Progress & Setbacks

Le sigh.

Okay, I will not open up this blog post in a defeated, hopeless tone. However, I will let you know that from my last post to this post my transformation journey has been a serious roller-coaster ride. And I'm not talking about the Superman, with one big dip and one big ascension. I'm talking about the Joker with a whole heap of twist and turns and reversals!

Bad news first:

I didn't do well at Colorado State University Global. I started strong, focused. And then, I got overwhelmed and flunked out. Well technically, I didn't flunk out. I could have passed. But I gave up. Yes, that is what happened, I gave up. I made excuses. I lost sight of my goals.

However, God is faithful, still. And maddd gracious.

So this summer I went back to Howard Community College (where my college journey started) and decided to enroll in an on-campus summer class to fulfill a humanities credit. So far it's been cool. I got an A on my first exam. I paid out of pocket for this class so the need to pass is very REAL. I guess I had to get back to the basics and understand what a sacrifice getting my education really is. But no great goal is accomplished without sacrifice. Right?

I guess going back to finish what I began at HCC ties in to what God has been teaching me this year about commitment. I'm 19 credits shy of an Associates degree. I have to ask myself why not just buckle down and finish here. I guess the answer really lies in my impatience and unwillingness to be seen as the 26 year old girl still at a community college. But you know, it's an insecurity that I'm fighting to overcome everyday. And I must say, it's getting easier. My focus is becoming more and more about achieving goals and milestones and transforming inside and out. When I'm focused on what God is doing inside of me, I don't really have time to focus on what others may (or may not) be thinking about me. It reminds me of a scripture in Philippians 3:

"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

 Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead! That is the focus, folks! Paul sums it up quite nicely. Speaking of straining towards what is ahead....

My fitness journey is coming along quite nicely! I enjoyed the Herbalife nutrition plan. However, I transition out of my dependency on its products and have opted for simply eating clean and staying active. And it's NOT complicated. I literally prep my meals and snacks in one day; pack my lunch the night before; do some kind of physical activity every other day (4-5 times a week), and that's it. And just because I'm slightly competitive, I've challenged myself to run a mile in 7 minutes. This little personal challenge has really motivated me to push my body to do things I didn't think it could do.

Here is my 1 mile time from June 2nd, when I started this personal challenge:

This week, my body did THIS:

PROGRESS FEELS SOO GOOD!!

I'm still pushing it. I mix it up from time to time. I found these cool circuit training workouts from the Women's Health website that I do when I go to the gym. If I'm running on the outdoor track, I incorporate squats, push-ups, lunges, planks, and mountain climbers into my workout. Sometimes, I don't run at all and I opt for the StairMaster (killer) or if I'm outdoors, I run the bleachers (also, killer). Either way, I never skip 2 days in a row. That's my promise to myself.

Welp! That's all for today. I'll leave you with my view from the bleachers. Good night!

A New Body for A New Mind

Soo...

As I continue to embrace this transformation of my mind and spirit, it was only a matter of time before my body would have to join the new-new party!

Spiritually speaking, God is pleased when I honor him with my body. And that means more than just no drugs, no drinking, and no sex. It also means no junk food, excessive eating, and laziness. However, this can be a little difficult if you are like me and lack a significant amount of self-control.

Without going into a whole exegetical study of Christianity, in short, if you are a Christian, then it's safe to assume you have a very important deposit called the Holy Spirit. And if you have this Spirit, then you also have access to its power (and its a whole lot of power!). Now, with the aid of God's Spirit, we have the power to subdue our flesh and control our bodies. Some people get all nuisance-y in regards to this but I simply take it as the will and ability to say, "No," and stick to it. And not just no for the sake of no, but no because we are training our minds and bodies to say YES to what's good for us.

Now back to my body. Wait.. not like that.. but... well you know what I mean. Back to the subject at hand!

I used to have pretty solid eating habits. But over the last few years I've either gone without meals, eaten very little, or over-indulged. Sometimes, I'd eat pretty healthy and other times I'd totally go on a week long "I'm going to eat all the take out, ice cream, and cookies I want!" diet.

But NOW all that has changed. Just for kicks, I'm taking this month to try the new nutrition craze, Herbalife. My cousin hipped me to it and his results are pretty amazing. And his team is called Renewed so.. I mean, considering my guiding scripture, it seems so right.

Part of the Herbalife nutrition plan is a very important practice called "meal prepping." Now this is new to me. Probably not to you. But for those of you like me - meal prepping is basically taking one day to prep all the meals you'll eat for the week. The idea is to eliminate any reasons to make unhealthy food choices and to encourage eating enough meals a day - 5-6 small portions.

Today was my first meal prep day. With a budget of only $40, I went grocery shopping for this stuff: