Well, like it or not, 2013 is half over.
We are near the end of June & in the snap of a finger, we'll be posting about fall decor,
our Thanksgiving dinners, putting up our Christmas trees & making our Christmas lists.
It will be here just that fast.
I thought I'd take a quick second and post an update ...
a 6-month check up, if you will, on where we are on our 2013 goals & resolves.
I posted our
plan of attack for this year in January as sort of a list to keep us on target.
Nothing like reaching the year's end feeling like a complete loser, knowing all the thoughts & ideas,
all those resolutions & good intentions that you had for the new year just didn't pan out.
I even posted
my words of the year {intentional & purposeful} & the
books I planned to read.
I truly did have/still do have good intentions!
So, I'm going to lay it all out here today ... for you & for me.
We'll see how well I've done & where I need to improve & pick up the pace.
I've got 6 months left to make it happen.
OK ... taking a deep breath ... do you want the bad news or the good news first?
Good news?
Me too.
I've been living each day very intentional.
My frame of mind has been
right where it should be in this area.
I've loved more, lived more, & have been more
fulfilled because of it.
I've celebrated small moments just like they were big ones.
I've taken time to seek out daily pleasures like smelling the flowers & rain showers,
hearing the voices of my man & my boys when they call home at lunch,
finding a sweet note laying on the stove when I wake up,
or sitting in the rocking chair on the front porch reading a good book.
Intentional living & purposeful days have been very rewarding.
Speaking of books, I had quite the stack of books that I planned to read this year.
I am happy to report that I am attributing
my
better state of mind & overall more positive outlook
to a couple of these really good books that I've read.
I'm not even kidding.
I could go on & on about these books.
Someone else may read them & not be as enthused, but for me, they've been the perfect books
and I've read them at just the right time in my life.
I can't wait blog about the others in detail later, but for now
I'll tell you about this book that wasn't even on my list!
Last year, the sweet ladies of our church put together a huge birthday basket for me
& in it was this book,
Secrets of the Vine.
I don't even know who put it in there, but here's a BIG thank you!
For whatever reason, I just started reading it about a month ago.
Yes, it's short & I could've read it in a day, but I am taking it slow ...
studying it, more so.
{Plus, I have about 4 other books going, as usual.}
I have needed to read this book at just this time in my life ...
& in my opinion,
every single Christian needs to read this book.
It is so applicable to all areas of life.
I've learned many wonderful truths about John 15 as Jesus is teaching about the vine.
It discusses 4 levels of 'fruit bearing' {doing the good work of God}.
I've been challenged & corrected ... & I love it when that happens.
There's nothing like growing in the Lord.
Here's the pic I posted in January of the books I wanted to read, showing my progress.
I've got several marked off the list.
Course, the top 5 books, I've read before ...
I'm just refreshing on them &/or using them continually as my daily devotionals.
This next book has been so good to read.
I'm not only motivated by it, but encouraged to examine my
attitude & motives.
The leadership in our church is currently reading & discussing this book
& it's getting rave reviews from all of us.
So, I'm giving myself a thumbs up for staying on target with my book list for 2013.
Two more of my goals were to 1) SIMPLIFY and 2) PLAN AHEAD.
Happy to say, I've cleaned out closets, cabinets, the garage, the pantry & anything in between.
The boys have as well.
All in all, I've donated LOTS of bags & boxes to Goodwill & have amassed a large amount
of potential yard sale items.
If I don't have the sale in the next couple weeks, it's all going to Goodwill too.
As for planning ahead, we've stayed on task.
This has been especially helpful for our church & ministry work & eliminates much stress in the process.
Now on to the not-so-good news.
Sigh.
It's tough reporting the not-so-good news, but here we go.
The other top priority for 2013 was to get healthier, make better choices in food & exercise,
& ultimately to lose some weight.
James is doing a fantastic job.
He's down 30 pounds & is consistent to the gym.
He's set & met many goals there & is feeling better than he has in a long time.
The biggest plus: his blood pressure is lower!
He's been in stage 2 hypertension for several years & as of just a few days ago,
he now down to pre-hypertension!
His slight frustration is that he's not losing faster, but overall is very pleased with his progress.
As for me, I was very consistent until late April.
I was charting & journaling my calories ... & walking about 3-4 miles each week.
I lost a total of 20 pounds.
Now, while I'm totally happy with that, I am not happy with the fact
that I fell off the bandwagon in May.
June wasn't any better.
I slacked off on counting my cals & due to some physical issues, I was not able to do much walking.
And it showed up on the scales ... of course it did.
Along with that came the emotional toll & that sluggish 'I'm eating junk' feeling that the body
tries to get our attention with.
So, on June 17, James, me, my sister, & my niece started on
a low-carb program.
James does low-carb pretty much all the time & loves it ... but me, no ... I'm not crazy about it.
I decided to join in though cause I needed a jump start.
I basically needed a big slap in the face ... a wake up call to get back on the wagon.
I figured
I needed & deserved the punishment.
The program calls for 10 days of eating 30 carbs or less.
Not a lot of carbs there, people ;)
On the 10th evening, you have a carb night.
You can indulge in carbs for a period of 3 hours or so to spike your insulin.
The next day, you start back on low-carbs & one evening every 7 days, you have a carb evening.
They say that this, coupled with exercise is a sure fire weight loss.
On my 10th day, I was down 8 pounds & feeling quite proud of myself.
{We were all down from 6-8 lbs each.}
Here's the shocker for me:
I found that I didn't miss the carbs near as much as I thought I would.
I figured that I'd being dying for sugar & bread, but I really wasn't.
James, being the seasoned low-carb veteran, helped me to know what to eat.
Even on the carb night, I didn't eat what I thought I would.
So, much to my surprise & especially to James' surprise, I've decided to stay on the program.
As I said before, I have 6 months left in this year to continue moving forward.
I'm certainly not satisfied with my sllloooow progress, I am happy to be making progress.
We are planning a fall vacation, so that's my current motivation.
I feel encouraged, especially looking at my goals from this perspective ...
6 months left in the year to make them happen, to check things off my 2013 list.
And if you are feeling a bit off schedule, there's no time like the present to get back on the bandwagon.
We can do this!!
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