Hope you are having a great Monday! A new week and a new beginning that we have been given!

Here’s my update on exercise and food choices…

The weekend went fairly well. I did cheat a little, but not worried about that too much.

Saturday -  oatmeal for breakfast, salad for lunch, and 2 Farm Rich quesadilla wedges for supper. (Holy cow! I learned that, while delicious, they are extremely high in fat. 12 grams of fat in 2 small wedges!)

Saturday night we were invited to a “camp-out” as the kids called it - aka a fire in a fire-pit, to roast marshmallows. So we took graham crackers and Hershey bars. The s’mores were good. I had 2. (1 = 1 graham cracker broken in half with 2 squares of chocolate and 1 FAT marshmallow.)

For exercise on Saturday, we walked downtown (not quite a mile.) And then I did yardwork that afternoon and cleaned my car.

Sunday - oatmeal for breakfast and a couple sips of Diet Dr. Pepper (I didn’t even come close to drinking the whole 10 oz glass.) For lunch - I went to a reception had a couple little sandwiches and some chips and dip, but I skipped on the cake! (And that was a sacrifice. It looked so yummy. But I will say that it is getting easier to skip, plus, I had some friends from my small group (church) there with me and they know about my “journey” so that helped to hold me accountable.) When the community group met @ 3:30, I skipped the snacks and had a small cup of coffee and a big cup of water. (Again - delicious temptations abounded! :-)  Like Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies!!)  When I got home last night, I had a hotdog (real bad on fat!) without a bun and I can’t remember what else… It wasn’t much.

Today - for breakfast I had two eggs w/ cheese, orange juice and water.

Snack- a yogurt and a cup of popcorn. This morning so far I have had about 70 oz. of water.

For exercise I was able to get in 70 minutes on the bike. Might try to get a walk in this afternoon, I am not sure, yet. But I am thankful to have the biggest part of my exercise done already!

If you actually read through this looonnng book and made it to this point, how did your weekend go? Did you have a good one?

Breakfast - two fried eggs (used olive oil)  and water, coffee and orange juice.

Snack/Lunch - Two yogurts and an apple and 2 (18 oz) cups of water.

Supper - Homemade cheese pizza with whole wheat crust, salad and for dessert homemade apple pizza (whole wheat crust, cream cheese/maple topping with homemade applesauce.) (We were invited to someone’s home for supper…)

Originally, I thought I would take it easy on the exercise today, after yesterday’s good “ride,” but I was able to get in 60 minutes on the bike today. So I was happy with that!

Have you heard Stephen Curtis Chapman’s Newest CD - Beauty Will Rise?

Go here and check it out. It is great!

I am thankful that through his loss, he is able to minister to others who have experienced loss. Isn’t that what it is all about?

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.”  1 Corinthians 1:3-7

Have you ever wondered how much water you should be drinking each day? If you are anything like me, you have…

Here is a cool tool. It calculates how much water you should be drinking, so you can save energy from having to do all that math, and apply it toward working out!

 Let me know if you try it!

I just beat my personal best record… not a big deal, but exciting for me!

I did 90 minutes on the bike. (I’ve done that before…)

I was hitting 20 mi/hr! (Holy cow! I usually average about 12-15.)

I burned 1,019 calories!

And it said I did 83.1 laps - but who really cares about laps? 

Breakfast - oatmeal, orange juice and regular coffee. (I usually do decaf.)

Snack (Boy! I could tell I really needed some protein!) - yogurt and popcorn. Not together. That would have been gross.

So far I have had 5 (18 oz.) cups of water.

SO PUMPED!!

Now it is off to get schoolwork knocked out.

25 minutes on the bike this morning.

45 minute walk at the park this afternoon. (Another beautiful day!)

Oatmeal for breakfast.

Salad and 2 chicken nuggets for lunch.

Snack at park - yogurt.

Supper - not the greatest (high in carbs but high on protein, too) Simply Asian - Spicy Peanut Noodles.

Sleepy. Sleepy. Heading to bed!

Today was an awesome day! It was busy, but so good! The weather was incredible! God did some really neat things for us today!

Well here is the update on my journey to get fit…

For breakfast I had oatmeal.

For lunch I had a big cup of water and a can of Progresso soup ~the light chicken noodle~ and some baby carrots…

Around 4:30 I had a sandwich.

This afternoon/evening, we were invited to a “leaf jumping and pizza party” and the kids LOVED it! (It was held at Grammy and Papa’s!) Right after we enjoyed an hour of playing in the leaves they made some delicious pizza! The kids really enjoyed their evening!! And Mommy had quite a bit of fun, too! (You can’t beat running and jumping into a 3 ft tall pile of leaves! It was the biggest pile I have ever seen! Actually, there were 3 of them tonight!) I was able to eat salad tonight for my supper and I had the toppings off of  half a piece of pizza.  I did have dessert! They had these teenie, tiny little chocolate cakes! And I split one with Hannah. It was 2 bites worth at the maximum. But it was tasty!

Playing in the leaves was GREAT exercise! Picking up and throwing “30-45 pounders” into the pile was a great workout! Not to mention the running and jumping I did myself. My arms are tired!

Then tonight, I did 35 minutes on the bike.

Just wanted to say thanks, again, to those of you who sent encouraging messages today! It is a big help!

How was your day? Did anything exciting happen??

We are starting our morning and I am writing to ask you all for some accountability! It is going to be an “on-the- go” kind of day! I have an eye appt at 10:45 (the girl called last night and left a message to remind me of my 10:45 appt and I swear she said they need me to be there at 10 o’clock!! I mean, FOR REAL?! You need this mom to be there a whole 45 minutes early? WHY?!) But anywho, I guess I will be dropping the kids off at the “sitter’s” earlier than planned and heading over to my appt (and taking a book with me, I hope!)

Then I am going to be heading over to switch off - my bro-in-law has graciously agreed to keep my kids while I have my appt, and then I am going to keep their kids while he has an appt this afternoon.

With all the running around, I am nervous that I am going to hit a “fast-food” joint sometime in between, or after. Please hold me accountable for healthful food choices today?! I think I am going to need it!

On a side note, I am still hoping to hit the park after babysitting, to get a good walk in this afternoon!

How about you guys?! Can I help encourage any of you in some way?

I know there are lots of friends out there who are going through some rough things and I just want you to know that I will be praying for you today! Hang in there!! God is doing something beautiful through the tough times!!

Catch you later…

Today was a pretty good day. I babysat from 8:15 am - 7:45 pm. (Give or take a few minutes tonight… Didn’t exactly look at the clock as we were walking out the door.)

I was able to get in an hour on the bike when we got home tonight. (I really wanted to hit the park today and get a good walk in with the kids, but by the time they woke up from their naps and we got everyone’s shoes on, and to the bathroom, and got the carseats in the car - it was getting dark already! NO JOKE! We went one day last week and stayed pretty late and today I just completely forgot about the time change! Maybe tomorrow we can head over there for a little while.)

I did pretty good on food today, until I took the kids to McDonalds for supper! Don’t worry! I ate a sandwich and a yogurt before we got there. But I did order a decaf coffee to drink while the kids played, but there were some “complications” with it and ended up with a hot chocolate instead. I only drank about half of it and threw the rest away. I know those things have to be loaded down with sugar… Does anyone know if there is a good sugar free hot chocolate mix out there??

I noticed the sun shining in through the window while sitting at the intersection waiting for the light to change. We welcomed its bright rays, especially after days and days of rain! I remember noticing how dirty the car really was. I mean, I knew it was dirty. Obviously, that is what happens when you haven’t washed it in a while, but I didn’t know it was THAT dirty! It took the sun shining through the glass for me to see it clearly.

I was reminded that is how it is with Jesus. We all have our own “issues,” right? I know I do. I think I have it all under control. “Things are fine.” “I can handle it.” But as the Holy Spirit begins to move and to work, He begins to reveal to me the reality of, and in, my heart. The Bible refers to Jesus as “the Light of the World.” I have never really stopped to think why I love that so much, or even really stopped to realize why that is so important. Over the last 2 weeks, it keeps popping up. Singing in church, “the Light of the world…” Reading in Genesis, “…God said, ‘Let there be light!’” Reading in a children’s book, “…Jesus is the Light of Heaven!”

Now my mind is on a roll… My curiosity is aroused. What else does the Word have to say about Light? I am not really sure where this is going to take me, but I am starting a Word study on the word “Light.” And from time-to-time, I hope to post some of the things I am learning, and some of the things the Holy Spirit reveals to me, here on the blog.

The first thing about light that I have learned in the last week is:

Light gives life.

“For you have rescued me from death;
you have kept my feet from slipping.
So now I can walk in your presence, O God,
in your life-giving light.”

Psalm 56:13 NLT

“But those who die in the Lord will live;
their bodies will rise again!
Those who sleep in the earth
will rise up and sing for joy!
For your life-giving light will fall like dew
on your people in the place of the dead!”

Isaiah 26:19 NLT

(Italics are mine.)

I need some more time to think about these verses, to figure out the significance, and to collect my thoughts…

In the meantime, do you have anything you would like to share? What does Light mean to you? Does it hold any significance in your mind?