Location: I am from 29 Palms, California... but now live in Northeast, Ohio
Posts: 2,107
S/C/G: SW-245.5/CW-209/GW-170
Height: 5'5"
March 20th - First Day of "Spring"
Good Morning Everyone!
What a lovely day this is going to be Why?
Because we are going to have Blue skies and Sunshine today and may even make the 50's in temp. Not a bad way at all to begin the first day of SPRING
Hey there MICHELE,
It's so good to see you back! I just loved the pictures of you!! You changed up your hair color from the last pictures of you --- a little to the reddish side, me too. I really like it on you! I use Red Brown mixed in with my Med. Brown (color my own). Hope you don't mind that I brought it up - some ladies don't like to admit to adding color in... You are adorable... I hope that one day we will cross paths I would love to meet you someday.
For that matter... ... I would love to meet you all. Maybe one day we will be able to manage a get together with our significant others to meet over a weekend. That would be so cool!! Something to ponder... ...
Also, Thank-you so much for your kind words...
I can always count on you guys!!! This evening (7-10) we are going to a Birthday party for a niece - her 30th - and there will be a full spread of homemade goodies. Wish me luck! I know if I am left alone, I will be fine in resisting those foods (a variety of sweets!), but in this family - you don't say 'No -Thanx' and get away with it. It will be like, "What? You don't like what I made?" So what I have to do is take it saying, "Thank you" and then just quietly pass it off to someone else or accept it and just play with it never eating it. Italians - gotta just love 'em they love to lay on the guilt to get you to do something. Please... don't get me wrong - this is a beautiful family - they just don't like it when you don't participate (that's what this family calls it )
As for you SPROUT,
It is great to see you posting DAILY again!! We missed you as well!! You will lose your weight this time!! And prove all those speaking against you very wrong! When I first lost my weight in the 1980's ~ no one believed I was going to do it till I had lost well over 50lbs and then it was like "she is doing it!" "she is serious" --- duhhh. It's like that again now... they are waiting me out. Don't you just love sarcasm & negativity? NOT! You will be successful because you are doing this not only for the betterment of your health, but for the Lord. In that you take better care of the body - the temple- he gave you. I am thinking of you Marilyn and lifting you up in prayer. You have so much stress in your life to battle and you will win your war wearing your Armor of God
Hi WILMA!
We have that machine arriving this coming week!! I cannot wait! We (you & I) seem to be working out on the same # of machines After this machine there is only one more left to get (at the moment). Thank you so much for your encouragement! I have dropped some weight I am at exactly 200lbs as of this morning!!! That's -4lbs all of a sudden, just like you all said!!!
"ONE-derland" here I come!!!!!"
I am going to change my stats right after I finish posting this I am just saying it now as to the very beginning because I just took a moment to weigh myself before I posted this --- and it was less!! I am so happy!!What a wonderful gift from our Lord on the first day of Spring God is so good!
I sure do hope that this post finds you all doing well!
I am thinking of you and wishing you only Happiness and Good Health...
"Have a Beautiful First Day of Spring!"
*God Bless*
SunnyD
It's the first day of spring!!! And it's really beautiful, blue skies and fairly warm. Although we're having wind and it's gonna get cold again tonight, but that's okay, as long as the days are sunny and getting warmer. I noticed that the little ponds and lakes are not all ice covered anymore. This is my favorite time of year. To see the new buds on the fruit trees and the bulbs starting to break through the ground and then in April/May the lilac will be blooming.....oh I can't wait. I got a bunch of pink tulips yesterday and put them in the house, they are long stemmed and thin. They looked kind of puny yesterday when i put them in the vase, but this a.m. they are upright and proud and opening a little and just beautiful. Tulips are my favorite.
Sunny~good luck at the party (oh i think you already went? ) Well, hope you did well. I know what you mean though, some families/cultures it is very rude to them to not take what is offered. But you are right, you don't HAVE to eat it! And about my hair color....i don't mind at all. Yes, I have been using an auburn color. I use a semi-permanent that I do at home and the reason i use it is to cover the grays. I don't mind telling you. It's hereditary in my family on my dad's side for the girls to go prematurely gray. Starting getting them when I was about 18! But the crown would be very noticeable if i didn't color it. I'd love to be one of those women who looks good with grey/sterling hair, but I don't think i am. In the fall/winter i usually go darker with a chestnut brown/auburn and i go toward gold brown in the warmer months.
Suppose to see Charlie tonight. Not sure what we're doing. I spoke to him a bit yesterday and he said he'd call me back that evening and didn't. I'm still bugged when he does that. I don't like last minute stuff. Tell me what we're doing, even if we're stayin home and painting his son's room......so then i know how to prepare. And my back is bad again this a.m. so i'm really bugged about that. I feel way older than my years.
Our first day of spring is actually sunny too. We have lost a lot of snow but have a long way to go. At least the days are getting warmer. I can hardly wait to see my lawn again.
Michele: After seeing your pictures I can see why you get all these guys after you. You are lovely!
Sunny: I knew it would happen. WTG!! Next weigh in at Curves should be a huge one for you because you have a few weeks to take off even more. I have 1 1/2 weeks until my weigh in and I think I might just make my 5 lb.loss.
Sprout: I really appreciate your devotionals. You're right. We should be doing everything for God anyway.
I'm making broccoli cheese soup today. It's DS's favorite and one of the ways he'll eat veggies.
Tonight DH and I are going out for dinner and then to see the new Starsky and Hutch movie. Hope it's good for a laugh.
Hope this finds everyone well. Angie and I had a busy day today, we went to my step-d's softball game at 8am (she won 15-1 and had 2 hits) which just so happened to be at the same high school that my son's jumpers were at, a big invitational with about 40 schools represented--soooo many people! My step-d won but we left before my son's jumpers- high, long, or triple jumped--they will be there from 7am until 6pm---track meets are very long in California at the invitationals--even for high school kids. Then we went to Petco twice, the vet and Home Depots in 2 different cities--we had Rylee with us at 1 Home Depot Trip, 1 Petco trip and of course the vet for shots. I kidded with Angie that if I would have gotten a puppy and went out "wife hunting" I wouldn't have been single for 6 years after my divorce! Man-O-Man does Rylee get the attention!
Took my nephew to work with me yesterday since he had an off day at school then we went to my daughter's 3rd tennis match of the week--she lost in the tie breaker 8-8 games, 5-7 in the tie breaker... she played well but a few mistakes in the tie breaker cost her the match..oh well, I'll trade her in for another kid one day
Been watching a lot of basketball the last few days with March Madness-- Angie is so happy Every year my son and I go head to head on our picks-- this year we let Ron pick too-- right now Ron and I are tied and my son has a 3 game lead on us. It would be cool if Ron won-- but NO WAY will my son or I throw the picks.
Well the weather here started out foggy then went to a gorgeous first day of spring and now back to foggy-- we worked in the yard a bit and first it was sweatshirts-then t-shirts and then back to sweatshirts...go figure..must be spring!
From Angie:
Here is Rylee and me working in the yard on the first day of spring. It was sunny for a while then the fog rolled in. She had her first outing to Petco and Home Depot. She was VERY popular. Took her to the vet for her 2nd round of shots. She gained 4 lbs in the last 3 weeks and is shedding like crazy. Dog hair is everywhere!
Hebrews 13:5
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, 'I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.'
'I hate Sheila,' Karen said. 'Ever since she lost weight, she's been impossible to be around. She thinks she's so special.' Unfortunately, Karen suffered from a common problem. Sheila hadn't changed. Karen just felt guilty whenever Sheila came around, because she wasn't able to lose weight like Sheila had. Instead of sharing in Sheila's victory, Karen fell victim to jealousy and a bad conscience. Karen needs to understand that Sheila's victory is not her defeat. God will work with each of us where we are. It takes a brave person to celebrate when others succeed where we have not.
Today's thought: I will rejoice at the example of others who have lost weight!
Location: I am from 29 Palms, California... but now live in Northeast, Ohio
Posts: 2,107
S/C/G: SW-245.5/CW-209/GW-170
Height: 5'5"
Monday 3/22
Good Morning CER's... looks like some changes were made again here in the Forum. We have a 'Thumbs-down' instead of 'UP' as our thread ICON and I cannot get it to change... oh well. Also, check out the POST ICONS(below the reply box) - they are different. AND they have made our NAMES smaller by our AVATAR'S (to the left)... I liked the way the names were before Oh well... all together it's a great site to belong to. I am a part of another forum and it's so basic (like our old one & it's a pain to post compared to this site). We are spoiled here
*~*~*
MICHELE,
I have NOT reached "ONE-derland" YET... but sure hope to within this next week!!! As for the party... it was Saturday evening from 7 to 10 and I think I did wonderfully. We ate dinner before we left for the party and got to the party at 6:45. After we sang HB to our niece - I left the dining-room right away and just spent the evening in the living-room and really enjoyed the evening socializing. I really had a good time and even got a few compliments (some of the SIL notice my weight loss - I'm down 16lbs now, so it's beginning to show). And never ate a thing & they had quite a spread!!! I don't want to break my 'not eating after 7' habit. I am so happy... all my hard work is paying off.
As for your hair color...
I have gray's too and I too lighten it up for the summer. I like to change it up
How did it go on your date with Charlie?
Hi GARY & ANGIE,
Thanks so much for the pictures!!! Your puppy, Rylee, is just so adorable... I want a puppy too (yeah, like my boys will go for that!)!!! Sounds like she had quite an adventurous day!! And probably got lots and lots of pets!!!
"Yeah" for the SD and winning her game!!!
How did the DN like going to work with you??
We are getting snow again today with breaks of sun every now and again. I am getting rather tired of all this snow!!! It's been snowing since yesterday early morning. Not really sticking all that much (maybe an inch or two) but the flowers are trying to bloom!!! What's the matter with mother-nature????
Thanks so much SPROUT, for all the daily readings of scriptures and your stories... I really do appreciate your posts! How are you doing these days??? *Thinking of you*
Thank-you so much WILMA,
Your words of encouragement mean allot to me, especially because you too are working out at Curves and know the work we do! I am sending your way for your weigh-in day!!!!!!
Sunny~you did a great job at the party! Good for you! It's nice when people notice a change/improvement in you. Makes you realize that your efforts are showing.
My date with Charlie Sat. was really nice! I wasn't sure i'd be able to see him because my back was really bad while I was at work that morning. I spoke to him in the afternoon and he said i could come over whenever. He was busy painting the house, his boy's room, while he's in Texas for spring break. So I took a nap and came over about 7 pm. We ended up going to his work, so he could get his laptop and projector, and then he stopped at the grocery store (I stayed in the car), then we went and had Chinese food for dinner, and then we went to his house. We had some sake in his new sake set, the cups have japanese figures on them and say fortune, wisdom, love, longevity, etc. So we each picked one, and he got fortune and i got love! We watched Happy Gilmore, after he hooked up the laptop and projector, it was like being at the movies, it was great! Then we also watched Chicago, we talked and had a great time. My back still wasn't great but he was very attentive. I'm feeling like a lucky girl to have met him.
Thought I would share this with you - it is from a study that I am doing online -
I have been so blessed by "The Lord'sTable" study this week! Just wanted to share this article I read this morning:
Willing to Follow
My predicament is a simple one, and perhaps, not unlike yours. I like sweets. Take me to a buffet, potluck or party and it's a sure bet the first place my eye falls is on the dessert table. Dinner nevers seems complete without "a little something" to finish it off. There's a problem however, and I'd like to address it in this edition of Soul Feast.
The problem with loving sweets, or simply loving any created thing, is we put ourselves in the precarious position of allowing that thing to rule us. Jesus said it like this, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (Matthew 6:24)
Let me clarify that by "love," I'm not referring to either brotherly affection (Romans 12:10) or the God-kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13 and John 15:13. I'm speaking of the devotion that belongs to God alone (1 Corinthians 7:35). Money is one of those things we need in some measure to survive; but when we start to love money, we run into trouble. "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." (1 Timothy 6:10) It's the same with food. We need to eat, fairly regularly, to survive; but the love of food leads to evil as surely as does the love of money.
Loving the creation more than the Creator has a name. It's called sin, or more specifically, idolatry. This preferring the gifts to the Giver started a long time ago when a couple of people thought maybe the one thing God had forbidden them was the one thing they needed; and maybe, if they disobeyed God, they could improve their lot in life. Their love for the created thing--i.e., themselves--outweighed their love for God, and sin entered the world.
Happily, God had a way of getting us back on track long before any of this happened. But that way was costly.
In a nutshell, it's like this.
1. Sin is the choice we make, through disobedience, to separate ourselves from God; and the fruit of that choice, unless we repent, is eternal separation from God, which is spiritual death.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
When I park myself next to the dessert table and "sample" more than I know I should, I'm separating myself from God. How can I say this? Because there's this little voice inside me telling me what I'm doing is wrong, and I'm ignoring it. Basically what I'm saying is, "Yeah, God, I know I'm overindulging here, but the truth is, I love myself and my own pleasures at this moment more than I love You."
By choosing sin over God, I am despising Him. That's painful to think about, isn't it?
Please note that I'm not saying enjoying desserts, or any food for that matter, is sinful. God gave us all foods to receive with thanksgiving (1 Timothy 4:3). I'm saying when I cater to my flesh and eat more than I know is good for me, simply because I desire it, I am sinning.
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." (1 John 2:15-17)
I know I'm going to be sorry the next day when the momentary pleasures of my disobedience are gone and all that's left are the consequences of my gluttony; but by then, it'll be too late for me to do anything about it, too late to say "no" to the flesh. What's done is done and I can't undo it--not by purging, not by starving, not by exercise (though I may try any of these).
Resolve won't help either. If I couldn't keep from overindulging the first time, what makes me think it'll be any different the next time? Not that I won't try that, too. But see what happens if I do:
"When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully who is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food." (Proverbs 23:1-3)
When I put myself on a food-restricting diet, in a way, that diet becomes my "ruler" because I measure my success or failure by how well I do on it. E.g., if the diet gives me a certain calorie limit and I stay within it, I count myself doing well. If I give into my appetite and exceed the limit, I'm not doing so well.
There is a problem intrinsic to every diet, however, regardless of how popular, documented, or scientific it may be, and if you carry off anything from this article, please remember this. Some new diet sensation comes along, and what's the first thing we think? We think, "Maybe this is it. Maybe this one will work for me."
The hard truth is, diets don't "work" for anyone. Diets give us guidelines; we do the work. In the same way that the Law gave us a standard of holiness and left us on our own to keep it, so a diet is powerless to release us from slavery to appetite. My enthusiasm may run high for a while, but in the end, I find myself back at the dessert table, trapped in an endless and familiar cycle of slavery.
"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25)
2. The cross of Christ has freed us from slavery to our appetites.
"For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:3-4)
Jesus' death on the cross is God's answer to our slavery to the sin of overindulgence. Through Christ's blood, He has provided the escape route we needed .
"And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister." (Colossians 1: 21-23)
No longer need I be mastered by either my appetite or the legalistic requirements of dietary laws. I have been reconciled to God through the death of Christ. He is my Master, and I live to serve Him. This leads us to the next point.
3. To walk in freedom, we must walk in the steps of Christ.
"A servant is not greater than his master" (John 15:20). "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did" (1 John 2:6). "...those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." (Galatians 5:24)
To follow Christ, we must walk as he did, and Jesus' steps took Him straight to Calvary's cross. If I'm to walk in the joy that comes through freedom from gluttony, I will suffer with Christ the pain of denying my flesh.
"Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?'" (Matthew 16:24-26)
As sin is the choice I make to separate myself from God through disobedience, so death is the choice I make to nail to the cross the lusts of my flesh. How? By obeying God rather than my sinful desires.
Now maybe you're thinking, "Whoa, there! You just said we couldn't do the right thing through sheer resolve."
Yes, that's true. We can't. The good news is we don't have to. Unlike our old taskmaster, the diet, our new taskmaster, Christ, isn't powerless to help us!
"For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." (Romans 8:13-14)
Within us lives the Person of the Holy Spirit, and it's He Who does the crucifying, as we submit to Him.
So now when I encounter that dessert table, I know I have the power within me to say no to the flesh. I just have to exercise it. No longer must I be mastered by my sinful cravings. Through the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit, I develop the self-control I need to be satisfied with one piece of cake. (Galatians 5:23)
"A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls." (Proverbs 25:28)
My sinful nature would have me eat and eat, beyond the point of contentment onto the point of regret; but self-control is like a wall around a city, protecting it from attack. When I exercise the fruit of self-control, I stand strong against the sinful desires of the flesh.
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16)
So in recap, I ask you. Have you sought the Lord for a heart of repentance, one that hates anything which would enslave you? That's the first step to freedom. Do you have God's Holy Spirit living within you through faith in Jesus Christ? Then, my friend, you have all you need to withstand the attacks of the devil, who works in league with your flesh to bring about your downfall. Train yourself to run to God at every temptation. He is your strength.
And use wisdom. Stay away from the dessert table, if that's your weakness. A wise person once said, "Sin starts with the second look." One look tells me there's dessert after dinner. A second, lingering look tells me what kinds of treats I'll have to choose from and my head starts imagining how yummy they'll taste and I begin to plan how I'll try a smidgen of this and a morsel of that...and lust is awakened. Next thing I know, I'm going back for thirds.
"So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2:22)
The Lord longs to give us victory in this, if only we'll give ourselves to delighting in Him, rather than the things of the world. We need to be hungry, friends, not for desserts that cannot satisfy, but for the abiding presence of God. That's the foundation on which everything rests.
Thought I would give a quick note on how I am doing.
Have been terribly ill for just over a week now with the flu and cold - needed to get some strong med's to get it out of my chest. Was to go to Calgary for my cancer checkup this Wednesday but had to cancel it and reschedule it for March 31 - that should give me enough time to get feeling much better
Have not been out walking for over a week and I can really feel it - and haven't been to Curves either.
So this morning decided that I would give it a try but not pushing it as I don't need the congestion to return. Was only able to do 2 laps re my walk before my breathing got to me - so I stopped. Then went over to Curves - supposed to do the circuit 3 x but only did it 2 x. But Wednesday is another day and will be able to do both walking and Curves completely by then I think.
Got on the scale today - and quickly got off it - med's do it to me every time. Showed a GAIN of 4.5 pounds - as I haven't really been eating a lot I know it is the med's - this has happened to me before. Just have to brush it off and watch it fall off as I get back into a good routine again.
Also as I am starting to feel somewhat better today have started back on a better eating plan. Am doing a 14 day plan - some call it an induction, Curves calls is Phase 1 and Dr. Phil calls it his Rapid Start Plan. Basically it is no sugar, refined flour (bread), potatoes or pasta.
So basically I am going to be keeping the next 14 days very simple in eating.
Breakfast will be (was today) 2 scrambled eggs, with 1 slice of cheese, some green onions and seasoned with garlic. Mid morning had some fresh strawberries - 1 cup. For lunch it is a tossed vegg salad with 1 chicken breast (left over from last night) with thousand island dressing (2 tablespoons). And for supper we are having roast beef, veggs, tossed salad and the rest of the family will include potatoes with theirs.
So that is generally how my meals will look for the next 2 weeks - after 7 days they say I should see a loss of at least 3 pounds -- looking forward to that.
Well, have a few things to get done while I still have some energy.
Location: I am from 29 Palms, California... but now live in Northeast, Ohio
Posts: 2,107
S/C/G: SW-245.5/CW-209/GW-170
Height: 5'5"
Only a moment...
SPROUT,
Where do you go to get the reading at the"The Lord's Table"? I had the site once and thought I had it saved on my Favorites and didn't Would you leave me a link to the site, please. I would be so grateful!
I found your post today very inspiring... thank-you so much!
(((Hugs))) I am sending *prayers* your way for strength and success as you begin your endeavor! It is hard work that is ever so rewarding!!! Be very careful after being so ill for so long, okay
March 20th - First Day of "Spring"
Why? 
You are adorable... I hope that one day we will cross paths 
I would love to meet you someday. 
After this machine there is only one more left to get (at the moment). Thank you so much for your encouragement! I have dropped some weight 
I am at exactly 200lbs as of this morning!!! 
That's -4lbs all of a sudden, just like you all said!!! 
God is so good!
Spring has Sprung!!!
Kudos to you! 
So proud of you!
Saturday
and I cannot get it to change... oh well. Also, check out the POST ICONS(below the reply box) - they are different. AND they have made our NAMES smaller by our AVATAR'S (to the left)... I liked the way the names were before 
and I too lighten it up for the summer. I like to change it up 
your way for your weigh-in day!!!!!!
I wasn't sure i'd be able to see him because my back was really bad while I was at work that morning. I spoke to him in the afternoon and he said i could come over whenever. He was busy painting the house, his boy's room, while he's in Texas for spring break. So I took a nap and came over about 7 pm. We ended up going to his work, so he could get his laptop and projector, and then he stopped at the grocery store (I stayed in the car), then we went and had Chinese food for dinner, and then we went to his house. We had some sake in his new sake set, the cups have japanese figures on them and say fortune, wisdom, love, longevity, etc. So we each picked one, and he got fortune and i got love! We watched Happy Gilmore, after he hooked up the laptop and projector, it was like being at the movies, it was great! Then we also watched Chicago, we talked and had a great time. My back still wasn't great but he was very attentive. I'm feeling like a lucky girl to have met him.
Only a moment...
