New mindset

"Romans 6 - Our flesh is the instrument that Satan works through. When we say no to the flesh, we say no to the devil."
— Joyce Meyer

"Battles are fought in our minds every day. When we begin to feel the battle is just too difficult and want to give up, we must choose to resist negative thoughts and be determined to rise above our problems. We must decide that we’re not going to quit. When we’re bombarded with doubts and fears, we must take a stand and say: "I’ll never give up! God’s on my side. He loves me, and He’s helping me! I’m going to make it!" - Joyce Meyer

I'm learning that it's very easy to give in to the flesh!

Easy to lose my cool when I feel like I've been affronted! Easy to keep grumbling and mumbling that I was right and that the other person was wrong. Easy to keep rolling in those feelings and keep the hard feelings just simmering - waiting to boil over.

Easy to say ok to anything that is available to be eaten. Easy to have that milkshake just because the rest of the family are having one. Easy to just buy takeout from McDonalds just because everyone else is.

I'm also learning that it's harder (and yet so rewarding in the end) to live in the Spirit.

How hard is it to let the flesh die when you need to apologize for losing your cool (even though you still think you were right!!!)? How hard is it to let the flesh die and act like you are not mad so that you don't create any tension (even though you are still simmering inside)?

How rewarding is it to say 'no' to that milkshake and the food from McDonalds, and then stand on the scale seeing it slowly start dropping?

Since I've been working on changing my way of thinking as far as food is concerned, I've found that I'm letting go of my old mindset - oh dear, I broke the diet - DONE! I am finding it easier to take control over what I am eating rather than let the food take control. What a feeling of freedom.

I know it's going to take a while to lose the weight I want, but by being in control over my thoughts about food, and ultimately being in control over what I eat, I know I can do this.

7 pounds down so far! Exciting, and more of a challenge because my final goal is to lose a total of about 30lb. I'm not setting a goal date, because I don't want to stress when I don't meet it. I just want to get there ...... slowly but surely!

" I have come to understand that every day we make decisions born out of our thoughts and these decisions give direction to our life."
Written in 2010 by Mathias A. James --- Nigeria

It's the First Day of the Rest of your Life

This song has been sitting in my head for quite a while now, so I decided that I should do something about it! I need to get control of my life, and not have my life take control of me. The first area I need to work on is my health!

It's so easy to hear the sound of food - eat me, eat me, just a little bit, just a little bit more ..... Oh, I'll begin tomorrow; Oh gosh, I fell down today, so I guess I may as well give up ..... Sound familiar?? Well, NO MORE! For the last 2 weeks (or a little less) I've been getting myself into the mindset of changing my eating habits for the better. I cannot do diets - I fail every time. So I want to do something that is going to just be a part of my life.

Firstly, no more white starches! I LOOOOOOVE hot, fresh white bread straight out of the oven. One of my biggest downfalls. But I've discovered that wholewheat bread has a great flavor and now I will choose wholewheat over white!

Then, I'm trying to cut aspertame out of my life - I am not a soda junkie, but I do like my hot tea with milk and sugar (which I have cut down and added sweetener to). I also like a diet coke/pepsi every now and then. These have sweeteners that contain aspertame, which hasn't gotten a good review, so I'm using Stevia instead and trying to drink more water.

Salads are so boring, but by adding fruit, nuts (not too many) and some seeds, they can become pretty interesting! Add some grilled chicken and you have a healthy meal!

The most difficult part of this is not finishing something that my kids left on their plates, or to have something that they are eating (like pizza ....). However, slowly but surely, that craving is starting to disappear and I am starting to crave the pride I feel in myself when I say no.

The final part of this is adding more exercise to my diet. I am NOT a physical person but I know I need to exercise. So I am .... little at a time!

I know that this is the perfect time to start getting myself into healthy habits. I still have another 5 weeks or so of summer left before school starts, so hopefully, I will be on a roll by the time we get back.

"Battles are fought in our minds every day. When we begin to feel the battle is just too difficult and want to give up, we must choose to resist negative thoughts and be determined to rise above our problems. We must decide that we’re not going to quit. When we’re bombarded with doubts and fears, we must take a stand and say: "I’ll never give up! God’s on my side. He loves me, and He’s helping me! I’m going to make it!" JOYCE MEYER