Hurray!

Well I am back on losing weight. There's lots of obstacles, curves and hills in the way of losing weight. The main thing is to keep at it.

Last night, at TOPS weigh-in, I lost 1.6 pounds. Yay!

I'm still not following the fast-five perfectly, but I do keep pretty well inside the five hours. My main falling on it is the actual food I eat. The book says that you will lose weight if you use the time frame no matter what you eat, and it's right! However, I know that soda pop and chips are not at all healthy. This week: no chips, more water.

The hours I'm following now are trying to get to the 2-7 range. When I eat the first time of the day, I just count to the next five hours for my stopping place. Ultimately, beginning at 2:00 p.m. will be best or me because I sometimes don't get out of work until about that time. I just type right through lunch.

Goal loss for next Thursday: two pounds!

Changing Back

This time, 7:30 to 12:30 isn't working for me. I don't know if I should change back to 12-5, or go to 2-7. I almost think that would be better for me right now. I still don't know how I'll handle being back home. Either I'll move it ot the morning to early afternoon, or even out light eating all day, which doesn't work for me unless I'm eating all raw vegan.

Okay, so it's 2:00 to 7:00 p.m. at least until school is out.

Time Change

I've been thinking that it would be good to do a bit of a time change. I'll try it, but this 12-5 eating window may still be the best.

I think I would like to try eating a large breakfast with my family rather than a large supper. My reasons are:

• I've learned an internet friend who is thin and healthy eats a very big breakfast, but trails off on food the other two main meals.
• The main problem with food when visiting my mother was that I didn't eat breakfast. Mother served a big supper as well as a big breakfast, but even she said that skipping supper would be better than skipping breakfast. I really had a hard time there eating 12-5.
• My family would enjoy a big breakfast more than me trying to figure out what to serve as a big supper, because I'm not prepared as I should be for other meals, but I think I do better for breakfast.
•  Breakfasts, to me, anyway, are more fun!
• I'm hoping this will keep the hunger bug away.

My new eating time will be between 7:30 am and 12:30 pm.

New verse for the week - I skipped a week, sorry. Ruth 2:14:

Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back.
 

Lesson - eat until you are satisfied and don't worry about having some left over. Ruth took her left-over parched grain and took it to her mother-in-law, Naomi in verse 18.

 

Family Visits

One of the hardest things about going on any reducing diet is going home to "Mom's cooking"!

This week, I did just that. My mother is a very good cook. She knows how to bring comfort into the home with a good meal. However, I couldn't get it through to her that I was not eating after 5:00 or before 12 noon. She still counted me when she got out eggs, sausage, potatoes, etc... for an early breakfast or a late supper.

I gave in at supper, twice eating after 8:00 p.m., but stayed with the before 12 noon fast-five plan. It was difficult with homemade biscuits and sausage and eggs, but I managed. As expected, Mother thought I was doing myself harm.

I'll know tonight how I did at the TOPS weigh-in. I did eat less than I would have pre-120 pounds (that's the goal I'm shooting for, and I'm trying to get that mind-set), so maybe it will show up on the scales as at least "no gain".

Since I didn't put up a new verse on Sunday, I'll put one up today (Thursday) and leave it 'til a week from this Saturday. I'll talk about it later...

Isaiah 55:2 - (nkjv)
"Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance."

Going Off

Yesterday, I ate beyond my five hour window of eating. I ate a full meal sometime around 6:30 and ate a breakfast and snacks before 12 noon. Last night I paid for it. I didn't sleep well and I had a mild headache, which continues this morning, and my insides just hurt during the night. The meal had a high content of salt, too.

These things, along with not drinking enough water must have all contributed to my disturbed sleep. Have I mentioned how soundly I've been sleeping since I began the fast-five diet again? It's been wonderful.

So, do I pay the price of miserable nights and go along with my Husband's eating schedule while he's home, or do I let him know what I'm doing and sleep soundly, lose weight and just generally feel better? I suppose I could adjust the five hours while he's home. No, I think I'll simply serve supper by 4:30, then let Husband and Daughter eat later after the meal if they like, while I drink water.

Take Your Time - Be Patient

Today, I put up a new verse of the week. Last week's was Proverbs 23:1-3, with emphasis on the third verse, "they are deceptive food". How often we eat food that is "deceptive" such as: diet foods that promise help with weight loss, but contain so much sodium or sugar that it sabotages itself. The Bible is full of truths, even when it comes to our own battles with weight.

Verse for this week: Isaiah 40:31 - "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Note: those who wait - while we are "waiting" to look like the beautiful people we know God means for us to be, we are renewing our strength. By waiting, we will be able to soar like an eagle; we shall be able run and not grow weary; we shall be able to walk and not faint.

God did not give Abraham and Sarah a child right away - they had to wait. What happened while they were waiting? God was teaching them to be good parents and to be obedient to Him. It takes time to lose weight, to gain strength, to get used to eating food close to the earth (raw). We need to be patient with ourselves and to keep at it.

Jump the Hurdle?

I have one big hurdle that is keeping me from doing the fast-five diet. It's my dear husband. He usually works away from home - out of state, even for sometimes months at a time. He's home now and every thing is for him. I'm not pushing my lifestyle of eating only five hours a day on him right now. He'd not understand. He hasn't seen the results. When the results become blatantly apparent, he'd get it and not question or put it down. I'm hoping.

So, for the next week or so, I'll do the best I can. I'm not strong enough to jump this hurdle. Someday, my strength will be able to handle it. I just have to keep going at it the best I can.