Weekend in Review & Post Cleanse Update

Verse of the Day: What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." - 2 Corinthians 6:16

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Weekend in Review:

The Morales' have another great weekend for the books. Friday night we went to StadiumFest and Switchfoot played. I honestly don't know what I did to get be so blessed as to see both of my favorite bands within a week of each other. Jason and I both LOVE Switchfoot, but we've never seen them together. Thankfully, not only did we get to see a great show together, it was also free. It was awesome.

Me with Jon Foreman when I saw Swithfoot without Jason last year.

StadiumFest with my guy. He's such a stud.

Ahhhh! Switchfoot!!

Getting to see Switchfoot together was such a treat! Man, I love this man :)

Saturday Jason worked and I went to a workshop at church. The workshop was called "Faithfully Feminine" and it seriously was something that I needed and didn't even know it. Do you ever do that? I signed up last weekend on a whim and then I really didn't want to go and talked myself out of going a couple of times. The workshop lasted from 9:00-5:00 so it was basically a workday - and that's the part I wasn't looking forward to. But, I went, along with a friend, and about an hour into everything I knew that I was exactly where God wanted me to be - I'm so thankful for a sovereign Lord. I want to take a few days to blog about some things that I learned, so be on the lookout for that over the next week or so. 

Saturday night Jason and I went to the new coffee shop in Homewood called Seeds. It's pretty cool and our friends Mandi and Audrie were playing at the grand opening. They had good coffee, obviously good music, and we had fun with some friends as well. It's always nice to get out and spend time with friends. We even ended up at Waffle House afterward and I totally had a college flashback - good times.

Audrie (left) and Mandi (right). Our insanely talented friends.

Sunday was rainy and gross so we went to see the Jackie Robinson movie, relaxed, grocery shopped, and then I cleaned and Jason went to a meeting for work. Even though we didn't do a lot, it was a much needed day. 

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Post Cleanse Update:

I lost a total of six pounds - which I'm happy with. This weekend I pretty much didn't follow the cleanse but instead, I opted to eat healthy and just tried to focus on transitioning back into a really healthy eating pattern. Friday was a rough day for me with the whole tomato-eating thing. In conjunction with the gross tomatoes, I also had some personal things going on that were upsetting, so it was just kind of a double shot of feeling like this cleanse was for the birds. 

All in all, I'm happy with the results of this cleanse, but I doubt I'll do it again. I like eating healthy, but the lack of protein was really hard on me physically, mentally, and emotionally. I'm happy to have added meat back into my life, that's for sure. 

As always, I'll continue blogging about my progress on this journey that I'm on. I will admit that the decision to stop the cleanse was an emotional decision, but I came to the realization that emotions are a component of all of this. Now, that doesn't mean that what we like to call "emotional eating" is necessarily a good thing, because many times we do eat instead of running to God with our emotions. That, in turn, builds our comfort food into an idol.

But, to me, keeping up with the cleanse when I was incurring some tough emotions was more distressful and doing me more harm than it was good. So, after much prayer throughout the day, I made the decision to end the cleanse early and enjoy the weekend, while still maintaining healthy eating habits.

All of that being said, keep praying for me as I walk through this journey. This is a marathon, a lifelong marathon, and it's not a race. This is finding my identity in what's eternal and not focusing on the temporary (if you know anything about Joy Be, there's a little throwback rap for ya).

Have a great Monday, and it definitely feels like a Monday!

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Day 4: Thoughts on being a farmer-girl

Verse of the Day: "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!" - Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Friends, we made it to Day Four. Today is my last day without eating meat, and I couldn't be more excited. So far, I've made it through two bananas, one glass of milk, and one yogurt without gagging. Tomorrow by this time, there may be a different story (tomato day).

I seriously feel like a farmer carrying mason jars of skim milk in my lunch box.
I guess farmers probably wouldn't have skim milk though, right?

Last time I did this cleanse I didn't eat yogurt, even though the plan clearly states that I can. This time, I decided to change it up and do eight bananas, four glasses of milk, and four yogurts. I'll let you know how that goes.

Just as I suspected, yesterday went as okay as it could - it was just a blah kind of day. I ate my fruits and veggies all day and then I met Jason at Jason's Deli for dinner. I really love their salad bar, so sticking to just ordering the salad bar wasn't hard for me. Leaving out a lot of the salad bar yummy-ness and walking out of the restaurant without my free fro-yo in hand was hard...very very hard.

When we got home, we did our usual, Jason works on a video project for a while and I watch my TV shows and practice my game of distracting Jason while not blatantly distracting Jason. My game is quite fun - I might laugh a little louder than normal when he's wearing headphones to see if he looks up or maybe walk in a circle around our living room, dining room, kitchen twice to see if he asks what I'm doing. Usually he doesn't notice, but last night when I burst into tears out of no where right in the middle of Modern Family, his focus was immediately shifted.

You see, it's really easy for me to write about my problems, my struggles, and what I'm feeling. I can go back, rewrite, reword, or altogether delete things in a blog post, journal entry, or letter. Real life talking doesn't work that way though, and so I'm always much more inclined to stick with written words. That being said, I've never fully explained to Jason my deepest darkest feelings about my battle with weight and food. That sounds stupid - we've been married for almost seven months - but it's just a lot easier to talk about other important things. We've definitely discussed it, just not to its full extent. My abrupt breakdown last night left no more room for avoiding it though, it was time for a real talk.

I don't know how much time we spent talking, maybe an hour or so, but I definitely felt better afterward. I was not any less hungry and unfortunately I didn't grow some incomprehensible amount of self-esteem from our conversation, but I just felt better. I felt like I had an ally in this thing (see the Verse of the Day).

I'll never post my full spectrum of issues with this battle on a blog, those thoughts are mine and some of them aren't meant to be shared with everyone. You all should know that I'm a pretty open book though, so always feel free to blogbacktome and ask me any questions you may have. But, because I'll always withhold some level of vulnerability, my reasoning behind the intensity of all of this might seem incomplete to some of you. I know that some of you probably think I'm a bit wacky, and that's probably true, but this cleanse and this eating right thing is something that I just have to do. I could list off at least 10 reasons right now about why I have to do it, but the main thing is that it's just out of obedience to God. Honestly, no more explanation is necessary past that.

Today makes me feel like I'm back in 2012 writing "Ramble" because I feel like I'm just rambling on and on right now - sorry. I just feel that it's important to be transparent about what emotions are being brought to the surface through this cleanse just for anyone else who can identify with me.

So, if that's you, know this: It's okay to talk about "the why's". It's okay to break down and cry or to be angry. Just make sure that at the end of the day, you follow in obedience to what God is calling you to do.

As for the rest of the day, I'll be eating my bananas and yogurt and drinking my milk. If you eat a hamburger or some ice cream, say a quick prayer for me - I'd do something crazy for either of those things right now.

Here's my food count from yesterday:

The totals:

The water consumption:

Farmer Jessica is signing off for the day...over & out.

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Day 3: Birmingham's A-Bloomin' & A Tough Day & Good News

Verse of the Day: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him.” - Lamentations 3:22-24

What a beautiful sight it is to drive around Birmingham right now. Although I'm not particularly enjoying all of the pollen covering my car and coating the inside of my sinuses, the blooming trees and flowers are really a treat. 
 

Flowers and trees around our apartment complex/along my drive to work

Now, I don't understand all the ins and outs of how pollen is created, why it's created, or any of that stuff (actually, I just Googled it and tried to learn about it but my eyes started glazing over so I decided to just admit my ignorance). But all this beautiful (yellow sprinkled) nature really made me think as I drove home from work yesterday. 

There is such a complex system to which God allows the flowers to bloom - it's biological, it's scientific, it's perfect, it's a miracle. At the same time, there is a complex system to which God allows our bodies to work - it's biological, it's scientific, it's perfect, it's a miracle. 

That was exactly the "ah-ha" moment I needed to have a truth to cling to last night, because when I got home, things got rough. 

I had done really well living on veggies all day. I got really hungry right before lunch - like I thought I was going to pass out hungry - but I still didn't cheat. I'd basically stayed in a state of "I think I'm going to pass out" for the rest of the afternoon. When I got home, thinks only got worse. 

A few weeks ago, our ceiling started leaking right above our kitchen sink. When I got home, this is what I found...

Y'all that was one of the grossest cleanups ever.

I was not a happy camper.

Then I realized that half of that gross looking water was chicken broth from the chicken that I had put in the crock pot for Jason - the crock pot had a huge crack in it. 

When Jason got home, I was about at my whits end. When he found out that I'd felt like I was going to pass out for the last 5 hours, he forced me to eat some of his dinner (thanks Jason) alongside my large-and-in-charge salad. I decided not to argue, mainly because I didn't have enough energy to, but I think that he made a smart decision. I also ate a few crackers just to settle my stomach.

Jason's dinner is in the background...thanks for sharing J!

We spent most of the evening 'working' on our own stuff - Jason really did work on a video for work and I  read for fun (I love post college life). I really love nights like this because we're able to be together, smile at each other, talk when we have something to say, but still do our own thing. It truly is one of the many gifts of married life. 

Look how handsome he looks sittin' behind his computer makin' that money ;)

After a while of working on our own stuff, we went to Target to get a new crock pot because, if you know me even a little bit you know that I can't live without a crock pot (first-world problems, I know). Thankfully, Jason saw the necessity in replacing this item and I'm very happy that he did :) 

Yay! It's exactly like the one I already had! I need a name for this guy.

After I had a little bit of protein, I felt a lot better. I didn't feel like I was going to pass out anymore, and I only got a little bit hungry right before bed. What was weird though, is that on Monday, I was craving a huge salad. Yesterday, I was craving watermelon. Thankfully, today I can eat both. 

Here's the big question of the day: What progress has been made so far?

Well, first of all, a lot of self-control has had to come into play since Monday. Going from eating whatever I wanted to eat to this really strict cleanse was tough - and I've had to depend on a lot of prayer, encouragement, talking to myself, and scripture reading to maintain self-control. It's also been a physical challenge, because, like I said, I spent 5 hours yesterday feeling like I might pass out. I'm happy that I've been able to rely upon God to provide strength and energy to get me through the last few days and to quiet my cravings for food. 

A little side note: This morning, the place that I am in my reading guide even led me to read about feasts! Now, you want to tell me that our God isn't sovereign over ever little detail of our lives?

Second, I've lost three pounds so far! I weighed myself Monday morning right after I woke up. I did the same thing this morning, and low and behold I was three pounds lighter. For some of you, you may be thinking, "What? That's nothing!" but for me it is. I think about all of those days that I woke up thinking I'd lost five, six, or seven pounds after eating really really good for a week or two and I'd only lost [maybe] one. So, I'm making a decision to focus on the fact that I've lost something! I've relied on God's strength and He's given me grace throughout the last few days. I give the praise to Him for the three pounds I've lost, and I will continue to give Him glory for whatever victories He allows me throughout this battle.

Hooray!!

Now, onto my morning...

So, remember how our fridge wasn't working yesterday? Well, apparently it was fixed before I got home yesterday.

This morning I came to a different conclusion. 

Notice the sheet of ice along the right side of the picture.

That's all I'll say about that.

I made a juice with 1 kiwi, about 6 strawberries, 1 orange, and some pineapple juice that we already had. It was pretty good, but left another weird aftertaste - I think it's the orange. 

I'm a fan of my "MRS." cup.

I also ate the leftover watermelon and cantaloupe from Monday that was sitting the the broken fridge - it was cold though, thankfully :)

Although yesterday I did have some very "gray" coffee, I'm trying to hold out this morning to see how I feel. For lunch I brought lettuce and an avocado to make a salad. I also packed 2 apples, and 2 snack baggies with orange slices, strawberries, and kiwi slices. 

Couldn't leave out the multivitamins that have been photo bombing
almost every picture from the cleanse so far!

Here's the run down of my food consuption yesterday:

Click the picture to make it readable.

Here are the totals of the breakdown of my caloric intake, carbs, fat, protein, fiber, and sugar:

Still...such a weird eating day.

Here's my massive, over-the-top water consumption from yesterday:

Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have about the cleanse! Keep on encouraging, keep on praying...2.5 days down!

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Day 2: Dreams of Sugar, Candies, and Carbs

Verse of the Day: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." - Romans 8:26

Yesterday I got home from work, ate an entire watermelon, and went to sleep. 

Just kidding...but that's what I wanted to do. I did however eat a lot of watermelon and cantaloupe, made another juice, ate an apple, ate some grapes, ate an orange, made some tea, watched TV, cleaned the apartment, and went to sleep. All the while "fiesty Jessica" had taken over and Jason found it to be quite humorous, until the jokes were on him. 

My dinner last night.

I'll attribute my "fiesty-ness" to lack of protein and caffeine, but who knows, maybe it really just was one of those days. As soon as I got home, I ate my melons and drank my juice (which left the worst aftertaste ever). About an hour later, I ate an apple. I was going to try to let that be it for the night, but before bed I got really really weak, saw a box of Cheez-Itz and almost went for the kill. Thankfully, I grabbed some grapes and went and sat on the bed - away from all food. Then I wondered back into the kitchen, saw some crackers, and almost went for the kill again. You're probably thinking, "What an idiot, just stay in your room - stop going to the kitchen!" and that would have been a pretty good plan except that I couldn't sit still because I was so hungry! Thankfully, I made it through and I have not cheated once. Although if thinking about cheating counted for anything, I had dreams of sugary goodness and crunchy, salty snacks all. night. long.
 

The juicer has revolutionized the fruit and veggie days of this cleanse.
The worst part about it is cleaning it up afterwards.
"Jason, are you sure I have to do this before bed?" I said.

Also, yesterday I think I drank more water than I ever have in my life. I honestly quit counting at 12 cups. 

Here's an overview of everything I ate yesterday. I put my food into myfitnesspal.com according to what I aim to eat on a "healthy" day - 1,200 calories, less than 165 grams of carbs, 40 grams of fat, at least 45 grams of protein, at least 14 grams of fiber, and less than 24 grams of sugar. What a weird eating day. If myfitnesspal.com were a human, they'd probably think I'd gone off the deep end. 

The sugar-watcher in me says that's WAY too much
sugar for one day...but I'm just following the directions!

Today I woke up really excited. Why? Because my breakfast consisted of a baked potato! When I got out of bed this morning, I said, "Jason, I get to eat a potato!!" Literally, that was the first thing I said. He said, "For breakfast?!?" Yes Sweety, I know I'm nuts. Thank you for not pointing it out. So, I made my baked potato and enjoyed every last bite.

It might not look like much, but this potato was my best friend this morning.
Then I ate it.

While getting ready for work, I also made some okra, mixed veggies, broccoli, and cut up some cucumbers and celery for the day. I did run into a little bit of a problem though because our fridge isn't working. It freezes everything that goes inside. If I didn't know any better, I'd think the White Witch from Narnia was living in there. We've asked them to come fix it, but it hasn't happened yet. Unfortunately, that means almost all of the fresh veggies I bought on Saturday are that weird, frozen, mushy texture and I really don't think I can handle that. I'll probably be making a run to the grocery store during my lunch break today...which makes me really upset, but what can you do? I just gotta roll with the punches. 

Cucumber, celery, and lots of spinach.

So, here's the big question of the day: How am I feeling after Day 1?

Well, my head hurts. I reread all of my materials from the website that I got the cleanse from and it turns out that I can have coffee, it just can't be all jazzed up. Honestly, I haven't had any though because I'm afraid that my headache is coming from my caffeine withdrawal. If it doesn't go away in about an hour, I'm going to have to break down and drink a little bit of coffee because it's hard for me to function with such a bad headache. 

Also, like I said, I've been kind of grumpy. Basically, I have no filter, which can be funny sometimes unless I'm addressing you. I don't like feeling this way, and I've said a couple of things (mainly to Jason...sorry) that were kind of mean, but I've tried to just keep to myself until I get past this stage. 

I've been a little bit shaky/weak as well. My plan yesterday was to go walk after work because it was such a nice day, but I was literally shaking when I left work so I decided that I probably don't need to pass out on the Lakeshore Trail. I brought clothes to go today, but any sort of exercise while cleansing is going to be a spur of the moment decision that is 100% depended on how much energy I have. 

I'm continually praying throughout the day that the Lord gives me strength physically, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally to get through these first few days. Please keep praying for me throughout this process...it definitely helps! 

That's all I have for now! Day 2 is here and it's going to be great (see, the positivity it key...I think I can, I think I can)!

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Day 1: Reminiscing & the Weekend

Verse of the Day - Day 1: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world." - 1 John 2:15-16

Well, my weekend got off to a great start...and it just kind of stayed in this state of awesome greatness. Jason works a lot of weekends, but every three weeks or so we get a weekend off together. This was one of those weekends and it did not disappoint.

Friday we saw my favorite band at the Boutwell Auditorium. Before the show, we ate at the Bottega Cafe - which was a new experience for me. I've eaten at Bottega once before, but that was when I was still in high school and visiting Samford. Then we went to the Needtobreathe show, and we even ran into some friends! This was my third time seeing them live, and Jason's fifth. Interestingly enough, they're MY favorite band, not his. Hehe, guess he'll have to keep taking me every time they're close by ;-)

Jason & I between sets

Needtobreathe

My new hoodie.

Saturday Jason drove me around what is now my "dream" neighborhood (emphasis on the dream). We also loaded up on fruits and veggies for this week! Yay for Aldi. We only spent $56 and that included some normal food for Jason. That night we ordered Tazikis to go, stayed at home, and watched The Impossible - which was super intense but good. I can't believe Anne Hathaway won Best Supporting Actress over Naomi Watts. Nothing personal Anne, Naomi was just that good. We also caught up on some of our TV shows, one being Person of Interest. When we were in NYC, we saw them filming an episode and we were about three feet away from Jim Caviezel (aka John Reese on POI and Jesus in The Passion of the Christ) and Michael Emerson (aka Harold Finch on POI and Ben Linus on LOST). Well, this past Thursday, "our" episode was on! We finally got to watch it on Saturday and we literally both freaked out!

If you own this house, I'll be your best friend forever if you sell it to the Morales' for $10.

Cleanse groceries.

The top picture is what we saw in NYC. The bottom picture is what was on TV Thursday.

Sunday we went to church, relaxed, and then went to a wedding to see one of my friends from work get married. I spent a little bit of time answering the "Personal Reflection" questions in the Made to Crave book (which I finished on Friday...YAY). In keeping with vunerablity throughout this process on my blog, I wanted to share this with my blog readers. I hope and pray that maybe just one person can halfway identify with me on this.

Question: What fantasies do you have about what life would be like if you were at your ideal weight? Do you imagine everything in your life would somehow be better—your relationships would improve, your confidence would soar, your problems would fall away, you’d be respected, admired, obeyed? Why do you think your weight has so much power to influence your outlook on life?

My Answer: "I think that I've always thought that if I were skinnier I'd have more friends, find a really great and good looking guy who would want to date me, get a super awesome dream job, and have better relationships with those who are currently in my life. But now that I'm married to the perfect guy for me, and I'm not skinnier, I know that skinny does not equal happy. Even though I may not be happy with myself, I am more than happy - in fact I'm overjoyed - with the life that God has given me. My weight battle is now more about loving myself and being confident in who God made me to be. I feel like my weight holds me back from accomplishing things that He may be calling me to do - not physically, but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually (I know that I'm not obese or even really fat...I'm just uncomfortable). I want to find my worth in Him and follow ANYTHING He calls me to do. I've found that being married and still being my version of overweight, I find a lot of my self worth through the eyes of my husband...which I think is good in many ways...but I want to find ALL of my self worth and confidence in Christ - internally and externally."

I'm not sure how well I actually answered the question, but those thoughts have been on my heart for a while so it felt good to get them all out.

This morning I got up at the normal time, made a juice, and packed an ice chest (yes, I have an ice chest at my desk today) full of fruit.

1 Granny Smith Apple, 1 Kiwi, Some green grapes.

Please excuse the piled dishes. We were in a hurry this morning. Ahh...Mondays.

My bag-o-fruit to take to work. It's a few layers deep.

My goal is to write a blog post that will go up before lunchtime that gives an overview of the previous day and the prep for the current day.

A few things to know if you're doing the cleanse along with me:

1. You can't have coffee. Now, I don't really use super bad stuff in my coffee, or at least I don't have to. I can do black coffee with a little skim milk and Splenda, so there may be a day that I have to break down and drink a bit of "gray" coffee. Tea is a great alternative in the mornings.
2. After day one and two, you may feel a little "swimmy headed". I honestly don't know how else to describe it. This went away for me after the first few days once my body got over the shock that I was actually eating natural foods. 
3. If you're hungry, you need to eat. Maybe eat a little something every 90 minutes or so.
4. Drink LOTS of water.
5. Stick to the plan as best as possible. This is done best by not putting yourself in temptation of breaking the plan. Don't go "sit" with your bestie at Pizza Hut, it won't go well. 
6. Don't try to exercise. If you do, go for a brisk walk or something, but don't try to do heavy weightlifting or intense running or anything. 
7. The recipe soup on Day 7 makes a TON. I actually didn't buy stuff for it because last time I ended up throwing a lot of it out. I may end the cleanse at lunchtime on Day 7 this time because I got really really weak on this day last time. After eating protein for a few days, it was really tough to go back to eating only veggies at the end of this. So, I think I'm just going to make about 1/4 of what the recipe calls for and then I'll eat protein at dinner.
8. Don't try to eat anything fried for a few weeks after the cleanse. It will make your tummy feel verdy uncomfortable. 
9. Get lots of sleep! 
10. Pray through this thing! Cleanse your body of toxins, sugars, and bad things, but also cleanse your heart of the nasty-ness that clogs it up on a daily basis.

If you have questions, please feel free to blogbacktome by commenting below or sending me an email! Thanks in advance for the prayers and encouragement :) 

That's all for Day 1 folks.
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Eat Your Heart Out

Remember last year when I did the cleanse before I went wedding dress shopping? Well, I'm going to do it again - minus the wedding dress shopping.

I've almost finished Made to Crave (I took on another book while I was reading this one, so it's taken me longer to finish it) and I feel as though the Lord is prompting me to do something drastically obedient.

Interestingly enough, I just finished reading all of the laws that God gave to Moses about what the Israelites could and couldn't eat, about their sacrifices, and how they are to conduct their lives as God's chosen people.

I don't believe in coincidences, but I believe in answered prayers. I feel like everything that I've been reading, praying, learning, talking about, and writing about is all coming together - converging roads if you will. I know that God has allowed me to come to this place in what I'm learning because I've been begging Him to teach me.

This is how I feel.
Source

Teach me to trust.

Teach me to be obedient.

Teach me to crave His glory.

Teach me dependence.

Teach me to pray.

Source

These have been my prayers over the last four weeks or so, and God has been faithful to answer each of them. I'm on a journey - and if you've read my blog for any length of time, you know that.

I've always tried to be healthier to lose weight. While I still want to achieve a healthier life and I'd love to fit into my old jeans from college, this is the FIRST time that I'm doing this as a spiritual journey in which I am more focused on what God wants to do inside of my heart.

As I did last time, I'm going to attempt to blog about my cleanse each day. You can read the posts from my first cleanse here:

Preparing for the cleanse

Day 1: Fruit

Day 2: Veggies

Day 3: Fruits and Veggies

Day 4: Bananas and Milk/Yogurt

Day 5: Thoughts so far

Day 5: Poultry and Tomatoes

Day 6: Poultry and Veggies

Day 7: Weird Soup

I will begin on Monday, April 8th and, Lord willing, end on Sunday, April 14th. I really liked the "Modified GM Cleanse" (or the "Eat Your Heart Out" diet) so I'm going to stick with that. If anyone would like to do it with me, I'm posting the plan below for you to reference. I would ask this though: If you're planning on doing this cleanse as well, please let me know so that we can encourage each other along the way. Just send me an email or text so that I know :)

Source

Please be in prayer for me as I prepare for this cleanse and as I embark on this challenge. Pray that the Lord would be faithful to allow me to forget my hunger and cravings for delicious sugary foods and yummy crunchy, salty snacks. I'd also love encouragement along the way. If you think about out, a little shout out of encouragement would be a wonderful gift to receive next week.

Alright, that's all of today.

Thanks for reading!

Have a good weekend everyone!

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Cleanse Overview and Beyond

Source

It is time for an overview of the cleanse. I have decided to keep blogging about my relationship with food, exercise, wedding prep, and whatever fun things I decide to write about. This means I'll be keeping you updated on my post cleanse lifestyle changes.

So here's a quick overview of the cleanse (feel free to post any questions you may have, or you can contact me directly):

• Total weight lost = 8 lb. 
• Total money spent = $97 
• Difference in money spent on cleanse and money spent weekly = around $15-$20 (but I had a lot of fruit left over)

I can't really think of any other statistic-type thing that gives a good overview. I do know that I feel great. This morning when I was getting ready for work, I noticed that my clothes are looser and my skin is clearer. 

If I do the cleanse again I think that I will buy less food right off the bat. I over-bought because I was afraid of being hungry. I also think I would buy some sort of salt substitute, because I did have to put salt on my veggies throughout the cleanse.

Another change I would make is day seven. I think that I would try to do one more fruit/veggie only day rather than the soup. It was kind of a hassle, but that was partly because I was trying to travel with it.

So here's the big question...

Where do I go from here?

I still have some more weight I'd like to lose. I also want to just become "firmer" if that  makes sense. Especially after buying my wedding dress, I want my arms to be more toned as well as my tummy and legs.

I've decided to be open minded. If someone gives me a suggestion, I'm going to try it.

I'm also going to combine all of the knowledge I have about dieting and nutrition and come up with my own lifestyle change plan. Here's what I'm thinking:

• Most of the food I eat will be fruits and veggies.*
• I will eat a small portion of whole grain every other day, or maybe just 3 times a week depending on how things are going (usually this will be before 3:00 p.m.).*
• I will eat lean meats such as turkey, chicken, and lean beef.
• I will allow myself one "treat" each weekend. This will give me something to work toward each week and hopefully prevent any binging. I don't want to deprive myself, but at the same time, to lose weight and become healthier I have to learn to say no sometimes.
• I will cut out salad dressing, pretty much altogether. Lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil is much healthier and much better for me.
• I will pick back up on on day three, level one of the 30 Day Shred.
• I will begin doing cardio and strength exercise in some way shape or form 4-5 days a week in addition to the 30 Day Shred (suggestions welcome).

I know a lot of people who are really big on healthy lifestyles say not to live by a set of "rules". But at the same time, in many ways I live my life by a set of rules. I have rules at work, rules that are biblical that I live by, rules that Jason and I have for ourselves and each other, rules when I drive, rules with how I spend my money, and probably many other aspects of life that I'm not thinking of right now.

Rules are not necessarily a bad thing. They help us live balanced and more peaceful lives.

Why shouldn't I have rules to what I put in my body and how I exercise?

If you have a good reason or reasons, please, by all means let me know. I truly am trying to be genuinely healthy.

Oh, and I am going to try to start posting recipes, so be looking for a recipe tab in the near future.

That's about it. That's where I've been over the last 10 days or so and where hoping to go over the next couple of months...and hopefully longer.

I believe I'm all caught up on my rambling...for now. Have a great Monday everyone!



*Since I am insulin resistant, my body does not process sugars (even natural sugars) in a "normal" way. I'm not trying to go "low carb" necessarily, but I honestly do not process sugars the right way, so I kind of have to do that. For the first two bullet points of "where I'm going", I'm not saying that fruits and whole wheat items have to be limited like that. But of course, if you'd like to do that, see how it works.

Absolute Perfection

This is how I felt this morning...

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I woke up this morning and looked to see what time it was. When I saw that it was a 8:00, I decided that I still technically had 30 more minutes to sleep, so I rolled back over. But then, I remembered coffee. The sooner I got up, the sooner I got coffee.

The first sip was everything I hoped it would be...and more!

Needless today, when I came to this realization, I hopped out of bed and headed downstairs. I chose Vanilla Biscotti by Folger's as my first cup of "happiness".

When I walked into the kitchen to get my coffee, I found my dad making a wonderful breakfast!

Look how precious my dad is making breakfast for his girlies. Whole new meaning to "provider".

He made turkey bacon, eggs, and sliced watermelon. I opted to just go for an egg, watermelon, and some coffee, but the smell of bacon was delightful!

Around 9:30, it was time to hit the road. We had an 11:00 appointment at David's Bridal in Pensacola, which is about an hour away. But we weren't sure where in Pensacola the store is, so we made sure to leave with plenty of time.

The view from the Destin Bridge is my favorite in the entire world. Today was perfect in many ways, but this is definitely one of them:

I'm glad that we decided to leave early, because we walked into the store at 11:01. I also spilled my coffee in the car and it got all over the back of the sundress I had on...great way to walk into a wedding gown store. I might as well introduced myself as "Clumsy".

As soon as I started looking at dresses, everything got better. My consultant's name is Joan and she's been "in the business" for over 25 years. Let me tell you, that woman knows her stuff. She guess my dress size about five minutes after she met me. Incredible...

I wish I could post a picture, but my loving and supportive fiancé does read my blog (Hey Jason!), so I cannot. I will just say that we HAD to find a dress today. I told Joan that I was walking out of the store with a dress and she sure did make that happen. We were there for two and a half hours and I tried on six dresses. I never put a dress on twice. I bought the sixth dress and knew it was "it" before I even looked at myself in a mirror. My family literally gasped as a walked out of the room (and one of the consultants did too). I felt so special and I just knew that was the reaction that I needed to get from the perfect wedding dress.

Even though I was/am on a super strict budget for my wedding, I ended up getting a designer dress that was on sale. I really don't know any designers for wedding gowns other than Vera Wang, but this guy who designed mine also designed Jackie Kennedy's and Grace Kelly's dresses. I thought that was a fun fact.

For anyone who is about to go wedding dress shopping soon, or even someday, here are a few tips.
1. Don't wear a lot, or any face make-up such as powder or foundation.
2. The shop will have all the undergarments you need. You don't need your own (I was way over prepared).
3. If you have your shoes, bring them with you! It helps so much.
4. Set a budget ahead of time.
5. Plan the appointment early. Plan to be there for a while. Don't plan it close to a mealtime.
6. Take people who will be honest with you, but who will also celebrate the experience with you.

I did a lot a little research before dress shopping today so thankfully I did all of these things. It made the trip run very smooth! It was so special and I got to ring a bell when I "said yes to the dress". When I rang the bell, everyone clapped. I truly did feel like a bride and buying the dress made it seem so much more real!

After dress shopping, we hit up Ruby Tuesday's for their salad bar.

The Garden Bar is always a good choice. 

I had a delicious salad topped with cucumber, egg, sunflower seeds, a few black olives, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. I also had a little bit of Waldorf salad and something that resembled potato salad, but I decided not to eat the potato salad. When we got home, I fixed an afternoon coffee. It wasn't as exciting as my morning coffee today, but it still hit the spot!

By request of, well, me, we picked up some fresh red snapper from the seafood market on our way back into town. I am super picky about seafood, but I knew that fish would be a great way to ease out  of the cleanse. Since I'm picky, I usually only eat seafood if it's fresh and if it's from Destin. My dad marinaded it in this lemon pepper sauce and then grilled it.

I volunteered to make my parmesan crusted asparagus tonight. It was a big hit with my family, and I honestly think I ate too much of it. Usually, I use the sprinkle kind of parmesan, but all we had at the house was fresh shredded. It all worked out okay.

Cousin/yogurt love

After dinner we hung out with my cousin Matt. I decided to treat all of them to a yogurt. I opted for a small helping to reward myself for completing the cleanse and for finding my wedding dress.

I believe that the whole meal (and really day) has inspired my plan for realistically maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Since the cleanse is over, I have to space out my topics for posts though :) I will share my plan soon, but not tonight.

Enough rambling, it's been a perfect day and this bride-to-be is super tired.

P.S. Jason comes home tomorrow!

Day 7: The Last Hurdle

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I can totally relate with every emotion this little guy is experiencing. All day I've been carrying this track race analogy around in my mind.

For closer examination of this picture, I'm the little dude jumping. My face is saying, "The finish line is right there! It's so close. Just one more hurdle and I can do it!" The people behind him watching are all of you! I've had so much encouragement along the way and I'm so thankful for it! The people behind him standing up and looking are all of you who are saying, "Girl, you crazy!"

This morning I got up an hour before my alarm went off because I'm so excited to go home. I usually roll over and check all of my random emails that I get throughout the night and when I did that this morning, I came across this...

...thus the reason for my excitement.  David's Bridal, I am eager to see you as well!

Today, the cleanse is supposed to be all about the soup. I packed everything up in my handy-dandy Publix bag, packed my car with dress shopping supplies, clothes for the weekend, and my ice chest full of fruit and I was off to work. About 4 miles away from my apartment, I had to pull over and rearrange how the soup was situated because it was spilling.

I was planning on just eating some soup around 10:15 or 10:30. But by the time I got to work, I was really hungry. Since soup was about the last thing I wanted at 8:30 a.m. I decided to cheat just a weeeee bit and I grabbed a handful of grapes from the ice chest. I very highly doubt that eating six grapes first thing in the morning on day seven is going to ruin my cleanse (but if it does, I'll let you know).

Out of curiosity and excitement, I checked Jason and my wedding website to see how many days we have until we say, "I do."

I almost squealed at my desk. Less than 150 days!

On a side note, but still an important note, today is the one year anniversary of the tornadoes that affected so many lives in Alabama. I hope and pray that those who have lost loved ones as well as dear possessions will rely on the hope that we find in Christ alone.

Growing up on the coast of Florida, I feel like I know all too well the power that a storm can have on our lives. In my almost 23 years of life I believe that I've also experienced storms spiritually and emotionally that affect each one of us in different ways. Whenever I hear reports of storms on the news, or experience them first hand whether literally or figuratively, I am reminded of Job.

Job 1:20-22 says (after all of his possessions, wealth, AND children had been taken from him), "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong."

A dear friend of mine, Mandi Mapes, wrote a song after the earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010. I believe that the lyrics of this song are true in our lives in any type of storm.

In Your Arms (by Mandi Mapes)

 To read the rest of the lyrics to this song, go to the Radical Experiment page. If you'd like to read the story behind these lyrics, visit Mandi's blog. If you'd like to buy this song, go to iTunes.


So onto soup...

Eat to the smile!

I ate my first soup around 10:50 a.m., my second bowl around 12:30 p.m., and my third bowl around 1:00 p.m.

I was able to leave work today around 3:15. It was so wonderful to get on the road a little bit early.

After four hours of driving, I entered Destin with this beautiful view.

I truly do love my hometown. I'm proud to have been born and raised in paradise.

When I walked in the door, I was greeted by my parents and my beautiful sister, Carlee. I was starving. I had only eaten about 150 calories today, and I was in need of something...but not soup.

I heated up my soup and took a bite. I almost gagged. I've heard that a lot of times when you change your diet drastically, your body will give you cravings when you're in need of a type of food (I don't think this is true with ice cream though, unfortunately). 


This is what I ended up eating for dinner:

PROTEIN!

Dinner:
Mom's leftover ground turkey
Corn
Black beans
Kidney beans
Watermelon

Although I "broke" the cleanse tonight, I feel good about my decision. You have to listen to your body. And I didn't break out a gallon of ice cream, I just reverted back to the previous day's eating plan (poultry and veggies).

Well, I'm going to call it a night and spend some quality time with my family. My mom just said, "I think I'm obsessed with wedding stuff right now." I think that's my queue!

Tomorrow = COFFEE!
Cleanse = COMPLETE!

P.S. My mom just said, "Ruching does amazing things for people." We're watching "Say Yes to the Dress" preparing for tomorrow! AAAHHH! I'm convinced my mother is a cartoon character.