Move Your Body!

"Stop Dieting, Start Living" That's the Weight Watchers motto. It really is all about changing your lifestyle. Like I've said in previous posts.. I love food. It's sort of an unhealthy relationship that I just cant get enough of. But like all bad relationships, they lead to death. I don't want my hunger for food (pun intended) to lead me to future health problems and an early death. Changing this lifestyle has been rough, just like any change in lifestyle. For me, its like trying to stop a semi truck (tata truck for all my Indian buddies) and pushing it backwards. But the future outcome is worth the fight. And I'm winning! Last week I lost 2 more pounds bringing my total to 5.2 pounds lost!! Hooray! Since having lost weight, in India and now, I am seeing results in more areas than just my old clothes not fitting-

* My sciatic nerve pain is gone!

* I have fewer lower back strains!

* My skin looks healthier

* There's a new beauty being exposed!

This week's meeting was about exercise and how we can lose weight by changing our eating habits, but we can only get tone and more healthy from daily exercise (and enhance weight loss too). I need to kick the laziness out of my life and make moving my body a daily occurrence. I've been overweight for most my life and I want to reach a healthy weight, maintain it and create a healthy environment in my body. I wanna be that 90 year old granny that still can bust a move:)

"Exercise is the best gift you can give yourself. It helps you to take care of yourself, to feel better, and to be stronger."

-Lisa (a weight watchers member)

Lucky Lou (1998-2010)

There are different people in this world. You can classify some as cat or dog people. Where as I like dogs, I think they're cute and fun, I am a hands-down cat person. My family had 5. They all have their own personalities and do some of the funniest things. Most of all they show a lot of affection to us. Last night my sister came home from work to find one of our oldest cats (12 yrs) very ill and just hours later she died.

Now I never thought I'd cry over a cat, but Lucky was a part of our family. She was the cat if I sat outside talking on the phone or just to get fresh air, she'd be right by my side loving on me the entire time. My dad loves to tend to his garden and plants and Lucky was his right hand girl. She followed him all around the yard, even would look into the engine of a car my dad would work on.

I realize animals do not have souls like us humans, but we can make an emotional connection with our pets. Good-bye Lucky... we have some great memories of you!

Hip, Hip, Hooray!!

Monday was the end to my first week on Weight Watchers. I went to weigh in with a lot of nervousness. I had used a lot of my "extra points" during the weekend. "Extra Points" are a set of points you can use throughout the week for special occasions... ie- eating out, parties or my indulgence, cheese cake! As I took off my shoes, you know to lessen my weight, I waited with baited breath for the woman to give me a smile. She did!! I lost 3.2 pounds! Although I was hoping for more, it was a loss and not a gain! And to top it off, my body feels good:)

This week I am adding exercise to my daily routine and hoping that next week I see positive results too.

On another note... I am back in Monroe, NC; my former residence. I will be here for three weeks serving as Todd and Vickie Hedgepeth's "Home Team". Check out their exciting story about their adoption of Gabi, a beautiful Togolese child- www.hedgepethsofmonroe.blogspot.com

My part of this unfolding story is staying with the kids while Todd and Vickie travel to Togo to pick up Gabi. I'm enjoying my time with Tootie! And Jack has been very well behaved:)

I'm still trying to figure this thing called life out. Twists and turns, bends and breaks, ups and downs all make up our paths. Some say when life gets tough it's our "climbing the mountain" times. I like to look at this time as my "Mt. Everest" time. It's a loooonnnggg trek to the top and the closer you get, the harder it becomes to breathe, I imagine your in lots pain and tempted to give up. But once you make it to the top, you've reached the highest point in the world! Talk about a mountain top experience. I just hope and pray its coming soon.

The Journey: Day Two

Day two of converting into a healthy eater and I feel good! The evenings are the time where I usually get the hungriest. Being on Weight Watchers point system, really opens my eyes to how bad certain foods are for you. Take for instance this-

This is one small pizza that comes to a whopping 10 points!

and then this soup I made today... Zero points!

(Let me introduce you to the point system... it takes the calories, fat grams and grams of fiber and gives the food a score. I am allotted 31 points each day. They determine this through my age, weight, gender and physical activity. I also get an extra 35 points each week.)

This system is helping me find the things that are a better choice for me... like alternatives!

Here's an example of two sandwiches that have the same point value, just one is more nutritious and filling-

Well, my boots are still tied up tight and I am still trekking on this journey! I'll let you know of my success soon:)

I'm starting a new journey!

I lost quite a bit of weight in India due to the change in diet (no processed foods), constant guzzling of water and the hilly terrain I trekked. The weight loss was great, I felt great, I looked great... but I did literally nothing extra to lose it. I have a strong love for food. I love anything starchy, meaty, cheesy, chocolaty, and buttery. I love to shop for food, cook food, and most of all.. devour it:)

After 2 months of being back in America I have gained almost half my weight back (not happy:(). In India I was just living life. I wasn't on any special diet. Heck, I even enjoyed a coke and bag of American Cream Style potato chips every now and then. But I lost weight and still was losing the day I left. But now living back in America, again am just living life, I am gaining weight rapidly. This makes me wonder about the health of the normal American diet. I have seen both sides and know that with making good choices in food and moving my body more, I won't have to rely on crash diets that make me cut out food I love and I won't have to stick to an Army work out routine.

So with all this said, I am setting out on another journey. This time it is a journey to healthy living and weight loss. I joined weight watchers tonight and plan on losing 40 lbs this summer. I hope I can make healthy food choices a habit. I'm tired of feeling, blah. So here I go... I hope this journey is full of success and I meet my goals!

A Shout Out to Women and Mothers:)

What is it about flowers and women? It is beautiful how one blossoming bundle can bring a smile to the face of the most scouring women. I witnessed this in church today. We have a handful of elderly ladies who have a permanent scowl on their faces and demeanor. A little intimidating at times too. But today, when two young men passed out flowers to the mothers in the church, the smiles that came over these ladies was majestic. It's like I could see her past years... a caring mother, laughter, a loving wife... happiness. Tears filled my eyes as these women were honored today. Flowers and Women look so well together:)

Did you know that 200 years ago single women were not allowed to be sent out as missionaries? True. Women's responsibility were to take care of their husband and children; the traditional way. It was 200 years ago that five women wanted so badly to be apart of missions. They started something called the, "Penny Society". They encouraged people of the church to give one cent every Sunday to help fund missionaries. Over the time they were able to send out 8 missionaries on boats into the foreign mission field. They also started, what we know today as Sunday School, Christian education for the children. They knew that if they could reach this generation that the next generation would open doors for single women to be sent out. They also taught children about giving and over 20 years, through children's donations, were able to buy 3 ships that launched people into the mission field. These five women did it! They saw their position in the body of the church and, though limited, they moved mountains!

I pray all you mother's out there have an amazing day and know that it's women like you who birth the leaders and world changers of tomorrow.

My mom and I back in the day:)

The Peacock: A New Hair Fashion

The national bird of India is the peacock-

While I was in India I had lost a lot of my thick, golden locks due to the water and change in diet. I was pretty much shedding like a dog. My bed had strands of hair all in it, I was designated my own blanket in the living room so my hair wouldn't get all over the others, when I swept the majority of things swept were stray hairs, I clogged the drain in the bathroom... it was quite an epidemic. Yes, I was a little nervous. My hair was thinning at a fast rate. Now for some pictures to visualize-

Me showing off my luscious, thick locks!

Amy, being brave, pulling out my hair that clogged our bathroom drain

The clog- aka- my hair!

Now, two months later, I am sporting the new do of the season... The Peacock! Check it out-

I've started a fad!