365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 273

I have been steadily preparing to take the Whole30 Challenge with the Paleo diet. Preparing is definitely key to being successful. First, I have been preparing my body by week by week taking something out of my diet. The first week I took out creamer in my coffee. I have never had my coffee black but what they say on their website made me think yes it can be done. Here is the section on it not being hard:

It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”. YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime.

http://whole9life.com/2013/08/the-whole30-program/

Actually, it was only a day or so and I was used to black coffee. The next week I cut out dairy. It has been an almost ritual at dinner time to have a class of milk. I miss it but I will survive. This week I am cutting out desserts. No more ice cream, cake, pie, brownies, candy, sugar of any kind. This is challenging but thank God for strawberries which make for a good alternative. The other part of preparing has been in having on hand the right kinds of foods and ingredients to make some Paleo recipes and of course, researching those recipes I would like to try. I have a notebook all set-up with my recipes and Whole30 guidelines. I have tried 4 different kinds of vegetables that I never tried: beets, swiss chard, bok choy and kale and am happy to say I like them all especially in a chopped salad. I am learning to cook with all fresh foods which is really awesome. So, I officially begin my 30 day challenge on Sept 9^th and I am feeling ready. I just need to plan out my menu to make day to day eating go smoothly. My hubbie is being super supportive and even saying he will eat anything I make for dinner. We have a cruise coming up in April 2014 that we want to both be ready for physically. I am so thankful to my sister-in-law and brother for sharing with me about this lifestyle of eating called Paleo and the Whole30 challenge. It really is all about helping each other. You may not be ready for this eating lifestyle change but maybe someone you know is. Please share the link with them.

Isaiah 6:3 And they were calling to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 362

Okay, this may seem a bit nutty but I am praising God today for the blessing of having my scale. I am a person that is motivated by accountability which is one of the reasons this challenge on my blog this year has been so successful. I am motivated because I know people are reading it. That scale and getting on everyday and recording it in my notebook on my bathroom counter is one of the best ways to keep me in-line with maintaining my weight. I know that when it goes up I have to plan what I am eating better and than it comes back down. So, I have been in the take off a pound or two mode for the last couple days in preparation for Thanksgiving. I have 2 new desert recipes and a cranberry salad recipe I am trying out this year and don’t want to shoot the weight up too much. The bible says our bodies are temples and we should be treating them well. This can be very challenging in our culture of drive-thru fast food, an abundance of dining establishments and grocery stores with choices abounding but with the Holy Spirit all things can be conquered and we can have self-control. If you haven’t already heard, Twinkies are no longer on the shelves as Hostess went bankrupt.  Such is life. Here today, gone tomorrow. But the Lord will always be with us.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.