Way Past Time for an Update!

Whoa...I can't believe it's been so long since I updated the blog!  Not that a whole lot of people are reading or anything, but still.....

Anyway, since I last updated in March, I have been to Chicago four times and Los Angeles for work, four days in New York City with my mom and daughter for a girls weekend, and a week in Puerto Rico on a mission trip.  It's been crazy busy!  And a recipe for a diet disaster.  But thankfully, I'm not on a diet :) 

Over the last four months, I have radically changed the way I eat. I've made little changes every two or three weeks and have gradually cut out red meat, refined sugar and white flour, pasta, potatoes and most most cheese. Considering that my favorite meal used to be a big juicy steak with a baked potato loaded with sour cream and cheese, that's a big deal!  And I really should say "avoid" instead of "cut out".  I'm not militant about it...if I am at an event and they are serving hamburgers, I eat a hamburger.  If I am at a restaurant, I make the best choice I can without being "that" person who sends a list of special requests back to the kitchen.  I'm also using a lot of almond milk in place of dairy milk, almond butter, agave nector instead of sugar, brown rice pasta....my cupboard looks like a Whole Foods store!  I never would have believed it.  And I think this is really sustainable.

As far as exercise is concerned, I'm still just riding my exercise bike and doing a little bit of upper body strength work.  But I think it's time to turn it up a small notch so I have an appointment with a personal trainer tomorrow for the first time and I'll start going to the gym maybe once a week.  I just don't have time to go three or four times a week.

Results, you ask?  Well, yea!  I've lost about 65 pounds!  I'm only 17 pounds from my Thanksgiving goal!  So the "obey" is going well!

"Read" has been a little slow.  I've read some great books....some good Elizabeth Chadwich historical fiction and I've started the Bowers Files series by Steven James in Christian Fiction.  I also finally broke down and bought a Kindle. With all of the traveling I have been doing, it was nice not to lug around two or three books everywhere.

And for "Love", I had a great time with my daughter on our mission trip to Puerto Rico. God just blessed the week and I was thankful to experience that with her.  Now we are on to serious planning for her wedding next summer.  My son is still his own little animal...I didn't understand teenage boys when I was a teenager and I don't understand them any better now!  He's working his first summer job so it's fun watching him learn to handle the responsibility that comes with the money.

It's a beautiful day and a beautiful time in my life.  I'm so thankful for the friends who have encouraged, supported and held me accountable during this time!