My Personal Crossroad & The 21 Day Fix

For me.


I was TIRED.


Of


ALWAYS


being


tired.




I was tired of:

- feeling physically weak.

- my clothes fitting too snugly.

- getting out of breath when I climbed the stairs at work.

- not sleeping well at night.

- eating out once.....even twice a day.

- turning to food for comfort.....or when I felt stress.

- feeling out of balance.

- feeling out of control.



At 56.

I'm standing at my own crossroads.

I can find the discipline to get healthier.

Or I can continue on my current path.

I was at the point.

Where my current path was no longer an option.

I was about to rebel!




I wanted to feel better.

I wanted to be MY best.

Not skinny.

Not like someone else.

I just wanted to be the best I can be.

For me.

Not being satisfied with my physical self.

Took a lot of my energy.

And consumed my thoughts.

It created distraction.

From what's really important to me.

Getting healthy for me.

Meant getting serious about exercise & nutrition.

And that.....may be simple.

But, it's never easy.



And just like matters of faith.

When I see someone else really live the thing out.

And do it.

I can see what it looks like.

And.

I know that I can do it too.



Several friends around me were doing The 21 Day Fix.

(As in......21 days to make a new habit.)

And I witnessed their amazing results.

Real women.

That I personally know.

Who probably started out as weak and out of shape as me.

Who bought into the program.

And transformed their physical lives.

So we ordered the program online.

Just under sixty bucks.

And.

We thought about it.

And talked about it.

And amazingly.

Did nothing!

It sat on the shelf.

For weeks.



I was too intimated to begin.

Honestly.

Intimated mostly by the change that would have to come.

In my eating.

I told myself I didn't have time.

For meal planning and preparation.

A foreign concept.

I'd fallen into a pattern of grabbing food on the go.

I don't like to cook.

The extent of my meal planning and preparation.

Was having pancakes and bacon on a weekend morning.

Otherwise.

It was eating out.

All the time.




But.

21 days ago.

Scott & I finally mustered to "gumption" (as we say where I grew up) to get started.

Thank you, Jesus, for giving me the discipline I didn't have on my own.

And........... we finished our 21 day fix yesterday!

Eating healthy, well-portioned foods.

Bought just like you do.

Right out of the grocery store.

We went from NEVER cooking in our kitchen.

To cooking three meals a day!

We laughed some days.

We felt like we were running a short order grill.

Food flying in the mornings.

And in the evenings.

To my surprise.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

The food was delicious.

And healthy & filling.

And satisfying.

And I felt good eating this way.


I kept my camera in the kitchen I was so impressed with our meals.

I photographed some of my favorite dishes along the way.


(Haha!  this is where my children say.......who are you and where is my mother?!?!)

Veggie Burgers with baked asparagus & brussel sprouts & fresh sliced tomatoes. 

Stir fried chicken with onions & yellow peppers with whole grain barley.

One of my favorite breakfast dishes - a two egg omelette with grilled mushrooms, tomatoes, green peppers & onions with a half slice of whole wheat thin bagel. 

A fresh salad with fresh greens, cucumbers, tomatoes & sprinkle of walnuts.    I add sliced chicken or veggie burger for the added protein.

Whole wheat spaghetti with ground chicken & onions, peppers & snow peas.

Steel cut oatmeal, topped with a spoon full of low fat greek yogurt & blue berries & four slices of turkey bacon.

A whole wheat waffle topped with low fat greek yogurt & blue berries & a side of two scrambled eggs.

A veggie burger with fresh asparagus & sliced, baked sweet potatoes (sprinkled with coconut oil & nutmeg)

A fresh salad with a lean sirloin pattie & few whole grain crackers. 

Fresh salad with grilled chicken & few whole wheat crackers.

Fresh salmon with hot peaches over whole grain brown rice.

Along with better eating.

Came daily exercise.

Every day.

I won't lie.

It was hard.

Especially that first week.

This program comes with (30 minute) DVD workouts.

Using hand weights and 60 second exercises.

One after another.

They kicked my tail!

But.

I had the option in every workout.

To modify to my current ability.

It was not pretty those first few days.

I was weak.

But I had to start where I was.

So I stuck with it.

30 minutes.

Every single day.

No excuses.

Never missing.

The yoga mat and my hand weights became my daily companion.

Scott & I learned new skills.

Yoga.

Pilates.

Stretching.

Planks.

Cardio.

Every day for 21 days.

I didn't take a "before" picture.

I probably should have.

I have enjoyed seeing the results.

 On the scale.

And in my clothes.



My total weight loss in the last 21 days was 9 pounds.

Scott lost 10.

We finished the 21 days.

But we're only getting started.



I feel the best I have in years.

I'm physically stronger.

I have more energy.

I'm not constantly tired anymore.

When I go to bed at the end of the day, I'm sleeping soundly through the night.

My clothes are feeling looser.

I feel a sense of accomplishment.

I feel like I did something really good for myself.

I feel like I've started something good for myself.



So.

Am I done?

Nope.

I have a goal.

I'm keeping on.

At least through the end of August.

Once my goal is met.

I'll focus on maintaining it.



Looking at my crossroads.

And taking a better direction.

For me.

An Extraordinary Find Inside Our Old Peach Tree

I've written about our old peach tree before.

It's stood outside the kitchen window in Due West.

For many, many years.

Some of you remember our story about it.

When we first laid eyes on this hundred year old house.

Two years ago now.

Scott had no interest.

Whatsoever.

In buying it.

Much less renovating it.

And moving to Due West.

He dug in deep.

And would not budge.

As determined as I've ever seen him.

And I was close to just giving in......and giving up.

But things changed over the course of a few weeks.

And a big reason they changed.

Was because of that tree.




Long story short.

While I was campaigning hard to buy and renovate.

God was working.

In our circumstances.

And on my husband.

Softening his heart toward the idea.

In a way.

That was personal.

And intentional.



And Scott relented.

He agreed on a second walk through the property.

And to a home inspection on the old place.

 To rule it in.

Or rule it out.

It could have gone either way.

But, as God would have it.

The peach tree was discovered at the kitchen window that day.

In early July.

Looking very much like this.

Covered in peaches.

Surprising.

It must have just been a coincidence.

If you believe in those.

But, as it turns out.

My husband is more than a little fond of peaches.

And....... when he eye balled that peach tree.

The tide truly began to turn.



And you know much of what followed.

We did buy the house.

And renovate it.

We  protected that bent, little peach tree.

During demo.

And construction.

When  trees had to be cut around it.

And cars and trucks pulled in and out.

It stood there.

Old and bent.

Right in the middle of our drive way.

Over the last two years.

Our little tree lost growth in all but three limbs.

We still saw a few peaches back in June.

But the trunk of the bent old peach tree.

Became more and more decayed.

Almost completely hollowed out near the top.

We knew it was all but done.

This week.

Scott and I have been on vacation.

Let me rephrase.

We've taken the week off from work.

And taken on a big clean up.

In our back yard.

As we studied the old peach tree this morning.

We knew it was time to let it go.

We picked up all the peach pits laying at its feet.

And talked about a good spot to plant them.

To see the legacy of this old tree.

Continue on for another generation or two.

And before we talked ourselves out of it.

The chain saw came out.

And the bent, little old tree came down.

I gathered the wood for a special project.

And carefully began stacking the pieces.

That's when Scott called me over to see.

Incredible!

As he started to take down the last portion.

A cross.

Right in the middle of our peach tree.

Directly in the center.



And not until the tree came down.

Would it be discovered.

The cross.

I tell you what.

I've seen God show up in my life.

In indisputable ways.

But this was meant just for us.

A symbol of his sacrifice.

Hidden carefully.

In a very personal way.

In a very special place.

And revealed.

So we wouldn't miss it.

Extraordinary.

Do I Forget It or Do I Change?

I had my tickets to see Beth Moore...... months before her recent conference in Greenville.

I love that woman.

She's not only a great teacher.

She's the real deal in my book.




My oldest went along with me.

That's us.    Just  after taking our seats.

(p.s. going with her made me really happy.)



So.

This is a season of restoration for me.

And.

Sitting under Beth's teaching for two days.

Was pure nourishment.


I believe.

It's not just enough to hear a good word.

I have to put it into practice.

In the day to day of living.

Here's 10 specific things I took away from Beth's conference.

I'm hoping they take root in me.



1.  Anxiety attacks the heart.

     It's a form of fear.

     It makes the heart heavy.

2.  Dread is the prophet of unbelief in God.

     Dread pushes the heart down.

3.   You're trying to carry all your load.

      Plus, a load that wasn't intended for you.

      Women try to carry all of their people.

      Set your people down.

      You weren't meant to carry them.

   

4.   Has anybody just hung up on a calling because God didn't part the waters for you 
      when you thought He should have?

      Some people think they've had to lay down their dreams or their calling.

      The only way it'll be picked back up.

      Is if you lay them at the feet of Jesus.

      Lay them down.

      He will either give that dream or calling back to you.

      Or give you something better.

 

5.   Legalism keeps a spirit of disappointment.

 


6.   The enemy is very personal in his fiery darts.

      If there's an area not covered by God.

      The enemy will keep shooting us there.

      Time after time.

      He tends to shoot only at what's uncovered.



7.    Praying the scriptures is powerful.

8.    He doesn't just love me.     He greatly loves me.

9.   The Holy Spirit has a specific word for me.

      If I listen.



10.   Grace is the manhole on the street of self destruction.

Truth is.
I can take all of this in over a weekend.
That's not the thing.
It's what I do with it that matters.
Do I listen.
And forget it?
Do I listen.
And begin to change?








   

A Final Prayer in the Kitchen

The new owners met us this morning.

For a final walk through before closing.

They are SO excited.

About buying our place!

They were literally bouncing up and down happy!

And we are very blessed.

To turn our house over.

To a wonderful young family.

That will begin their lives here.

Just as we did 22 years ago.



Lord knows I've had plenty of time to get used to the idea.

I thought I was ready.

But.

When it was time to go.

The last time.

Scott & I stood in our kitchen in Greenwood.

As we'd done a million times before.

And we took a final look around.

And I bawled like a baby!



My husband is the sweetest man.

He took my hand.

And prayed the most tender prayer over that house.

Thanking God for blessing our family there.

For keeping us safe through all those years.

For the wonderful memories with our girls.

For watching them grow right before our eyes.

For the pets we have loved there.

And won't ever forget.

For all the friends that had spent time there with us.

For the refuge it had been for us.

And many others.

For giving us life.

And love.

And tears.

And loss.

And joy.

For all those things.

Scott took my hand.

And I closed the door quietly behind me.

For the last time.

Full.

And sad.

And thankful.

And blessed.