Sunday Weight Loss Recap

Where I Was: 

I started on the Trim Healthy Mama way of living sometime around April. I don't have a picture to show how heavy I was, but I was pretty heavy, close to 200 lb and I'm almost 5' 3". I was constantly feeling worn out, tired, and I had horrible joint pains (I'm almost 20). A friend of ours had started using the Trim Healthy Mama guidelines, and as of today she's lost around 30 lb! The best part of the THM way of living, I can eat some of the most delicious foods I've ever eaten (Chocolate! Cheese cake! Frappes!) and I have never felt this full all the time in years.

June Thirtieth

I've lost 12 pounds so far, and I've kept them off! As an added bonus, today for church I was able to wear a blouse that I haven't been able to button up even before I bought it. God has truly blessed me today! The photo I'm uploading isn't the best, it was taken really quickly so I could get changed into my everyday clothes. . . Oh well. I hope to take a better one next Sunday!

God Bless! 

Joy

How well did I do? June Recap

Finally

After one hectic month, I'm sitting down and looking back to see how well I did on my resolutions. I am a bit ashamed to say I almost forgot about these until I decided that it is time to put up an update. Well, here goes.

#1 Less Computer

    B+ or 85% : I have been on the computer less, but when I have been on I have not been doing what I should be doing; instead of writing or looking up what I was originally supposed to be looking up, I'd be on Pinterest, YouTube, or Facebook. . .

#2 Help Keep Things Clean

    C+  75% : One of my banes is how I ignore things that I don't like. Such as cleaning. I have been much better, especially with the kitchen and dining room, but my room is such a mess right now! It doesn't help that everyone in it (I'm sharing it with four sisters) doesn't want to help clean either. To top it off I was gone for a week, and the week before that I was busy with VBS! The excuses shouldn't count though, I need to make cleaning (even more than my share of it) more of a responsibility.

#3 Start FAFSA 

   A 95% : I finished filling out and sending it in about one and a half weeks ago. Woo hoo! Something done on time! The down side, I evidently missed something while filling it out, and now I have to contact a Financial Aid Assistant to figure out the problem. Ouch.

#4 Get as Much of my Story Written before the Summer Workshop

   A 90% : I did get the first chapter written a week before the Workshop! I also wrote a few pages of the second chapter as well. The Workshop was beyond amazing, and I'm hoping to go again next year. I am now plowing my way through the third chapter in my story. I say plowing because I feel so bad about how awfully written my first two chapters are, but I'm not supposed to edit them until after I've written the whole book.

Final Score: B+ or 86% 

Ouch. I'm hoping to do better next month. I'll hopefully be posting July's Resolutions soon.
God Bless!
Joy

I can't wait any longer!

YAAAAAAAAAAAY! I'm so excited!

For years I've been obese; never having the gumption to count calories or measure all of my food I'd almost become satisfied with being overweight for the rest of my life. Almost. I didn't have any energy to exercise (though I love dancing and running), and sometimes going out with my youth group became something to dread because I'd run out of breath way faster than the other skinnier kids. My mom would tell me about when I was six years old, a skinny little bundle of energy. I've always wondered what that would be like to be again as I hardly remember being six.

As of this morning, for the first time in YEARS I've lost ten pounds! I've also lost one pant size, and the one I'm in right now is beginning to get loose! I'm so excited that I'm typing this with a silly grin on my face.

That's my little ramble that I had to write before I went to bed.
God bless and good night!

Joy

June Resolutions

June is pretty busy for me. . . VBS is next week, and the week after I'm leaving for a week long writing workshop! I'm so excited!


#1: LESS COMPUTER
      I'm not sure how many of you have heard of the documentary called Captivated but it has changed how my family and I look at computers and other forms of entertainment. My time on the computer has been cut way back, and as it is now planting season I'm hoping to be outside more working in the gardens (my dad and brother made ready seven large plots this year!) and writing in a notebook instead of on the computer (I need to work on my handwriting, ha ha!). I'm hoping for at least an hour less of computer time by the end of June.

#2: HELP KEEP THINGS CLEANER (at least while I'm at home)
      In a family as big as mine (right now there are eight kids at home, not counting both my parents) and as we are constantly working on school and not the house, you can bet the nine out of ten times the house will be a mess. I'm hoping to kick myself in the behind more and help out. I'm almost twenty! I'm rather embarrassed at how little I do in my own home. Also, I'm really hoping that I'll be able to go to college this fall, but I don't know if I can afford my first choice of college (Northland International University). So, I'll be doing CLEPing instead. My goal for this month (and the months to come) is to help keep my house clean (especially the kitchen and dining room. . .).

#3: START FAFSA
      For some reason, I've been putting that off. I'm not sure if its just the jitters of realizing that I'm actually going to college, or what but I need to finally get it started so that I can hopefully go to college this next year for sure! The longer that college has been put off for me, the more I want to do it so. . . I'm going to at least get as ready as I hopefully can! The CLEPing will help with the cost as well, thank God for a program like that!

#4: GET AS MUCH OF MY STORY WRITTEN BEFORE THE SUMMER WORKSHOP
      Writing, my current love! Except when I'm actually supposed to work on it. . . That's when my procrastinating mind goes blank and I become stuck (aka. a classic case of writer's block). Right now (just under two weeks away from the workshop) I'm so close to starting the first chapter. I'm currently working on outlining the last four chapters, and when that's done! The fun part! But with VBS this next week, and all the business that's going on with planting, I'm just hoping to write a few pages of the first chapter, if anything at all. I'm currently a bit scared that I wont accomplish even that, but I can push myself, and I will do it!

If you read all of that, congratulations! This is my first time doing this, and I tend to ramble on quite a bit. . . Which is odd because I'm a rather quiet person in real life. Until I get to know you, that is. Then I guess I do ramble a little bit. ha ha!

Now and the Future

To put it simply, I'm a horrible procrastinator. I'm working on that. . . In fact, I hope to put up a list of things I hope to get done each month on here with the intention of actually getting them done. Among the things that has been happening, I have gotten a job recently, VBS is this next month, I've been accepted to the college I want to go to, and I've actually started to read some books again.

My newest job is a small hospice kind of job. I'm helping to care for an old lady who is dying of cancer. She is a very sweet lady; she loves gardening, bird watching, and she loves cooking. I'm thankful that I am able to help her in any way I can.

Ever since I moved to where I am now with my family, I have helped with our church's VBS every year. This year I'm taking on a different role then before (I used to be either a craft helper or a group helper). This year I'm director's assistant, costume assistant, and props assistant for the play. This year's VBS is medieval themed, and I can't wait to help!

Yes, I have been accepted to Northland International University. I am very happy about that. What I am doing now is procrastinating horribly with filling out my transcript, FAFSA papers, and everything else I need to do. My goal is to have it done by the end of this month and hopefully signed up for classes, but with my current record (which I hope to change) it look doubtful.

I have been very bad for a few months. I have not touched any books to read for fun. Instead, my computer has entranced me into it's depths. I've been on Pinterest more times than is useful, and played around with things like Paint and Windows Movie Maker with nothing in mind for making with them. I have started to read two very fascinating books, Johnny Tremainn and The Gift of Music. I'm half way through Johnny Tremain, and am completely loving it! (Especially since I've been going through One Year Adventure Novel I now understand what the author is doing and why. ) I've read the first four or so chapter's of The Gift of Music, and adore it! It's written by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson, and each chapter is about a different composer. Did you know that most of the influential composers (up till Bernstein) wrote music for the Psalms? It's true! Some of the composer's I've never even heard of, and am very excited to listen to their music.

That's all for now, though I hope to be back tomorrow with my resollutions!

Solo Deo Gloria,

Joy

I'm not on the computer much lately. . .

This is the reason I'm behind on this blog, and my writing blog. In fact, most of my computer time lately has been taken up with college prep and writing (okay, I squeeze in Pinterest too now and then. :P ), so I'll just try to give you a really quick rundown on what has been happening.

My mom bought the Trim Healthy Mama book as I've said before, and I have finally finished reading it. In fact, I finished it last Sunday, on Easter. It took that long to finish it! I am already trying to put it too work, even though the rest of my family isn't that into it yet. I even started trying to do the 'Spew' workout. My first time doing it was last night, and I am still sore today! I am planning on getting pictures taken soon for 'before and after'.

I have been accepted by Northland International University! I am so excited! As you can tell by the exclamation marks! Now, I'm working on figuring out how I'm going to pay for it. . . I am going to stubbornly not take out any loans, so if that means I have to go one semester at a time in order to pay for it, I will do that. I'm working on filling out FAFSA, and I'm starting on a search for as many scholarships and grants as I can find.

I've been reading through Martha Peace's book Becoming a 2 Timothy Woman, and I've been highly convicted on how I and my life are not the picture that God want's me to be like. I'm almost done reading through it, and I'll be starting the Girls Gone Wise book next.

I'm doing a World View class with my mom and some friends, and one of the things I will have to do is a Media Fast. I'm not sure exactly when I'll be doing it, but it will include no TV or computer for a certain amount of time. I'm planning on doing more crafts, reading, and school during that time.

That's all that has been happening around here!

God Bless!

SDG ~
~ Sparrow

Trim, Healthy, AND be able to eat butter, cheese, chocolate, cream, and all that?

Yup. It's called the Trim Healthy Mama diet, or the S and E diet. I can't wait to start it!

It's based on separating your meals into two different kinds of meal. The S meal or the Satisfying meal is full of fats, the E meal or the Energy meal is full of carbs and sugars. The switching back and forth from the different kinds of meals allows your body to use up one kind of fuel all the way before you feed it more. (It uses up all the glucose and sugars you just fed it for the E meal, and then it uses up all the fat you feed it with an S meal.)

I'm not an expert yet, I'm only on page 66 and this book is a whopping 607 pages long. Most of it is recipes, but it is till a whole lot to read!

The thing is, this book makes more sense than anything I've seen on TV, the internet  or any other book. This is something I can try to start to do as I read it! It's fun to read, and is stock full of scientific information. Those women have done their research well!

The two sister's who wrote it, Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett, have been using this method for five years now. Serene has helped her husband to lose weight, and Pearl's husband finally has food that he likes to eat at home! The sister's write in a way that is fun and easy to read. I highly recommend this book!

I'm hoping to make their Chocolate Nut Slabs later today!

Solo Deo Gloria,

Sparrow