Wedding Weekend

This weekend my cousin, Matt, got married to a beautiful lady name Erica. It was a fun wedding to see some of my extended family that I haven't seen in far too long! The wedding was at a vineyard in the middle of a typical small town in Virginia. It was great to be there with the family....

I think this might be the first time since I've turned 21 that I have not had any alcohol at a wedding/party/trip to a vineyard. You guessed it, there's no drinking on this diet. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to drink my weight in alcohol in one night, but I do enjoy just about any alcoholic drink you put in front of me. First for everything?

Also, first "road trip" eating astronaut food. I packed my Trader Joe's reusable bag full of food and heated up my food before hopping in the car yesterday morning to eat in the car. My mom and I went to Target the other day and we picked up a thermos with an attached foldable spoon so I could take my food with me. I even made my dinner in the microwave in the lobby of the hotel before the wedding and put it in my thermos and snagged an extra plate once we got there so I didn't look like the weird girl in the corner eating out of her own container.  Let's be honest, I was THAT girl. Also sat with my back toward the dessert bar and didn't go over to it once! I was pretty proud of myself.

This morning my brother, sister-in-law, parents and I went to this diner for breakfast. The waitress definitely thought I was out of my mind when I told her I was "drinking" my breakfast as I sat shaking up my astronaut shake. 

I pray these next few months go by fast -  I'm already ready to eat normal food again! I want an egg on toast for breakfast with coffee the way I like it. I want sandwiches and chicken tortellini soup.

Sigh. Still, I'm here.

All in.

This Stuff Makes You Crazy!

So last night I kept having dreams about how many times I can make it through the Chick-Fil-A and Krispy Kreme drive-thrus before I get caught by my parents are the people who work at the center. Although I do enjoy Krispy Kreme, I rarely eat doughnuts - like twice a year. And I don't eat at Chick-Fil-A super often either. I'm finding these dreams pretty bizarre. Funny, but bizarre. Don't worry, I didn't go get either today. I've stayed on track or "in the box".

On the upside, I found a new "secret" today to get creative with what I'm now calling astronaut food (all my food comes in already prepared cartons or packets where you simply add water or just microwave). I have to drink five lactose-free shakes a day and the two flavor choices are chocolate and vanilla. I've added this peanut butter that you can also buy from the weight loss place that has had the oil removed. So really it's more like a powdery substance. It's not bad. I also got Raspberry Sugar-Free Torani Syrup which also not bad. But my FAVORITE thus far is something I tried for the first time today - adding a smidge of pumpkin pie spice to my vanilla shake. It's good. It actually tastes like a slice of pumpkin pie - my favorite dessert! For the most part, the food thus far has been "meh" at best. So I was excited that I found something I actually kinda liked. So here we go. Here's to more combos that I like!

All in!

The First "Week" Is In The Books!

The first week (okay five days) is in the books.  In these few days, they've.....sucked. The food isn't all that great and it sure does mess with your stomach. I crave all the junk that I don't even like...such as Burger King and Sonic. Chick-Fil-A and Sweet Tea sound amazing! 

But here we are. At my first weigh in since starting this new program. And here it is: in five days I lost three pounds. It's a start. Three down; 82 to go. Here's the picture. Not really a difference in looks yet, but it's a start. Three pounds that I'm not going to see again.

If you can't read the sign, it says "9.25.12, Day 5, Lost: 3lbs, Weight: 187"

Here we go into week two. Here's to a better week. 

All in.

Day 1: Hard

So last night I walk out of my two hour introductory class with a big box and a big bag full of "the new food" so overwhelmed that I thought I was going to either cry or vomit - I was in such an information overload asking myself "Am I really ready for this?" So after I made a quick call to my mom saying I was on my way home, I called both Natalee and Kory and Sara for reassurance. I knew Natalee would give it to me straight and that Kory and Sara would let me cry if need be then give it to me. Being the great brother that he is, Kory stopped me at one point mid-sentance and said "Oh stop being dramatic, you're not going to starve or anything. You're going to be fine. Stop complaining." He knows me well.

So part of this eating plan to start you out, you are suppose to have three shakes and two entrees a day. Unless you're lactose intolerant then you get a different shake mix that's lower in calories so you must drink five a day instead of three. So y'all know that gnarly chalky, gritty drink the doctor gives you to drink before a procedure? Yeah it tastes like that. Try drinking a big serving of that five times a day. Awesome. The entrees aren't bad, but they're like the size of my pinky finger. I guess these are some of the things you must do to see results. They also ask you to burn at least 2000 calories a week. Today I swam laps for an hour in the pool and 30 minutes on the bike at the rec center. That's about 760 calories. Great start.

I don't think I realized how much of a shock to the system this was going to be - especially emotionally.  Today was hard emotionally. I already miss the comforts like my morning coffee with sugar and pumpkin spice creamer. Last night as a sort of "last meal" we ordered pizza from one of our favorite places, YNot, with my favorite toppings: pepperoni and pineapple. Tonight my mom and grandma were eating the last few left over pieces of pizza and I so wanted just the tiniest of pieces. Sigh.

There were some other things that happened that just made the day hard. I definitely had a case of the Mondays. It was definitely an "Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day" kind of day. I'm sitting here on my bed, grumpy, watching the fourth season of 'Til Death on Netflix while typing this. All I want to do is go to bed and start again tomorrow, but I'm up for two reasons: 1. Even after brushing my teeth twice I can taste nasty shake in my mouth and B. I promised I would add a picture from Day 1.

This picture is not the best and I had just spilled water on my shirt and I was not in the mood for a picture. I just want to be consistent and follow through on my word. So here's my Day 1 shot:

If you can't read that it says "9.21.12. Day 1. Weight: 190lbs." So here we are. Keep those prayers coming sweet family and friends. Love you all.

All in.

Quantum Leap: A Monstrous Jump

A few years ago I was a chef at a Young Life Camp in Georgia called SharpTop Cove. I LOVED my time there. During the summer I had the opportunity to lead a group of college volunteers called Summer Staff. I had three sessions of Summer Staff that summer with four Summer Staff per session serving up to four weeks on the PM shift in the kitchen with me. They were amazing! One day before campers arrived, I took my first session to do a camper activity that they had talked about wanting to try. It's called the Quantum Leap. The Quantum Leap is essentially a telephone pole with steaks coming off the sides. The goal in the Quantum Leap is to climb this pole all the way to the top, stand on the top of the pole, then jump and hit this bell that's hanging in the air above your head. Needless to say, it's not an easy task. It was a great bonding time for my Summer Staff. They talked about it for days afterwards.

I thought about what Quantum Leap really meant and how that could apply to our relationships with the Lord and more specifically how could I use that theme to go deeper into the word with these four college kids in a month so that they could walk away from STC with a better understanding of Christ. So, naturally, I looked up Quantum Leap in the dictionary - which I'm convinced had been sitting in our office since the old Baptist camp owned the property in like the '70's. Here's what it said:

Quantum Leap (Noun):

               An abrupt change, sudden increase, or dramatic advance. A monstrous jump.

Once you get to the top of the Quantum Leap poll, the only way to get down is to take a monstrous jump off the poll, make an abrupt change in direction, and to make a sudden increase in trust in the person on the ground belaying you. And once the hard part of climbing that pole is done and you finally jump, it's a completely freeing experience as you are just sailing through the air completely effortlessly, free falling (or being belayed) to the ground!


But you must take that Quantum Leap, that monstrous jump before you can feel the freedom of flying through the air. And I am embarking upon my own kind of monstrous jump. 

Shedding the weight that I've carried for years has been something I've wanted to do, but I've never made that serious monstrous jump. Until Friday. On Friday I went down to a place called Tidewater Bariatrics for an orientation and a look into their programs. The program is kinda intense, but I'm up for this big jump and to make some big changes. So I've met with their nurse and doctor and tomorrow evening I begin my first formal meeting. I'll start the actual healthy eating and working out on Friday then after that my weekly weigh-ins will be on Tuesdays. I'm real excited about this Quantum Leap, this journey.

I'm not telling a ton of people right now. Not because I don't want people to know, but because I kinda want people to notice on their own. I think it will be fun that way. So I'm not going to be posting this blog on my facebook or twitter nor will I be posting pictures on facebook or twitter until this process is all done. 

I will, however, post pictures and updates here. So check here often. My first picture will be posted Friday on Day 1 and then every Tuesday after that following each weigh-in. 

One final thing, I'm about five pounds away from what I was at my heaviest and I so desperately don't want to go back there. At this point, I'm about 85 pounds away from where I eventually want to be - which is a bit embarrassing to admit, but I say this in an effort to be more real. So please feel free to leave encouraging words here on this blog because, let's be honest, I'm gonna need it!

Thanks dear family and friends for loving, encouraging, supporting, and praying for me in this Quantum Leap journey! Love you all!

All in.