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Life Lessons from my Health Journey

10/27/2014

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I look at everything in my life and ask the questions, "what does this tell me about myself?", and "what does it tell me about God?" My journey to health was no different. I wanted to learn about my strengths and what things I needed to work on. I started this journey dealing with being overweight, some healthy issues and simply feeling frustrated because I was not getting any better.


In the first picture above, I had just started this journey. My daughter and my husband were working out with me. I began doing things I had never heard of before, such as a burpee. It was really difficult. I wanted to give up each day, even before I started. What helped me keep going was the accountability I had through my daughter and my husband.


One of the first things we need to incorporate into our life change is accountability. Do you have a friend or some one you can partner with to help you stay the course? It's easy to quit when no one is watching or holding you accountable. Having a workout partner is helpful because some times we get discouraged. Having someone walking with you helps you be encouraged to keep going. It is helpful having someone to hold you accountable because you sometimes want to quit when you don't see quick results. However having an accountability partner can help you keep the goal in mind. I held on and finished the 30 day workout routine we were doing as a team. I did see some results, but I was mainly excited to know I was able to complete something. 


The lesson I learned about myself is if I set my mind to something, I can accomplish it even if it is difficult. What I learned about God is, He does help me when I find myself facing some difficult life changes/choices. Jeremiah 32:27
“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? When I felt I couldn't make it, I would remind myself that God would help me to accomplish my goal. 


In the second picture above, I purchased Shaun T's, "T25" workout. I began doing that with the goal in mind that I wanted to win the T-shirt when I completed it. This workout was even more difficult than the first one I attempted. The workout required me to work out for 25 minutes for 6 days and stretching on the seventh. Once I was able to accomplish the first four weeks then I had to step it up and do the next set of workouts for the following four weeks. I began to get stronger and I could see more muscle development in my body. When I got my shirt I took some pictures to share with my FB family. The lesson I learned from the T-Shirt was this, the T-25 on the front reminded me that sometimes we go through some "test" that want to discourage us. Whether they are 25 minutes, 25 hours or 25 years, however we can keep attacking and know that in the end we will win. The back of the t-shirt said "Nailed it" I took that to mean two things, I could "Nail" whatever stands in my way if I continue to keep moving towards my goal. I also took it to mean every difficulty that stands in my way, Christ "Nailed it" to the cross so that I could W.I.N. with Christ. 


The last picture above, was me completing a challenge to do Insanity. Let me just say, insanity is insane! That one, I really wanted to quit. The warm up was an entire workout in itself. Yet, I was able to call on the strength within myself to help me continue to do the workouts. The lesson I continue to tell myself through the journey was we all come across some "insanity" in this life. We face these difficulties and they can make us want to give up. However if we keep moving forward we grow and are better able to obtain to goal we set out to reach. Now, as you begin to become better, the workout shifts, just as it did with the T25 workout. I had to then challenge myself to be able to accomplish the next level of the workout. I was able to overcome the "insanity" and accomplish the goal. What I realized is I became stronger. I am now able to run when before I would get tired after only a few moments. Now I can run/walk for long periods of time.

So what's the overarching lesson I want to share with you? You can reach your goal. As a Christian, I rely on my faith to help me reach my goals, so prayer and reading God's Word has been my main source of help to remind we I can accomplish all things through Christ that strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)  When I got discouraged, I made sure I had a support team to encourage me, challenge me and to hold me accountable. In fact, for some you can use these relationships to do weight in's with each other to help you keep up with your lost and to talk with someone if you need to make adjustments in your process. 


Furthermore, I had to be willing to keep stretching myself, hence the workout challenges I did. I am currently doing a challenge with my husband for his job. The Walk challenge. It makes me count my steps to make sure I am getting at least 8,000 steps daily (I have averaged 10,000). Our goal is to take 448,000 steps by November 16th. I have already surpassed that goal. Now I am getting ready to re-do the T-25 challenge.


Finally, the more you stretch yourself, the stronger you will get. My youngest daughter still says she can't believe I am the same person when she looks at older pictures of me. She tells me mommy, you were pretty, but you just don't look the same now. You look younger and now people think you are my older sister (I love that). The truth is, I am not the same person. I care more about myself. I realized I am worth all the effort I have taken to get in shape. In fact, I realized staying unhealthy was actually unfair to my family and selfish on my part. Why is this unfair to my family, because if something happens to me, who would have to take care of me? My family would! So getting healthy wasn't only for me, it was to make sure I give my family a better me.


I end this week's post simply to encourage you to keep investing in yourself. Even if you don't see the results yet, in time you will. Sometimes you'll have to make some adjustments because some things won't work for you, but that's okay, keep going, simply don't give up. Until next week, I pray for your success as you continue to W.I.N. in health.

I asked you to share last week how you track your food or workout. This is what one reader shared: 


I have been using myfitnesspal to track my food. water and exercise. Thank you for all you do to help encourage others!!! (Cora Ruppe)



Healthy Eating

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Avocado Grilled cheese Sandwich
1/2 Avacado
1 tablespoon of pesto sauce
1 slice of cheese (I used provolone)
2 sliced of wheat bread
lettuce leaf
Olive oil & butter


Preparation: spread the pesto sauce on your bread (I used a tomato based one because my daughter can't eat nuts). Add the cheese and the avocado slices. I sliced the cheese and put the avocado between the cheese slices. In a pan put a little olive oil and a small pat of butter. Put the sandwich in the pan and cooked/brown on both sides until finished. I opened the sandwiches and added some lettuce. You can change this sandwich and add meat or tomatoes if you prefer.




Vegetable broth
I believe it is important not to waste your food. I juice several times a week and that produces a lot of food pulp. I began saving that pulp to make my own vegetable broth. After I juice I pull out any seeds or large pieces and then I freeze it until I am ready to use it. When I am ready to make the broth, I take the pulp and add it into a pot with water. I add seasons, salt, pepper, vegetable seasoning and garlic. I boil the pulp for about 20 minutes until the vegetable pulp infuses the water. I will taste to make sure it is the flavor I want, if not I add season. When it is finished I remove the pulp. If you have a cheese cloth that is the easiest way to get rid of the pulp. I simply poured it off (it took some time but I got it all out, see picture above). I use this broth to make rice, or soups. The one above had beets so it was red. If you use the beets it will make the broth change the color of some of your soups, but the taste is great. 
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Journey to Health

10/20/2014

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We have discussed this health journey now for a few weeks. I want to take today's blog time to recap some important points we have already mentioned.


One of the most important steps any of us can take to getting on track with our health is to take a look at ourselves and really begin the inward journey to understand why we have allowed ourselves to become unhealthy in our life choices. I know it is easy to believe it just happened, but it didn't. I'll be transparent and admit I too tried to say my unhealthy habits just happened. The truth is my eyes were opened to what I had been doing to myself, what I had been ignoring. My weight gain and unhealthy habits where there all the time, I was simply trying to ignore them. It was not until I acknowledged where I was, that I was truly ready to start on a new track towards health. 


In a previous blog we talked about how important it is to journal to learn more about your habits and the things you do. One thing I learned is if you have Windows 8, you actually have access to a health magazine, exercises and other health tips. If you don't have this, I suggest you look around to find the free tools that will help you. There are apps for your phones that will help you keep track of your calories and or workouts. If you know of some apps, share them in the comment section to help others. I know a few people have been telling me lately about some tracking apps they have located, so please share! 


So let's say you are doing the things we talked about these past weeks. You are journalling, you are changing your eating, working out, yet you haven't seen any weight lost, so you are getting discouraged. Sometimes you may find yourself losing weight faster than other times. If you see no inches lost or weight lost within three weeks, then you need to re-evaluate what you are doing. Your body may have gotten adjusted to what you are doing, so you will need to ramp up your work out. Or maybe you are eating too many or not enough calories, so you need to evaluate that because the body will also slow down if you are not getting enough intake. 


I also want to add something here. Sometimes you can be doing all the right things but your weight isn't coming off, so what do you do? I would suggest you look at getting a physical to make sure there isn't something medical going on that needs to be attended to. I also want to give you the freedom to seek help. I've read many blogs or post of individuals that speak harshly to people that use Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig or other weight lost programs. The key to using any of these programs is you still have to do the work. You can't go on any of these programs and not do the work. 


If you need these programs for a season, then use them. I know sometimes people are not sure what will work for them. I suggest you ask someone you trust. That's what I did. I sought a friend that was a trainer to ask what things I could use to help me on my journey. She suggested some supplements. I wanted to make sure they would not harm me since I was on medicines. I found no adverse results because of that. In fact, someone I know took the supplements to their doctor and he said he was in agreement with her usage of them. I uses the supplements for a few months to help me as I made the adjustment in my eating and living habits. I was not depending on the supplements to do the work, I had to do it. I used CLA and CORE from Market America. These two products helped me to get rid of that weight from around my middle that I was struggling with. Once I came off the product I had to do the work to continue to maintain that lost. So I hope you are encouraged to keep reaching toward your goals, you can do what needs to be done, so that you can W.I.N. in Health.

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The first picture shows me down 20 pounds from 195, but as you can see, my middle was still not as slim as I would like. The second picture I was down another 10 pounds to 165. I went from a size 10 in the white, to a size 8 in the black. Also, I was larger up top so my tops were xlarge. I was able to come down to a med in my sweaters.


Healthy Cooking

Healthy Egg rolls
Egg roll one
cabbage
carrots
broccoli
(or a shredded cabbage mix)
flax seed
low-sodium soy sauce

Egg roll two
Kale
shredded Parmesan cheese 
egg roll wraps
olive oil


preparation: If you have cabbage, carrots, broccoli then shred it and stir fry in pan (shown in the picture). To save time, you can pick the pre-shredded packets of cabbage slaw and lightly saute those. I add some flax, about 1 or 2 table spoons along with 1 table spoon of soy sauce to the cabbage mix. If you do the kale ones, I saute the kale until soft. I add after it is cooked a table spoon of shredded Parmesan cheese. Once your mixture is finished, wrap them in the egg roll wrappers. I spray a pan with cooking spray. Once I have wrapped all my egg rolls I lightly spray them and bake them at 350 until golden brown. this eliminates any extra oil. I created my own sweet and sour sauce. (crushed pineapples, soy sauce, organic sugar, two table spoons of flour or cornstarch, I was out, white vinegar). I cooked it until it thickened. Served 2 per person along with a fresh salad/ with assorted lettuce, diced strawberries and broccoli. A way to please that meat need.


Dessert

Chocolate covered raisins
Organic raisins
chocolate chips (organic or you can make your own chocolate sauce using coconut oil, cocao, agave nectar)

Preparation: If you make your own chocolate sauce you can use that. My oldest daughter can't eat coconut so I only make the sauce for myself. I use 2 table spoons of coconut oil, 2 tablespoons cocao powder, and raw agave nectar to taste. I put in raisins to coat, then let chill until ready to eat. If you use chocolate chips, I melt them with a tablespoon of organic butter. Once it is melted add raisins, coat then chill until ready. You can make these as nuts, or any assorted of nuts and fruits.


Yogurt medley
Coconut yogurt
2 strawberries
raw agave nectar
pecans, almonds or crushed unsalted cashews


preparation: I prefer the Trader Joe coconut yogurt. I place it in a bowl, add 2 diced strawberries or blue berries, a squirt of agave nectar and add nuts. Eat, a great treat that takes no time to prepare. If you want it as a frozen dessert, add the yogurt to your mixer along with the frozen fruit and your nectar. Once it is blended, add your nuts and it makes a great frozen dessert as well.

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Help me, I'm Stuck!

10/13/2014

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This week let's talk about something that has happened to most people when they are on their weight loss journey," weight loss plateau". For some hitting this wall can be discouraging and for some even adds to them quitting the quest for good health. So what do we do when we hit that wall?


While I would love to give you a warm and fuzzy talk and tell you it's easy, I can't. The truth is we are not only a quest just to lose a few pounds, but on a life journey to continued health. That means different things to different people. So let's address first what happens when you hit that wall and you can't seem to lose weight. The first thing is to understand if you are really plateauing or not. If you are trying to lose weight and you have not lose weight or inches in over 3 weeks, then you may be in a plateau. In order to break that plateau you will have to look at what you are eating and how you are working out. 


One thing I realized when I was working out is my body had adjusted to the weights I was using in some of my exercise routines. Also, the workouts I was doing that were originally difficult for me were now quite easy. In order to get the same results I had to adjust the intensity of the workouts. I purchased heavier weights and I shifted from the beginner workouts to more advanced workouts. When I did this I was able to see the weight loss increase. Sometimes it requires you to make some adjustments in what you are eating. Based on the amount of weight you need to lose will depend on the caloric intake you should be eating daily. Most plans average around 1,500 calories. 

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As you can see from the chart above, to lose about 1 pound a week, you need to decrease your caloric intake by 500 calories. There are many aps for your phone and even your computer to track your caloric intake. Once you make these adjustments you should begin to see your weight lose begin again. I would also suggest if you are still having problems to see your doctor to make sure there isn't any medical condition keeping you from reaching your weight goal. 


Finally, let me remind you this is a life journey. Don't think I'll change my eating "until" I get to my goal with the expectation of picking up bad eating habits when you are done. If you do, expect to pick up all the weight you loss and sometimes more. So don't set yourself up to fail. If you like pasta, don't think set yourself up by saying you will never eat it. Just make sure when you do, it is done in a way that helps you continue on your life journey of good health (this is not to say pasta is bad, however some people find that they have problems with diets heavy in carbs effects them in different ways). So this week, examine your journey. Are you working out consistently? Are you journaling and really taking the information you have gained to help you deal with what's eating you? Are you making those healthy changes in your diet? Are you moving yourself away foods high in fat and sugars? Are you eating more vegetable, fruits and raw foods instead of fried, greasy foods? All these adjustments overtime will help you reach your goal and maintain it. So until next week, I pray you continue to W.I.N. in health!





Back to School Healthy Living (part 6)

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This week I tried a new service, Door to Door Organic. This company will deliver organic produce directly to your door at a reasonable price. I picked the package for a family of four that was about $33 (I used a $10 off coupon) I also purchased other items. My total was only about $50. I would suggest you visiting them to see if they deliver in your location. If you would like a $15 off friend coupon send me your e-mail address via williamsinnovativenetwork@gmail.com and I'll send you the link. I used my potatoes from my box to make baked potato wedges. I washed them and diced them up. I poured some olive oil over them and seasoned them with garlic and vegetable seasoning. I put them on a pan and baked them at 350 until they were fork tender. I also make turkey meat balls to go with the meal. I took a pound of ground turkey and seasoned it with garlic, cheese, and seasoning of choice (what I used is pictured above). I also blended bread crumb and cheese and rolled the meatballs in it and put it in the pan to bake.


Cooking dinner is always a battle for many, but one way to take out the fuss is to plan your dinner before time so you don't have the scene of you standing in the kitchen with your fridge thrown open looking for something to cook.
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What's Eating Me?

10/6/2014

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Let us take a quick look at what we have discussed thus far. In a previous post I talked about giving your body a great start by doing a detox. This helps your body rid itself of toxins from the foods we eat, the stresses we experience, and the toxins from our atmosphere. Once you have detoxed your body you want to put the right foods in as well as exercise to make sure you are treating your body the best way you can. 


However, if we don't deal with this next issue all of the previous post will not help you. What are we dealing with today? We have to have some honest conversations with ourselves about what got us in the place we find ourselves. We have to answer the question, "What's Eating Me?" What does this mean?


I'll be transparent and use myself as an example. When I started in 2013 on the road to better health there where some things I already knew. I knew that I needed to exercise and often I did exercise. I knew somewhat how to eat right, but I still couldn't understand why I would eat poorly. When I asked God to help me because my healthy was really getting worse, He showed me a vision of myself. In that vision I was praying with my hands lifted up and in one hand was a handful of twizzlers. I heard God speak to my spirit and say, I can heal you, but you have to do your part. In essence, what I began to learn was I needed to deal with those underlying issues if I wanted to experience true success in my health.


What I learned in the journey was I was eating sweets to "heal my bitter places". I had many bitter places. Some where from rejections from my youth, some where related to my sexual abuse and some where related to my disappointments in my marriage and with my life in general. I didn't just get an "ahha" moment, it took time. How do you get to this point? 


This depends on what is helpful for you. Journalling is one of the best ways to get to these moments and understanding of what's eating you. If you go back and look at your journal entries how often did you eat when you became stressed? What did you eat when you where stressed? Did you eat when you where lonely or alone? What did you eat at those times? When you were angry did you eat? Lonely? Upset? Feeling down or not feeling good about yourself? What where your emotions behind your eating? This information does not come easy, you have to be honest to write these things down at the time you are feeling them. When you do, you'll be able to go back and see some patterns in your eating habits.


So what do you do once you find out what's eating you? As a Christian and a Christian writer, my first answer is to seek God's help through prayer and through His Word. Ask Him for guidance and wisdom, because He tells us He will help us when we seek Him. Then you have to be a "doer" of what you learn about yourself. So for example, when I learned I was eating sweets to cover my bitterness I began to go through each of those feelings as they where uncovered to me. I began to examine them. For some I had to ask God to help me release. For other situations I had to have some crucial conversations and deal with them to get to a resolution. Furthermore, I had to begin to re-program myself (transform my mind) to have healthy ways to deal with those triggers. So instead of eating sweets when I felt frustrated, lonely or discouraged, I would do other things that would help me to deal with the negative side of these feels and end  up on the positive side of them. Some of those things where to talk to some friends that I knew where safe places for me to share what I was feeling and knew they would pray for me and not beat me up for what I was feeling. They were willing to walk through with me.


One of the greatest things for me was when I lost my 45 pounds I had this visual of myself. God spoke again to my spirit and said look at the little girl. There in my mind was a vision of me as a little girl. My face at first was sad. But then I saw her smile and I found myself smiling. God said, you can let her go now, she's healed. At that, the little girl (me) smiled again at me, turned and disappeared. At that very moment, I felt a release and a lifting within myself. I finally felt that 45 pounds gone. Your situation may not be like mine but many of us have something that is eating us that we are trying to soothe through food. Some of it may simply be some of our traditions. We do so much around food. We were rewarded with food. When we were sad our parents may have given us candy/food. And as adults we reach back into our past and find comfort in food. 


Let me end this session with this. I am not saying you should not enjoy your food. But let's begin to be intentional and aware of what's going on inside of us when we do eat. I still love my sweets. In fact, on Sunday's I treat myself to a 99 cent bag of chocolate cups from Trader Joe's when I go shopping with my kids. The difference is, it's a treat for me, I enjoy it, but it is not something I use anymore to soothe my pain or add sweetness to bitter places. So this week, I challenge you to begin to really look at what's eating you. Why doe you eat what you eat? What comfort do you get from what you are doing? Then once you figure out some of the patterns, I suggest you begin to seek wisdom on how to heal those places and ensure you are on the path to W.I.N. in health! 




Back to School Healthy Eating (part 5)

Veggie Stir-Fry
Broccoli
Carrots
Mushrooms
Spinach

Olive oil
Peppers (red, green, or which every you want)

Quinoa (which every you like)
Soy Sauce
Agave Nectar
Toasted Sesame Oil
Seasons (your choice)


Preparation: While you prepare your veggies, prepare your Quinoa per the instructions on the package. In a hot pan, add your tablespoon or two of olive oil to saute your veggies. Add in the Broccoli, carrots, and peppers. Begin sauteing veggies. Add in mushrooms and spinach or kale after your other veggies have softened some (you don't want them mushy). I added Mrs. Dash vegetable seasoning and garlic powder and pepper. But you add whatever seasons you like. While the veggies are cooking I prepared the sauce. I took two tablespoons of Flaxseed (note this one had blueberries in it, I simply spooned those out), equal parts Sesame oil, soy sauce and agave nectar. Mix them together. Now, this is a personal choice regarding taste so you may have to add more of one ingredient or another. When you taste it, it may taste salty, however the small amount you see in the cut made less than a cup of sauce and I poured it over the entire pan of veggies. It helps to give the veggies a oriental taste, but it doesn't have that salty taste. Serve over Quinoa along with a garden salad. Makes a great meal and if you have any left overs, great for lunch the next day.

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    Author

    I am a wife, mother, Pastor and the owner of Tri-Production Publishing, Inc., just to name a few of my many hats I wear. But like many of you, I was so busy doing all these different roles that I forgot to take care of myself. I had to learn how to WIN with my healthy so that I could help others WIN their battles.

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