Before and After: How to Lose and How to Maintain

Who knew that setting an actual goal when it came to fitness that it would make a difference in your life? Seven months later and 65 pounds later, I know that now.

What did it take? A lot of prayer to stay on the right track, exercising even when I did not have a companion to go with me or when I was feeling lazy or tired and sacrificing foods that were my favorites that were not the best foods to put in my mouth. 

Who said I don’t eat?  I eat a balanced diet. I eat a lot but I do not eat everything.  It is crazy to know that food can be a killer of a person.  So what is stopping a person from controlling their eating habits to keep oneself healthy and free from having to be forced to take medicines?  We have all the power in us to decide that I do not need that extra cookie or I can let go of the extra-large soda and drink extra-large water instead.

Am I on a diet?  A diet is any of the foods that you decide to put on your plate. If it is pork chops with potato au gratin every day,  that is your diet. I have a lifestyle that I am maintaining and have been able to keep.  It works for me and that is how I flow through the food business. It is all about portion control, limiting and knowing how to really read those nutritional labels. Habits can easily be broken and where there is the will, there is the way.  In order to change your life you need to change your ways. I did that and hopefully will never go back. It is still a process that requires prayer, as when I started this whole thing. 

Have I reached my goal? My first goal was to keep my body from getting sick which it was and I met that goal.  MY next goal was to try to maintain a workout regime and I actually do workout at least five days a week; maybe even more sometimes.  After I did that, I looked in my draw and saw that I had a shirt in it with tags that I had been keeping for about six years that I have been dying to wear but after gaining all my weight back the last time, it never fit.  I met that goal just recently. Now, I want to maintain and maybe if possible, lose about another 10-15 pounds and I will be exactly where I need to be.  I am in a good place already and very motivated so I think I can do it.  If you think you can, you do. 

The Benefits of Choosing Plan B

Ever since my accident, I’ve been seeing things in a slightly different light.

 

For one, I have come to realize that in everything there is a lesson learned. Even when the situation leaves a person physically drained or to the point of tears, there is a reason why that particular occurrence came and altered our world. I realize now that there should always be a plan B. If I had considered plan B then, what happened could have been prevented. But what can one do after plan A fails? The important thing though is to get your groove back, no matter what.

 

I can honestly say that confusion hurled at me in every direction. My accident actually started pruning the branches of my sanity a little bit and tears would creep in overtaking the beauty of the smile that God gave me. All the almosts and could haves that could have happened that night pointed me opposite of the direction of the sun. But hey; my life was spared which is the important thing and I’m here another day to celebrate that fact alone.

 

I am thankful! Family and friends shared with me love that intoxicated my spirit; more helpful than I could have ever imagined.  But it was one comment in particular that left me with a moment of thought.  I was asked about traveling around the city and I explained that I no longer had a car, so would be taking public transportation or walking and the response was, “walking is good for you.” That statement alone created a lasting impression that has changed my life forever.

 

Not a rain cloud in the sky could have stopped me from deciding at that moment to walk. That was when I took the walking path of the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn and walked about four miles in.  I had always wanted to walk over the bridge and finally, I accomplished it and got time to release all the energy that was baffling me and even got a storm of lyrics that came to my mind from my one-on-one walk with God. I can say that the initial walk helped me to stop showing my hurt over my experience like a display of trophies and instead grasp the Lord’s love and wear it like a royal crown. For what is the profit of crying when a smile can help brighten someone else’s day?  Something learned.

Who knew that walking the Brooklyn Bridge would become my new obsession? In one week, I’ve walked it three times. The last time was a plan B.

See, I was supposed to go to the gym and had packed all my gym things before I'd left for work with the intention of going after work. When I was all set and ready, I realized that I forgot my lock for my locker.  I am not one to carry around bags with me to each machine and settle them down wherever someone is not working out. Good thing I had an alternate plan. 

 

I still needed to get my workout in. Ever since I started my fitness quest, working out has become a major part of my life and so I try to get some in every day if I am able. I decided to walk and again took the path of the Brooklyn Bridge like the two prior times but this time with the intention of making it to the front door of my house. After seven miles of walking at a nice, steady pace, I made it home safely and beat the rain. How great is that!  
 

If I had followed through on plan A, it would have been good.  I would have did 20 minutes on the treadmill, 20 minutes on the elliptical machine, 20 minutes on the stationary bike and then I would have walked on the treadmill for about 10, burning about 850 calories or so. But because the alternate plan had to be taken instead, I got to travel and inhale God’s fresh air, walk all-terrain over all the natural inclines the earth has to offer, capture some great images of the beautiful scenery that NYC has to offer and still burn over 600 calories from my 140 minutes of walking. Who could beat that? 

Walking really is good for you and what many do not realize is that not only can it help to bring down that hard to loose belly but just thirty minutes a day of walking can improve your health status. Another thing that people do not realize is that you cannot tell me anything because my energy has increased so much that I am ready to act at every motivational item that is hammered at me. Maybe I’ll do it again soon because it was great.

At the mouth of death (A Poem)

At the mouth of death

These intoxicating thoughts

Just hit you like a car cruising head-on

Straight into the crushing metals of a truck

All you feel is your percussions rapidly pump

Your eyes opened wide now and reality smashes into you

Maybe the jaws of death weren’t watering for you

And then you consider the head and the tale of the matter

Your mind hurled away and in every direction thoughts scatter

And through it the rain just keeps pouring down faster

So confused you don’t even know how to mix into the next moment’s batter

And you feel numb to the world like frost bit your fingers

while walking gloveless over the Brooklyn Bridge as free as a soul singer

You reached to your destination and are alive knowing you’ve been kept

So blessed and yet still feeling so numb that from life you seem absent

The grip of despair and doubt got a hold of your spirit trying to yank it away

You can let go of God’s unchanging hand or use faith as a weapon to scale his new day

For despite the metals of your heart crushed and left in mountains that pile on

God pulled you out so put on your armor and shield of faith that is stronger than iron

For even though gripped emotionally, you are here in the land of the living

Continue to love, heal, grow and in all you do, be thankful for your blessings

A Sunday Moment: Acknowledging your Blessings

 

If you have doubts that God truly is who he is, come to a point in your life when you are just so confused by everything that occurred at that particular moment that the only thing you know that kept you is God.

You can cry about it and not let go of your situations or you can laugh at the amazing wonder of God who had his hand in seeing you through. If you can walk away from your tests and trials, hold your head up high and be thankful for it.

No reason to doubt in who you are when you are God's. The person God fearfully and wonderfully made you to be, he calls beautiful and also said that you should stand still and allow him to handle the rest.

If you awaken, smile knowing it could have been you like the many others who didn't awaken and did not make it to a new day in the land of the living. There are so many reasons to be thankful. Be sure to acknowledge your blessings because God's love continues to flow abundantly into your life and also you've been kept for a reason.

Never fail to remember or to move your hand from within his grasp, and thank God for it all.

 

Valentines Days: An Acrostic Poem

In the writing mood after sitting through an engaging class of African Literature and discussing the work of Chinua Achebe, I was inspired. Love is in the air as Valentine's Day approaches and so, the theme is on love.  I guess love is always a good topic as God is love.  So why not?  This is an Acrostic Poem entitled Valentines Days. Hope you will take the time to read it and if you do,  I hope you enjoy it.

VALENTINES DAYS: An Acrostic Poem

 

 

Voice of love so warm and tender

Arms of joy wrapped round my slumber

Leaping into dream's cloud prance

Elevated by the REM dance

Nights so sweet in blinks you came

Twisted storms of rhythm framed

In between the fruited truth

Natural love flutters with you

Everything it soaks with love

Sent from heaven up above

Drifting til the bell rings awake

Alters midnight dreams to day

You appear even in the open

Smiles they broaden as a token

My Fitness Journey

Do what is in your heart to do and you'll find maximum joy in it.

Think about it; if it is love and it is something that you love to do, what is holding you back? I used to love working out but stopped because of external factors that should not have mattered. I even got to the point that I did not want to work out or diet because of how I knew people viewed me or viewed my situation and then I gained and then I started getting sick and then I started praying and now, I’m back on my grind.  

Don't be discouraged or fear the outcome for if it is in you, it is you and was meant to be part of you. I can honestly say that I truly have no regrets about where I came from to where I am.  Who would over fifty pounds later?  Sometimes it takes a person to actually analyze the situation at hand to know that it is time to make a true difference.

Be yourself and let your heart be the guide to the things that will set it free. And, don't ever stop. Even if you have a friend who said they would support, follow or go with you and they end up cancelling.  This journey is yours alone and it is you who has to deal with the ailments associated with it. Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of women? Scary to think that our weight and the sizes of our bellies can often be the determiner of it!

Whose body is it that you will be working out?  Whose mouth is it that you are going to be putting the fatty foods that won’t benefit your life at all into?  Who is it that will be feeling the incredible burn from the workout while it is being done? And when you look at that scale, whose weight are you going to be measuring; yours or your friend’s?  Things like that are to be considered when deciding if it is worth going the stretch on your own.

A goal set is only achieved if you set your foot forward towards it at whatever pace is in you. Remember it takes an inch to go a mile.

The last time I tried this I lost 50 pounds in three months. Seems like a lot of weight to lose in such a short period of time. I had given up meat and worked out seven days a week. Drastic but true. And it was even quicker to gain back and add more weight to it.  But you know what, it happened and that was then. Now, From August 1, 2012 to February 1, 2013, I lost a little over 50. It took longer because I didn’t go drastic though I did cut things from my diet, but only to proportion. I eat what I want when I want instead but stick to a 1200 calorie diet while doing so and also workout mostly every day.

 

The extra time enabled mind strengthening for my new lifestyle and heart deepening to actually love my new ways to be able to keep it as a constant. But, just because someone else does one thing does not mean that is the answer. What God has for you is for you and never forget that. Maybe you might have a different method that will sufficeth your life; so do it if you have it in your heart to. Remember, change is inevitable and it is better to make the change by decision than because a doctor told you to.  I mean in all honesty, who truly wants a doctor telling them you can't eat this anymore or that you are borderline some kind of avoidable sickness? That’s why I did it and I have found success in it.  All I can say is, God is good and still working on me daily to make me a better version of me.

If you have the heart to do something that is beneficial for your life whether it is giving up cigarettes, losing a few pounds or changing your eating habits and know you want to, there is nothing to it. You got this so get up and make moves. Any and all things are possible if you put your mind to it. Believe that.

Have a fitabulous weekend my loves. Enjoy and be blessed!

Reasons to Smile: A Poem and a Song

Lately I have been holding a bit of doubt in my heart that I can admit was self-driven.

I often have visions of the way that I would have hoped life would be and the mere fact that it isn’t kills my spirit. One of those things was love even though God is love.  The others were singing and music as a whole. It got so crazy to the point that I even stopped listening to music period, even though I love it more than food. 

But then I realized that God has blessed me in so many ways. How could I deny myself the very things I love and how could I not acknowledge the good things that he has done for me and how could I not be thankful for the joy he allows me to feel internally?  And then, these words came to my mind and I started writing them down and here they are; “Reasons to Smile: A Poem And A Song”. Hope you find it in your heart to read it and listen. I pray these words might bless your heart.

Reasons to Smile: A Poem and a Song

by Stephanie Jeannot

 

Waves of time I ride blind

with the eyes of God holding me down

even when no one is around

he is there and so I shout of his goodness aloud

 

for he has kept me in the land of the living

and transformed everything around my world

and life unfurls from the wings of my bosom

I’m a child of God and his good news must be heard

 

For with him all things are possible

what is the profit of crying when he carries the weight

let the joy he gives flow from inside out

and let go of your unnecessary doubts and replace it with faith

 

Pray about it and leave it there in God’s hands

influence a generation of conquerors with your new ways

and never let go of his unchanging hands

for his mercy which endureths forever shall never change

 

So be mindful that the Lord is there and cares for you

that in truth, God has your back and will never leave your side

steady your feet on the ground and know his truth

for if you’ve been down, there is a good reason to smile