feature=related
September 30, 2011
September 20, 2011
Weepy
Today, I find myself weepy and incurably sad. I, like so many, oftentimes find myself stressing over things that are absolutely beyond any control that I might have. And while I know how to stop it, I fall short and do not. I know that God is in control and whatever He has planned to happen will, but in my egotistical mind, I believe I can take care of it and control it and prevent negative things from happening. WOW! I'm glad I don't really have that much control or it would really drive me insane!
This weekend is a huge mark in the independence of our sweet Owen. Our little peanut allergy kid that I have sheltered for so many years will be going off on his first camp out as a cub scout (now he has gone with Alec, but not as a scout- just a brother- and I was there). I'm not going. I don't think my heart could handle it. His Daddy, who is also his Den Leader, will be going with him. And we are already praying for God's control... they are serving snacks that include nuts. Cookies that have nuts and actual nuts as snacks on both Friday and Saturday night. I won't sleep a wink, I am sure. I will be awaiting that horrid call as I do every day when I drop him off at school. And while I know God is taking care of him, I just can't let go. I can't let that be it, and it's all because I'm the Mommy.
But the part that I think has me so darn weepy today is that I realized this morning that I've done my job. I've taught him how to live in a peanut world. I know that I have been working to that end since he was 12 months and diagnosed with a life-threatening food allergy. I know that I have been diligent in stressing to him how important it is to avoid those situations that could be dangerous to him without vocally calling himself or his classmates out. I know that I've taught others to be tolerant around him and him to be tolerant of those who just don't get it. And my job certainly doesn't stop here at the wise old age of almost 7 ;-) But today he showed me that my lessons are in there, and he understands the danger involved in other people's daily living. He told me this morning that he asked the teacher in charge in the lunchroom yesterday if he could go to the front of the lunch line for going out. She did ask for an explanation. His words to me... "Mommy, I just told her that I have been thinking and it isn't safe for me to be in line with other kids that might have had peanuts or peanut butter in their lunches. We don't clean our hands until after we are out of the gym. What if they touch me? It's dangerous, and I don't want to be in that situation." Yes, he used those big words and suddenly I realized that while I have a little first grader, I also have a big boy who has learned how to protect himself and how to think independently. And, that quite possibly, might be the death of me ;-) I've lived his entire life protecting him from those things he couldn't protect himself from. But as he grows up and matures, I see that Wade and I have instilled in him a lesson of survival. He is gonna be just fine this weekend. I know that! But I'm still the Mommy, so I will still worry and I will still fret after him cause that's my job!
Everyday we say, I can't believe they are growing up. Each and every one of them. Letting go is so very difficult, but for a food allergy Mom, letting go means so much more. I ask for prayers as I come to realize it's all in God's hands, and I'm doing my job. He is a big boy, Kim! He can handle it himself. Hard words for this Mom to accept.
This weekend is a huge mark in the independence of our sweet Owen. Our little peanut allergy kid that I have sheltered for so many years will be going off on his first camp out as a cub scout (now he has gone with Alec, but not as a scout- just a brother- and I was there). I'm not going. I don't think my heart could handle it. His Daddy, who is also his Den Leader, will be going with him. And we are already praying for God's control... they are serving snacks that include nuts. Cookies that have nuts and actual nuts as snacks on both Friday and Saturday night. I won't sleep a wink, I am sure. I will be awaiting that horrid call as I do every day when I drop him off at school. And while I know God is taking care of him, I just can't let go. I can't let that be it, and it's all because I'm the Mommy.
But the part that I think has me so darn weepy today is that I realized this morning that I've done my job. I've taught him how to live in a peanut world. I know that I have been working to that end since he was 12 months and diagnosed with a life-threatening food allergy. I know that I have been diligent in stressing to him how important it is to avoid those situations that could be dangerous to him without vocally calling himself or his classmates out. I know that I've taught others to be tolerant around him and him to be tolerant of those who just don't get it. And my job certainly doesn't stop here at the wise old age of almost 7 ;-) But today he showed me that my lessons are in there, and he understands the danger involved in other people's daily living. He told me this morning that he asked the teacher in charge in the lunchroom yesterday if he could go to the front of the lunch line for going out. She did ask for an explanation. His words to me... "Mommy, I just told her that I have been thinking and it isn't safe for me to be in line with other kids that might have had peanuts or peanut butter in their lunches. We don't clean our hands until after we are out of the gym. What if they touch me? It's dangerous, and I don't want to be in that situation." Yes, he used those big words and suddenly I realized that while I have a little first grader, I also have a big boy who has learned how to protect himself and how to think independently. And, that quite possibly, might be the death of me ;-) I've lived his entire life protecting him from those things he couldn't protect himself from. But as he grows up and matures, I see that Wade and I have instilled in him a lesson of survival. He is gonna be just fine this weekend. I know that! But I'm still the Mommy, so I will still worry and I will still fret after him cause that's my job!
Everyday we say, I can't believe they are growing up. Each and every one of them. Letting go is so very difficult, but for a food allergy Mom, letting go means so much more. I ask for prayers as I come to realize it's all in God's hands, and I'm doing my job. He is a big boy, Kim! He can handle it himself. Hard words for this Mom to accept.
September 14, 2011
Lessons in the PortAPotty
"I learned something new today," said "Jeff," the man at the football practice. "Ethan taught me that that thing in the Port A Potty is a urinal."
Laughter erupted from his girlfriend (and almost from the poor lady eavesdropping next to them).
"I know. At 33 and I just now learn that," he said. "Ethan started to pee in it, and I asked him what he was doing!" That is when this sweet little 6 year-old boy (and I mean that, he is a cute fella) looked at that great big man and taught him that there is a urinal in the port a potty.
"What did you think it was?" his girlfriend asked.
Through all the laughing, the poor lady didn't have a chance at hearing the answer. And when I say all the laughing, it was from that poor lady, ME. I just lost it and the three of us had an interesting conversation and laughter that followed. I joked about him ending up on my blog and really didn't plan to write anything about it, but I got to thinking. Many of you know how I am when I am thinking. hee hee.
How many of us go through our day and don't learn something? Do you really have a day where you are truly a know it all and didn't learn a lesson? As I sat here thinking this morning about writing, I wondered what it was that I learned yesterday..a valuable lesson indeed. My daughter is absolutely heartbroken over the fact that she is "too little" to do certain things, such as dance. Yes, that is my lesson. I learned that those real tears are showing her heartbreak. And when you say, duh, Kim, I say to you, how was I not to know that it wasn't just her throwing a normal 2 year old fit? Seriously, how many times have I not payed attention to the sadness she is showing because I've written it off as a normal temper tantrum. How did I miss that she is the "baby" of the family and gets treated as such more often than not? My big girl is growing up, and mighty fast, but how many times in a day is she hearing the phrase "you're too little to do this or that?" So my lesson is that while she is little, she is a big girl at heart and her needs to be addressed just the same. So excited to see what new I learn today!
The lesson from the Port A Potty that I am sending today is to pay attention to what we are being taught each day. You never know when you might actually learn something new, like the port a potty actually has a urinal.
Laughter erupted from his girlfriend (and almost from the poor lady eavesdropping next to them).
"I know. At 33 and I just now learn that," he said. "Ethan started to pee in it, and I asked him what he was doing!" That is when this sweet little 6 year-old boy (and I mean that, he is a cute fella) looked at that great big man and taught him that there is a urinal in the port a potty.
"What did you think it was?" his girlfriend asked.
Through all the laughing, the poor lady didn't have a chance at hearing the answer. And when I say all the laughing, it was from that poor lady, ME. I just lost it and the three of us had an interesting conversation and laughter that followed. I joked about him ending up on my blog and really didn't plan to write anything about it, but I got to thinking. Many of you know how I am when I am thinking. hee hee.
How many of us go through our day and don't learn something? Do you really have a day where you are truly a know it all and didn't learn a lesson? As I sat here thinking this morning about writing, I wondered what it was that I learned yesterday..a valuable lesson indeed. My daughter is absolutely heartbroken over the fact that she is "too little" to do certain things, such as dance. Yes, that is my lesson. I learned that those real tears are showing her heartbreak. And when you say, duh, Kim, I say to you, how was I not to know that it wasn't just her throwing a normal 2 year old fit? Seriously, how many times have I not payed attention to the sadness she is showing because I've written it off as a normal temper tantrum. How did I miss that she is the "baby" of the family and gets treated as such more often than not? My big girl is growing up, and mighty fast, but how many times in a day is she hearing the phrase "you're too little to do this or that?" So my lesson is that while she is little, she is a big girl at heart and her needs to be addressed just the same. So excited to see what new I learn today!
The lesson from the Port A Potty that I am sending today is to pay attention to what we are being taught each day. You never know when you might actually learn something new, like the port a potty actually has a urinal.
September 3, 2011
Alcohol
Someone is going to take this blog post wrong. Someone is going to be offended by my words. Someone is going to feel like I am attacking them by even writing this. Someone is going to like what I write. Someone is going to be encouraged by my words. Every person takes everything different. I cannot control how others interpret what I'm writing, nor can I control how others interpret my actions. I cannot control the fact that I will be judged by others. What I can control is how I react. This blog is about that.
Let's talk about drinking. Some of you will stop reading this right now. I am sorry if you choose to do that, because I do have some valid points that I believe will shed light on my family and our thoughts regarding the subject. The Bible says so many things about so many different subjects. Drinking alcoholic beverages is one of them. There is a debate about the question.
Is it wrong to drink wine? Beer? What does the Bible say? Let's take a look......
The scripture in Proverbs 20 says warns that wine and strong drink can be bad to a man (woman to). It can cause raging and brawling and doing things in a drunken stupor that are unwise and regrettable. So what should our position as Christians be since we know that drunkenness can cause sorrows and troubles? We know that alcoholism is responsible for many broken homes for various reasons. Many deaths on our highways are caused by drinking and driving. Alcoholism has become a very costly drug addiction problem. So I say the answer is yes and no. Drunkenness is a very evil sin that hurts everyone, including our entire nation. The Bible does say that all drunkards who do not repent will not inherit the kingdom of God.
I believe the answer to this question is that the wine (or beer) itself is not sinful, because sin is in the heart of man and does not exist in any object of itself. It is the drunkenness and intoxication that comes about when a man drinks too much that causes him sin. The Bible teaches discipline and moderation; even eating too much food is a sin and is called the sin of gluttony in the Bible.
So, let's get to the point of my post. I absolutely adore my husband, and I absolutely adore all of my friends. That's why you are my friends. The one thing that frustrates me is those who have chosen to judge when it is not their place. (that is another blog post in itself). I write this post tonight because unkind words were said that were pointed straight at my family and our beliefs. It does not bother me that those words were said. We all have a right to our opinion. My husband and I took the opportunity to speak to our children about sin and what the Bible teaches us about moderation. Is it okay to drink alcoholic beverages? Jesus did, and I believe it is okay. It's in the scripture. Did he get drunk and stupid? Not that I have seen. Moderation. Drinking is not a sin. It is an action that in excess can cause sin because it is already in the heart of the one drinking.
Am I in any way encouraging someone to drink?? NO! My actions, the actions of my family and my words are not in any way an encouragement to my brothers in Christ to do something they know is wrong for them. What I am saying is that the action itself of drinking is not the sin. If I choose to have a glass of wine with my dinner or after dinner, that is my choice... one that Christ gave me the liberty to decide. Please do not judge me. It is not your place.
Let's talk about drinking. Some of you will stop reading this right now. I am sorry if you choose to do that, because I do have some valid points that I believe will shed light on my family and our thoughts regarding the subject. The Bible says so many things about so many different subjects. Drinking alcoholic beverages is one of them. There is a debate about the question.
Is it wrong to drink wine? Beer? What does the Bible say? Let's take a look......
The scripture in Proverbs 20 says warns that wine and strong drink can be bad to a man (woman to). It can cause raging and brawling and doing things in a drunken stupor that are unwise and regrettable. So what should our position as Christians be since we know that drunkenness can cause sorrows and troubles? We know that alcoholism is responsible for many broken homes for various reasons. Many deaths on our highways are caused by drinking and driving. Alcoholism has become a very costly drug addiction problem. So I say the answer is yes and no. Drunkenness is a very evil sin that hurts everyone, including our entire nation. The Bible does say that all drunkards who do not repent will not inherit the kingdom of God.
I believe the answer to this question is that the wine (or beer) itself is not sinful, because sin is in the heart of man and does not exist in any object of itself. It is the drunkenness and intoxication that comes about when a man drinks too much that causes him sin. The Bible teaches discipline and moderation; even eating too much food is a sin and is called the sin of gluttony in the Bible.
So, let's get to the point of my post. I absolutely adore my husband, and I absolutely adore all of my friends. That's why you are my friends. The one thing that frustrates me is those who have chosen to judge when it is not their place. (that is another blog post in itself). I write this post tonight because unkind words were said that were pointed straight at my family and our beliefs. It does not bother me that those words were said. We all have a right to our opinion. My husband and I took the opportunity to speak to our children about sin and what the Bible teaches us about moderation. Is it okay to drink alcoholic beverages? Jesus did, and I believe it is okay. It's in the scripture. Did he get drunk and stupid? Not that I have seen. Moderation. Drinking is not a sin. It is an action that in excess can cause sin because it is already in the heart of the one drinking.
Am I in any way encouraging someone to drink?? NO! My actions, the actions of my family and my words are not in any way an encouragement to my brothers in Christ to do something they know is wrong for them. What I am saying is that the action itself of drinking is not the sin. If I choose to have a glass of wine with my dinner or after dinner, that is my choice... one that Christ gave me the liberty to decide. Please do not judge me. It is not your place.
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the liberty we have in Christ. Help us not to judge one another in regard to the issue of drinking a little wine, but rather to be honest before You as to the issue in our own hearts in this regard. May we be a good witness before those in the world. When we make our choices in this life, may they be pleasing to You and show love to those around us. You told us the highest law is the law of love. We are first to love You, and then, to love one another. May we do this in word and deed. Keep us from temptation and sin and let our actions prove to the world that we are true Christians. Deliver those who are addicted to alcohol and who are in this snare of the devil. I ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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