Fork in the Road

Yogi Berra is quoted as saying "When you come to a fork in the road, take it!"  I kind of like that!  Life leads you down a lot of long and winding roads, and the one God has me on now, has led me back here, to a blog I started AGES ago, to refresh it, revive it, and bring new life into it.

Another great fork story (and I am not referring Forks, Washington, home to some illustrious fictional Vampires that I have been known to talk about) was told by a mentor of mine, Pastor Steven Furtick from Elevation Church.  The story goes like this:

A woman was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given three months to live. She asked her Pastor to come to her home to discuss her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral, and what scriptures she wanted read, and which outfit she wanted to be buried in. Then she said, “One more thing… I want to be buried with a fork in my hand.” The pastor was surprised.
The woman explained, “In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably say to everyone, ‘Keep your fork.’ It was my favorite time of the dinner, because I knew something better was coming, like velvety chocolate cake or deep dish apple pie – something wonderful. So, I want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and wonder, “What’s with the fork?” Then, I want you to tell them, “Keep your fork, because the best is yet to come.”
The pastor’s eyes welled up with tears of joy as he bid the woman goodbye. He realized she had a better grasp of heaven than he did, and knew something better was coming. At the funeral, when people asked him why she was holding a fork, the pastor told them of the conversation he had with the woman before she died. He said he could not stop thinking about the fork, and knew they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right.

“Keep Your Fork.
The best is yet to come.”

 

I am still dedicated to my weight loss goals, and you can still ask me about Beachbody and how to purchase Shakeology, but the thing that brings me greatest joy is my life in Christ and my family.  So, the focus of this blog will be there.  Thanks for following me over form the other blog, and WELCOME if you are new!

Here's to Spring Break -and Forks!

Guess Who’s Back?!?

Well, after a little hiatus and some technical difficulty resolution, the blog is back! I am sure you wanted an update on my week back in the real (food) life, so here is it. IT WAS HARD! We had left over birthday cake in the house from our son’s party on Saturday. And chips. And white bread. UGH! I still did Shakeology for breakfast as usual, but I have to admit I had a pretty indulgent sandwich for lunch more that one day this week… And Tuesday night we went out to a Mexican food place for #1 son’s 4th birthday dinner, and they gave him fried ice cream. I ate some… But, I also worked out! We had some neighbor issues and a sick kid on the same night earlier this week, so I didn’t get sleep that night, and therefore the workout hit the back burner that day, but I have a plan, and I am sticking to it as best I can! I am doing my best, and forgetting the rest (Thanks, @Tony_Horton). I’m even breaking out my Team Beachbody work out of choice (Shakeology The 50) and pressing play after the kids are in bed since I will be in a car, a gymnasium or a church all day tomorrow (from 6am to 9pm…)

Up to this point, I have been weighing every Monday morning. I am not sure I am up to that this week, though. I don’t want to be disappointed. I let myself have a (food) break after the fast, and I am almost afraid to see the results. So, I have all weekend to decide, but I think I am going to skip the weigh in on Monday. Mandisa (American Idol season 5 and EMI/Sparrow Records Christian Recording Artist) (@mandisaofficial) is 7 pounds form losing 100 pounds, and she only weighs every other week. I might use her plan…

A Challenging Monday

Today is day 8 of my fast.  I just watched history streaming on my PC as the first woman governor of the great state of Oklahoma took her Oath of Office (Congrats, Mary Fallin – our 27^th Governor!), and it is snowing at a pretty steady clip here in North Central Oklahoma!  My drive to work took 3 times as long as it usually does, and I am hungry.  This is the first time I have really felt hungry the whole journey!  Last night, I had a headache again, but nothing like earlier in the week...  But feeling hunger is a new thing for me in this season.

I knew the snow was coming, so we had tried to be prepared as a family.  Got up early to make sure cars were warmed up, ice was scraped of windshields, kids had cold weather gear, etc.  Although the drive was long and tedious, it was GREAT to hear my 3 year old son chatter in AWE of all the white we saw on the way to day care this morning.  He says the funniest things!  He asked, “"Mom, how do all those cars get the snow off their screens? With their wipers?"  I assume he meant windshields...  (He says some funny stuff!  Follow him on Twitter @JakeWeaverSays) As is my usual, I drank my Shakeology on the way to work, and for some reason, it just didn’t last.  Due to all the other distractions this morning, I neglected to grab my usual fresh fruit snack or some nuts!  DARN!  But, I am praying for strength!  I know I will go home for lunch soon, and there is no way I am throwing in the towel at this point!

Since one of the areas of my life I am trying to improve on and hand over to God is my health and weight, I am using this fast not only as a time for spiritual growth and enlightenment, but also as a jump-off point for a lifestyle change in my eating and fitness.  That's why I became a Beachbody coach a few weeks back as well.  So, this morning,  I weighed.  The last time I was on a scale was on December 8, a month ago.  Since that time, I have lost 11 pounds.  It's a great start, but I have a long way to go...

I saw some great Daniel fast recipes on the LifeChurch.tv OKC Campus Facebook page, and I loved a ReTweet I saw from our senior pastor, Craig Groeschel this morning: “A diet changes the way you look. A fast changes the way you see!”  So true!  And I want to SEE more!  Time to dig deeper, go further, last longer!

I got to Press Play!

God is GOOD - all the time!  I skipped my workout this morning for prayer.  When I got to work, things were par for the course until about 10:00 am.  Apparently, some construction elsewhere on campus made the power go out in our building (as well as a few adjacent buildings).  We mulled around for an hour trying to decide what to do, and after that, my boss sent me home for the day!  So, the first thing I did? Press Play!  I did Shakeology The 30, and now I have to rest of the day to do what I need to around here.  Feelin' good!

New Year - UPDATE!

I did so well for the first 2 weeks!  I am not wearing my back brace AT ALL,  and I worked out 5 of the first 7 days (WOOT!) and not quite as much the week of Christmas and New Years! *sigh*  But, I went on a 4 day road trip to Texas for the Alamo Bowl, and walked a LOT during that day, so I was still active.  Also took a 4 day break from Shakeology during the trip, but all in all I am still on track and still proud of my accomplishments.

All that to say, I am taking a little detour.  I really think this is for the better in LOTS of ways.  My husband and I are participating in a First of the Year 21 day fast with our church, LifeChurch.tv.  Here is a link to the event on Facebook for more information.  I am still doing Shakeology for breakfast, and I plan to work out 3-5 days a week with Shakeology - The Workouts.  I really hope this will jump-start me into a new year of fitness and healthy!  21 days without meat, dairy, sugar or animal by-products is a good way to start!  I am so excited to see where this journey takes me mentally, spiritually, and PHYSICALLY!  Here's to a new year and a new ME!

Single Step

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.  ~Lao-tzu

Today was my single step.  I got up early, I put on some work-out appropriate clothes and shoes, loaded the DVD into the player, and I leaned forward to PRESS PLAY!

Today’s work out: Shakeology – The 30

I figured, I have to start somewhere!  I have been using Shakeology as a meal replacement for breakfast for about a month now, and I feel so much better!  When I started the shakes, I was still battling the bulging disk (between L4 & L5) in my back.  I was still in a brace 24 hours a day, and pretty miserable without it.  Since then, I have been weaning myself off the brace – down to about 4-6 hours a day (mostly while sitting at work or in a car), and I can actually bend over!  So, the time had come to start moving!

Since the Shakeology workouts were already in my hands, I figured it was a great place to start.  I would say I was able to do about 80% of the work today.  I did the modified jumping jacks with Lisette, only about ½ of the push ups (on my knees), and had the worse time putting my hands under my hips and lifting up!  Since I didn’t have any workout weights on hand, my husband fetched me two cans of corn we had on hand for a holiday recipe he will be preparing tonight.  It was funny, but it worked!  LOVED working my shoulders!   I also was a bit uncoordinated on the knee lifts, but I know it will get better!

With only about 12 minutes left in the workout, my number one daughter came out of her room complaining of a tummy ache.  Less than 2 minutes later – I heard her puking in the bathroom.  I was DETERMINED not to let this slow me down, so I sent my husband in to help her and just kept on working!  Thankful for him and his parenting abilities this morning.  He HATES puke, but #1 Daughter is old enough to care for herself some, so she was OK with minimal assistance.

I felt SUCH a since of accomplishment when the workout was over.  I was hot, sweaty, and my heart rate was up.  I felt GOOD. I felt triumphant!  I felt like I was finally doing something good for myself.  I hope to keep doing The 30 for awhile until I can get all the way through it, then I will move to The 50!  Now, if I could just get my husband to do it with me…