Slow and steady...

I'm writing this evening with an update. First, things have been going fairly well overall. Over the last 6 weeks or so, I've been trying to stick to my once a week dessert day, with a few exceptions here and there. I didn't specifically write about those, as I said I would, but this post is to cover a blanket time period instead of writing about each of the times I had an extra dessert day. Here was my original commitment with dessert: "Here's my commitment. No dessert except the following occasions UNTIL I lose all the weight I have to lose (which is 30 pounds, btw): Joshua's birthday, Mother's Day, Memorial Day (Sunday/Monday--family stuff), and my birthday. If there is an occasion that I would like to have dessert otherwise, I have to clear it with Neal (and post it here)." Well, I now have only 25 pounds to lose. So the good news is I have lost 5 pounds since I wrote that post. However, the bad news is, I said I would only have dessert on the special occasions I listed. The latest one being my birthday, which was over 2 months ago. I wrote an updated post where I changed my commitment to having dessert one day a week. While I have been trying to stick to that, I am going to tweak my commitment once again. I hope this is okay! I have honestly struggled with whether or not it is okay to change my commitment, since I said I was going to keep it until I lost the 30 pounds. I did say that if I wanted to have dessert on another occasion, I would clear it with Neal. Well, I talked to him today about this, and he was cool with my new plan. So, I guess in that way I am not breaking my original commitment because I've cleared it with Neal. :) So, here it is. I've been counting calories for the last 6+ weeks, and some days I have gone over my calories, and some days I've been under. More times over than under. I'm glad I've been able to consistently journal my calories for that time, but I am looking for an extra motivation now to stay within my daily calorie goal. My new plan from now on, at least for now, is that I can have dessert on days when I account for it in my total calorie count and can still come in at or under my goal for that day. I feel like this will be more reflective of the way I want to eat when I finally can get to a maintenance level for my weight...eating dessert only when I have enough calories saved for it. I hope I haven't disappointed anyone in my updated commitment. I'm looking forward to a new challenge and incentive!

Counting calories...starting tomorrow :)

I have not been keeping up with my once a week dessert. We went on a mission trip to Miami and then a 2 day trip to Georgia and I didn't count desserts or calories. To be honest, I have not paid much attention to how many times I have been eating dessert over the last several weeks. I really feel like giving up my commitment at this point, but I feel like I need to keep it since it was a commitment. Anyway, I am planning to get focused tomorrow by starting to count calories each day. I think that will be the big difference maker in my weight loss. I just have to get focused!

A bit discouraged

First, I had dessert on Sunday. Two bite/fun sized chocolate candies and a small frosty. More on the dessert later... I am feeling discouraged today. It seems like I keep taking one step forward, then two steps back. I had my lowest weigh in yet on Sunday morning of this week. I was so pumped about it that I texted my sister and challenged her to a little biggest loser contest for this week. Well, the next morning I woke up a pound heavier. The next morning, another pound up. And today, about the same as yesterday...maybe even up a little more. I looked back at my desert the dessert post I wrote over a month ago. As of this morning, I am only down about 1 1/2 pounds from then. I can't lie; that number is not encouraging. I know I have had some bad days, but overall. I feel like I have been doing well. I have maybe eaten dessert once a week and been exercising 3 days a week. I even had my furthest run yet yesterday at 4.2 miles. I just feel like I am trying with little to show for it. Anyway, my commitment was to eat no desert except on certain occasions until I lost all my weight. I would like to modify that a bit today. Instead of certain occasions that I list in advance, I am going to change my commitment to no more than dessert one day a week. If I have dessert more than once in a week, I will mention it here on my blog. I will go ahead and say that I plan to have dessert two days this weekend as it is my birthday and Fathers Day and we will be celebrating with family. I think in order to really lose weight, I have to consistently count/journal calories.

Update

I know this is a totally boring update, but I wanted to be honest. I said if I had dessert that I would record it here. So, I had dessert last weekend on a date with Neal and last night for a youth girls' sleepover at our house. Tonight I think we might have dessert again, but I'll have to check with Neal first. :) Overall, I do not crave the dessert nearly as much as I did before. The less I eat it, the less I crave it. The more I eat it, the more I crave it. Interesting... One more update...I did have dessert on Saturday and Sunday. I'm going to try not to have any until Father's Day/my bday. :)

Update

I think it's been 3 weeks since I wrote my "desert the dessert" update. Things have been going really well overall, I think; praise the Lord! I have lost about 3 pounds since then. I've been continuing to do some running 3 days a week. I have been skipping desserts except for the following: Joshua's birthday (I included that as one of the days I'd eat dessert), one leftover piece of birthday cake (which I asked Neal about first), and a Starbucks frappachino on a date night with Neal. I am finding that I'm not really craving the desserts like I used to. I have been enjoying more fresh vegetables for snacks and making fruit smoothies to satisfy my sweet tooth (but much healthier than a bowl of ice cream or batch of cookies). I am 4 pounds away from getting out of the "overweight" category for my bmi and into the healthy weight category. That will be an exciting day if/when I can get there. I'm hoping that day will come soon! That will also be right around my pre-Micah and pre-Caleb pregnancy weight. I've got 27 more pounds to lose to get my goal weight. Thanks for reading! :)

Desert the dessert!

I am not even sure how or where to begin this post. You know how sometimes you have so many different ideas circling in your head that all come together and make sense to you, but you can't really express it to anyone else? That's sort of how I feel. Let me back up a little. For some time I have had this sneaking feeling that the way I have titled my blog is very ironic. You see, my greatest struggle with food, in my opinion, is with dessert. I started this blog long ago thinking that I would disprove all the people who think you can't have dessert and still lose weight. I wanted to show that calorie counting alone can do it. Well, while I still do think that is possible, for me, dessert has proved to be only a struggle and at times a stumbling block in different ways. I realized that I was almost making food--mainly dessert--an idol in some ways earlier this month. I prayed and confessed that to God (so thankful for His forgiveness!) one Sunday morning at church. It wasn't anything that was said at church that made me realize it--the connection was made thanks to a friend's husband's blog and some thinking about my own thoughts/habits towards food/dessert. I will share a link to that blog in a minute. He writes very openly about the sin of gluttony in his own life and how he is dealing with it. Love that blog. Anyways, I know there have been times that I've been a glutton. In fact, it's probably more times that I would like to admit or realize. Hence why I am 25 pounds heavier today than I was when we got married. I am thankful God forgives and is helping me to see that this whole process is more than just losing weight. It's about honoring God in my body and obeying Him. So here I am this morning, realizing that the pride that I expressed in naming my blog is the very thing that's proved to be a stumbling block for me. I told Neal after that Sunday morning at church that I was going to try to not eat any dessert for the rest of the month except for Caleb's birthday. I have kept that commitment only in part. I have eaten less dessert than I did before, but I keep findind reasons to have it. There was Easter...then Caleb's leftover birthday cake...then jelly beans from Caleb's party...then having friends over... I'd like to take a minute to share about my motivations and inspirations for losing weight. My motivations all live under my roof. The love of my life who sleeps next to me. The four sweet boys who keep me busy, busy, busy but I LOVE being their mommy. Myself. And most importantly, my God. Those are my motivations. The 7 reasons I want NEED to lose this weight. I want to make my husband proud of me. I want to inspire my kids to work hard and to be able to keep up with them. I want to feel better about myself. I want to honor God by not being a glutton but being satisfied with how He provides for my needs. Now my inspirations are a little different. I have 2 main inspirations right now. First is my friend's husband Chris that I referred to earlier. Here's a link to his blog: Although we're friends on facebook, he really doesn't know me. I know his beautiful wife, Jenna, from my old church. He really writes openly about his struggles which I appreciate. He is also determined to make a difference for his wife. I love that he wrote somewhere early on his blog that he was losing weight for his wife. He said something like, "Jenna, I love you more than food." I really like that. That's my first inspiration. My second is my sister. She's one of my best friends in the whole world, and I have watched her work SO hard over the last 4 1/2 months to lose close to 30 pounds. She is AMAZING. I love her, and I want to be like her in so many ways. She loves Jesus with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength. I would be blessed to have just a fraction of her faith, hope, and love. I hope that she knows how proud I am of her. So, all these thoughts are coming together to drive me to what I know I need to do. I have to drop the dessert--or the excessiveness/obsessiveness with it. I know I can lose weight with God's help. So, for all my motivations, here it is. Here's my commitment. No dessert except the following occasions UNTIL I lose all the weight I have to lose (which is 30 pounds, btw): Joshua's birthday, Mother's Day, Memorial Day (Sunday/Monday--family stuff), and my birthday. If there is an occasion that I would like to have dessert otherwise, I have to clear it with Neal (and post it here). I am going to go pray now and ask God to help me with this commitment. If any of you are still reading after all my rambling, you might think, "Wow. All that talk for just that??" You see, for a dessert lover like me, it's not so easy to give up dessert. I am a dessert lover at heart. But to borrow Chris' quote, "Neal, J, G, C, M, and Jesus, I love you more than dessert."

5k bound--NOT overweight!

A quick update--I have been training for a 5k, and that has been going well. On Monday I ran 2 miles straight and it took me 27:15. Today I ran 2 miles straight and shaved off 1:15 to run it at 26:00 even. I know it's a slower pace, but for me, just to run a mile is huge.

I can't help but think how much easier it would be to run without carrying all the extra weight I've gained over the past 6+ years. I am approx. 10 pounds away from being considered at a health bmi--ie. not being overweight.

I am making it my goal, as of today, to run a 5k on March 12 (schedule permitting--there are two in central FL to choose from that I've found so far) and to run it at a healthy weight.

Once I lose 10 pounds, I have more to lose, but at least I can run it knowing I am no longer overweight. That is my goal. I know I can do it with God's help!

I could certainly use any accountability/encouragement anyone can throw my way. Thanks!