8.16.11 - Our Journey Begins Publicly

The Journey begins.  I start my blog tonight with words I named my first blog on August 2^nd.  Just 1 week ago a new commitment was made. This commitment was not a half willed one.  It was one that deep down inside, was real.  I knew it would result in profound change for the future.   I am ready.  This is it.  I am starting this new journey with the most wonderful support system.  A partner who is going to be making her own equal changes; some similar to mine, some different.  My older sister, Kai and I have never been super close in the past but these last 2 years have turned us into confidants, partners in business and partners in life changes.  No one understands me quite like she does and I believe there are certain aspects of herself that I understand that no one else quite does like I do.  We are the closest in blood it can get and although we are different in many ways, we are intimately alike in others.  We both have an amazing ability to accomplish what we put our mind to.  That ability results from a sharp focus that often hones in on our main goal while all other aspects of our life fall out of focus.  We focus on work and our spiritually and family life are not as healthy as they should or need to be.  We focus on spiritual things and our health and business fall out of focus.  We both know we need better balance and this journey is all about that—becoming the women we know we can be in allaspects of our life.   Making our health, family life, spirituality, and business life work harmoniously; finding the fine balance and keeping proper focus. 

I will be sharing my goals and progress with my dear sisters; spiritual and fleshly (Kai and I have 7 sisters, 8 girls in all).  I invite you to share with me in this as I blog about my ups and downs, progress and stumbling blocks and how I overcome them.  But even more exciting to me than sharing my own progress, is hearing about your own goals.  I invite you to share your own journey with Kai and I.  This system of things is difficult.  All of us can use a support system to encourage us to be strong women… women who can be inspiring mothers, supportive wives and faithful servants of God.   What goals do you have?  Kai and I would love to hear about them.  We can do this girls, we are wonderfully made and all of us can accomplish whatever we put our minds and hearts to.

As a start to our journey, Kai has made a commitment to lose weight. A lot of weight.  As she has focused on all other people in her life the last 20 years, she has turned focus away from herself.   6 weeks ago she weighed 309 pounds.  She has yo-yoed up and down over time.  At one point, 10 years ago, she lost 150 pounds.  When she reached her goal she then turned her focus on other things in her life, lost balance and gained her weight back—all of it and then some.  The last 10 years she has weighed over 200 and probably averaged about 250. Her goal to lose 150 or more pounds again started 6 weeks ago.  She made a commitment to go on a juice fast for 126 days until November 8^th, when she turns 40.  She has stuck to her juicing for 42 days and is now 43 pounds lighter; 266 pounds today!  

Kai knows that in order to be able to accomplish her utmost, she needs to be physically healthy.  Sometimes we put ourselves last thinking we are helping others more by doing this.  However, we soon realize that if we are not healthy, we are limited in how much we can do for others. We are also not as happy as we can be if our health is in good shape and of course, this affect our relationships. When Kai announced her juice fast and commitment to lose weight 6 weeks ago, I knew this was it for her.  This was the final time she would need to lose so much weight.  I knew she was ready and that although she would have a tough road ahead of her, that she was now mentally capable to take it on.  It was almost as if I already knew it before she even told me.  I knew it was her time.  Excitedly I confirmed my faith in her and her ability to do this.  We talked about the road ahead and what it would be like.  That evening, I wanted to show my support to her in this new lifestyle and I decided I would make a commitment to also overhaul my eating habits.  I have decided that I would turn to a vegetarian diet until November 8^th.  My commitment also includes staying away from all refined carbs and sugar.  If she can juice fruits and veggies all day, I certainly can eat fruits, veggies and whole grains.  I started my own diet August 2^nd, one week ago.  I started with the notion I would eat Lacto-Ovo-Pecto (includes fish, eggs and dairy) but I decided today I would make a full commitment to not eat fish or any meat.  I have already studied about how to make sure I get enough nutrients and I have come across some exciting recipes I will soon share.  Just a week of eating this way has already resulted in a 6 pound weight loss for myself.  This is an exciting thing but even more exciting are other ways this eating style have changed things I thought diet had nothing to do with.  I am more clear-headed, happier and focused.  I will share some of my exiting new discoveries in the upcoming weeks.  In the meantime, I invite you to share in Kai’s and my journey and share your own.  You can create a free blogspot account or you can email us.  We can do this. We are ready.  

8.7.11 - Tripping up yesterday & gaining renewed motivation from 2 great documentaries

I should have gotten so much more done with work today than I actually have.  I have spent the majority of my afternoon and evening with thoughts actions on Kai's and my journey.  I watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead today.  Last night I watched Food, Inc. 

Food Inc. made me want to stay devoted to a low meat diet forever.  It also made me want to stick to good choices at the grocery store.  Buying as much as I can that is locally grown and organic.  I realized if I eat organic it wouldn't be as costly if I was eating less meat, processed foods and sugar.  A high veggie/fruit/grain diet leaves you satisfied so you eat less during the day. 

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead gave me that burst of motivation to continue.  Here are some of my favorite things from the movie:

-"You do the crime, you do the time."  This was Joe's initial feeling starting out.  Expressing how hard it was to stick to the diet in the beginning.  The depressing thoughts of the long journey ahead. 
-Most people keep putting off changing to a healthy lifestyle to a more convenient time.  I was amazed at the young people he interviewed in their 20's and 30's who look awful... at least twice their age!

-People feel they eat what they want as it makes them happy and if that means they die early, they die happy.  

-DR: we don't have to have to be demented, have heart disease, strokes, most cancers.  We do most of these things to ourselves by our daily choices.

-If you Juice, your mates will think your extreme ,crazy...

-It's about maintaining a balanced lifestyle.  If you go back to your old ways, you'll be back to your old self in no time.  The choice is yours. 

- A balanced lifestyle in moderation--not perfection!

-"People say I couldn't do that, w/out even trying.  So what if you do it for 7 days then stop. Good on you for trying."  

This movie reminds me of the need for us to keep trying.  If something doesn't work, try something else but never stop trying. If a good diet or lifestyle you are maintaining gets put off for a day... you goof up, don't let that be an excuse to stop all together or a reason to eat poorly the next day.  

Speaking of... so yesterday we had a congregation picnic.  It was a good day.  I went out in service in the morning and resisted the urge to eat pastries and high calorie coffee drinks.  I just drank water and wasn't tempted.  I ate tuna with onions, garlic and pickles for lunch (no bread).  The picnic had an amazing amount of vegetarian dishes.  Cut fruit, meatless lasagna, broccoli salad, etc. I started with fruit but when i realized there were so many more choices, I filled my plate with some of them.  Then when I wanted a taste of a new salad that arrived, I went for seconds.  I realized the new salad had bacon in it... something i am not eating.  Yet I found my mind slipping back into it's old self rationalizing that maybe this once wasn't so bad... it was just a few crumbles of bacon.  After all, maybe i instead would follow the flexitarian diet!  That is mostly vegetarian with "some" meat every once in a while.  I ate the salad.  Then my mind started to play tricks on me.  I realized i now had eaten more than I should have.  I also cheated with the bacon.  So a third helping wouldn't matter at this point.  I felt my mood slip even more.  I was now grumpy and unsocial.  I ate a piece of cake.  Hey, it's part of my diet if I want... a vegetarian diet can include cake.... it was my OWN created wish to stay away from sugar. 

Needless to say, the headache I had all day got worse and I was now feeling completely grumpy being I had totally lost control. I left with friends who could take me home early and told Kevin I'd see him later at home. 

I was reminded of an important thing.  Eating bad or abandoning my goals makes me feel REALLY bad.  I get disappointed with myself, even angry which puts me in a horrific mood.  My family gets the brunt end of that as I am now upset with them as well.  Heck, I am mad at the world at this point.  Eating well and maintaining a good diet may require total deprivation of some foods for me.  I have an emotional disorder and that quickly leads to overeating and rationalizing wrong choices.  I must watch what I eat and think twice before diving in.  Watching the two movies really helped me gain motivation to get back on track.  I ate GREAT today completely sticking to the Lacto-Ovo-Pectarian diet.  


In the future, I want to remember the saying from a motivational speaker.  He reminded the audience about how they feel after going to a motivational seminar, read a good book, or come across something inspiring. You feel this amazing willpower to change; like you can conquer the world.  Then as time passes, sometimes even a few hours, that feeling slowly slips away as realities of life slip in.  If you don't immediately set goals and take action to make those goals, it's difficult change anything you wanted to.  We must constantly remind ourselves of WHY we are doing something.  Every day, I have to wake up and meditate on the really important things for that day.  For me, it will start with sticking to a healthy regime as all other goals are much easier to make when I feel good mentally and physically.  If a day ends with bad choices, re-reading these posts, watching tidbits of these movies or something of the like will help me get back on track the next day.  But it will be vital that day start with focused meditation on making good choices and not letting the prior day lead to a allowance of bad choices the next day.  As Joe Cross put it,  "It's about maintaining a balanced lifestyle.  If you go back to your old ways, you'll be back to your old self in no time.  The choice is yours."