Pedometers

A few weeks ago Walgreens was giving away pedometers to promote their Walk with Walgreens campaign. So, I've been using it for the past 11 days or so. Well, writing my steps down for 11 days, anyway.  Now, the Walgreens pedometer, despite being cheap, tracks number of steps, miles & kilometers walked, and calories burned.

Over the last 11 days, my average steps per day are 7,289. Only one of those days did I walk more than 10,000 steps, and just barely. On the weekends, I didn't even hit 3,500 steps. Most days I was over 7,500 steps, but not enough.

So, my goal is to start walking more, without the dog, on weekends. I wish I could take the dog, but he can barely handle the short walks we go on now. I'd like to walk 2 miles each day on the weekend. I have 3 routes mapped out already.

Along the lines of pedometers, I discovered a pedometer, called the fit bit..it even monitors your sleep to see how well rested you are. I am interested in getting this, so I'm saving up my allowance and I'll be getting one as soon as I can. :) I'll keep you posted on this one.

Made to Crave - Numbers on a Scale

I started reading the book "Made to Crave"  by Lysa TerKeurst about a week and a half ago or so. I've made it to chapter 8, which is titled "Making Peace with the Realities of My Body". There's a line in this chapter where Lysa quotes a friend, Karen. It says, "Define your week by obedience, not by a number on the scale."

I don't know about you, but when it comes to weight loss and dieting, I ALWAYS define my progress by the number on the scale. But there are so many more factors to consider! When I was a member of Curves in 2004-2005, they measured your chest, arms, waist, thighs - this gives a more accurate account of your weight loss efforts. Even though you may not see the scale move down, I did see half inches and more coming off. But we are not defined by these numbers...I have to remind myself of this often. I am more than that number. Which brings me to the devotion that somewhat goes along with this. You can find it for free on the internet at klove.com, that's where I copied and pasted it from; you can also download the Craving God 21-day devotion for free from the Kindle e-book store (which this devotion comes from). I'm going to post the devo as a separate post - hope you don't mind. :)

Now, along these lines, one of my friend's currently has as her Facebook status "Jesus Take the Wheel." Now, I'm sure you've heard the song since Carrie Underwood made it famous. The chorus says "Jesus, take the wheel / Take it from my hands / Cause I can't do this on my own / I'm letting go / So give me one more chance / To save me from this road I'm on". It made me really think, I need to give Jesus the wheel for my diet and exercise cause I can't do it on my own. I don't want to continue down the road of every other American; I don't want to be another obesity/diabetes statistic. So, I have to let go and let God do this work in me. Don't get me wrong, I've known this and I've tried to let God, but too often my human nature kicks in and I don't want to give up control...I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. It's hard to let someone or something be in control of our lives.

In case you haven't heard it, here's a youtube video of the song and below that are the lyrics:

Jesus Take The Wheel lyrics
Songwriters: James, Brett; Lindsey, Hillary; Sampson, Gordie;

She was driving last Friday on her way to Cincinnati
On a snow white Christmas Eve
Going home to see her Mama and her Daddy
With the baby in the backseat

Fifty miles to go and she was running low
On faith and gasoline
It'd been a long hard year

She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention
She was going way too fast
Before she knew it she was spinning
On a thin black sheet of glass

She saw both their lives flash before her eyes
She didn't even have time to cry
She was so scared
She threw her hands up in the air

Jesus, take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this on my own

I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Jesus, take the wheel

It was still getting colder when she made it to the shoulder
And the car came to a stop
She cried when she saw that baby in the backseat
Sleeping like a rock

And for the first time in a long time
She bowed her head to pray
She said I'm sorry for the way
I've been living my life

I know I've got to change
So from now on tonight

Jesus, take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this on my own

I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on

Oh Jesus, take the wheel
Oh, I'm letting go

So give me one more chance
Save me from this road I'm on
From this road I'm on
Jesus, take the wheel
Oh, take it, take it from me
Oh, why, ooh

Made to Crave - Day 3

Here is that devotion I mentioned in the previous post. I will post more of these as I see relevant. You can find the full 21-day devotion at klove.com from earlier in 2011 or you can get the free e-book from the Kindle store (Craving God 21-Day Devotional by Lysa TerKeurst).

Day 3: Excuse Me, Pass the Shame … Please

Based on Chapter 5 of Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst

Thought for the Day: We were made for more! More than this failure … more than this cycle … more than being ruled by our taste buds, body image, rationalizations, and guilt. We were made for victory. Sometimes we just have to find our way to that truth.

More than once, I’ve held the latest, greatest, diet book in one hand with my other hand wedged into the back pocket of my ever-tightening jeans. But the thought of taking the plunge and signing up for another diet made me want to sit down and cry. I’d return the book to the shelf, toss my head back, and sigh, “Another day, another time. I’m doing the best I can right now.”

It is so tempting to quit the health struggle entirely and pretend it doesn’t really matter spiritually. But it does matter and not just for the physical or emotional setbacks. It’s the denial of a fundamental spiritual truth. What is this truth?

Your parents might have said it to you when you got sassy and disrespectful …

“More is expected of you. You aren’t a brat, so don’t act like one.”

Your teacher might have said it to you when turned in a halfhearted term paper …

“You have more potential as a student than what you’ve shown here.”

Your friends have definitely said it when your loser boyfriend dumped you …

“He didn’t deserve you. You’re worthy of a better love than he could offer.”

Today, your heavenly Father is telling you the same truth: “You were made for more!” More than this failure … more than this cycle of defeat … more than being ruled by taste buds, body image, rationalizations, guilt, and shame. You were made for victory.

Ephesians 1:18–19 says: “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which [God] has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

This truth is a great script to play in our heads every time we’re tempted with guilt, rationalizations, or the “I’ll-do-better-tomorrow” escape clauses. Do any of these sound familiar?

“I’m good in every other area.”

“I’ll do better tomorrow.”

“For heaven’s sake, everyone has issues. So what if food is mine?”

Addressing our thinking is one of the most crucial steps toward permanent progress in any area and stopping the cycle of shame and defeat. We have to rewrite those negative scripts by getting into the habit of saying truth. And, the first of these truths is, “I was made for more.” Wrapped in this truth is a wisdom and revelation that unlocks great power.

We need a power beyond our frail attempts and fragile resolve. We need strength greater than our taste buds, hormones, temptations, and our inborn female demand for chocolate. Yes, the truth of who we are and the power to live out that truth—that’s what we need. So, say it out loud with me today: I was made for more!

Source

Birthday Cards

This year my theme was clear cards, as you will see in the two birthday cards below. You can see the flash of the camera reflecting off the acetate. With regards to the acetate, I just use standard store brand transparency film...nothing fancy (100 sheets has lasted me a long time!).

The first card has Happy Birthday stamped on the acetate (hence the somewhat blurry image as it is reflected onto the inside piece). On the front we have a coffee cup, ribbon and stripped paper, along with the HB stamped on the acetate. On the inside we just have a pink piece of paper that spans the full width of the card (5.5"). The entire card is the acetate card, so the inside actually looks like it's "floating".

In our next card the entire piece looks like it's floating as the front and inside do not touch any edges of the acetate. On the front we have a polka dotted paper as our main focus, then HB stamped on white, mounted on black and then offset to the polka dotted paper. On the inside we just have white paper centered behind the front paper. When closed, you see about an 1/8" of the white paper from the front. Typically when I do a card like this, I mount the inside sheet first so I can center the front piece.

Changing it Up

So, I've decided that is no longer going to be my "weight loss" blog. It's going to be about my life, my passions, my hobbies - what i find, make & see. As many of you know, I am a rubber stamper/card maker/creator. It is one of the things I am passionate about doing. I know there are a ton of rubber stamping blogs out there, I just love some of the ideas that I've come up with and I no longer have those cards, so I can't recreate them because I didn't take pictures. So, I'm going to start.

From this day forward, this blog will continue to talk about my weight loss efforts & progress, but will also incorporate more of me - what I like to do, want to do and more. I'm also hoping to use my camera more to snap some great pictures of what i find, make and see.

I will follow up this post with a card shortly. Don't be looking for what paper brand I used, etc. I usually don't keep track of that stuff...I may try if it's a hit, but we'll see.

Update

So, I haven't really done anything since those first two workouts using the 30-day shred. I was going to get up one morning - and ready to go - at 5:30, but we had lost power in the middle of the night and it wasn't back on when my cell phone went off at 5:30...so no exercise.

I recently, just before typing this post, discovered the Weekly Fitness Challenge. There's a great article titled The Top 3 Secrets to Permanent Weight Loss you should check out. It's got some great tips. One thing I need to do is give up sugar - it will be hard, but I really need to do it, it's one of my weaknesses.

I recently started reading the book Made to Crave, which talks about giving up sugar, so it's something that's been coming up a lot in recent days.

I will be hopping on the exercise bandwagon again. We have been taking the dog for walks, but that's not all I want to do.