WEIGH DOWN DIET week 1

As I stated on New Year’s Day, I will be logging my struggles and hopefully my accomplishments with weight loss once a week. So, here we go….week one.

On New Year’s Day my husband’s family scheduled their Christmas. As I’m sure it is with most families in the United States, family Christmas’s are code for ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT-ALL-DAY-LONG celebrations. So, the very day I start my Weigh Down Diet, I was hit with food temptation alamode. We started out at a buffet restaurant which literally had every type of food you could even imagine. Then after dinner, we went back to my mother-in-laws where she laid out her schmorgusborg of tasty little treasures. Now, I’m sure all your mothers and mother-in-laws are wonderful cooks, however, until you have tasted the delectable morsels that my mother-in-law can create you have no idea what the word temptation truly means. I did more praying than I did anything that entire night. My husband even commented on the fact that I didn’t eat that much – SCORE! Day one down……150 to go.

I finished the night off reading in Gwen Shamblin’s book, The Weigh Down Diet, chapter one. She likened our struggles with any temptation we might face whether it is food, alcohol, drugs, sexual lust, money, etc. to the struggles the Israelites faced while spending their forty years in the desert of testing. She stated on page 10…

“But before God would let His children inherit the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey, He took them on a journey through the Desert of Testing. Deuteronomy 8:2, 3 says, ‘Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.’”

In order for us to learn anything, we must first be humble and bow to God, not to food (or anything else for that matter!) I’m just hoping I can learn these lessons and it doesn’t take forty years! I must say food isn’t a huge temptation until the evening. I get my food-temps on come supper time and when the boys in the house start their munching rituals. I failed miserably on several evenings. I’d eat passed full and then afterwards, the guilt. But as in anything, there is always tomorrow. I woke up and started again. Changing of heart is never going to be an easy thing – nor is it going to be fast. More praying, less eating.

Something that Gwen preaches more than anything is filling up on God, not food. When you are tempted to eat AND ARE NOT HUNGRY the first thing you need to do is either get on your knees and pray or open the Bible up. The passage I have turned to to help me when I am struggling to not eat that left-over cookie, sneak that last bite of steak, or inhale a bag of potato chips is 1 Peter 5:8-9

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

If you are going through anything like I am right now, I hope my struggles can give you comfort – you have another sister out there in the world undergoing the same kind of suffering! Give thanks for that! Though the scales haven’t shown a loss, I do feel like I’m better than I was December 31st. Maybe I'll be able to report a more encouraging post next week. We'll see!

0 POUNDS LOST 146 DAYS TO GO

TEMPTATIONS

Have you ever noticed?
Am I the only one?
When wanting to avoid
That's when temptations seem to come?

I'm working on my weight
And keeping my mouth shut
But sharp words keep on escaping
And too much food makes fat my butt

If I try to start the day
With a goal to stay up-beat
Broken cars and leaky toilets
Make me soon admit defeat

I think that I should try
Avoidance in a way that's clever
But as I sit here thinking
It's an impossible endeavor

What if I avoided
Certain money-making tasks?
Would I then become quite tempted
With heavy buckets full of cash?

I guess it's food for thought
Something for me to think about
I won't avoid the use of brain
It's one thing I can't do without!

The Problem with Snow

The problem with snow
though it may be pretty
it can cause problems in the country and city

The problem with snow
though you may want to play
temps can be too cold - so inside you must stay

The problem with snow
though it's fun when it's falling
you soon will be shoveling, blowing, or hauling

The problem with snow
when it all melts away
you want it right back the very next day!

Following God's Nudges...

Ever felt God’s nudging to do something, but being scared spit-less to take the leap of faith? That’s where I am right now….well, the scared spit-less part anyway, because the fact that I am writing these words shows I have taken the leap of faith.

For the past few weeks, I have been praying for many things. 1) More ministry 2)A more loving, gentle and quiet spirit and 3) what every woman wants, (except for maybe Kate Moss and Uma Thurman…) to be much thinner in the coming year. Check that - life ever after!

I am slowly learning if we would let our will be broken and truly love others (the way the Bible teaches, not the world), life would be much simpler. These two simple truths can be applied to anything one might be struggling with, in any aspect of their life with amazing results. I’ve seen it happen.

Therefore, in an attempt to break my will and serve others better and hopefully increase my ministry for God, I am going to add to my silly poetry posts a weekly post about an area in my life that I continually struggle with…my weight. I am not what you would call overly overweight, but I’ve got plenty of insulation. In my posts, I’m going to lay it all out – I’m Ditchin’ the Kitchen yet again only this time to avoid the magnetic pull of the refrigerator. I will be using Biblical (and scientific) truths presented the book called The Weigh Down Diet by Gwen Shamblin. It is really a wonderful book, by a hilarious Christian woman who used to struggle with being overweight herself. I read this book in college and dropped 20 pounds, but a crazy life-style post college got me all greedy and self indulgent and I put all the weight back on. Plus, having two kids didn’t do anything to improve my already large posterior.

In the back of my mind, I would like to lose about 40 pounds by May 31st as that is the date scheduled for my high school reunion. However, the bigger issue here isn’t so much the weight, but how I allow God to break my will and use my struggles to minister to others.

As Paul stated in the book of Romans,

“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:3-5)

And then again in 2 Corinthians 12:10

“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

So here I go Ditchin’ The Kitchen once again!

0 Pounds lost (151 Days to reunion)

The Clean-One-Owner Car

It's his crappy beater car
He drives to work each day
Twenty years and counting
She takes him on his way

Squeaky doors and dingy seats
She manages around
Seeing out can be a challenge
Since the headliner's falling down

His trip to work's not far
Only about two miles
But driving much further can't be done
She needs time to rest a while

For us it's a good car
We've really had good luck
Best investment ever made
For only seven hundred bucks!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: My husband really loves me (and has a good sense of humor!)

This was my Christmas present to my dear husband. I then forced him to wear it to my parents house for our Christmas time with them. What a wonderful man with a good sense of humor, right?

For more Wordless Wednesday see 5 Minutes for Mom

LIFE WITH KIDS

Having children brings joy
(Though sometimes it feels like warfare…)
Having children gives meaning
(But at times you want to pull out your hair…)
Having children brings laughter
With the comical things kids do
But it can feel like 'Survivor' with no eliminations
And a season that’s never (ever) through!

I CAUGHT MY CAT!!

For those of you who know me
I am a bit of a neat freak
The sight of dirt and clutter
Often make me want to shriek

Every item has its place
And that's where it ought to go
Toys go here and papers there
As my family members know

I preface this so you can see
That when I caught my cat
You'll understand my total disgust
To his horrifying act

I was in the bathroom
When Butch, our cat, walked in
But instead of drinking from the stool
His actions pumped my adrenalin

He jumped up on the counter
And with an awkward, shaky pose
Peed into my sink
As I stood horrified and froze

I do not know what prompted
His act of urination
But what other covert things take place
To make me consider assassination?

For now I will forgive him
But will keep a watchful eye
And if I ever catch that cat again
This clean-freak will crucify!

(For my faithful blogging readers
This one thing I must now tell
I think I know my problem
Explained in my post I titled, "SMELLS"!)

STRESS!!!

Ever have so much to do
You don't know where to start?
And as you tackle all your chores
Things start to fall apart?

I need to bake and pack our bags
For Christmas family gatherings
But leaking stools and broke down cars
Seems as if my world is shattering

The house needs cleaned and vacuumed
There's laundry yet to do
Already tired and cranky
But my list is far from through

(There's also missing silverware
My youngest is the thief
Can't keep him clothed or diapered
His hobby's giving Mommy grief!)

I think I'd like a breakdown
And a sound-proof, padded room
So when disaster hits
I won't hear or feel my doom!

Christ's Love = True Love

I'm learning a hard lesson
About what true love really is
It's not how much I can collect
But how much love I ought to give

Thus far I've held my heart out
So that others might try to fill
But when loved ones failed this task
My heart would sink and feel quite ill

God created us to feel His love
And only God can fill this void
Expecting love from things or people
Will leave us hurt and quite annoyed

I can choose love to be patient
I can choose love to be kind
Forget the record where I've been wronged
With only bad things to remind

Love is the opportunity
For us to give and not to get
This is a perfect Christmas lesson
One we should learn and not forget

I pray this Christmas season
You'll give your love to those around
And with this you can be certain
The love of Christ will soon be found

SMELLS

I sit here writing
With a scented candle burning
Flavored coffee in the maker
Cup of Joe - I'm now yearning
Pot roast in the oven
With aromas I want to eat
Laundry in the dryer
Fresh fragrance with drying heat
Throughout my house
Such warm and pleasant smells
Then there is my bathroom...
An odor I can't pin point or tell
I've cleaned and scrubbed
Washed and bleached
There isn't an inch
I haven't reached
Wiped down the walls
Sanitized the trash can
But this odor evades
All my tough cleaning plans
What is about smells
And the feelings they create?
Some good, warm, and fuzzy
Others gag as they permeate
And what makes us want
Other people to sniff
Something we found so horrid
We passed out with one whiff?!
I'll take the warm fuzzies
And good smelling stuff
'Cause with two stinky boys
I've had more than enough!

(As for my bathroom
I blame my pee-crazy boys
Their aim is so crazy
Stand back when they deploy!)

MEAN PARENTS

My husband and I are evil
This we truly are
We've been lying to our son
Perhaps taking things too far
Our oldest believes in Santa
We've told him he exists
But it's not just the myth of Santa
Or the nice and naughty lists
No, we've taken things much further
Than just a simple, small, white lie
And have used it to our benefit
To get him to comply
Whenever the little man pouts
Or starts to misbehave
We tell him we're calling Santa
As we give our phone a wave
To this he vows perfection
And that he'll stop behaving bad
We've even faked a conversation
(I know our actions are quite sad...)
What we're doing to our son
Has made me question a simple truth
If kids claim their parents mean
Should we believe our complaining youth?
As for now, my spouse and I
Will probably keep on with the fibbing
Parenting has a learning curve
With plenty of ad-libbing.

Let It Snow?

The weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
School's out and driving's a no
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

It doesn't show signs of stoppin'
The kids have begun head boppin'
Sugar highs make patience run low
As it snows, as it snows, as it snows

Can it finally be bedtime?
How I'd hate for my temper to blow
Sleeping kids would be so sublime
I'm going crazy like you wouldn't know!

The weatherman says more's coming
And I start some nervous humming
Another day with no place to go
There's more snow, there's more snow, there's more snow

At bedtime I do some praying
I catch myself softly saying
PLEASE GOD I BEG YOU SO
STOP THE SNOW, STOP THE SNOW, STOP THE SNOW!

Stop the snow
Make it go!
Mommy's done ever wishing for snow!

Christmas Shopping

I am done shopping for Christmas gifts this year
But please hear me out before you give me a sneer

All of my shopping was done here in my home
I didn't darken a store door or get out and roam

No, I did my shopping with efficiency and ease
Using search engines, websites and nice computer keys

You see last year was full of all sorts of disaster
With screaming kids and wiggly carts I couldn't move or master

I even had a fellow shopper swat at my hand
She grabbed a sweater I was holding as I stood trying to understand

What's up with the craziness Christmas shopping creates?
Are we so consumed with buying we make unloving mistakes?

Did Christ want us stressing and running around?
Or focusing on Him that His love may abound?

I decided this year would be different for us
I can still buy nice gifts with little to no fuss

My kids won't get antsy or frustrate my nerves
There'll be no angry shoppers whose hands I must swerve

Christmas will be calm and on His love we can fixate
Only problem now is keeping hands off cookies I bake!

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving....

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving
When all through the house
Every creature was stirring
Including the pet mouse

I'd made some desserts
With the best intentions and care
In hopes family members
Tongues all could bear

The children started coughing
Smells filling their heads
Smoke billowing from my oven
My heart beating with dread

Pa with the extinguisher
And I with my fan
Put out the fire
In the black, char coaled pan

Now in my kitchen
All covered with splatter
I pulled at my hair
Not dealing well with the matter

Away to the store
I flew like a flash
Tore open the doors
And threw down some cash

My mind on the brink
Of a new dreamed-up thought
Could I pass off these items
As home-made and not bought?

When what to my scheming eyes
Should appear?
A stamp claiming "HOME-MADE TASTE"
Then came the welling of tears

My heart began beating
So lively and quick
I knew in a moment
This treat was the trick

More rapid than eagles
To the cupboards I came
And I whistled out loud
When I saw - colored cellophane!!

On cabinets and counters
And dishes it flew
The cellophane glistened
As if my secret it knew

To the neighbors next door
To my family the next day
I'll pass this off! Pass this off!
And I swear I'll never say!!

My eyes -- how they twinkled
My thoughts were now merry
I had new found relief
At my dessert trays I could now carry!

They sat full and wrapped
And sitting on my shelf
And I laughed when I saw them
In spite of myself

The next day we set off
In the kitchen I did work
But then at a question
My head turned with a jerk

These wonderful treats
However did you bake?
Will you give me the recipe
So next year I might bake?

Then laying a finger
To the side of a pen
And giving a nod
And a slight, nervous grin

I wrote down directions
Feeling quite like a liar
Hoping God in his wrath
Wouldn't strike me with fire

But instead a small voice
From the other side of the room
Squealed out innocent words
That would soon seal my doom

My older son did exclaim
Though out of my sight
"Mom didn't bake these desserts
She just bought them last night!"

Thanksgiving

It's that special time of year
We give thanks for all we have
Here's a list that I have made
For without I would be mad

I'm thankful for the ovens --
However would we bake
The delicious turkey meals
And desserts like pie and cake?

I'm thankful for dishwashers --
And how they clean the icky mess
A wonderfully designed machine
Relieving time and stress

I'm thankful for coffee makers --
And the beverage they produce
The smell is so enticing
Along with the caffiene boost!

I'm thankful for refrigerators --
Keeping dishes well preserved
Now less cooking for a week
Leftovers I will serve!!

I'm thankful for our Tahoe --
And how it hums our boys to sleep
A drive with peace and quiet
We relax as they count sheep!

I'm thankful for my washer --
And also for my dryer
'Cause after all the trav'ling 'round
The laundry piles up higher

I'm thankful for my family --
Loved ones near and far away
Thanksgiving wouldn't mean a thing
Just a lonely eating day

I'm thankful for my treadmill --
Waiting for me to run
With all the tasty treats
More fat to burn off these giggly buns!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving
Where ever you may go
Try not to overeat
Or your butt will surely show!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

MORNINGS

Mornings are the time
That I hate the most
Rushing to do anything
Even fixing toast
It never matters when I rise
I always feel behind
It's all the unexpected stuff
That puts me in a bind
I dress the kids and make the beds
It all seems very easy
But spilled juice and a ringing phone
Make me mad and kinda queasy
Some mornings are so bad
That though I try my best
What if simple chores aren't done?
Like getting MYSELF dressed?!
I know it will get better
As the kids grow and get older
But until that good day does arrive
I will cry on anyone's shoulder
And pray that things won't get too bad
Or that I won't come unglued
'Cause I'd hate to leave the house to find
I'm driving in the nude!

Eating Out / Eating In

I used to like going out to eat
Any day of the week was always a treat
Come home from work late at night
Not wanting to cook - go grab a bite
The atmosphere could be so very relaxing
Especially if the work day had been overly taxing
Delicious food -- maybe some wine
Let out a sigh, this life was fine!
No hurry to get home, enjoying conversation
Mentally taking in every sensation.

Then I gave birth...

No more relaxing when eating out
Now it's playing referee and trying not to shout!
Ten bathroom trips because a kid needs to pee
Hundreds of napkins to clean up spilt tea
Asking for high chairs with straps to tie down
The toddlers contained - no more running around
Keeping the oldest from knocking over waiters
Wishing we'd chose a drive thru order of taters

All this commotion because I hate to cook
Realizing irony when at our restaurant table I look
Eating out THIS night was to cause me less stress
But all around us is a huge, disastrous mess
There will come a day for eating out again
But until the kids graduate - I think we'll be dining in!

Losing Weight

What happens to our bodies
As we get up in the years?
Mine has stopped responding
This fact brings my heart to tears

No matter how I try
I rarely get results
Disgusted I give up
Adding injury to insult

I wish I could survive
On water and on air
Or that I loved to exercie
But I hate it to be fair

Oh, I love the bodies
Of Aniston and Kate Moss
How lovely would it be
To use your arm for dental floss?

Despite my constant failure
I'll get back on the diet wagon
Though I think the odds are better
of breathing fire like a dragon

We each have our thorns
Mine is losing weight
I'm headed for the treadmill
To run off this cake I ate!

My Husband

Want this button?

The toilet seat is never down
He spills crumbs all over the floor
Shoes track in so much debri
And he forgets what closets are for
The mail is scattered on top of the fridge
Along with his cell phone and keys
He refuses to flush before taking a shower
But afterwards could he please, please?

HOWEVER....

He works every day to provide for our family
And so I can stay home with the boys
He helps with bedtime (and with nightly prayer rhymes)
And then picks up their ungathered toys
When I am cranky and don't want to cook
He prepares a hamburger feast
The car is always perfectly maintained
And he tends to our family beast
The time that he spends with both of our kids
Always touches my heart
And when he comes home at the end of the day
I swear it is always the best part

This is my husband...good, bad, and ugly
I'll take him any day of the week
He loves me right back and rarely complains
Without him I'd be up a creek!

(Love ya babe!)

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patent, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

To see more Marriage Monday posts, click over to Chrysalis.