Birthday blessings

Well the month of March has come and gone and so shall the days of cheating. My niece's birthday is March 7th, my birthday is the 19th, my sister Christina's birthday is the 23rd and my nephew's birthday is the 31st. I did not let the opportunity of these birthdays pass without eating some sort of processed sweet. I know, I know,  Laurie Lynn how could you?!  But I look at it this way, it is now in the past and I am focusing on my 33rd year of life.  I am focusing on better choices and a better day than the last.

Other than birthdays March was a pretty busy month.... I am back to school at the University of Saint Francis studying ministry of nursing. The class itself is very writing intensive. There is plenty of reflection about personal spirituality and how it impacts my patient care. I thank God that he is always present with me every time that I am at work!

I also had a doctors appointment at the beginning of the month.... total good news.  My A1c is down to 7.0 from 9.3! My total cholesterol..DOWN! My triglycerides..DOWN!  My blood sugar at the time if the test..DOWN! My liver enzymes, which were dangerously high..DOWN! I cried  at the appointment...good tears. My doctor already knows that I am going to cry during my appointments because that is what I would do at every other appointment.  I would cry tears of sadness because I was so unhappy with my life, so disappointed with my health!  She was genuinely happy to see the new me!

 

 

My spiritual life has improved as well! I have been reading my Bible daily thru two different reading plans using the bible app! It is awesome to read God's word and want to learn and grow versus feeling obligated to read. If you feel you are reading the bible because you think that's what you SHOULD be doing... stop! Take a breath and pray to God to give you a new perspective when you read His word. Use his words as direction in your life. Yes, the bible stories are history but Jesus is alive and well. Take advantage of any media that is available to read the bible. I use the audio version to listen to the bible on my cell phone. I also enjoyed watching the Bible series on the History Channel. Next step is to find a small group. 

 

 

Lisa, Christina and I decided to run the Illinois Marathon 5k!!! OMG!!! Can you believe it? We have been training using the couch to 5k program (Active app). So far we are running/speed walking 2.2mi in about 30 minutes. We are doing well so far. The race is APRIL 26TH. Right around the corner, YIKES! I have really started to enjoy running. I know that it is not good for my joints but when I put my headphones on and start running, I feel proud of how far/and how long I can go. I am surprised about the progress I have made so far. 4:13!!!!!!!!! I can do all things!

 

So preparing my "field" for my babies. We have chosen names for two boys and two girls (just in case)!!! I will not share the specifics but I will give the initials so that YOU can join me and my family in praying for my babies!! BOYS- ICP and NMP   GIRLS-TGP and LAP

 

Speaking of prayer... keep my family in yours. Pray for healing. I have been really been open to doing more things at church. For the first time in a long time, I have really longed to be in God's house. I went up for prayer for a menstrual period that did not stop for 25+ days. It stopped that day! I went up for right knee pain. I now run without pain. God is amazing and he has some amazing plans for me and my sister's. I am blessed to have this renewed lease on life. Enhancing my relationship with God has helped all areas of my life... love, family, friends, work, education, health and emotions. I am more peaceful. I cannot remember the last time that I was truly stressed about something. I am head over heals in love with my husband and we enjoy each other's company more each day. Life is good... ALL THE GLORY TO GOD!

 

God Bless,

Laurie  

 

 

 

It ENDS NOW!!

It's been a whole month since I've blogged and that is unacceptable!! So is my eating habits! I've really let my sisters, my husband, my kids and especially myself down!! Everything was great, I was sticking to my Atkins diet, working out at the Y, watching my pounds come off but then something happened...
It may have been the plateau in my weight loss or my low supply of Atkins shakes and bars or the continued screaming of snacks and treats around the house or even the much needed grocery shopping that we need to do or even the change in everyone else's plans in regards to diets but all I know is that I've hit rock bottom!! Now what you are about to see is bad, really bad (it may not be suitable for people of all ages or sizes!!) WAIT FOR IT....

DUHH DUHH DUHH!   

This is a sign of REALLY BAD!! you know you've hit rock bottom when this is the scene of your late night snacking crime (what you don't see is the chocolate shake in the bag!) And you know what the worst part is, I had celery and carrots in the fridge, a much better substitute to late night cravings PLUS this corporation just stole $12 of my husband's hard earned money!! The only person I have to blame is myself, I've let life get ahold of me and have chosen the easy route! Why fight temptation when I can just enjoy it and eat to my heart's content...WRONG! my heart is not content because I am not craving the right things instead of craving God's truth, spirit and his righteousness, I'm giving into the sins of gluttony and sloth! In Matthew 4: 1-10, Jesus was led into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights he was tempted by the devil and never once gave into his very tempting offerings. I need to remember the very cliche slogan, "WWJD" What Would Jesus Do? and take care of my body because "I am fearfully and wonderfully made," Psalm 139:14a I'm turning 29 this month and I can't keep pretending that all of these poor choices aren't going to affect me because I am, like everyone else, getting older and things most definitely change, why not for the better! I have to do this for myself, not because Laurie and Lisa are looking to me for guidance in Atkins because you know what they're big girls and are doing just fine without me...Laurie looks AWESOME and she has fought a very hard personal battle with food and body aches but she keeps on moving forward! Lisa is powering through her personal issues and choosing to make better choices AND moving forward in her career with a new adventure at work!! I need to stop feeling bad for myself and my circumstances and like I said before, "GET OVER IT!" I'm working on a better me and a becoming a healthier momma for my girls and a sexy momma for my honey! My 29 is going to feel like 21!! 

Ok this is more like 18 but darn it I look good here and this is where I wanna be!! So I'm going for it!!

My babies!

"I am pregnant and I am having twins!" :) I will be making this announcement one day. I have been repinning a lot of pregnancy related pins lately and I have all sparked the curiosity of friends and family as to whether I am pregnant or not.  Well... I am not.  Chris and I have been trying to conceive for close to 10years now. I have a condition called PCOS polycystic ovarian syndrome. I also have had very irregular menstrual cycles all my life.  hese problems along with my diabetes, has made creating a baby a challenge.  Chris and I saw a fertility specialist a few years ago and she told me to lose 10% of my weight and that my blood sugars would need to be controlled to numbers around 90-120.
Well today marks my 30th day of logging my food intake and my exercise habits.  I have also been checking my blood sugars.  I have not eaten any pasta, bread, potato, or rice during this time.  I have found alternatives to satisfy my appetite and sweet tooth. I have grown to LOVE working out and getting my heart rate up.  I am  ultimately and intimately reliant and dependent on God's mercy and grace.
So I am simply preparing my field.  Both physically and spiritually.  God will bless us with our children... In His time.  I have realized that I was not trusting Him before.  I was looking for alternative ways of getting pregnant or adopting. But I now have the ultimate faith in God and I must show Him that I do by preparing for the harvest that He will bless me with. I want to be in the best shape physically, emotionally, academically and spiritually when this happens. I have this deep down feeling that He will bless us 2x!!
I love my Lord and I know that he has provided for me in the past and that "He makes all things work together for my good"

Prayers, hope and faith are always welcome!

God bless,
Laurie

Family Time at the Y!!

I love the Y!! Especially when I get to spend time with my family! I mean seriously where else can you go to lift weights, play in a playland, dance salsa, and tighten your abs AND watch the news (might I add) all under one roof with your entire family! The YMCA!
We finally found a night where we can all go together as a family! Rarely does Calvin have a night off and there's no football to be seen. So the Coopers headed to the Y! Of course a night at the Y wouldn't be complete without Auntie Laurie and Uncle Chris! Laurie and I took Zumba and worked our core in CxWorks, and boy am I sore!! The fellas lifted weights and did some cardio and of course the girls had a blast in the Adventure Room! Then we all left and enjoyed some home cooked Healthy meals!

Yummy!

I made Philly cheese steak stuffed peppers tonight. It literally took about a half hour. Here is the pictoral journey of pure yummy! 
Ingredients are:
1/2 Ib roast Beef slices
one onion
3 large green peppers
1/2 small box mushrooms
9 slices of provolone Cheese
salt
pepper
small amount of butter or cooking oil

I first chopped the roast beef onions and mushrooms.
Then I sauteed them on the grill with a little bit of butter.
Next I cut the green peppers and lined the bottom with the Provolone cheese slices.
Next I filled the peppers with the sautéed mix.
Then covered the peppers with another slice of provolone.
I put the peppers in the oven for about 10 minutes. 
Then Chris and I enjoyed!

Best part... tasted fabulous without the guilt!

Below are the pictures but they are out of order. ..Sorry couldn't figure out the technology of moving the pics around. 

The Glory of God

Lisa here...

Okay, so it's been a while since I've been in here to blog. Probably because I've been to ashamed because I have nothing to report. I do have to say that I am so proud of my sisters! They have been doing so great! I, on the other hand, am really struggling. I have been that rebellious side of me come through. If I hear people tell me that I can't do something, or eat something, then of course, I want to do just the opposite! Even though I know that it's not good for my body. I am praying for God to free me of that attitude. I am praying that I do not lose focus on why I am embarking on this journey. The whole reason for this is to give Him the glory! And it's not just my eating or health, it's every action that I take. Every decision I make in my life should be to please God. Thank God for His grace because I sure haven't been doing that! But He loves me anyway and He will always love me. Just hearing myself say that brings me so much comfort. Anyway, I was going somewhere with this. A few years ago, our church had a bible study called "The Lord's Table". I never finished it, and although it is no longer available at church, I still have the guide. I am going to begin to use it again to guide me in terms of my journey to better health and my relationship with God. The memory verse for this week is:
"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Lord, help me to remember not to look for satisfaction on desires of my flesh, but let me feast at your table in your presence.
Amen

Grace of God!

Okay, so this post may be very random and not well organized but stick with me through it. I have a ton on my mind and I want to share my thoughts of this last week.

 

1. Today's service at the Urbana Vineyard: The message was about living by the law (and doing what is right) or living by Grace (and living with God's unconditional love no matter what we do). I learned that when I falter or when I don't meet the mark (by my human standards) I  become closer to God because he pulls us closer at these times. I need to learn to live by Grace and not by the Law. I have been so busy doing what is right, what others see as right and deeds that bring achievement; I need to understand that I am in the FAVOR of God and I need to LIVE and LET GOD. The pastor said something to the effect that if we stopped worring so much about NOT sinning, and led our lives with grace, our hearts would supernaturally not want to sin. Makes sense... so here is my random tangent..

 

I also watched a documentary on food and all the CRAP that is in it. It is called Hungry for Change (on Netflix). I mean this film is just eye opening. Everything that they talk about is so true yet so hard to deal with. I grew up eating everything that they say is bad for me. I listen to them discuss food and the industry and I am torn on how I should live my life. Live it the easy way, the way I have always known, or take the hard road and make changes. Hard changes take more that sheer will power, they need supernatural powers. One of the contributors to the film said something profound. That eating the wrong foods and too much of them can be drastically shifted with a MIND shift... Stop thinking "I want that food but I can't have it" and instead think "I can have that food but I don't want it". When I think of the horrible effects (diabetes, heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, etc,) that all the processed food have on our bodies, I opt for the phrase... YES, I CAN HAVE IT BUT I DON'T WANT IT! After all, my body is a temple. If I don't take care of it, who will. (I am just so bummed that it really took me until I am 32yrs old to see this.) - Well let's be honest... I saw it but was too lazy to do anything about it.

 

In the same way, God grace lets us say this when it comes to our lives... Yes I can choose the wrong way (we have free will after all), but NO we don't want it... because we live by God's grace.  I have been living by the law for all my life, I will now and forevermore live by God's Grace.

 

That being said, I have been working hard on my physical fitness but I have not worked hard on my spiritual fitness. I will begin to log my bible readings along with my food intake and exercise log on myfitnesspal.com page. My sisters have been my accountability partners and I want to become stronger in every aspect of my life, yet I will get ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE WITHOUT GOD FIRST. He will make miracles (having a baby) happen in His time and I only want to live with His plan in sight.

 

So without even recognizing it, I have done some pretty great things this week that I give God the credit for... because I know that I would not have been able to do any of this without Him.

 

What my week looked like from a workout perspective:

Sunday 1-20 - free day... 12 hours at work not really free, but no official work out

Monday 1-21- 5am swim before work

Tuesday 1-22- 630 turbo kick (TK), 60 minutes rolling hills on treadmill(RH), 1015 deep water exercise (DWE), 1900 aqua zumba(AZ)

Wednesday 1-23- 1015 DWE,  1900AZ

Thursday 1-24- 1015 DWE,  1830 gentle yoga (GY)

Friday 1-25- Work

Saturday 1-26- 1100 Les Mills Sh'Bam(SB), 1200 Cx Worx(CW), 2100 Bowling

 

Here is the new look to my mornings... honestly before deciding on changing my life my days off would be sleeping in until 11am. Now I get so much in before 9am and I am energized for the rest of the day. ALSO just to also note... my blood sugars have been 109,105, 107 and 112 this week before dinner!!!! Take that Diabetes!  

 

 

 

One of my happiest moments this week was working out with my hubby, Chris.  We are still working out the kinks with schedule and motivation, but I think we will get there and be stonger together.  

 

Swimming at the Y with my Girls was another great moment. This picture was just after one of my Aqua Zumba classes this week. I am looking forward to seeing the girls confidence and skills in the water improve. Spending time with family is what it is ALL about! 

 

 My husband the GOURMET Chef made this meal for me this week. It is atkins friendly. The shrimp were so so very good!

 

 And lastly, this is my world by numbers again. So today I felt FULL all day, ate plenty, drank plenty plenty of water and got some very good work out time in. So having a very hopeful outlook on this week coming up. Looking forward to getting closer to this number.... by the Grace of God.

Scripture that can help with the lessons of living by the Law vs Living by Grace:

Galatians 3: 2-3

Romans 6: 14-15 17-18 and Romans 5:20

 

God Bless

-Laurie