Anna's Bananas on Repentance

"I would love to see a post about your spiritual fit routine. How did you first come to know Him? How do you maintain a spiritually fit life? What are your struggles?" - Rachel


Rachel has asked me to write about something that speaks to the core of who I am as a human and a follower of Jesus Christ. It's a precious request! How did I find Him? and how do I stay with Him? I don't think either can be answered completely in a life time. Others that know Him, know what I mean when I say it is a romantic mystery; how and why He chooses and chases after us. A mystery that I am so thankful for! Hallelujah! I don't think these posts will be a 10 step guide on how to stay spiritually fit, but Rachel has inspired me to write some of what has been given to me by Him.


 By no means am I the spiritual authority on how to be a Christian. All I can do, and what I am happy to do, is tell a little about the many things the Lord has done and revealed in my own life. So, with the Spirit guiding, I am thankful for this opportunity to share part of this amazing story the Lord Jesus Christ has written in my heart. So get comfy, pop some pop corn, maybe grab a snickers bar, some tissue, and even a Bible would be a good idea, it's gonna be a long handful of posts to come!


Repent, Believe, Love, Obey!


If  I were to get a tattoo, those words would probably be it. In a circle, on my side, where my ribs are. They have become the theme to so many days in the Word, so many days talking to others, they seem to filter into my consciousness like a warm reminding whisper.
So the next several posts will be my Bananas on repentance, belief, love, and obedience. 

Anna's Bananas on REPENTANCE

Confess.
Confession. Repent.
Repentance.

How did I come to repentance?

Luke 3:8a Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 
Those words spoken by John the baptists, who was filled with the Holy Spirit even before he was born. God sent him on a mission to spread the truth of the good news that was on it's way in Jesus Christ. I believe we must come to a stance of repentance before Jesus can come and do His full work in us.

It doesn't take a sharp eye to see that this world we live in is fallen. I won't insult your intelligence, but let me just list some of the blaring signs of sin in the earth around me. The first one I think of, just because it's been a topic of conversation lately,
the holocaust.
How about the sex slave industry in America? Think about that, sex. slave. INDUSTRY? There is an industry of exploiting, enslaving, and abusing woman and children. Wow.
I know some of you had to watch Oprah as much as I did, think about all those tear jerker episodes about broken families, abuse, dysfunction, at 4pm when you should have been doing homework?
Okay, that gets your mind rolling down a depressing hill huh? It's real isn't it; the darkness that this world seems to rule under?
Fallen, I was fallen. Was. I believed the lies of the enemy, I fell for them hook line and sinker. I could write a book listing all the reasons I was fallen, separate from true goodness, for the sake of this blog I will list the top five.
Number one lie I fell for: Follow your heart. AKA Be Selfish.
 Here is an excerpt from one of my journal entries written a few months ago, that I think will help you get what I'm talking about here.

I am now fully convinced that selfishness is the demise of all relationships and leads people so far away from Christ that they forget who they are and who He is. Isn’t selfishness the reason for the “fall” in the first place? Wasn’t it Adam and Eve, wanting to be like God, themselves? Selfishness, its evil and everyone is born selfish. It’s so advertised and encouraged in our culture, it’s hard to recognize sometimes. The devil dresses it up beautifully, and makes it sing a sweet song to our hearts. Growing up we are told to “follow our hearts,” or to “listen to your heart,” or “whatever makes you happy,” or “To thine own self be true" put by Shakespeare in Hamlet. We are almost indoctrinated from birth to be selfish, to please our selves, and to let our heart lead us.

Do you know what the bible says about the human heart? Here are a few verses, of many, so you get a clear understanding.

Genesis 8:21                

The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground     because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. 

 Ecclesiastes 9 :3        

This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.

Jeremiah 17:9  

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Matthew 15:8
“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Mark 7:21       

For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,

So you get where I'm coming from on that one? It pains me to think of the brothers and sisters I have hurt in the past because of my near sightedness.
Number two lie I fell for: I'm my own god.

2006 in the middle of serving me 

This follows the first deception accordingly. Follow my own heart, do what's best for me. How can I be successful, how can I be admired, how can I be beautiful, how can I be the best, how can I bring glory to myself? I was thinking of myself always, improving myself (on my own ability) always. I was comparing myself to others always. I was making all my own decisions, based on what was best for me. I was guiding my life. I was loving MYSELF with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. Anyone that knew me then (then being not that long ago) if they saw anything good in me it was the seed of the Word that was planted by mercy and slowly growing inside me. (Mark 4:27-28a Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain...) I worshiped my self, by seeking the best for me. I was self centered, selfish, greedy, envious, ungrateful. I was only concerned with what I got out of everything.
Number three lie I fell for: I am my own savior. 
In the midst of all my self worship, I couldn't escape this empty, lonely, sometimes self loathing feeling. In the darkness of the night, alone, victim to my thoughts, I would often go back to the big hurt. The one that I blamed all my problems on. The one that I used to excuse my vanity, and most wrong doings on. My sexuality was corrupted from a young age. A common result of sin for so many. Sister, if you are reading this right now, and you have a hurt that seems so deep, it has become part of your identity, stay with me. Better yet let me just say right now because I feel the urgency to, run to Jesus Christ with that memory, that pain. Run to Him, He can and will wipe away all your tears and make that wrong right. Okay, sorry I just had to get that out of my heart. So yeah, what I would do was lick my own wounds, so to speak. I was subconsciously avenging the corruption of my sexuality, the corruption and loss of my purity. Now things were on my terms, I would never be hurt again like that, it would be my choice, my way or the highway. I was my own protection.
Number four lie I fell for: Love from another human is the answer to my unhappiness.
This also follows the previous deception. So basically I believed (whether I was aware of it or not) that finding a husband, getting married, being loved by a man would make me all the way happy. If I was found to be lovable, (by a man) I would be redeemed. I put a lot of time and effort, and worry into falling in love. A lot of trial and error, a lot of hurting my heart and others hearts. A lot of putting pressure on the one man I love to make me all the way happy. After believing that human love would save me, I found it! Human love was finally mine all mine... but I still wasn't all the way happy.  A lot of pointing the finger in my poor husbands eye, trying to get the speck out, while I was hoisting the Titanic around in both of mine. (Matthew 7:1-5). If only he could be perfect, then I could be happy.
Number five lie I fell for: Ignoring the truth that there is right and wrong, ignoring the truth of guilt, ignoring the truth of knowing the truth, and ignoring it. Just ignore it!
Okay, I know that is a little lengthy and confusing (in true Anna Banana fashion). But hold on to your pencil skirt and take this crazy ride with me.
Ignoring the truth that there is a right and wrong: I will just be gutsy here and say that everyone has a conscious. Yes, even Hitler had one. Even my 1 and 1/2 year old daughter has one. Why else would she try to hide or be sneaky when she is trying to do something I don't want her to? Why else would she try to be extra sweet and lovey when she knows she has messed up. Right? She knows she messed up, and she has only been on this earth for 17 months. I knew when I did something wrong, before I believed in Jesus, and after, but it didn't seem to phase me, it didn't put much of a road block in my highway to self indulgence.
Ignoring the truth of guilt: just ignoring that feeling in my gut when I did the bad thing, even after I became a Christian, I would just chalk it up to being human but "free in Christ." Yuck, I was so wrong.
Ignoring the truth of knowing the truth, and ignoring it. Deep down I knew something was wrong. Before I became a 'Christian' and after. But knowing and not doing anything, not running to the One Holy God and expressing remorse, that was a lazy acceptance of a lie from the enemy that says,"ignore it and it will go away. It's not that big of a deal" Romans 1:32 Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. - that pretty much sums up what I was doing.


So like I said, those are just the top five reasons I was fallen. If you look in Exodus 20, you can find those and 10 more reasons I was fallen.
Note: God gave the Israelite the ten commandments after He saved them.
          Exodus 20:1-2 And God spoke all these words: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you   out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."
God was saying "Hey, I am GOD, the One that made this whole universe. I saved you, here is how you should live, I know because I am God, and as you can see I love you." But they didn't listen and neither did I.  I knew Jesus died on the cross, paid for my sin, I knew He called me to follow His commands (Matthew 22:37-40). But I wasn't living like I knew that, and I wasn't following His commands to love Him and love others. If you grew up in church like I did, you know that the Lord is Holy. You know that He is blameless and perfect. You know that He can not be in the presence of anything less than Holy. You know that "we all have fallen short of the glory of God." - Romans 3:23 There is a difference between accepting something in your mind and knowing and understanding something in your mind, heart and soul. Understanding the gravity of the situation when it comes to falling short of the glory of God. Understanding that this life on earth is the fantasy, and heaven or hell is the reality.
The Lord, in His mercy and grace, has brought me to repentance. It took me a while, and unfortunately until I was at the end of my rope. In my darkest time, I saw who I truly was and Who He truly is. I was all five of those sins listed above and everything else under the sun that relates to sin. Me = sin, He = Love.

 Deuteronomy 8:5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

Sometimes when my daughter is misbehaving, I ignore her. This is my way of disciplining her. 
Through His loving discipline the Lord brought me to complete and utter repentance by allowing me to ruin myself. I made a mess of my "success," I lost my security in my physical appearance, sin took away human love that I was getting from my husband, sin almost completely took away my marriage. I had nothing, I had made a mess of my life, even though I knew ABOUT Jesus, I was still living in death, in sin, in a mess I had made for myself. I had nothing left in my bag that I could pull out to get me out of this situation.
So I cried out to God, for real this time, with all I had left in my heart. I had been crying out to Him here and there since the seed was first planted in me, but not with my life. This time I fell on Christ, and I fell hard, and it hurt.
Matthew 21:44 "He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."
Giving up everything, admitting that everything I was, was nothing but sin. Calling out to God because He was and still is my only hope. Giving the Lord permission to end my life as I knew it, or save it. Surrendering everything. That's when I came to true repentance.

I think that it's hard for believers and non-believers to come to repentance in America. We have food in our bellies, we have shelter, medicine, clothing. Everything we "need." But man can't truly live on bread alone. (Luke 4:4) A guy at my old job once told me when I was trying to share the truth with him "I don't want to go to heaven, I want to go to hell, because that's where all the people like me will be. We will be having a party while you will be bored with God in heaven." If only that guy knew how serious those words he was speaking are. My husband Josh said it so well the other day,  "Satan has convinced Americans that this life on earth is heaven, that's why everyone is trying to live so long."
Matthew 19:23  Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven."
Why would someone repent if they have everything they need and everyone around them is saying "there is no right or wrong, no black or white, no standard, just do no harm to others and do what's best for you."?
Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen. - that was me, and that is many of us.
I believe only the Lord in His mercy can bring someone to true repentance. He has revealed to me that this life is fading, that we all have a clock that's ticking. The only thing that matters, the ONLY thing that matters, the ONLY thing that has mattered, matters now and ever will matter is whether or not you admit that Jesus Christ is Lord, that the Lord God Almighty is Holy and that you are not. I know I sound redundant, but I have to repeat it because I used to "know" that in my head, but I didn't LIVE like that. I had to come to Him and tell Him "Lord, I haven't been living the way you called me to, forgive me, save me!" When this short life ends that's all that we will take with us, did we say yes or no to Jesus?

That leads me to my next post, Anna's Banana's on BELIEF. I hope this wasn't too dark, too random, too rambling. If it was, try to look past my flesh and just know that I am trying to share my heart with you!

Anna's Bananas on THINGS SHE LEFT OUT

Ha! So you thought I was done did you? Well not quite. I'm not sure what my next (full) post will be about (any requests/suggestions appreciated) but I do know I left some things out that I want you to know. Not in any specific order of course!

1) I don't know how in the world I forgot this, but, I forgot CHICKEN! I eat chicken all the time, and there is no way this girl from Florida could have lost all that weight without this tasty meat. So please include chicken in your weight loss plan! I like chicken breasts and even more I love chicken cutlets. I like the cutlets because they are easy to cook on the skillet (they are skinnier so its easier to make sure they are cooked all the way through) and they are fun to put on a salad or taco.

2) While I'm thinking about food, I also forgot soy milk. I did follow the WHITE RULE, but I can not drink coffee black. And I can not take care of my husband and child without coffee, so, instead of creamer, I used soy milk for a while. (a while was like the first 4 months). Make sure you don't get your husband drinking too much soy milk, I think it messes with their manliness, and we don't want that, mmmhhmm. I also used Truvia sometimes to sweeten the coffee.  

3) You know how I got really excited about being able to control your breathing while running? One of the reasons it is so good, is it helps prevent you from getting cramps or stitches is what I call them. So if you are cramping up a lot, there are three things that are most likely contributing to that problem. One is you are probably not drinking enough water throughout the day aka your dehydrated. Two you have too much sodium in your diet, therefore in your system. So cut down on the chips n salsa, and eat a banana! Three, you haven't been controlling your breathing. You need to treat your body like a machine that runs (wink) on oxygen. So just try, read my Bananas on RUNNING go to the part about controlling your breathing, and just try it till you get it, please? for me? I promise it's worth a try!  

4) While I'm thinking about stitches, I want to let you know what the best thing is to do when you have a stitch while running and working out. If it is a minor stitch, mine usually occur in my side or lower abdomen, keep running or working out, but slow down a tad. If it keeps bothering you and its in your leg slow down to a walk for one minute and it will usually go away. If its in your side or stomach, don't walk yet, keep running slow, lift up your arm over your head on the side where it's hurting, and use your other hand to press down a little where the stitch is. I don't know why, but this always works for me. You are going to get cramps more often in the beginning because, well I hate to tell you this, but you are running goofy! It's okay, we all do when we first start out! Your arms are all flailing about, your hips are moving way too much, it's just all wobbly! When you run, try to keep your arms perpendicular to your abs (not in front of you swinging, but at your side, with minimal swinging, actually try not to swing) Try to keep your hands relaxed but it's okay to have a fist like shape. Imagine holding a small plastic Easter egg, (there is a pink one on the floor left by my daughter if you are wondering where that inspiration came from.) Keep your back straight, shoulders back, and try to keep a straight line from the back of your ankle to the top of your head. This sounds kinda funny, but kinda poke your boobs out a little, that helps you keep your back straight. I said a little!  I don't want to see you imitating Dolly Parton while you are running (or ever for that matter)! Once you feel more comfortable with running, try to keep all movement from your hips up minimal. Like if someone couldn't see your legs it would like you were on a very fast people mover. Or like you are a crab, or a duck peddling fast under water, but cool calm and collected above. That is a little dramatic, you don't have to be that steady, but that's kinda what you want to picture, cool? All these things will help improve your technique, and help prevent stitches. 

5) Last one for now, I'm telling you I think about this stuff all day long! When you first start running I don't think you should worry about distance as much as you should time. If you are trying to really kick some butt at losing baby weight, it is important that you are taking at least an hour to do your run/work out. But after a month or two, you will need to and actually want to, start measuring distance, otherwise you wont be able to log and appreciate your progress. Remember how I told you it took me like 2 and a half hours to finish the first 15k I did? So a 15k is about 9.3 miles. That means it took me 16 to 17 minutes to finish each mile. Last month I did the same 15k and finished in 1 hour and 37 minutes. If there weren't 20,000 other people running the same run (I'm not exaggerating, it was the Gate River Run, look it up) I promise you I would have finished in an hour and 30 minutes. So that means my pace now is about a 10 minute mile. I know this, because I either run on the treadmill and it shows me my pace, or I run the same route, I know how far four miles is and I know how far 6 miles is, and I time myself. It feels good to see that improvement. So I'm saying all this because I think you will want to see your progress as well, so after a month or so, start measuring your distance and time, and give your self a pat on the back, or on your tighter booty ;)

Now here are two pictures because I promise to have a image for each post. Both of these are okay to eat after the first three months of eating well, working out and losing weight. I would consider both of these as my largest meal of the day, usually before 5pm. 

Turkey burger: two Sanwichthins (that separate into four pieces) lettuce and spinach, mustard and ketchup on both, cheddar cheese on one. Healthy, filling, and very yummy. 

Healthy (er) taco: taco shell, spinach, boiled egg sliced, seasoned ground turkey, fiesta cheese, and a small amount of salsa. Now don't that look gooooood? (said like Paula Deen)

Okay, so that one was pretty short (comparatively speaking). Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for my next post. Stay strong mama! You can do it!

Anna's Bananas on the EATS

<sup>Sorry this post took so long to get up! Our internet wasn't working for a week. But I think that was actually all good because all week I was thinking about all the different things I wanted to put in this post about what to eat. In this post I am going to try to give you just some of the information, ideas and tips I have on how you can use food to lose weight and tone up. 


Last week during my MOPS meeting (if you are a mom of a preschooler and you aren't a part of MOPS, just google MOPS and then put your zip code in after that and you will find a group near you), the topic was Self Control, or lack thereof. I noticed so many of the moms were saying that food is kryptonite to their self control. And man oh man I can relate!  We all know how food can be a comfort, hobby, an addiction, or even a source of entertainment when you are bored. 
I know that for me, while I was pregnant, I felt like food was one of the only physical things I could enjoy. I couldn't sleep well, I couldn't drink any alcohol, even if I was in the mood for sex it wasn't quite as enjoyable (something about a brand new big butt and huge stomach crush's my mojo); so my flesh cried out "give me SOMETHING!" So food was there, yummy delicious easy food, all I had to do was pick it up and put it in my mouth. 
 After I had my daughter, I was still in the habit of eating like I was pregnant. I know first hand that getting out of an unhealthy relationship with food can be very hard. But thank the Lord that I don't have to do anything in my own strength. I have the power of the Awesome Living God inside of me, I can live the reality of my flesh being dead and my spirit is alive, new and eternal through Jesus Christ. I know what you are thinking, "whoa Anna, you are getting a little religious on me, I thought you were just going to write about some healthy food ideas." I know, but I can't shy away from the simple truth that everything we do or don't do effects our whole person, body, mind and soul. If food (or anything else) has power over me, I am not living the truth of who I am in Christ. As Christians we don't have to be weak, we don't have to sin anymore. We won't even die because we have already died, been buried and now are risen from the death of sin and have a new life in Christ here on earth, and the hope of eternal life in heaven after we pass from here to His throne. I don't care if you think that it's a "small issue," you are allowed to call on your Savior for ANYTHING! Even if you are praying "Dear Lord, please help me, the pancakes on the menu look ah-maaayyy-zing!" Okay, I got that out! Basically, I just want you to know, that if you are struggling with food or anything else, call on the One who can help you. 

Ok, back to the eats! You can basically program your body to do anything you want it to. You can unintentionally program it to store tons of fat, or you can intentionally make it a calorie burning and muscle building machine. I hear people talk about genetics all the time, "it's in my genes, my mom was fat." Here is my Bananas on that: you can't naturally change the color of your eyes, the shape of your nose, your height etc... however, you can naturally change the way your body metabolizes food. I really like to think of my body as a computer, all I have to do is download the right program(food) to make it do what I want it to (burn fat). Eating the right foods will program your body to burn calories, even when you are sleeping!
When I made the decision to make losing weight and getting in shape my mission, I started doing a lot of reading and research on line, books and magazines. It can be pretty overwhelming because there are so many people out there with the "secret to losing weight." What I found for my self was that there isn't a secret. In fact, most of us have been taught what to eat from a very young age. We know what to eat, we just want to instantly erase the results of eating the wrong things. Well too bad sweet cheeks, there is no instant fix to months or years of eating bad. The good news is, with hard work, dedication and self control you can get to a healthier skinnier you! 

I have to put a disclaimer here that, as I stated before, I came up with this so called plan after lots of reading and research. So not all these ideas are mine originally. I wish I could site all the websites I looked at over a year ago, but I can't. But I'm just letting everyone know that I'm not the genius that came up with these, I'm just the girl who merged them all together for my personal plan.</sup> 

^{So here is the non-secret food plan:}

<sup>First there is a rule I try to eat by: for each major meal of the day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) my portion is only as big as my fist. I was very strict about this in the beginning, and I really believe in it. So I want you to make a fist, go ahead make a fist,... okay look at that! Not very big is it? Well that's the amount of food you should be putting in your belly if you are over weight. Your body doesn't need any more than that. At first this might seem difficult, you might feel "hungry" still after the first day of eating like this, but I promise you aren't starving! I suggest eating three fist full meals a day and three snacks a day. 
Just as an example, a fist-full breakfast for a normal woman's sized hands (I have what I joke around to be man hands, but that's my normal k?) is: two eggs (exclude the yolk), and a spoon full of peanut butter. That's it, that's about a fist full and that's all I need in the morning. Then two hours later I will have a snack like low fat yogurt, or another egg. 

Second rule I try to eat by: I don't eat after 5pm. I got this off of Extreme Makeover Weight-Loss Edition. I had heard it before, but the trainer on there was so passionate about it I started doing it last spring, and all I can say is I believe it worked! 


Now I'm just going to list some of the main foods I ate in the beginning of my weight loss journey, and that are still the staples of my diet. You can ask people that know me (my bff Candace, my hubby Josh) how strict I was about only eating these foods, especially in the beginning I was pretty much a Nazi about it. But when I decide something, I do it.. so yeah!

Eat lots of protein! In the morning (after you work out) eat straight up protein, in the beginning I suggest eating protein only for breakfast. But make sure that everyday out of all the things you eat, you are eating protein the most. Like:</sup>

• ^{Eggs - Do egg whites if I can. I boil three or four eggs and eat them throughout the day. When you boil them it's easy to separate the white from the yolk. The yolk is rumored to have cholesterol and other stuff I don't want or need, so it's best to just stick with the whites. It's so easy and simple and you know you are getting pure protein. If the thought of boiling an egg and eating it sounds disgusting to you, then scramble it or whatever.}  
• ^{Turkey- Turkey burgers are really actually tasty, you can make them on a skillet in 17 minutes and eat them with a tad of ketchup or mustard (mustard has virtually no calories and is basically sodium, but not a LOT of sodium, so dipping your meat in a table spoon of mustard wont hurt ya I promise).  Eat ground turkey instead of ground beef, it's a leaner meat, and it tastes almost the same.  Turkey bacon, turkey sausage, they have it all.} 
• ^{When choosing between beef or pork, I try to go with beef. It is my belief that beef, good beef is less fatty than pork. The Hebrew National 97% Fat Free (don't worry too much about fat free, I will get more into that later) are pretty tasty.}

• ^{Don't fall for the protein bars, they have little protein compared to all the other crap in them} 
• ^Salmon 
• ^Tuna

 <sup>Eat spinach. I use spinach instead of lettuce or pretty much all the other things I would eat that are green. So when I eat a salad,  I make it a spinach salad, when I  make a taco I use spinach, when I make a (turkey) burger use spinach, ok I think you get the idea here. 


 Diet Green tea. Google the benefits of green tea if you are curious or don't believe me, but I'm telling you, if you drink a glass of diet green tea a day, it will help speed up the weight loss process.  

 Water, water, water and more water. Drink water all day long! I didn't drink anything but lots of water and diet green tea. Water helps hydrate you, energies you AND it keeps you full! Drink one or two glasses before a meal and you won't want to eat as much. Drink ice cold water and your body will burn calories digesting it... say what? oh yeah, that's what I said, your body will burn calories digesting cold water. Pretty cool huh? 


Veggies. Eat your veggies raw. Eat normal portions, but out of all the things you eat, protein and veggies are kinda like a free for all. Baby carrots are great for moms on the go.


Eat peppers, like red, yellow, green and orange peppers. The spicy ones really can help with revving up your metabolism, but if you don't like hot and spicy, the ones that are big and not hot (that usually come in a package of three) are good too. 


You don't want to eat a lot of fruit. If you want something sweet eat half a banana or apple, but try to keep it a small serving. Tomatoes are good for a fruit source as well.


 The deal with carbs and bread: In the beginning, if you are really trying to lose fat, I suggest, and what I did was for the first month I didn't eat ANY carbohydrates that came from wheat or any bread form, or any white carbohydrates. So no white bread obviously, no bread at all the first month. You can get your energy and carbohydrates from black beans, veggies and the small amount of fruit. After the first month I introduced whole gran wheat bread and oat meal. When I eat carbs I try to make them complex carbs.</sup>

• ^{The White Rule -stay away from white foods (so racist I know) - So no foods like:}
• ^{White bread, or white flour. So no fried chicken.}
• ^{White Rice}
• ^Potatoes
• ^Milk
• ^{Cream in your coffee}
• ^{Etc... ice cream yada yada.} 

<sup>Here is another thing. Granola and cereal type things are not good to eat when trying to lose fat weight. They have a lot of non-complex carbohydrates, knowing this I don't eat cereal anymore. I sometimes eat oat meal, but truly, for me the best way to start my day is with a high protein breakfast.  

Worry less about "fat free" and more about carbohydrates. Did you know that carbohydrates are sugar? What I have come to believe is that non fat this and not fat that, that's not the issue. I'm not saying you should chow down on a pound of lard while guzzling whole milk. What I  wonder  is, why now, now that we have all these fat free options, now there are more obese people than ever before?  You see these huge people, poor enslaved people, on these TLC reality shows that are three hundred pounds, spreading fat free mayo all over their sub sandwiches. What I think (and I'm going to really try to keep this short)  is that the problems are portions and carbohydrate/sugars that aren't being used. When you eat three pieces of pizza, or lots of chips for instance, and then you don't burn or use those, your body, (being the survival specialist that it is) stores them for later, by turning them into fat. You might already know all this, but I'm just saying that don't be so worried about fat, be more concerned about the amount of carbohydrates and sugars you are putting in your body. You want to make your body use the fat you already have stored. 


That leads me to cheat days. You may have heard of cheat days or splurge days. There are pros and cons to them, but I totally had one, and still do! I think that if you are a grown woman, wife and mother, you are responsible enough to have a cheat day for crying out loud. Having a cheat day can fire up your metabolism by boosting your leptin levels that have been lower from eating so healthy and working out. It's okay if you don't know what leptin is, it's just the hormone that can cause your body to store and keep fat in savings when it's low. Basically you don't want your body to go into survival mode, so giving it a high calorie day lets your body know, "ok, we can burn what we have in savings because food is obviously everywhere and not in shortage."</sup> 

• ^{The Cheat Rules}
• ^{Only ONE day a week}
• ^{don't go over board, don't eat a whole pizza, but if you have been craving pizza all week, order one and have a few slices.}  
• ^{this is your day to get frozen yogurt with the kids and hubby, or eat some brownies, whatever.} 
• ^{You can eat your white foods, just be reasonable about your portions.} 

<sup>My in-laws probably think I'm a real pig, because Sunday is usually my cheat day, and that's when we visit with them. At church I will eat a cookie or even a doughnut. When we go over to my husband's parent's house I eat everything on my plate. For example, we got subway last Sunday and I ate the whole 12 inch sub along with my chips. I have never really explained my cheat day system to them, so they probably think I'm just a good ol' southern girl that knows how to eat, they might even be a little grossed out... I should probably let them know huh? Well anyway, that's how the cheat day goes for me. And usually when I get to my cheat day, and I order or prepare my "bad" food, I don't want to eat that much, or at least as much as I thought I was going to. It gives me something to look forward to, I'm a gal that likes rewards, so it works for me and it might work for you. Again, just don't go over board, think of it as a "little treat," not a day at the fair.

Sodium is a bad guy! I try really hard to stay away from sodium/salty stuff. The reason is it totally makes me feel, and I swear, despite what my loving husband says, look bloated! It slows me down too. If I eat too much salsa and chips, for example, the next day when I run and work out I am a dead weight! So I'm not an expert on the science of why sodium is bad, I just know I don't want to eat something that's gonna get in the way of me having a rock'n booty, ya feel me? 


Titus 2:3 - Likewise, teach the older woman to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 
Now don't get your panties all up in a wad ladies! Relax, I'm not taking your precious wine away. Just from my personal experience, drinking too much alcohol makes me drag butt the next day. Same as with the sodium, if I'm on a mission to get in shape and lose weight, why would I do something to my self that's going to slow me down or counter act my hard efforts? Also, for me, it's hard to only have one glass. So just be cautious! And just to scare you into submission: Did you know that</sup>  For every ONE drink (1 shot, 1 glass of wine or 1 12-ounce beer), it STOPS fat loss for one hour. If you eat during that time, you are gaining fat. This might help you be more conscious of how much you drink and what you eat during or after (no one craves veggies after drinking). http://www.facebook.com/UndergroundFitnessRevolution





<sup>Buwahahahahah! (lighting strikes, woman screams in the distance)... yeah I know, I am almost evil for telling you that aren't I?





Here is another verse that I think is funny but true. "If you find honey, eat just enough - too much of it, and you will vomit." haha! So yeah, don't go over board on the sweets obviously. I love carrot cake, ate it like a champ when I was pregnant, but now when I try to get after it, I end up sick and on the toilet. Not worth it! I'm not saying I don't do it, but I don't do it near as much as I used to. ;)  


I feel like I rambled a little so I'm going to sum it up as best as I can. Eat small portions, don't eat after five, eat lots of protein and veggies, stay away from simple carbs, drink lots of water, and have fun on your cheat day! Also, just know that you don't have to be perfect, you won't be, its impossible. Try to be, but just understand that if you are eating well the majority of the week or days or meals, and you mess up, it's ok! If you are really running and working out, it's not gonna put you back any, it just wont put you forward any. Usually I say if you aren't going forward you are going backward, which I stand behind, but don't give up if a snickers bar has it's way with you on Sunday night while watching Desperate Housewives (obviously speaking from personal experience!). Don't give up, you can do this. If you fall off the wagon, get back on it again! I'm here for you, for anyone that is actually reading this weak sauce blog, I'm here to encourage, pray for and help you any way that I can!  I was there, look ,</sup>

<sup>look how wide my hips and stomach are! Look at my arms and full puffy face! Haha! 












But now look at this goofy picture my husband took, and I know it's laughable, but I'm so happy and feel so much better! 55 lbs later and counting!</sup>