What Do You Need?

Job hunting is tough. It is mentally and emotionally draining. You're in competition against other potential new hires, doing your best to outshine the rest. In this fallen economy, it may take dozens of attempts before you manage to score your probationary status. Persistence is the driving force that takes you through one failed attempt and toward another. Refusing to give up or let go of the promise of the right job motivates you to keep looking, keep sending out your resume, keep attending Job Fairs.

It's this same persistence that can drive you toward reaching your wellness goals. When your desires switch from a wants-base to a needs-base, and your motivation switches from external to internal, you can draw on the power of persistence to reach your goals. Using the above example of job hunting; when you simply want a job, but have no need for a job, your attitude is quite different. You may be more layed back in how you look for a job, carefree in your attitude. The same holds true when you simply desire to lose a few pounds. You may visit the gym a few times, watch what you eat for a couple of days, but not really give a wholehearted attempt. However, if you are told by your doctor that you absolutely need to lose 30 pounds or else, how would you approach your weightloss efforts? Would you visit a dietician, join a gym or local wellness group? How would you feel if you started off eating right for a few weeks and slipped up once? Would you throw your hands up and give up, or would you get back in the game and start anew?

Many of us see weightloss as a want rather than a need. We want to fit into that dress for the wedding. We want to wear the size 12 slacks in our closet. We want our jeans to fit again. The point we have not reached yet is the need-based motivation. Heart disease, the leading cause of death, is preventable. 36.6% of Americans are overweight, and 26.5% are obese. More than half of all cancers is preventable. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” The Holy Spirit resides in you. You are God's temple. Make a commitment to offer only your best to the Lord.

When we learn to be truly motivated then we can really get moving! The secret is in our source. Are we looking to others to drive us, or are we looking to the one who created us to drive us? God gave us everything we need to succeed. He has already provided for our needs. When you have a need, acknowledge it and call on your source to meet and provide for that need. Then take action! If you fall, get back up! If you stumble, take a stand! For your God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory! Discover where your wants become needs, and watch God show up and show off!

Take a Vacation

Nobody likes a cheater. Cheaters, we are told, never win. Then why is it that we choose to use the phrase "to cheat" when addressing the occasional break in our healthy eating lifestyle? Cheating brings along with it feelings of guilt and shame, something less than enjoyable, to say the least. I'd rather go on vacation.

To take a vacation is to take a well-deserved break from the norm. When you're on vacation, you know you are indulging. You are allowing yourself the freedom to experience something outside of your routine. While on vacation, the rules are less structured; you take the good with the bad, and you're okay with it, because, hey, you're on vacation. You allow yourself this amount of freedom, knowing that this vacation will come to an end. No vacation lasts forever. Sooner than later, your daily routine will resume, and your vacation will become a joyous memory.

It is important to allow yourself the occasional indulgence while living on a clean, healthy eating plan. Otherwise, you may end up feeling deprived and sabotage your goals. Therefore, scheduling vacation days or vacation meals could be very beneficial. For example, if you are just starting out, you could schedule one vacation day each week, then gradually cut back to one vacation meal a week. If you have been living a healthy eating lifestyle for some time, perhaps you could schedule one vacation meal each month and fit others in around special occasions. Find what works best for you. Just remember, vacations are special events, they don't come around very often.

Un-Raw

It's been 36 days, and I've fallen off the raw food bandwagon. It was more like a slide off a slippery slope. I started with eating a cooked meal at dinner time for a few days, and yesterday I had a cooked meal at lunch and dinner. I don't think I've completely abandoned the raw food concepts, though. I still plan on incoporating more raw foods into my day, and adding a green smoothie/juice daily. Although, yesterday I went green-less, and I felt something was missing. The main reason for my un-rawing is it ended up feeding the beast. The original reason for my beginning this venture was to help with balancing out my moods. I got to the point where I was becoming anxious over what I was going to eat. I know my lack of appetite wasn't helping matters out at all, but,still, I was getting shaky and I wasn't taking in enough calories to meet my daily needs. I lost 6 pounds in one week! Now, that might sound like a good thing to some, but it's not. Losing more than 2 pounds in a week means that more than fat is being lost-valuable muscle mass is being sacrificed as well. Only the morbidly obese can get away with losing large amounts of weight quickly, and only for a short period of time. So, I decided that weaning myself off 100% raw foods and back on to some cooked food would be the best option for me at this time. I plan on sticking to my mostly vegan, gluten free diet. I do eat organic, free-range eggs and raw honey. I also hope to detox again with the raw vegan diet some time in the spring when the raw fruit and veggie selection is more abundant. I like the quick-fix kind of meals: wash, peel, cut, eat! I don't think I'll ever be a gourmet raw food chef, but I do believe we'll still have that raw pumpkin cheesecake for dessert for Thanksgiving!

It's Not So Easy

So, I've been happily skating by with my raw food lifestyle, singing its praises. Then, suddenly, I get blindsided. It's like clockwork. I've read that about three weeks into your journey you start to feel the effects of your body's detoxing. 22 days in, and last night was a rough one. Granted, I have to say that I'm sure it's the combination of the meds I'm taking and the detoxing, but nonetheless it was a rough night. I started feeling icky around 8 pm. One of the meds I'm taking makes me EXTREMELY SLEEPY, which is why I take it at night. By 8:35, I called it a night. Somewhere during the night I got up to use the bathroom, then remembered I had forgotten to take one of my meds. As I made my way toward the kitchen, I started feeling dizzy, so I called out for help. The next thing I knew, I was waking up to the sound of voices. I had fainted! Luckily, I had clutched the wall, and slid down, so I didn't fall. I made my way to the ground until I could get up on my own. I started feeling dizzy again and had to sit down. I finally was able to take my pill and find my way to bed, with a little help. When I woke up this morning, I still felt woozy. I've been feeling wimpy all day long. So, I've been drinking lots of water and fresh fruit juices. I'm finally starting to feel better. I guess it's all just part of the process. It's part detox and part adjusting to these dreaded medications, that I wish I didn't have to take at all. But, as with all things, it's just for a season. It was a bit scary, but I wasn't hurt or in any danger. I'm thankful my family was around to help me.

New Weight Loss Goal

With just shy of 10 weeks 'til the new year, I'm setting my new weight loss goal. I'm setting the mark for 10 pounds in 10 weeks. I know that seems to be a lofty goal thru the holiday season, but I figure if I shoot for the moon, I might just land on a star! Keeping sight of my long-term goals during the holiday season is a good way to stay on target. My goal is to be at my ideal weight - 125 pounds, give or take 10 pounds - by Mother's Day. My main goal is to be at the weight God has for me, whatever weight that happens to be, and to maintain that weight for life. I know that when I've been 125 pounds, that's when I've felt my best, physically and energetically. I'm tired of yo-yoing back and forth between too heavy and too thin. I want to finally reach my body's set point and stay there. So, part of reaching this long-term goal is to keep setting these short-term goals, like losing 10 in 10. It's okay if I don't quite make it, as long as I do my best to strive toward the mark. My mind set is to hit the mark, not just try! So, I spent part of the day yesterday devising a plan for the holidays, specifically meal planning. I want to stay on my raw food diet, so I did some research and found 16 pages of raw food recipes specifically dedicated to Thanksgiving. I can stuff myself like the proverbial turkey if I so desire on such raw delectables as mock turkey loaf with cranberry sauce and herbed mashed "potatoes" with mushroom gravy. There's even pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. Believe it or not I found a recipe for a living lasagna for Christmas dinner! Lasagna is my all-time favorite meal, and with this recipe I'm set. Anyone can stick to their wellness goals throughout the holiday season, it just takes a little planning, some goal setting, and resolution.

Weight Loss Update

Current Weight: 150#

Well, it's four days 'til my birthday, and I've reached my weight loss goal! Officially, yesterday I weighed in at 150 pounds. This is a 14 pound weight loss since August 23rd; a very healthy rate of weight loss. I'm starting to fit into some clothes I had stopped wearing. My size 14 jeans are loose! My 12s are starting to fit, but I'm not quite muffin top-less yet. I have one pair of black jeans/slacks that are size 12 and fit perfectly, which I'll be wearing out tomorrow. My other pair of size 12 blue jeans zips up, but not without squeezing out the muffin top. What I'm really ready for is for my size 10 jeans to fit. I have several pairs in that size, as well as in size 8. I also have jeans in size 6, and a couple in size 4, which I barely ever wore. I wasn't that small for very long.

As far as my energy goes, I've still been on a rollercoaster. Last week, I was feeling great, and wasn't needing a nap in the afternoon as I had been previously. This week, however, the naps are back. So is my dip in energy. I'm not sure whether to attribute this lack of energy to the change in weather we've been having, or to part of the detox process of having adopted a raw vegan diet. I've been incorporating green smoothies in my day, at least once a day. They've been pretty tasty. I've been trying different combinations, and my favorite so far has been a mixute of spinach, kale, coconut water, a frozen banana and one peach. Yesterday I don't know what happened. Perhaps it was the not-quite-ripe mango I added, or the greenness of the kale and spinach, but I had a really tough time choking down my drink. It was giving me the chills as I swallowed down mouthfull after mouthful, when finally I just stopped half way and decided that was plenty. I do like the benefits of drinking green smoothies, especially how easy it is to swallow down a ton of greens without making my jaw sore or becoming just plain bored of chewing. Today, I'll stick with my favorite combo, and leave the experimenting for tomorrow.

Weight Loss Update

Current Weight: 152.2 #

Well, it's ten days til my birthday, and I'm a little more than two pounds away from my goal. I am confident that I can be rid of 2.2 pounds in 10 days. This week, my energy has been pretty low, especially during my workouts. I was just telling my boyfriend last night how I feel like my workouts have been missing something, but I wasn't quite sure what, exactly. I've been feeling lackluster, even with changing up my routine and adding "wogging" to my regimine. Then, this morning, I had a pretty cool experience. I had been dreading my morning wog since last night. In my morning prayers, I even told God how I really didn't feel like wogging today. I asked for strength, endurance, and the will power to get my workout done. Well, it started raining, and I don't wog in the rain, so I was saved! The best part is, not only did I not have to wog, but I had the endurance and strength to complete 60 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill, 45 minutes of stationary cycling, and 30 minutes of resistance training! I don't feel completely drained, either. Thank God for small miracles! I think my body is finally settling in to this raw food lifestyle. I have yet to start juicing (still waiting on my juicer), but I've been eating lots of salads and taking Vega whole food protein drinks before and after my workouts. One thing I have noticed, and I noticed almost immediately, is that when I'm eating raw I don't have headaches like when I eat cooked foods. I had been so used to dealing with a headache every day, at varying intensities, for the majority of my adult life. I hope to continue to improve in health and wellness with this newfound lifestyle.