Mark 11:23 23 (NKJV) For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
What is the mountain in your life? Honestly, I have many mountains to overcome, but thankfully I can finally say I conquered one of mine this past June. As many of my family and friends know, I have always been on the pudgy side since I was little. All my life I have been on the weight loss roller coaster, lose it, gain it, lose it, gain it. When I would go out in public I would sometimes get asked, "how far along are you?" or people would make a comment about my weight and say, "you know I'm just kidding, right?". For a long time, I didn't let it bother me and I even convinced myself I was o.k. being overweight. It finally hit me one morning when I was getting dressed and tried on my favorite bra and noticed I needed a extender to be able to wear it anymore. Luckily, I still had one from 2 and a half years ago when I was pregnant with my son. That was the day I admitted to myself I wasn't happy with my weight anymore and I was going to do something about it. As most of us know, the first step in fixing any problem is admitting you have a problem. The next step, is you have to be willing to change. I mean 100% ready, not kinda ready but wholeheartedly ready, whatever it takes. The next thing I did was ask God for strength and guidance. Matthew 7:7(NKJV) Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. This had been a battle my whole life and I knew I couldn't do this within my own self. I've actually heard people comment "oh, God won't help you with weight loss, he doesn't care about that, he has bigger problems to deal with". In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV) Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. God sees our bodies as a temple for serving him. He loves us and wants the best for us. I started my "life change" in January 2014. I figured a new year, a new me. I will confess it was hard at the beginning. I started off by looking up my BMI (body mass index) number, I used http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm. I wanted to be right in the middle and used that as my goal to reach. Next I signed up with http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ and added the app to my phone. I love this app! To get started, it asks you a few questions like how tall are you, how active you are, and how much do you weigh, but don't worry, it is completely confidential. It then calculates how many calories you should eat per day. You add the food you eat for each meal either by typing it in or using their handy bar code scanner to scan your boxes, cans, etc. It keeps up with all the things you eat and if you eat a certain meal often, you can add it to recipes. It also has the calories for your favorite restaurants and fast food places. Additionally, it will keep up with any exercise your doing each day. Don't forget to add your exercises as you do them, a couple of times I burned a lot of calories and was eating too few calories to make up for it. I can honestly say for the first month or so I felt "snacky" a lot but I was able to find foods that I liked that were also low in calories to eat when I felt those hunger pangs. Whenever I would have a moment of weakness I would remind myself Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I also added a exercise plan to my daily routine that I did at least 30 minutes a day. I recommend exercising with a buddy if you can, it makes the workout go by a lot faster and it's more fun. Exercise doesn't just have to be running or walking, find something you enjoy. You can play tennis, swim in a pool, go for a hike, play paint ball whatever it is that you enjoy that will get you up and moving. My friend and I got an app for our phones called Zombies, Run! that we feel in love with. You can find out more about it at https://www.zombiesrungame.com/. You are Runner 5 and your base is counting on you to help them survive the zombie apocalypse. You collect supplies as you run, jog, or walk wherever is convenient for you. I ran around the inside of my house when it was cold and as soon as it warmed up I ran around the outside. It plays the music from your personal music collection while you run and when the zombies are close it alerts you and urges you to speed up. It has a interesting story line and with 160+ missions you are not likely to run out any time soon. You can connect with others online, compare statistics and share you logs on https://www.facebook.com/ and https://twitter.com/. Not only is it fun it also keeps up with how many calories you burn. It does cost a small fee of $3.99 to download but it's such a entertaining game, in my opinion it was totally worth it. The final thing I added was a online competition called Diet Bet http://www.dietbetter.com/dietbet-10/how-it-works This is a online game where you bet against others that you can loose 4% of your body weight within an allotted time period, you can go as little as one month, up to six months. Everyone who reaches their goal weight by the time the game is over wins some cash! For me it was an awesome motivator! Of course there were days when I was sick or just trying to be lazy and didn't want to work out. When this would happen I would chant my mantra "How bad do you want it?" and I would always reply "real bad!" Then I would get up and workout anyway. It took me about 6 months to reach my goal but with God's help I finally did it! It wasn't always easy and I had to make some sacrifices but it was absolutely worth it. I have been a healthy weight now since June and since I have gotten the hang of things I don't have to count my calories as much or run everyday. My metabolism has picked up and it has been a lot easier to maintain my weight. You can do it too, let God help you move that mountain out of your life! 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV) No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
-Candie Bradfield
What is the mountain in your life? Honestly, I have many mountains to overcome, but thankfully I can finally say I conquered one of mine this past June. As many of my family and friends know, I have always been on the pudgy side since I was little. All my life I have been on the weight loss roller coaster, lose it, gain it, lose it, gain it. When I would go out in public I would sometimes get asked, "how far along are you?" or people would make a comment about my weight and say, "you know I'm just kidding, right?". For a long time, I didn't let it bother me and I even convinced myself I was o.k. being overweight. It finally hit me one morning when I was getting dressed and tried on my favorite bra and noticed I needed a extender to be able to wear it anymore. Luckily, I still had one from 2 and a half years ago when I was pregnant with my son. That was the day I admitted to myself I wasn't happy with my weight anymore and I was going to do something about it. As most of us know, the first step in fixing any problem is admitting you have a problem. The next step, is you have to be willing to change. I mean 100% ready, not kinda ready but wholeheartedly ready, whatever it takes. The next thing I did was ask God for strength and guidance. Matthew 7:7(NKJV) Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. This had been a battle my whole life and I knew I couldn't do this within my own self. I've actually heard people comment "oh, God won't help you with weight loss, he doesn't care about that, he has bigger problems to deal with". In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV) Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. God sees our bodies as a temple for serving him. He loves us and wants the best for us. I started my "life change" in January 2014. I figured a new year, a new me. I will confess it was hard at the beginning. I started off by looking up my BMI (body mass index) number, I used http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm. I wanted to be right in the middle and used that as my goal to reach. Next I signed up with http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ and added the app to my phone. I love this app! To get started, it asks you a few questions like how tall are you, how active you are, and how much do you weigh, but don't worry, it is completely confidential. It then calculates how many calories you should eat per day. You add the food you eat for each meal either by typing it in or using their handy bar code scanner to scan your boxes, cans, etc. It keeps up with all the things you eat and if you eat a certain meal often, you can add it to recipes. It also has the calories for your favorite restaurants and fast food places. Additionally, it will keep up with any exercise your doing each day. Don't forget to add your exercises as you do them, a couple of times I burned a lot of calories and was eating too few calories to make up for it. I can honestly say for the first month or so I felt "snacky" a lot but I was able to find foods that I liked that were also low in calories to eat when I felt those hunger pangs. Whenever I would have a moment of weakness I would remind myself Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I also added a exercise plan to my daily routine that I did at least 30 minutes a day. I recommend exercising with a buddy if you can, it makes the workout go by a lot faster and it's more fun. Exercise doesn't just have to be running or walking, find something you enjoy. You can play tennis, swim in a pool, go for a hike, play paint ball whatever it is that you enjoy that will get you up and moving. My friend and I got an app for our phones called Zombies, Run! that we feel in love with. You can find out more about it at https://www.zombiesrungame.com/. You are Runner 5 and your base is counting on you to help them survive the zombie apocalypse. You collect supplies as you run, jog, or walk wherever is convenient for you. I ran around the inside of my house when it was cold and as soon as it warmed up I ran around the outside. It plays the music from your personal music collection while you run and when the zombies are close it alerts you and urges you to speed up. It has a interesting story line and with 160+ missions you are not likely to run out any time soon. You can connect with others online, compare statistics and share you logs on https://www.facebook.com/ and https://twitter.com/. Not only is it fun it also keeps up with how many calories you burn. It does cost a small fee of $3.99 to download but it's such a entertaining game, in my opinion it was totally worth it. The final thing I added was a online competition called Diet Bet http://www.dietbetter.com/dietbet-10/how-it-works This is a online game where you bet against others that you can loose 4% of your body weight within an allotted time period, you can go as little as one month, up to six months. Everyone who reaches their goal weight by the time the game is over wins some cash! For me it was an awesome motivator! Of course there were days when I was sick or just trying to be lazy and didn't want to work out. When this would happen I would chant my mantra "How bad do you want it?" and I would always reply "real bad!" Then I would get up and workout anyway. It took me about 6 months to reach my goal but with God's help I finally did it! It wasn't always easy and I had to make some sacrifices but it was absolutely worth it. I have been a healthy weight now since June and since I have gotten the hang of things I don't have to count my calories as much or run everyday. My metabolism has picked up and it has been a lot easier to maintain my weight. You can do it too, let God help you move that mountain out of your life! 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV) No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
-Candie Bradfield
RSS Feed