Check In On My Health

 It has been a while since I have given an update on my weight loss journey.  I have lost 55 pounds since the end of January and am feeling wonderful.  No special drugs or drinks to lose the weight just following WW (Weight Watchers) blue plan, walking daily, no eating between meals, intermittent fasting and just being active.  I do have to work on my hydration which I will be adding to my journey.  It has not been that difficult but I think it is because I am trying hard to watch what I eat.  Food was always a way I would reward myself.  Now I reward myself in different ways.  Food is now just something I need to have to live.  I just don't need a lot of it anymore.  This is a HUGE statement for me to make.  I do not crave anything and when I am bored and start looking for something to eat I realize I am not hungry and close the pantry door.  I still have a long way to go and I know the next several months it is going to be tougher than the first few but I am all in...Let's do this!

Big Stuf 2021

 I had the pleasure of attending Big Stuf 2021 in Panama City Beach, FL all week long.  It is a 7th -12th grade Christian "camp" (resort) that churches from all over the USA come to.  It is a week long camp with everything provided.  The music is amazing and the message at each worship service was great too. We brought 8 youth from my church along with the youth director and myself.  We did not stay at that resort because there were not enough rooms for us but we did get a place down the road Surfside Christian Retreat Center that was an amazing place to stay.  We were right on the beach, had our own pool and we were the only group there so it was a great place to unwind, relax and discuss the messages from the day.  It was a wonderful experience and the sight of over a 1000 teens enjoying the music and the message made me feel like we are going to be in good shape as long as these teens are in all our futures.  I enjoyed it so much that I volunteered to go next year too expect I hope we will be bringing a much bigger group.  Thanks #bigstuf2021 for a great week and thanks to the students who attended from my church.

My First Treadmill Experience

 I have never been on a treadmill before.  I know how they operate and I have seen plenty of people use them but I never had.  Well, last night I changed all that.  I was not able to get my walk in yesterday and I have two Stepbets going on right now so I needed to make sure I got my steps in.  Plus, I really wanted to take a walk.  It was too hot to take an afternoon walk and it was too dark to take an evening walk by the time I got home from choir.  So I did the next best thing.  I used my daughter's treadmill for a walk.  It was rather comical and I am sure if my neighbors were watching through the window they would of had a good laugh at how awkward I looked doing the treadmill for the first time.  I was trying to get my steps and rhythm in sync with the movement of the treadmill.  It took a few minutes of walking before I finally got a step rhythm I could get use to and relax a little.  In the back of my mind I had myself falling off backwards on the treadmill.  I successfully mastered my walking on the treadmill and now the next time I cannot take a walk outside due to extreme heat or rain I have the treadmill to walk on.  I hope it won't be too soon!

I Hit 50 Pounds

 Today, as I did my weekly weigh in, I hit my first big goal.  I have lost 50 pounds.  It took about 4 1/2 months but that is okay because it is gone!  I still have quite a journey to go to get down to my total weight loss of 110 pounds but at least I am going in the right direction.  I am doing this using WW (weight watchers) along with walking ( up to 5 miles a day), doing intermittent fasting (nothing from 8:00 PM to 8:00 AM), drinking water, no snacking between meals and getting lots of sleep (at least 7 hours a night).  This combination has seem to be a winning combination and so I will continue with it.  I do try to introduce something new every month and since I am still struggling getting all my water in that will be the next thing I truly concentrate on.  So today I will celebrate but not with food. Maybe a hair trim or a new outfit.  I guess I will wait and see! Happy to be 50 pounds lighter!