A Review of Dieting

As I've mentioned in the ole blog before,  I've done every diet in the book. I started and stopped. I've lost and gained. I've been excited at my progress, and I've been frustrated about a lack of progress. 

We're officially 3 weeks into 2014, and it's getting harder and harder to stick to that New Year's Resolution. I thought it might be beneficial to do a review on the many "diets" I've done in the past. Maybe it will help you find a new method, or maybe it'll help you stick to your resolution. Either way, here we go...

This is me with my best friend from high school. Age, 15.

Weight Watchers, Try #1

When I was 15 or 16 years old, I joined WW for the first time. My mom had previously lost a lot of weight on WW, and when I began rapidly gaining weight as a teenager, we thought it would be a good opportunity for me to lose some of that weight, and learn about portion control. I don't think that the online program was really an option yet, since this was 2004-2005. My doctor had to sign something for me to go, and honestly, I think he thought I was just eating fast food and not telling my parents. Truthfully, I was not (I couldn't even drive yet and I didn't have any money), and I was working out with a personal trainer a few days a week. 

WW was a good learning experience, but for me, it wasn't something I really wanted yet. I wanted to lose weight to fit back into the clothes I'd grown out of, but at the same time I didn't want to pull out a paper tracker in front of my friends at lunch, or look up points when I did go out to eat with friends on the weekend. 

In my opinion, WW's eTools have completely revolutionized tracking for the younger generations. Now, you can track your food or look up PointPlus on your phone and it just looks like you're checking Facebook or texting, but more on that later.

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Metabolic Research Center (Destin, FL)
Website

“When you walk through the doors at Metabolic Research Center, you’ve found the secret to successful weight management, and a friend to help you on the journey. We know you can achieve your goals, because we have helped people all over the United States lose more than ten million pounds in the last 25 years! At our centers you will find a warm greeting and a personalized approach, with one-on-one consultation and plans tailored specifically to you. We want you to succeed, and to feel good about yourself....not just for the short-term, but for the rest of your life. Metabolic Research Center equips you for permanent success through lifestyle change.”

— Metabolic Research website

I don't think anyone should really gauge Metabolic by my experience. I don't remember exactly how old I was when I did this, but I think it was the summer before I started college, so 2007. I only did it for a summer, and I think I lost about 5-10 pounds. I wasn't able to keep it off though because one of the big things with this weight loss program is their protein drinks, which I couldn't keep up when I moved 5 hours away for college. It was also VERY expensive. Thankfully, my parents paid for it since I was only 18 years old, but if I wanted to go back to it now, I wouldn't be able to afford it.

Another thing about this program is that the staff seemed to really target more of a middle-aged demographic. As a teenager, I went in to weight in the first time. I had lost a couple of pounds, and they made me hold a model of what a pound of fat feels like and looks like. Although educational, I only wanted to lose a little bit of weight, and it made me feel like I was being treated like an obese child. 

Overall, I think that Metabolic is probably a good program for those who can afford it and need to take drastic measures to lose a lot of weight.

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South Beach Diet
Website

My freshman year of college, I got the Southbeach Diet book (SB)  and read it cover to cover. I'd been diagnosed with insulin resistance, and SB seemed to be low in carbohydrates and sugars, which is what I needed. Also, my best friend Chastity had just lost some weight using SB, and I basically do everything she does, so I thought it'd be a good option for me. 

A few notes about the SB diet:

• It taught me a lot about good carbs vs. bad carbs and good fats vs. bad fats.
• It is pretty sustainable as a lifestyle change if you're not eating prepared food from a college cafeteria for every meal.
• The book is very informative.
• I'm pretty sure it was a fad that was a better option that Adkins, but has kind of gotten lost in the shuffle of fad diets.
• I don't think I really lost any weight on it, but it did help me eat healthier my freshman year of college and I don't really think I gained much weight that year (yay for avoiding freshman 15)!

End of my freshman year at Samford. I look amused, right? Oh, and hey hot pink nails!

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Running and eating 900 calories/day

The summer before my sophomore year of college, I became a runner. I was going to be taking "Concepts" (if you went to Samford, you're all too familiar with this course that is required for everyone to take to graduate) and I was determined not to be the slow, fat girl at the end of the 5K. Thankfully, my dad is AWESOME, and he agreed to get up with me about 4 mornings a week at the crack of dawn (we're talking 95 degrees before 6 a.m. in Florida) to run with me.

My family also traveled a lot that summer for my dad's job, so my dad and I made a pact that we'd take our running clothes and shoes with us every place we went. Honestly, I value that summer so much. My dad and I have great memories of the talks we'd have when we'd stop to walk, and we got to see some pretty cool places on foot. 

When I got back to Samford for the fall semester of my sophomore year, I'd lost a good bit of weight. I was more toned than I'd ever been before. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I had Concepts class as 8 a.m., so I had a built-in workout every week. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I didn't have class until 11:45, so I always had time to run. I also lived right across from the brand new gym at Samford, so I really just had it made that semester.

Carnation Ball Fall 2008 with my Big (left) and Little (right).

As I began really losing weight for the first time in my life, I also began eating less. I'd bought myself my first iPhone that fall, and I found an app that allowed me to track my calories (kind of like myfitnesspal, but we're talking 2008, so I don't think that one was around yet). I was WAY under eating. I was running 3 miles a day, 4 days a week and eating 900 calories - and not even 900 calories of nutrition. One of my favorite lunches that semester was a scoop or two of peanut butter with some M&Ms mixed in. Also, vanilla soft-service from the caf with peanut butter and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Yum! I'd eat that, and maybe a piece of chicken, and that's all. For the whole day. 

Obviously, this was not healthy or sustainable. The next semester I had a much busier schedule and I began to slowly gain the weight I'd lost back, and I slowly but surely lost my running momentum. One thing that I did gain from this though was learning to really own my health and fitness. Even though my eating choices weren't good, I learned how to build exercise into my life on my own. I learned how to take control of my eating and exercise. That is a lesson that has served me well even 6 years later.

Christmas 2008 with my Phi Mu Family. I'm pretty sure this was supposed to be Tack Christmas, but Grace and I were having no part in that.

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Dukan Diet
Website

The shortest diet I've ever done was the Dukan Diet. It started when I heard that my friend and her mom were having a lot of success with it. It ended when I started sauteing some veggies in front of her and she told me I couldn't have veggies on the diet. 

Source

The "no veggies" thing is only part of the "Attack" phase, but even that "short" phase was too long for me to go without veggies. I know people who rave about Dr. Dukan's diet, but I'm just not one of them. 

College gradation with my family.

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Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Program
Website

After I graduated from college, I took advantage of a weight loss program that was monitored by a physician from the OB/GYN practice my doctor is a part of.  This has been my  most successful weight loss program to-date. 

“The SP program combines a patented serotonin supplement which acts as a natural appetite suppressant, with a personalized program based on each individual’s specific goals, capabilities and limitations. Forget about fads and gimmicks! The SP Diet has a 99% success rate resulting in a safe average weight loss of 30 lbs over the course of a 12 week session. In fact, because Birmingham Ob/Gyn is committed to providing patients with only the very best possible care options, our staff have tested the Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Program themselves with excellent results.”

— Birmingham OB/GYN website

Here are some facts about SP:

• Before I did anything, I went to have a complete scan/physical. They tested my heart, they tested my blood, they did all sorts of scans and gave me printouts of the parts of my body that had the most muscle and all sorts of things.
• They do prescribe Phentermine, which is an appetite suppressant. I only took half a pill a day, but it's not something you can do long term.
• It's REALLY expensive. My parents helped me pay for it upfront, but after a few months I paid for it on my own and it was a pretty challenging payment to make as a recent college graduate.
• It worked. But I couldn't eat fruit or any sugar at all. I'm fine with the whole no sugar thing,  but I'd like to be able to eat fruit. The no fruit thing made me a little uncomfortable. You're supposed to be able to add it back in, but when I did, I started gaining weight back.
• I lost about 16 lbs. in a 12 week session. Not bad.
• I didn't exercise hardly at all while I did this because I was working two jobs the whole time and had no money for a gym membership :) 
• I would love to go back on this plan, but I can't afford it.
• I learned A LOT about nutrition and about my eating habits on this plan. I learned to shop the perimeter of the grocery store and to stay away from the isles with all the processed food. I learned to adapt to my eating plan in a restaurant. I learned that my body responds well to a no-sugar diet. I also learned that's not 100% sustainable (again, I missed fruit).

Brave's Game for Jason's birthday - Summer 2011

Summer 2011 in Atlanta

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Eat Your Heart Out Cleanse
My original blog

Jason proposed on February 4, 2012. Our wedding date was set for September 22nd of that year. I had gained back the weight I'd lost the previous summer on the SP diet, and I was not a happy camper. It took me a while to go wedding dress shopping because I only had 3 bridesmaids and they all lived in Florida. Finally, in April, we set a date to go dress shopping. 

I was terrified to try on wedding dresses. Even when I was in the best shape I've ever been in, I'm still very very curvy. I also have a darker complexion, so I tend to stick with browns, blacks, and bold, gemstone colors (that's what Stacey London says to do on What Not to Wear). Also, black is slimming. I was so afraid that I was going to look like a chubby cloud that got caught up in a pallet of white tool in a wedding dress. So what do I do when I'm terrified of something that I can't control? Well, I try to control it of course!

The 7 days leading up to dress shopping, I did my first cleanse. Here's a graphic to show you the overall idea of the cleanse:

It was brutal, but I did lose some weight on it. The worst part about it was eating tomatoes (you can read about that awful experience here).

Here is a list I've created that name the positive attributes and experiences I had with this cleanse:

• It's not meant to be sustainable. It's 7 days. 1 week. Anyone can do just about anything for a week and survive. 
• It really did reset my body. I haven't been able to eat fried food the same way since then.
• I did lose weight.
• I felt great about myself when I went dress shopping.
• It really is what started my blogging life. It also allowed me to be vulnerable on my blog, which I'd never done before. It opened up a world of encouragement from people who were readers and I had no idea!

I don't know that I'd ever do a cleanse again (I tried a year later and it was a total fail). The stars really just aligned for me to do it the first time. Jason was traveling, so I was only cooking for myself. I had a great motivation in the fact that I had something to look forward to at the end. I didn't know what to expect, so that helped keep me going because I just kept thinking that it would get better and be worth it.

This is me at David's Bridal. I chose the 6th dress that I tried on. I love my mom's face in the mirror :) Worth every tomato. 

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Weight Watchers Online, Try #2

Three months before my wedding, I subscribed to WW online. I didn't really want to lose weight as much as I wanted to just maintain the weight that I was at and not gain any. Mission accomplished. No loss. No gain. 

Our engagement photos the summer before we were married.

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Advocare 24 Day Challenge
Website

The 24 Day Challenge was kind of a turning point for me. After being married for almost a year, I had gained about 20 lbs. since we said "I do". I was tired of going up, up, up, and I decided to give myself a year to lose the weight I'd gained. 

After a lot of consideration and coming up with a game plan to pay for the challenge smoothies, cleanses, and supplements, I decided to do that 24DC beginning on June 1, 2013. I had a good friend who had done it, and she was so encouraging through the process. At the end of it all, I lost about 8 lbs. I was happy with those results, but I wanted to keep going. 

Positives about the 24DC:

• A lot of people "my age" (I'd say within 10 years of my age) are doing it, so it's easy to find someone to encourage you all the way through.
• While there are supplements and shakes that you have to buy, you can also eat real food.
• The 24DC is basically a jump start on clean eating. I enjoyed learning about what kind of food that includes. I've tried to stick to a "clean eating" type diet since then, at least most of the time.
• It's not overwhelmingly expensive. 
• If you can afford to stick with the program on the back end, it really does work.

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Weight Watchers, Try #3

Around Halloween this year, I realized that I'd gained back what I'd lost with the 24DC, and I'd gained about 10 lbs. on top of that. I wasn't moving enough and I was eating too much. Even so, I still ate fairly healthy. I cried to Jason on probably a weekly basis about my weight. There have been so many opportunities over the last year or so for me to go to a pool, beach, or do something outdoors that people my age (24) should be able to do, and I avoid them like the plague because I'm embarrassed of my weight. The last thing I want to do is get in a bathing suit of any kind. I asked Jason if I could join WW again. We talked about it and prayed about it, and we decided that it would be good for me to join. 

I opted to do the WW meetings because I need the accountability. I'm a person who really cares what my doctor or weight loss instructor thinks about my weight. I have canceled doctors appointments before just because I'd gained weight, and ultimately, when I gained a little bit of weight in the maintenance phase of the SP diet, I quite going. So I needed someone to look at my weight, write it down, and tell me, "You're up a little bit" or celebrate with me if I've lost. WW was affordable, and I've seen it work with my mom before - and Jennifer Hudson. Obviously.

So I began WW for the 3rd time in November.

The first week I lost 2 lbs. Yay! I was on my way! But then, in the weeks after, I gained 0.2 here or 0.5 there. By Christmas, I was back where I'd started. I was trying SO HARD and I was SO FRUSTRATED. I talked to my mom and dad about it while we were home for the holidays, and they suggested I up my exercise. So I came home with a plan that was doable, and Jason and I were going to do it together.

The first week of January, I had a few BIG changes.

I went to the doctor for a check-up. I decided to talk to her about my weight and just be really honest with her. She did some blood work, and as it turns out, I have an under active thyroid (hyopthyroidism). She immediately put me on medication. A few days before that, I decided to give a go at WW's Simple Start program. 

Results: The first week's weigh in that I was on Simple Start, I lost. I had also started the medicine for my thyroid halfway into that week. The second week I was on Simple Start, I lost again. Plus, I think the medicine was really in my system by then.

Needless to say, I'm keeping with the Simply Filling plan with WW, because it seems to be working. Both weeks, my loss has not been a significant amount, but just the loss in and of itself for me is a huge milestone. 

I'm not sure if it's the Simple Start that did it, or the medicine, or the combination of both, but I'm happy to be on a losing streak. 

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Closing thoughts...

I wanted to write this post to give you some ideas on some of the diets and weight loss programs that are out there. I'm not joking or making light of it when I say that I've done SO MANY of them. I really have. I'm hesitant to speak to where I am now, but I feel that it's important to include the WW Simply Filling option. I think it gets overlooked by WW's traditional tracking program. My hope and prayer for myself is that this is a lifestyle change...NOT just another diet.

I also want to encourage anyone who is struggling and has been on diet after diet to go see your doctor and really be honest with them. I've always tried to play my problems down and act like I was doing more than I actually was. This time, I was just honest about my frustrations, and it led to an answer for me.

My goal is to lose 5 lbs. this month, which isn't huge goal, but I think it's attainable. I've learned over the last decade that anything that happens fast, probably isn't going to last. Slow and steady wins the race. 

And you know what? I'm not aiming to be the size I was in that first picture of me from high school. That used to be my goal, but I don't want to be the size of a 15-year-old. I just want to be healthy.

The other night, Jason brought a photo of us into our room from 3 weeks after our wedding. It was from a photo booth at a friend's wedding, and we'd posted in on our fridge. I thought it got stuck to the bottom of his shoe or something, and I asked why it was in our room. He told me he brought it in to show me what he looked like right after our wedding. He said, "If I can just get back to that weight, I'd be happy staying there." As I looked at myself in that picture, I noticed the dress I was wearing. I can't fit into it anymore. It got me thinking. I may not have been in the best shape or the skinniest I have ever been on our wedding day, but I was happy with the way I looked and I was happy with my health at that point. 

Our wedding.

My husband hasn't had the history that I have with diets and weight loss programs. He used to work out a lot to maintain his weight, and now he doesn't so he's trying to cut back on what he eats and exercise more. It's simple. He has a goal, a simple goal, and he's working to achieve it. He doesn't get caught up in all the rules and red tape like I so often do. 

Oh to be more like Jason, that is a goal of mine for sure. 

What about you?

What diets or weight loss programs have you done?

Was it a lifestyle change or just a fad diet?

Do you get caught up in the rules and red tape like me, or is it a simpler process for you like it is for Jason?

Do you have a hormonal, metabolic, or medical issue that has hurt you in your journey to lose weight?

What tips do you have?

A Morales Production

My blog today is all about our new website for A Morales Production. 

I've been SO excited to launch this, and all that comes with it.

Of course though, we're having a few glitches along the way. It's never fun to run into technical difficulties that we have no control over. Basically, we bought our url "amoralesproduction.com" through Google one year ago. Now, even though we didn't renew it with them, they're holding it hostage. So, for now, until we can get it fixed, visit our website at amoralesproduction.squarespace.com. 

Some of the new features that I'm LOVING are the galleries for all of Jason's videos! All of the wedding videos he's done in the past are up in the Wedding Gallery, and all of the non-wedding promo videos he's done are in the Videography Projects gallery. I love how clean and sleek and user friendly this site is now!

Of course I've even got my own little photography tab in there, so make sure you check it out!

Another thing we're excited to announce is the "Specials" page. Here you can see what new packages we have like this one. You can see any discounts we're running and also any seasonal packages like this one that we've got. 

In case you're wondering what this whole thing is about, it's about Jason and my production business. When Jason and I started dating, Jason was doing production almost full-time. The problem was, he was traveling ALL THE TIME. Since we got married, we have put our skills together to create A Morales Production, which is a full-service Birmingham-based production company. Jason makes about 30% of his income from this, so we really appreciate any referrals that you can send our way :) 

So, without further chatter, I present to you, the new and improved, A Morales Production website.

Also, you can "like" our Facebook page and get updates from us here.

Confessions of a {Working Wife}

I put the "working wife" part in brackets because that's what describes me. You can insert your own title there. Working mom. Single college student. Working single mom. Stay at home mom. Single professional. Married person. Parent. The title isn't what matters.

I'm happily married. I've been married for 478 days. That's almost 16 months. It's 1 year, 3 months, and 22 days to be exact. I've wanted to be married since I knew what marriage was. I had a chronic dating problem in high school and a chronic crush-on-every-new-guy-I-meet-in-college-because-he-might-be-THE-ONE problem in college. Eventually, after 3 years of middle school crushes, 4 years of high school dating, and almost a full 3 years of college crushes/dating, I finally had a crush on the right guy. I'm not proud of how desperate I wanted to find MR. RIGHT, but even in my weakness, the Lord was faithful and He led me to Jason, in His way and in His time. 

Even after we began dating, said "I love you" for the first time, and knew that we wanted to get married, I was still was desperate to be Jason's wife. I didn't understand why we had to wait to be engaged, why we couldn't just go ahead and get married. Thankfully, I had a level-headed boyfriend (and now husband) who knew that God's timing is key. 

Where am I going with all of these details (that quite frankly, make me cringe)?

Well, there's a lot of talk on the social media pages about getting married young, and it seems like everybody and their sister getting engaged. Not to mention, soon, there will be lots of chatter about getting a "ring by spring". Yep, that's right, the infamous "ring by spring". I went to a small, baptist, liberal arts college - "Ring by Spring" was all anyone could talk about when we came back from winter break, AND I was in a sorority, so, you know, the pressure was on for me my senior year when Jason and I had been dating all of 6 months.

Thankfully, like I said, Jason is way more level-headed than I am, and he proposed the following February after I'd been out of school for about 8 months. 

Getting engaged in college IS NOT a bad thing. Getting married immediately after graduating college IS NOT a bad thing. That's not my point AT ALL! I have many friends who have gotten engaged in college and married the summer after who have lovely marriages that I respect immensely. My parents did that. I wanted to do that. So I am not against it at all, whatsoever. 

So, my point is this: God's timing is worth waiting for...in all things.

God's timing is best. God's timing is perfect. God's timing is totally and completely better than ours could ever be.

God ever so gently reminded me about His perfect timing over the weekend. Of all things, I was cleaning our toilets. Obviously, that's when I am closest to God. Just kidding. But really, I don't like cleaning toilets that much. Who does? I actually don't like cleaning anything much at all, but you better bet I enjoy a clean house. So I clean. 

My husband is SUCH a hard worker. He works more hours than I can even count on all of my hands and toes, his hands and toes, and our next door neighbor's hands and toes. He works multiple jobs, so many weekends he's not lounging with me at home, he's working. This past weekend, we had one day off together - Saturday. Since I work a full-time job too, I really needed some help cleaning our house. So Saturday morning, we slept in a little bit, and then put on our cleaning clothes and got to work. 

Jason's job is always the floors. I deep cleaned the kitchen (I don't want to even think about the mess we've been cooking our food in) and the bathrooms. Like I said, I love a clean house, but I'm not much a fan of the actual cleaning process. Thankfully, I have a husband who doesn't mind helping me clean when we have a day off together. But most of the time, I clean the house alone when he is working a full weekend. 

After we finished cleaning, we went to go pick up some lunch. As we were driving in the car, I started thinking about how much nasty stuff I touched while cleaning the bathrooms. I thought I might gag a little, but then I didn't. That's when it hit me - I find JOY in doing things like this, like cleaning our home on our only day off together.

I realized in that moment that there's no where else I'd rather be on a Saturday morning than down on my hands and knees cleaning a toilet, with music blaring through our new-to-us home, and with my husband in the living room sweeping the floors. 

You know why? Because as gross as it may be (I'm really making us sound like slobs, and I promise we're not), I know that I'm right where the Lord wants me. I know that it was absolutely His plan for us to get engaged on February 4, 2012, married on September 22nd of that year, buy a home the following September, and grow together in Him through our covenant of marriage until we take our last breaths on this earth. 

Getting married young isn't a bad thing, at least in my opinion. I got engaged when I was 22, and married when I was 23. We bought our house when I was 24, and I'm pretty sure I'll be a mom by the time I'm 27 or 28. That was God's plan for me.

However Jason was 24 when we started dating. He was 25 when he proposed, and 26 when we got married. He was 27 when we bought our house, and he probably will be in his 30s when he becomes a dad. Although he's still young (but I like to give him a hard time about being "older"), he had a few years of singleness before getting into a serious dating relationship that led to marriage. He had time to grow in the Lord as a young professional. He has time to build a savings account that has served us well. He had time to travel the country multiple times and pursue dreams that he may not have been able to pursue if we were engaged or married then. That was God's plan for him.

Wherever you are, however old you are, whoever you're dating or not dating, whoever you're engaged to or married to, wherever you're working, whatever you're doing, embrace God's timing for you life. His will may be for you to work there or marry him, but His will and His timing are not mutually exclusive.

When we obey God's timing and follow after His plan for our lives, we can find joy in all things, even cleaning toilets on a beautiful Saturday morning. Or waking up from a dead sleep because your wife is screaming and you have to kill a spider in the bathroom at the crack of dawn on a Monday morning, which is exactly what happened to Jason today.

May we be believers who seek to find the Lord's timing in our lives in all things. May we find joy in those things. And may we praise Him each day for being the Great Author of our life story.

January Goals: Simplicity

One thing that I have set out to do this month, and hopefully carry throughout the year, is make things simpler. I have a way of over complicating things. The place where I do this the most is in the kitchen. 

When Jason and I got married, I wanted to impress him with my awesome cooking skills. I wanted to be that wife who had dinner on the table the minute he walked in the door, and I always wanted the meal to be impressive. 

Now, we've been married for about 16 months, and I've come to find a few problems with this somewhat idealistic situation.

1. I have a full time job too. My job is closer to home than Jason's, but I only walk in the door about 10 minutes before he does.
2. Eating impressive meals is expensive.
3. We always have too much leftover.
4. Most extravagant meals aren't necessarily healthy.
5. We both need to watch what we're eating - me for cholesterol and sugars (diabetes runs in my family and I just found out that heart disease does too) and Jason because he has a milk allergy (and diabetes does run in his family too, so it wouldn't hurt to watch those sugars).

On December 31st, I listed out my January 2014 Goals on our family chalkboard. One of them was just "Cook Simpler". I wasn't sure what all that meant or entailed, because sometimes I truly do enjoy cooking a nice meal that takes some thought and creativity, but I also know that it's not feasible to do that often.

Monday was the beginning of the first week that I was aiming to cook healthy, but simple. As some of you know, I've been going to Weight Watchers (WW) meetings for a few months, and I'd missed a few meetings because of travel during the holidays. Monday, our meeting was centered around the new WW jump start plan called "Simple Start". I'd received an email about the program on New Years Day, but I like tracking WW PointsPlus (pp), so I just deleted the email and moved on. 

After hearing more about the Simple Start plan, I decided to give it a try. Basically what you do is eat only WW power foods (there's a list of them here), and you don't have to track, PLUS you get 7pp of "indulgences" (aka things that aren't power foods). If you're a WW member already, you can switch your eTools over to "Simply Filling" from the normal pp tracker. I'm someone who needs to write down (or key it in) what I've eaten, just to keep up with it. The wonderful thing about Simple Start and Simply Filling is that you can eat as much or as little of the power foods as you want because they're not bad for you. Our meeting leader said that one lady told her that she had eaten so much popcorn she felt like she was going to pop right out of her chair. Maybe that's a little over the top, but the point is, you're not going to go hungry and you can still eat healthy.

Simple Start is only a 2 week program to get a jump start on weight loss in 2014. But, if you like it, you can switch from pp tracking to Simply  Filling and just follow that plan from now on.

I'm about four days into Simply Filling, and I feel great. It's taken me a few days to get the hang of it because you're only allowed 7pp per day on top of the power foods. Most of the dairy that I had in my kitchen was reduced fat and not fat free, so I've had to use some of my "indulgences" on things that, if they were they fat-free, would be power foods. So that kind of stinks, but I feel like that's a small detail in the big scheme of things.

Simple Start has also REALLY helped me get started cooking simpler. The Simple Start booklet has recipes in it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and indulgences. If you download the app, it has all the same recipes in it as well. The Simple Start booklet also has a shopping list which I am looking forward to using this weekend!

Since I didn't get this list until after I'd done my grocery shopping for the week, I've had to improvise with a few things, but so far I've been pretty happy with how flavorful and filling these power foods are when you combine them! 

I've made my own version of a cheese danish with an light English muffin, fat-free ricotta cheese, and slices of a clementine (you're supposed to use blueberries but I didn't have any).

I've also made my own version of cinnamon apple oatmeal. It was better than anything I've ever had out of a package!

If you're like me and you want to begin cooking and eating simpler, here's an example of what my "new and improved" grocery list contains:

• Box of frozen WW chicken tenders ($6 for 15 chicken tenders lasts us about 8 meals)
• 1 more meat such as ground turkey/beef or pork tenderloin
• 3 fruits
• 3 veggies
• Bread for sandwiches
• 2 starches (usually brown rice and sweet potato) 
• Deli turkey for lunches
• Cheese sticks 
• Sliced cheese
• Greek yogurt
• Light English muffins
• Cream cheese
• Lettuce
• Milk
• Cereal
• A few staples (sour cream, ricotta cheese, mustard, mayo, peanut butter)

I hope that this helps some of you get into a habit of simplifying your diet and kitchen! Happy Friday everyone!

If you've been following my blog for any period of time, you'll probably noticed that I haven't really blogged about WW before. Well, that was intentional. I wanted to make everyone aware of this great resource if you're looking to eat healthier in 2014, but my journey with WW is really something I'm doing for me and my health, so I don't really want to begin blogging about it on a regular basis. I may post more things like this in the future - just to make all of you aware of the amazing resources that come via WW, but I don't want it to become a common topic. One more thing I will say about it in this post though - If you've ever considered joining WW before, whether you want to lose 10 lbs. or 100 lbs., just join! Go to a meeting. You can go to your own meeting, or send me an email and I'll tell you when and where the meeting I go to is. It's wonderful for resources and accountability, and it's affordable! 

Family Worship

Family Worship may be a phrase that sounds kind of foreign and maybe even a little awkward to a lot of people. The first time I heard my pastor talking about Family Worship, I had this vision in my head of a Mother Goose type woman sitting with her skirt surrounding her in a perfect circle with little children gathered around gazing up at her attentively. I don't know why that was my vision, but it was...I'm a little weird.

But, this past Sunday, when Pastor David began explaining what Family Worship is, and the importance of it, I realized that it was something my family had done most of my life periodically, but we had never had a name for it. Family Worship is basically discipleship in the home. It's formal times of worship as a family, and it's informal teaching moments, as we called them in the Sansom House. I have vivid memories of my family gathering in our living room to pray, or listening to worship music together as we drive around in the car together. Formal and informal. 

Jason and I began doing "sermon dates" occasionally when we were dating. One of us would find a sermon that we wanted to listen to, and we'd bring over our computer or iPod and we'd listen to a sermon together. We also have attended a small group together since before we were even engaged, and I believe that even though that's not family in the sense of DNA or marriage, it's a family of believers - The Body of Christ. Both have been extremely influential in our relationship before and after marriage.

But Sunday as we walked through some tangible ways to draw near to God in 2014, I became undoubtedly convicted about a void in our little family of two - we've never carved out a specific time for Jason and I to engage in Family Worship together on a consistent basic each week. 

Therefore, beginning in 2014, the Morales' will carve out a time for Family Worship each week. Sometimes this may but be reading the bible together, praying, and worshiping. Sometimes it may be a sermon date. But whatever it is, we want to be sure that we don't let that fall by the wayside when life gets going too fast. It's healthy for us to put the brakes on, even if just for 20 or 30 minutes, and just spend time worshiping together. 

Another benefit that we see in beginning Family Worship now is so that it's not a foreign or new concept to add once we have a child. I dream about a day when we have Baby Morales and we seamlessly continue in our tradition of Family Worship, even though I know that realistically, any transition with a new baby is far from seamless :) .

Speaking of children...

...Amazon has the Jesus Storybook Bible Kindle Edition for $1.99 right now. I have heard wonderful things about this bible for children, and I plan on buying a hard copy someday when we have a child, but I went ahead and purchased the Kindle Edition now because it's such a good price.

If you're interested in reading more about Family Worship, you can download this resource and hopefully it will answer any questions you may have. 

I hope that the last few days of posts about growing near to the Lord in 2014 have been an encouragement to you. It's definitely been helpful and encouraging to me to really put my thoughts into words and share what the Lord is teaching me in this new year. My hope and prayer is that putting these thoughts out into the blogisphere helps to hold me accountable in ways over this next year. 

In the Word - 2014

UPDATED: In light of this post, I found this amazing offer online. You can download 16 of Beth Moore's ebooks FOR FREE. Click here for the link.

Last year at the end of January, I began my first venture to read through the bible in a year. I was completely and utterly convicted about my lack of bible reading after going through the Personal Disciple Making Plan with our former small group (click on the link to download).

So I began following the reading plan that Brook Hills used when they read through the bible in one year with the Radical Experiment. I started attending Brook Hills in August of that year, so I followed along with the New Testament, but I missed so much in the Old Testament that I'd never gone back and revisited it. I also decided that I'd listen to the sermon that Pastor David preached the week that coincided with my reading. 

I'm actually really excited about how far I got in the reading plan. I got to Ecclesiastes. It was a slow process, and I skipped days along the way here and there, but for the most part, I consistently read the bible for an entire year! I cannot tell you how much this has done for my life. 

I'm not very good at memorizing things - I'm much more or a writer and storyteller. But, the Old Testament is FULL of stories and expository literature, and I was captivated by the incredible story of redemption that has taken place from just about the beginning of time, namely since The Fall in Genesis 3. I realized over the last year that I only had glimpses of this incredible story from sermons that I've heard and through bible stories I learned in children's church many years ago. I'd never craved God's Word like this before, but somewhere in the days that passed by in 2013, I had a yearning for His Word like never before. 

I finished up reading Ecclesiastes around the time that Brook Hills announced that we, as a church, would be walking through the bible again, but this time at a slower pace over the course of two years. Honestly, when I picked up the reading plan, I was giddy. I always get excited about beginning a new sermon series at church, but this was at a whole other level. I was waiting and anticipating January 1st like it was Christmas morning.  

Here's my challenge to you: Whether you're a Christian or not, open up a bible, or go to an online bible like biblegateway.com. Begin reading Genesis...and see how the story unfolds. It really is incredible. 

I'll be reading along with Brook Hills' 2014 Bible Reading Plan (click the link to download) and following along with the supplementary book by D.A. Carson For the Love of God (click the link to download the free PDF version of the book). I'm also going to begin journaling most days, which is something I used to do, but have gotten away from in the last few years. 

How can you grow closer to God in 2014? My hope in prayer for all of us to look back at this day on December 31st of this year and know that God has done a magnificent work in our hearts and in our lives because we were obedient to His calling to dive deep into His Word.

Possibilities

Change is hard, but in my opinion, God shows us His mercy by allowing each year to come to an end, and start over with a beginning. In 2013, I made a lot of excuses for things in my life that I wasn't happy about. I can't do this because of that. I can go here because of this. I can't change that because of this. 

Don't get me wrong, 2013 was an incredible year. It was the year that I took three big vacations with my husband. I moved to a new part of Birmingham. I bought a home. I learned A LOT about being married, which led to learning even more about grace. We made big decisions together, we made hard choices together, we laughed a lot, cried a lot (well, I cried a lot), and made many memories. 2013 was great, but it was year of learning and growing. 

I hope that 2014 is different. I still want to learn and grow, but I want this to be a year about seeing possibilities, not making excuses. I want to see opportunities as a chance chase after what God has for me. 

Over the last few days, I've been thinking about some tangible, short-term goals. I made a list of them on our chalkboard, and as a family we want to see the possibilities that 2014 has for us and seize the opportunities to grow and learn more. I would challenge any of you who are looking to make 2014 a year of possibilities to do something similar. Make a list of short-term goals that are really achievable. Figure out a plan of action. Chase after what God has in store for you.

From the Morales Family, we wish you a Happy New Year. May 2014 be a wonderful year for you!