2011 Resolutions

"Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people. So overweight people are now average … which means, you have met your New Year's resolution." – Jay Leno

Haha! I love that funny quote from Jay Leno. How true it is. There are so many overweight people in the USA that is now normal to be overweight. How sad for our country! I'm one of those overweight people, but at least I'm doing something about it. Yesterday I was out shopping and a young man, college age, said to a friend, "Look at her huge a$$!" I turned around to see who he was talking about and it was me. I was the only other person in the aisle. Ouch. My a$$ used to be a lot bigger! So I stood tall and said to him, "First of all, that was really rude. Secondly, you should have seen it before I lost 67 pounds! I'm working on it, so give me a break." He turned bright red, apologized and asked me how I was losing weight because he wanted to drop some pounds, too. *insert rolling eyes here* Amazing. So many people make their New Year resolutions to be to get healthier and/or lose weight. So many people break their resolutions, though! Not me. I make them, I keep them and follow through. I'm not average! ;) Here are my New Year Resolutions for 2011:

• Continue on my weight-loss journey. I would love to reach my goal weight, but I won't resolve to do so. I will resolve to keep plugging away at it!
• Continue growing in my faith and my relationship with Jesus. I will strive to read my Bible more to learn more about Him and hear His words.
• Take a picture every day. I think this will be fun!
• Organize my house! I've written out an organizing schedule on my new 2011 calendar, so as long as I stick with it, our house will be in a much better place a year from now!

Other goals for 2011 are to do a 5K race and a 10K, too, by the end of the year. Those are not things I will resolve to do, but hope to accomplish!

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." ~Oprah

Free Food & More About Lemon Water

I bought some groceries yesterday and they looked so good I had to share pictures with you! Not one thing is worth any WW PointsPlus, they're all free!!! Yum-Yum!

  Pineapple is a favorite of my DH's. Bananas, apples and pears are some of mine along with clementines and, of course, I bought my lemons (2lb bag for $1.42 at Target yesterday = 10 lemons!). I also bought, but didn't photograph, strawberries, raspberries and lettuce.

Now a little more about the lemon water. I've had some questions asked! I'm not an expert on it by any means, I've only had it two days. :) But, you want to drink it lukewarm rather than cold or hot so that your body can better receive it and won't have to work very hard to digest it. You're drinking it to aid in digestion, so don't make your body work for it! Also, no you can't count lemon juice in a bottle or the little lemon-shaped bottle with the plastic green top. I just listed the price of my lemons above. That's only 14 cents each and you only use half a lemon per day! 7 cents a day is affordable for just about everyone, so use the real thing. :o) I don't know for sure, but I would think that using lemon juice also won't give you the same benefits because I would guess that it looses some vitamins in the bottling process. I don't know that for sure, but it's a guess as most foods do lose quality once they're messed with in anyway. My bag of lemon cost me $1.42 (US) and I got 10 lemons, that is 20 days worth! Get the real thing!

Living with Lemons

Last night at my WW meeting, my leader talked to us about gaining weight over the holidays and how we can detox our bodies and get back on track. She told us about drinking warm lemon water and how many different weight-loss programs suggest doing this. I went home intrigued by this detox idea and started researching it. I learned that drinking lemon water has many benefits! Here are the benefits I read about from various articles:

• Lemons boost the immune system with their vitamin C and also purify the blood and improve the body's ability to get rid of toxins.
• Helps stave off the common cold and flu.
• A healthy liver that works effeciantly
• It may help dissolve gallstones
• It can work as a headache remedy
• It will help clear the skin, removing dead skin, wrinkles, and blackheads and also has anti-aging properties.
• Healthier hair and nails
• It can help prevent heartburn
• Aids in quicker digestion
• Prevents constipation
• Helps fight infections of the throat
• Helps aid respiratory diseases, such as asthma
• Used in dental care as it can cure a toothache, bleeding gums, and relieves bad breath.
• Aids in weight-loss through increased rate of metabolism

I'm am not sure if I believe that drinking lemon water every day will give you all of the benefits listed above, but several articles that I read online (ha!) stated the above. I don't believe everything I read online by any means and I don't think you should either! I do, however, believe that drinking lemon water daily will aid my immune system to do what it should, aid my liver to help clean me out and keep me regular, and that drinking it will help clear my skin. I think it would be fantastic if it helped keep my asthma under control, especially in these winter months that it tends to be a little worse, but I'm not going to count on it. One article I read stated that drinking lemon water every morning will eventually give you the energy you'd normally get from a morning cup of coffee. I don't drink coffee, but I do sometimes have a Diet Coke in the morning for a little boost. I'd love to give that up!

I just drank my first glass of warm lemon water with my lunch. I had to go to the store to buy the lemons, otherwise I would have had it this morning. I read on several articles that drinking it at night is the way to go, several other articles said first thing in the morning. So it seems that time of day doesn't matter as much as just doing it.

Here's the recipe!

• One glass of warm water. Not hot, not cold, just warm. I put about 14 ounces into my glass and warmed it up a little in the microwave, just to make it lukewarm. Have at least 8 ounces of water, dilute it as much as you'd like though.

• 1/2 lemon, juiced.

• Put the lemon juice into the water and drink it. 

Enjoy!


Stay tuned on this subject. As I drink my lemon water daily I may have some reports for you!







My disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, nor do I pretend to be one. This article is of my opinion only and I do not claim any of it to be factual with the exception that my WW leader spoke of this and that I'll be drinking lemon water daily for awhile! Speak with your doctor if you have questions about drinking lemon water and its benefits.

Are you ready?

I saw this today on spark people. I don't use spark people, but go there to read their quotes and motivations from time to time. I thought this one was fitting for everyone out there who is planning on making their New Year resolution to lose weight. Why not start today rather than January 1st?! Today I start my WW week and am back to tracking everything and counting my points. My weigh-in this evening will not be pretty, I'm certain I've gained at least two pounds. BUT, I'm back on track today already and know how to lose those extra pounds and move forward. I'm ready for a new year to begin and look forward to what it will bring!

A Year From Now...

First I'll start this by saying that I'm fairly certain I won't be jumping for joy at my weigh-in tomorrow. I enjoyed some sweets and ate larger portions than I usually do over the Christmas weekend. I allowed myself to do that knowing that I know how to take it back off and have all of the tools to do so. I'm expecting a gain, but am not worried about it at all. Watch my scale on the right side of the blog for my results tomorrow...

Okay, now onto bigger and more fun things...New Years Resolutions! As 2010 is coming to an end, I've been reflecting a lot on the year that has gone by. There has been a lot of good in my life this past year and I feel completely blessed. I read a quote last year at the beginning of the year that read, "A year from now you'll wish you had started today." That quote spoke volumes to me and it was after reading it that I decided to finally get on the right track to changing my life for the better.  That meant working on losing weight, growing in my faith, reorganizing my house, and more. I have lost weight, I have grown in my faith.....the house is another story, but two out of three isn't bad!

What does that mean for me in 2011? What do I want to strive for this year? Here are a few ideas:

• Weight-loss. I've lost 67 pounds so far. I have 50-65 more to go! I'm not sure yet what my goal weight will be and don't think I'll know until I'm much closer to it. I would love to reach my goal weight in 2011, but am not sure how much it will slow down as I get closer to goal.
• Growing in my faith. I've grown a lot over the last year, but there is always room to grow when you're walking with Jesus.
• Maybe I'll read my Bible in a year. I set out to do that this year, but didn't come close at all to finishing it. Perhaps a fresh start in a new year will be what it takes to finish it.
• School. My son will start kindergarten in the fall of 2011. I'm considering going back to school then, too. Not sure what I want to be when I grow up yet, though. I went for three years for music education with a vocal emphasis, but never finished my degree. Perhaps I will continue that course, or perhaps I'll do something completely different. My prayer is for guidance on that decision and for God to use me for His work.
• Reorganizing my house. I do fairly well with this at times, but there are areas that need complete overhauls!!
• Cooking more. Trying new recipes and learning how to cook healthy, filling, meals would be great. I hope my DH and son can tolerate it!
• Have a garage sale to sell our baby stuff and clothes DS has grown out of. That's a big job, but I think it would be worth it!
• Maybe I'll give up soda for a year! Yeesh...I really like Diet Coke. Could I go without it for one year? I bet if I did I wouldn't want it after that year was over. Hmmm...
• I could take a photo every day of the year. A photo of myself? A photo of my son? A family photo? Or just random stuff that I see every day. That might be fun!

I haven't yet decided which of these things will be my resolutions for 2011. Stay tuned for that decision January 1st!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! This Christmas I'm celebrating with my husband, son, and parents. We've opened gifts, gone to church and have had some good food, too. Mostly we're just enjoying each other's company and playing with all of our new things.

My focus this year more than any other year has been keeping Christ is Christmas and remembering why we celebrate this glorious holiday. The best gift available is free...salvation! All you have to do is say yes to Jesus and it is yours. No shipping charges or tax, those were already paid in advance by when Jesus hung on a tree for you.

Another wonderful gift that you can give yourself is the gift of health. If you have pounds to lose, join me on this journey. You don't have to join Weight Watchers to lose weight, but I do recommend it! They don't pay me a dime to say it, but it works! Go to your first meeting this next week, buy the stuff (while it is on sale before Jan. 1st!!!) and do the program. You won't regret it. If you do join WW and you'd like some support, let me know! I would be thrilled to hear about it. I'll pray for you, I'll write you daily, weekly, monthly notes....whatever you need to succeed, I'd love to help.

Merry Christmas, my friends. I hope you all got something a little special, something a little fun and that your Christmas day is filled with love.

Goal!

I had a short-term goal of losing 65 pounds before January 1st, 2011. Tonight, at my Weight Watchers meeting, I hit 65 and surpassed it by two... 

I'm down 67 pounds!

I'm thrilled with that result. Tracking everything I eat, counting PointsPlus and allowing myself to indulge in a few Christmas treats worked and I lost 2.8 this week. The new PointsPlus program works and I'm so happy with it! I'm so pleased with myself that I wasn't afraid to trust Weight Watchers with a new program and that I jumped into it with both feet. I am now more than half-way to my ultimate goal weight. I'm not exactly sure what that number will be, but I know that I'm now more than half-way there! What a year this has been. Early in the year I read someone's quote on Facebook saying "A year from now you'll with you had started today." I wish I could remember which friend of mine posted that, I would hug them today! I wrote it down and thought about it a lot for a few months and then finally joined WW the last week of April. Thirty-four weeks later I've lost 67 pounds!


I wish you all a very merry Christmas! I hope that you're able to have friends and family with you, a magical moment, good health, and happy times this weekend. Allow yourselves to enjoy some treats, I will be!


Blessings,




PS If you want to "friend" me on Facebook, simply find me under "Annie Weighs" and request to be my friend! :)

Amazing

“Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food.”
Romans 14:20a (NIV)

Yesterday at my MOPS meeting I was so full of it. I was feeling thin, healthy and...great. I received many compliments and that felt awesome. My hard work at losing weight is paying off. I'm feeling so good and I'm told that I'm looking great, too. I relished in the compliments and they made my day. I failed, though. I failed to give that glory to God. A friend told me on Facebook that I'm amazing. No...I'm not! God is amazing. He is the one who is pulling me through this weight-loss journey. He is the one who brought me to the doctor with an ear infection last spring and brought my eyes to a pamphlet about using flex benefits to pay for Weight Watchers. He is the one who answered my prayer for the strength to lose weight and to stick with it. He is the one I try to remember to fill myself full of instead of food.  As much as I'm thrilled to be losing weight, the ultimate goal isn't about making me a smaller sized person but making me crave Jesus as the filler of my heart. Without Him, this would be impossible for me. He is amazing and He deserves the glory! Does that mean that I can't enjoy the compliments and comments on my blog? Of course not, they motivate me to keep going! What it means is that along with those compliments I ask that you support me by praying for me just as much as you support me by giving me compliments. If you don't know Jesus and you don't believe that he is your savior, I pray that you will open your heart up to him so that you can know the kind of joy I do through him. He gives us eternal life and, on this weight-loss journey of mine, he's given me a second chance at life here on Earth before I join him in Heaven one day. Praise Jesus...He is Amazing!

Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)

Psalm 18:1, “I love you, O Lord, my strength.” (NIV)

Walking Out

I weighed in yesterday and lost 0.6 this past week. It is going down in the right direction, so I'm happy with it. I've been battling some kind of weird illness for about six weeks, on and off. I've wanted a lot of carbohydrates along with it, so it has been a challenge to take care of myself to get better and lose weight, too. Of course my focus has been on trying to get better over losing weight lately, so the small losses recently are okay with me.

I celebrated a NSV a few days ago and had to write about it here. I had to laugh at myself when I literally walked right out of my pajama pants! The walk from my bedroom to the bathroom is short, but down went the pants on the way! Thankfully Christmas is coming and hopefully some new PJ's, too! :-)

Tuesdays

I weighed in this morning on a new day. I'm switching to Tuesdays because my WW leader on Thursday nights resigned from that specific meeting and I've heard wonderful things about the leader who runs the meetings on Tuesdays. I'm excited to get to know my new leader! I lost 0.8 pound since I weighed in on Thursday. I'll take it! I dropped one PointsPlus per day, too.  My birthday on Thursday won't change my points allowance, which I'm glad about. Losing two points in a week would feel like a lot! :o)

 

I'm working on my current goal to hit 65 pounds lost by January 1st. I'm only 1.4 pounds away!

Take that Turkey!

Thanksgiving week...TOM visiting...and I lost 4 pounds in a week! Wahoo!

That's all I have to say tonight. My mother-in-law is here visiting with us, (she's doing WW, too) so I'm off to visit!