Butterflies Gotta Fly... Breaking Out of My Cocoon

It's hot. It's humid. It's June. It is month number 6, the mid-point of this year known as 2012. Is anyone else thinking, "Wow, when did that happen?"

My birthday is in December. When I decided, and I mean really decided, to bring my weight and health fully under God's control, one of the key factors in helping me make that decision was knowing what I had NOT accomplished in that year. In fact, in December (2011) I looked back on the last several years of my life and realized that I had zero significant accomplishments, or memories, worth sharing. If I had to scrapbook the past few years, the pictures would be few and blurry. I had learned very little and grown even less... mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I hadn't stepped outside my comfort zone in years. I had built a cocoon of a "less than" life, and I wanted OUT!

On my 32nd birthday, I promised and challenged myself to try at least 12 new things before my 33rd birthday. I didn't make a list of things to try. I just promised myself to try new things and keep myself open to  experiencing newness again. At that same time, I decided that this would be the year of true change... the kind that can only come from the hand of God.

So, it's June already. When I wrote the date in my journal and realized that this year was half over, I started to panic. That's kind of what I do. It's my go-to response, but I'm working on it. I started to think, "Oh, no! I haven't done anything yet and am already behind!" because that's been true for the past few years. But then I stopped and breathed and decided to list what these first six months of 2012 have held for me. I wanted an accurate picture so that I could see what I need to do to change. My list surprise me.

1. I made a commitment to God and to myself. I STARTED SOMETHING OF VALUE!
2. I have tried 8, yes EIGHT, new things in my goal of 12. Granted, most of them have been food-related due to the fact that I'm changing the way I eat. But for a West Texas girl who grew up on a pig farm, eating sushi for the first time is a big deal! (Thanks to one of my best friends, Rachel, for guiding me in sushi eating! She picked raw fish that I managed to keep down and not spit out.)
3. I GAVE MYSELF A VOICE. I actually went public with my story by starting a blog. I took the biggest sin issue in my life, one of my most shameful characteristics, and laid it out for the worldwide web to see. And so far, I've had over 1,000 hits on it and positive, encouraging feedback. Who knew?
4. I joined a gym... and actually GO TO THE GYM.
5. I lost over 45 POUNDS (46.2 as of today)! 

I think it's safe to say that "Praise the Lord!" is a more appropriate response than panic.

Yes, this year is flying by as quickly as so many other years in my life. But this year is different. This year means something new. This year, I'm living. It's not a big life or a fast life. It's not a world-traveling, sight-seeing life. It's not a life that is checking of bucket-list items. It's not an event-filled life with a social calendar that is booked every night (or even every other weekend, for that matter). 

But this is a life worth living. This is a life in which I sleep soundly at night and wake up excited for a new day. This is a life that enjoys a morning cup of coffee with a big side of God's Word and low-sugar maple and brown sugar oatmeal with low-fat margarine. This is a life of intent, love, and light... all because I opened myself up to God. I used to "pray" for God to change me, but I was so afraid of what change meant. I was afraid that change could only mean pain.

Pain is definitely a part of the package. I'm sore today because I ran for the first time on the gym treadmill instead of only walking (and didn't fall off, by the way!). I've shed quite a few tears as I turned loose some dreams that I had been holding too tightly. I've experienced some loneliness when choices I've made haven't lined up with the choices of those around me.

But all of that pales in comparison to the love, grace, peace, and downright happiness I've felt with Jesus. The more I open up to Him, the more I let go of fear and control, the more freedom I feel. I feel more loved and have become more loving of others. Things aren't great, and the bills still stack up every payday. But I'm happy to live life because I know that each day is a gift from God just for me.

God did not create me to be a caterpillar trapped in a cocoon of my own sad making. He gave all He had to give so that I could fly free.

Butterflies gotta fly, and my wings have spread! Bring on the rest of 2012!

Faithfully, fluffully His,

Pity... Party of One...

Haven't posted lately because, quite honestly, I was throwing myself a pity party. No balloons, no streamers, but all the whine you can drink!

It all started when I bothered to think about how long the road ahead of me is. I started doing negative math. Have you heard of it? It's not like real math where "0 - 1 = -1". No, this is the emotionally and mentally negative math where "all of your successes + a few negative thoughts = failure mentality and giving up." Yeah, that kind of math.

Oh, how quickly the mighty fall when they lose sight of reality! I mistakenly let my focus fall on two major aspects of this journey over which I have zero control.

1. There are way too many tomorrows between my "goal" and me.

In my negative math, I started to calculate how many little goals I have to set in order to reach the big goal. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't encouraging. It wasn't right around the corner. We're talking binoculars or even a telescope needed to see the end.

2. I feel skinnier than I look.

After a wonderful family celebration this weekend, I rushed home to see the pictures. I hadn't taken a real photo of myself since starting this journey, and I was anxious and excited to see a difference and be happy with what I saw. I wasn't. In fact, looking at that photo made me sad and disappointed in myself.

The result? Pity, Part of One!

Do you know the kind of food served at a pity party? Carbs. Do you know the kind of music played at a pity party? None. You are alone with your thoughts.

So where did I go wrong? How did I end the party? How do I keep from falling into the same situation?

First, I should have looked at the situation and the journey in the "Light" and in His reality. If I had done so, my focus would have looked like this:

1. Yes, there are way too many tomorrows between my "goal" and me. But the reality is, I lived way too many yesterdays in sin and, while forgiven, I still have to deal with the consequences of that sin.

Yes, getting to my "goal" is many tomorrows away. But the reality is, I am not promised even one tomorrow. Today is what matters. What will I do today to bring Him glory.

Yes, the journey is long. But the reality is, I don't walk this journey alone.

Yes, my "goal" looks distant. But the reality is, that "goal" is nothing--absolute nothing--in light of my true goal of making myself--mind, soul, flesh--smaller so that He is bigger in my life. My size, now or in the future, plus-size or average, does not determine His glory, nor does it impact His love for me.

2. Yes, I feel skinnier than I look. But the reality is, He's still working on me.

Yes, I feel thinner than I look. But the reality is, I am thinner than I was. 36 pounds thinner!

Yes, I feel different from what I see. But the reality is I'm living life differently this time because I'm not settling for what I see. Instead, I'm focusing on seeing Him.

Next, I had to end the party. How? I said, "No," to myself.

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

Instead of the word "deny," the Complete Jewish Bible translation says, "He must say, 'No,' to himself..."

So I did. Believe it or not, we do have a choice.

How do I keep from doing this all over again, time after time? I do just what Jesus said: "...take up his cross and follow me."

Again, the Jewish translation says it more pointedly, "take up his execution stake and keep following me."

In other words, dying to myself, saying no to myself is a process. It does not end. Am I going to stop following Christ just because I mess up along the way? No, I keep following. I keep executing this flesh so that He can be my all.

I love party planning, but I think it's time I start planning to NOT throw a party. That takes a lot more work (or workouts!)... more prayer... more reliance on Jesus for strength... more focus on reality in the light of His Word, rather than the light of my dim flashlight of flesh.

The Light is on! The party is over! Make room for victory!

Faithfully, fluffuly His,

A fluffy girl walks into a gym...

I'm on my third or fourth week of making exercise a consistent part of my life. In Weight Watchers (WW) terms, that's equaled a minimum of 14 Activity Points (AP) a week. In layman terms, I basically shoot for 20 to 30 minutes of steady exercise most days. So far so good.

However, most of that activity has consisted of walking in my neighborhood with my dogs, and it is officially hot  and humid in the Houston area. Therefore, activity outside is not the same appealing option it was a few weeks ago. That means, I need to find options now as alternatives.

I haven't had a gym membership in close to five years. The last time I had one, I only got it because my BFF had one and committed to going with me as a workout buddy.

My insurance sent an email this week about a new Fitness Program for just $25 a month and access to a variety of of gyms. A good deal with gyms in their program are in my neighborhood? SCORE! I was actually excited to sign up AND excited to go workout (in air conditioning). You need only to look back at my previous posts on exercise to know I'm not exactly a fan, so being excited here is completely new to me! Praise the Lord!

I had two meetings at church after work that night, so I rushed home from work, changed into semi-decent workout attire, filled a water bottle, grabbed a sweat towel, and headed to church for my meetings. I was on track for success. It wasn't until I started walking out of the church that I started having doubts.

I started thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to just go drop the paperwork off at the gym and go back in the morning for a workout. I told myself to get in the car and drive over there, but with every block I drove, my insecurity monitor went higher and higher. Excuses started playing in my head. Fears came to the surface. By the time I pulled into the parking lot, I had made up my mind that I would only go in if the parking lot wasn't crowded. It was crowded, but not full by any means. Plus, the gym is in a shopping center, so the cars could have been for any number of businesses there. Then I decided to watch the people traffic to see if anybody looked remotely like me and not some insanely gorgeous skinny chics in tight yoga pants and sports bras or body builder guys in spandex. There were a few guys who could bench press me, but most of the people coming and going were families who had just worked out together and a lot of older white guys with large bellies who looked like they were about to have heart attacks. My kind of exercise buddies.

Still, I drove around the parking lot for a full 10 minutes trying to convince myself that I shouldn't go in. Why?! I was scared of how others would stare at me or judge me as too fat to be there or just plain laugh at me. Then it hit me... I'm a funny gal who loves to laugh. I spend most days at work making people laugh and enjoying people's good humor. If the worst thing that happens is that I make someone else laugh today by going in that gym, is it really so bad? Plus, if I go home now, I have an entire evening ahead of me with zero items on my to-do list. That means I will literally end up on the couch for the next four hours. Is it really worth skipping a workout to be who I used to be, Couch Potato Kerri? No. And to boot, that Kerri does NOT glorify God.

So you may have heard this joke before. A fluffy girl walks into a gym... And guess what... The punchline didn't change. She still just worked out and life went on.

That's right. I pulled up my big girl panties, grabbed my ipod and exercise necessities and walked into the gym. Nobody looked my way. Nobody told me that I didn't belong there. Nobody rolled their eyes when they saw me approaching the treadmills next to them. Nobody cared! I was just another person doing my thing.

That's when I realized that every fear and excuse I had told myself in the parking lot wasn't just Satan trying to defeat me; I was trying to defeat myself. My flesh. Every pound of this fluffy flesh that I've earned bite by fattening bite does not want me to succeed. So it's up to the fluffy child of God inside me to take the lead and push through.

Why?

Because I'm worth way more than that. I am worthy of fearlessness. I am able to do ALL things. And I have the scars of a Savior who overcame death itself to prove it.

I walked out of that gym a little sweatier and with my head held a lot higher. No fear. And all I could say was, "Praise you, Lord. All things really ARE possible in Christ!"

What's keeping you in the proverbial "parking lot" instead of inside doing the work, whatever that may be? If it's fear or insecurity, you deserve better. Go get it!

Faithfully, fluffully His,

Stars, Whales, and a Fluffy Girl

(The following post is also provided as this week's "Fluffy Verse" and is posted under the verse tab as well.)


"Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens' praise him in the heights!... Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars... Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps... Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven..." Psalm 148 (paraphrase mine)

For the last few "verses of the week," I was tempted to use a praise verse. When I thought about which verse to pick, the first thing that came to my mind each week was to pick something from Psalms. For some weird reason, I chose instead verses that helped me work on me.

In so doing, I lost all sight of why I'm doing this. I'm not doing this to be skinny or lose weight. I'm doing this to turn my focus away from something insignificant and put my focus on the Significant One. Oh, how I failed so short of that! Forgive me, Father!

My sweet friend, Julia, emailed me a link to a YouTube video on Monday, and I didn't find the time to watch it until just this morning. Thank you, Lord, for your sweet and perfect timing! In the video, Louie Giglio explains the sounds that we've recorded of stars light years away as well as whale songs from the oceans. He speaks of them in the light of Psalm 148, which I paraphrased above for you for quick reading. I encourage you to look it up on your own and speak it aloud to the Lord!

Giglio then splices those songs together to give us a mere hint of the praise that God must hear every second from His throne. I can honestly say, I've heard the most beautiful praise song on earth this morning! I can only image how amplified it must be on the throne!

Then it hit me, there is praise from nature taking place every second, yet we cannot hear it because we, in our self-centered world, have added in so much noisy into our lives that such beauty is drowned out. And with it is drowned opportunities to join in the singing.

Well, not today, Lord! Today, I sing! Today, I want my very heartbeat to join in! You alone are God and worthy of my focus! May you be exalted in me today. May your name and renown be the desire of my heart.



...and all else fades away but my Savior and me.

(Thus, my sign-off is officially changed to...)
Faithfully, fluffully HIS,

Bird Poop

Week 1 of adding exercise to my routine paid off! Who knew, right? Lost 3.4 lbs with a few walks of the dogs and a little house cleaning. Score! Back on track after two weeks of gain. Praise the Lord!

When I found out the good news at weigh-in on Tuesday, I was even more excited to keep up the exercise routine. Tuesday was a beautiful walk. Wednesday's... well, it started out nice.

My routine has been to change into my workout clothes as soon as I get home from work. That way I don't get sidetracked. Plus, it helps me to eat a little better at dinner after my walk. Don't want to waste the work I did! The doggies have adapted to the routine, too. As soon as I pull out my tennis shoes, they start jumping around excitedly. Jaxon goes straight to the door so he can be the first to get his leash! My sweet old man!

Shoes on, leashes on, earbuds in, door locked. We chose a new route Wednesday, trying to keep it fresh for the dogs and myself. Halfway through our walk, Jaxon seemed a little more tired than on previous walks since it was hotter outside. Luckily, I spotted a tree-covered sidewalk ahead and changed our route to include it. We strolled much slower once we hit the trees so the dogs could cool off. And that's when it happened. 

I got pooped on by a bird.

I did not see said bird, but I am confident it was a large bird. The "debris" was significant. It was disgusting. In my rush to get it off my chest, I almost used my hand to wipe it. I quickly realized my error and grabbed a stick instead.

It's then, in that moment, that I realized just how far I had come. The old Kerri would have removed the poop, taken it as a "sign from God" that I was not meant to exercise, walked home, and put her tennis shoes back in the closest with a perfect excuse to leave them there. Nature itself was rejecting my choice to exercise, right?!

Mr. Blue Bird on my shoulder...

Instead, the new Kerri, grabbed a stick and, as she started removing the bird poop, though to herself, "This bird must have an excellent level of fiber intake in its diet." 

That's right, fiber. Along with my recent addition of exercise to my diet, I've made a conscious effort to get a recommended daily dose of fiber through my food choices. So it's been on my mind lately.

And rather than use bird poop as an excuse to stop exercising, I chose to see it as an acknowledgement of my good choices. That bird was saying, "Look! I'm working on my fiber intake, too!" 

Well, good for you, birdie. Good for you! As for me, I walked again tonight. Only this time, I avoided all trees!

Faithfully, fluffully yours,

Stop Believing the Lie

"This is just the way I am."

After trying so many different diet plans and seeing each one succeed in the short-term and fail in the long-term, I actually decided to believe this phrase. I even went so far as to become angry or be hurt when people wouldn't "accept me for who I am, as I am."

Guess what: I believed a lie. I chose to give my body far more credit than it deserved. Doing so not only affected my view of myself and my relationship with others, but it left a hole in my relationship with God. That hole allowed me to blame Him for creating me this way and for not rescuing me from this state of being. It must be my call in life to live this way.

Oh, what a lie I believed! God's Word tells me "to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:22-24)

You need to know that I am by no means "thin" yet. In fact, I am far enough away from reaching a "target weight" that I haven't even done the math to bother setting that goal! I have a long way to go. I think it's safe to say that I will most likely never be known as "skinny." But because my Spirit is in a renewed, recreated, redeemed state of health in Christ Jesus, I think healthier thoughts. I encourage others more. I make healthier choices. I crave lettuce at times!

So I present to you my new truth: That is who I was. He is perfecting me to be who He redeemed me to be.

In Lysa TerKeurst's devotional book "Made to Crave," she says, "Big things are built one brick at a time. Victories are achieved one choice at a time. A life well lived is chosen one day at a time."

I do not long, as I once did, to walk through this journey and come out skinny on the other side. Instead, I choose to live this life in His grace and come out changed.

Faithfully, fluffully yours,

Applying the "Follow-Through"

When I was a kid, I used to play basketball. When I learned to shoot the ball, I was coached to make sure and "follow-through" every time. It's not just the shot itself that matters, but what you do after the ball leaves your hands also makes a difference. That's the follow-through.

I want to document a victory and share it with you in the wake of my last Good Friday post entitled, "Yet I Will." I don't want to just share lessons from God that He teaches me. I want to apply those lessons to my life and heart in order to walk away changed. That's a spiritual follow-through, so to speak. Yesterday morning (all throughout the morning), I chose to follow-through with a "Yet I Will" mindset.

Tuesdays are both my favorite Weight Watchers (WW) days and my most dreaded. I weigh in on Tuesday mornings at 11, so it's a little nerve racking some weeks. However, my "week" of points actually starts on Tuesdays. That means I've survived another week and get a new set of points to look forward to all week.

This Tuesday was one of those nervous kind of days... all because of my weekend fun. You've been there, right? It's your best friend's birthday, and no one should eat an Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake by themselves! Not to mention it's crawfish season here in South Texas. (BTW, any time you choose to eat something "by the pound," there will probably be ramifications.) Hence, my nervous Tuesday.

I had fun this weekend. The crawfish were wonderful, and the cupcake was... Well, words can't really describe those beautiful bites. BUT I did make sure to swim around in the pool a little after we ate, so maybe that helped. I wouldn't know for sure until weigh-in.

As I spent time in prayer yesterday morning, I knew weigh-in was coming and that, most likely, it wouldn't be pretty. That's when I remembered that I can choose now how to respond. So I prayed, not for the scale to read what I wanted, but for strength to praise God even if the scale showed a gain. I told God that I would love to see a loss on that scale, but nevertheless, I was thankful for how far I had come already. I chose to turn my attitude from dread to thanksgiving and praise.

• Thank you, Lord, for giving me a best friend whose birthday I could celebrate!
• Praise God! I feel so much better these days!
• Thank you, Lord, that today is the start of a new WW week! And week 16 at that!
• Praise God! I lost over 30 lbs. in 15 weeks!
• Thank you, Lord, that the scale or the numbers on it aren't my source of victory!
• Praise God! I was able to put on a smaller size in shorts this weekend!
• Thank you, Lord, that I've been able to stop taking two medications since starting this program!
• Praise God! I have a friend and coworker who is going through the program with me!

What a difference it made to get rid of those "but statements" I told you about in my last post. I still had moments prior to weigh-in that had me nervous, but I chose those moments to go to God with a praise and a "yet I will" statement.

Baylor Bears Basketball Player Brittney Griner
(AP/Houston Chronicle photo by Michael Paulsen at komonews.com)

The results of weigh-in: I gained, but my attitude about it was positive. Not only that, but after all the fun I had this past weekend, I only gained about half a pound! 

God is so good, and this journey He's taking me on is good. I encourage you to not just hear a lesson from God, but follow-through and apply His lessons to your life. That's when permanent change takes root!

Faithfully, fluffully yours,

"Yet I Will"

I can barely type the words to share with you the beautiful revelation my Sweet Savior has blessed me with this Good Friday.

I’m studying Jonah using a study by Priscilla Shirer called, “Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted.” My lesson today was on repentance. The best way I know to share with you what God has taught me this morning is to take you on the same journey and show you the progression of His insights to me. This is a long blog, but I pray you’ll find it worth your time.

Start with the definition of repentance. Priscilla says that, “Repentance has two aspects:

1. Confession means agreeing with God about any sin or rebellion in our lives and asking Him to rid us of that for which we have no more use.
2. Change calls for changing our mind, attitude, and actions.”

I read on to find another nugget of truth that gave me pause as Priscilla turned my attention to Jonah’s story.
“…whether or not Jonah knew God was never the concern. Clearly he was well acquainted with God. He could discern the leading of God. Yet Jonah had a problem agreeing with God and changing his mind, attitude, and actions to comply with God. His heart was out of alignment with the heart of God.”

The question came to me after re-reading this paragraph several times: What does agreeing with God sound like? How do I agree with God in practice, even when I don’t like what He’s doing? There are some times that I just plain don’t like with how He’s handling a situation. What then?

I began to replay some of those instances and my prayers that accompanied them in my head. They sounded something like this…

“Lord, I know you want what is best for me, but could you…”
“Lord, your will be done, but if it’s okay could we…”
“Lord, I hear what you’re saying and want to change, but…”
“Lord, bless that person in this circumstance, but show them they’re wrong about…”

I realized that my version of agreeing with God wasn’t agreeing at all. My version was full of what I’m now calling “but statements.” In order to agree with God, I have to stop ending my prayers with the “but statements.” If I end a sentence with an exclamation point instead of a period, I completely change my whole conversation. The same is true in my use of “but statements.”

Then it hit me: Jesus didn’t use a “but statement” to end His prayers at the hardest point in His ministry. When He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He lived out what it means to agree with God.

1. His prayer, mind, and attitude were pleading yet submitted.

Luke 22:41-42 says, “And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.’”
Mark 14:35-36 shows the same event. Verse 36 says, “And he said. ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’”

Christ, even in the depths of despair, didn’t say, “Your will be done, Father, but please don’t do it.” Instead, He presented He sorrowful, gut-wrenching plea to the Father, and ended with, “but your will.” Oh, how that changes everything!

2. His actions conveyed His agreement.

Not only did He say, “but your will,” He then followed through with God’s will… all the way to the Cross. He followed through, even though it cost Him His very life. The words Jesus prayed were beautiful, but they are but a glimpse into His submitted heart. The truest and clearest picture of His heart was displayed for the world to see in Jesus’ life poured out for us.

After I gathered myself up from all that, I went back to Jonah to finish my actual study guide lesson. Priscilla had me read portions of Jonah 2 (v. 2, 4, 7, 9) and underline phrases of Jonah’s prayer in the belly of the fish that showed he was having a change of heart. Guess what I underlined…

“I cried out to the Lord,”
“I called to you,”
“Yet I will,”
“But I will,”
“I will,”

Jonah gained a repentant heart when he chose submission. Choosing submission meant agreeing with God. Agreeing with God meant changing his former “but statements” to “I will” statements, followed by action in obedience.

I didn’t know I could see a picture of Christ in the story of Jonah, but oh, how I’m drawing connections now! I started out studying Jonah and repentance and made it all the way to the Cross and submission.

I didn’t bring my cup of coffee to my Bible study time this morning expecting to get a Good Friday lesson, but I’m humbled by His love that my Sweet Savior would give me one anyway. Thank you, Lord, for being my Teacher today! Thank you for drawing me back to the cross to celebrate and remember all you did that day so long ago and how it changes everything for me today.

Friends, I know this is a blog primarily about my weight loss journey, but part of that journey is repentance, submission, and a call to action. Draw your own connections in your heart. God is drawing them in mine.

I pray you have a truly Good Friday today.

Faithfully, fluffully, yours… NOT TO MENTION REDEEMED!

"Cheat" Smarter

Part of making a change in life includes a change in mentality. Most "diets" have me ready to cheat within the first few days (sometimes hours). These days, I see things differently, and it's making an impact.

One thing I like about doing the Weight Watchers is that "cheating" isn't really an issue. You can eat anything you want, as long as you track your points. This makes it much less stressful for me in trying to figure out what I can or can't eat.

After a few months on the program, I now feel more empowered in my choices. When I visit a local Texas "home-cooking" restaurant here in Katy, the first thing that comes to mind is to order my former usual of chicken-fried steak with cream gravy and a potato of any kind. These days, I know that I can still have a yummy treat in the form of fried shrimp, a vegetable, and a side salad. Before you freak out about the "fried" part of that statement, know this: chicken-fried steak with cream gravy is on average 18 points, while my new fried shrimp are half that at 9 points!

Not only am I getting a great dinner as a treat, but I don't feel like a waddling penguin when I leave the restaurant. I'm full without being miserable the rest of the night.

Tonight was another victory. At dinner with my BFF at our favorite Mexican food place, I chose (for the second time) a salad with fajita beef over full-on beef fajitas. Since it was a restaurant salad, it was still more fattening and had more preservatives than if I had made it at home. BUT, life change doesn't stop when you leave your own kitchen. Better choices in the real world make a difference.

So, here's my encouragement to you: don't feel guilty for "cheating" when you can feel empowered by a positive choice.


Faithfully, fluffully yours,