Life before P90X and After

So here are a few before photos:
This First one is me about 5 months after my first child, I had put on so much weight during this pregnancy (45lbs!), I though I would never lose it. I did finally lose the weight but failed to change my eating habits much. I lose the weight mostly due to training for a 1/2 marathon. (taken June 2009)

 

This second photos was taken 2 weeks after my second child was born. I did a little better with the weight gain , again though it was through exercise but not really changing my diet at all.

The photo left is me in October of 2012, about a week before I ran the Rock n' Roll 1/2 marathon in St Louis. The Photo to the right is me right when I started P90X

So here, is my super silly after picture. 
After 3 months of P90X I am down 8-10 lbs (depends on the day), I have lost 3 inch on my chest, 2 on my waist, 2 on my hips, and 1 in on both my thighs and arms. The more amazing part to me is not the changes on the outside of my body but how I have changed my diet, we are striving for a whole foods plant based diet. I feel better more because of my change in my eating habits than I do for the change in my exercise habits. The other amazing thing I have learned from this experience is that strength training really does help with your running. As running has always been my favorite sport, I never felt I have time for strength training, but now that I am running faster than I have in years I have no plans to give up the strength training anytime soon. I hope I can inspire others to improve there lives through more physical activity and healthy eating.

Please remember that although I love exercise and I believe that it can help in our walks with the Lord Jesus, exercise and health is not where our Ultimate hope lies, we need to remember where the real race is:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control,[a] lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Healthy Mom! Healthy Life!

What does it mean to me to be healthy.  It is so much more than just exercise and eating right. I want to have healthy relationships with my husband, my sons, my extended family and the people around me (not just friends but the people I met each day).  I also believe you need to have a relationship with Jesus. Without a healthy relationship with Jesus nothing else will be truly healthy either. 

Even in our most disciplined behavior we will stumble. That is why Jesus came to die for us in the first place. We are all sinner s, Romans 3:23 says, for all ^[ahave sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This fact is not to condemn us but to make us realize that we need a savior, that is something only Jesus can provide.  Romans 5:8 states: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. If we trust in him, them and learn about what God expects of us and follow after Jesus then the other aspects of our lives will fall into place.  We will still have struggles and we will still stumble but if we are looking at the goal of becoming like Jesus (by having a relationship with him)  and showing that love to other then we  are moving to a fruitful goal in this life. 

I will leave you with one of my favorite verses:

Philippians 3:12

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”

Recipe of the week:
This is a slightly modified version of the one found on the Engine 2 diet web page: to see the original check out: http://engine2diet.com/recipe/spelt-blueberry-pancakes/

Wheat and Oatmeal Blueberry Pancakes
Photo from: http://engine2diet.com

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups oat flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed meal
•  2 tablespoons ground chia seeds
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 ½ cups unsweetened almond milk 
• 4 tablespoons applesauce
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups blueberries

Instructions:

Whisk the flours, baking powder, flax meal, and salt together in a large bowl.
Combine the wet ingredients in another bowl.
Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Stir the batter just until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened: it will seem very thin, but it will thicken.
Let the batter rest for 15 minutes (whole wheat flour takes a little longer to absorb liquids). If you can’t wait, your pancakes won’t be as crisp.
After the batter has rested, fold in blueberries.
Heat a dry skillet until a drop of water dances on its surface. Spraying the skillet once should allow for three batches of pancakes.
Ladle a large scoop of batter into the pan. Several pancakes can be cooked at once if you’re using a large skillet.
Cook until the batter begins to bubble and the bottom of the pancake is golden.
Flip and cook on the other side until both sides are golden.

My Big Struggle: Food

 Proverbs 23:2

"and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony".

Ok, let’s face it I have lots of struggles. But for today let’s focus on one, healthy eating. I have been focusing on eating healthy, since becoming an independent Beachbody coach. I have always considered myself a healthy eater, but recently I have seen where one exception has lead to another, and another tell my once healthy diet is now mediocre at best. So I have decided that starting now tell Easter I will be posting about my journey to eat healthy and the changes that I see. Sunday the 17^th, was the first day that I made a commitment to change. Sunday, I had only veggies, Shakeology (limit 2) and fruit. This is going to be the pattern every Sunday tell Easter. All other days I am going to stick to a 99% McDougal plan, this is a vegan lifestyle that involves lots of whole grains and veggies. The 1% cheat is for the Shakeology and minor dairy in baking and chicken broth in soups.  You can follow the McDougall plan at: http://www.drmcdougall.com/free.html

Breakfast this morning: whole grain vanilla waffles.

Here is my tentative meal plans for the week:

Monday:

100% whole grain waffles w/ ½ grapefruit

Garbanzo bean, tomato, avocado, spinach salad

Barley salad with black eyed peas

Tuesday:

 Baked potato with 1 tablespoon ketchup

Tri-color bean salad

Corn and Okra soup

Wednesday:

Wheat berries with fresh fruit

Bean Burritos 

Pasta with peas

Thursday:

Oatmeal bars

Garbanzo bean, tomato, avocado, spinach salad

Spinach rice casserole

Friday:

Whole Grain muffins with fruit

Garbanzo bean, tomato, avocado, spinach salad

Flat bread with Garlic and veggies

Saturday:

Oatmeal Bars

Subway veggie delight Sandwich

Coconut Crusted tofu.

Sunday:

2 Shakeology drinks any veggies and fruit I want. 

SNACKS: everyday but Sunday

Apples with Peanut butter, Celery with Peanut butter, nuts, Air popped popcorn, misc fruit. 

All For the Glory Of God!

Give Thanks

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:4-9

I feel that this day of thanksgiving gets lost in the holiday season. I feel that it is just an excuse to eat to much and to prepare for the craziness that Christmas has become. But today I think we need to thank our Lord and Savior for all that we have. You may feel that you have little but you need to thanks God for that. After all God sent his Son to earth to be the ultimate sacrifice so that we we who where separated from God in our sin could be with him again. As Paul says in Philippians we need to give God our thanks in everything. So as you sit down today and eat we need to be thankful for all that we have, and to remember that God gave it all to us.

So in that I want to say that I am thankful for My husband, his job, my wonderful little boys, my parents for teaching me how to live and for showing the love of God to us. For my younger brother for all his wisdom and for all the wonderful people God has put in my way.

Happy Thanksgiving

Giving it all to Him

Money. We all need it. We all seem to want it. It is a necessary evil of our society. As a follower of Christ I believe that all I have is God's, but why is it then I can't seem to trust God with my money. I get frustrated when money is short. I get mad at myself  when I eat out knowing that if I had any self control I would have just driven past the Panera Bread and not stopped (the one in our town has a drive through, it is very temping). This week during church I felt a tug of the Holy Spirit to let go of the money situation and give it to God. I had taken out some cash that was to cover us for the week (this is our way to keep our finances in check).  I felt God saying put it all in the offering plate along with your normal tithe except 20 dollars. I did.

Isaiah 55:1-3
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.