Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border...

Some of you may be familiar with the title of this blog. It comes from the prayer of Jabez. When on a diet, this is not the prayer you want to pray. Actually, it would go something like, "Oh that you would bless me and shrink my borders...." Though in a completely different context, you get the point.

Today officially begins week 1 of this diet. So far, I can say I stepped on the scale this morning and I have lost 4.2 lbs since January 1. I know all of that is not fat (if any of it is), but the number seems to be heading in the right direction. I definitely need to get a bit of meal prep going for tomorrow, but with some changes in diet and getting back into the gym, I am happy to see by total poundage decrease.

Today I came in the house and cooked a good bit of chicken breast to eat with my meals this week. I am going to prep some vegetables as well. Looking at my meal plan, I need a really big lunch box to take to work with me. :-) Basically, I'll be working, eating, and drinking all day. Fun stuff.

Here in Missouri, we are having some pretty frigid temperatures, accompanied with a lovely little thing called snow. I remember as a young child growing up in Alabama, I would love it when it snowed. Everything would shut down and no one went anywhere! So we would hang around the fireplace, watch TV, and talk. Here, it's a completely different story. You go about life as usual. With temperatures this cold though (expecting some overnight lows to go below 0), I don't know how normal things can really be. That being said, I am going to do my best to workout on a daily basis and my diet shall CONTINUE! I'll keep everyone update on the process....

Peace!

Man shall not live by bread alone...

...we need spinach, beans, and other good foods for us too.

Today was the first day of this new endeavour. Let me tell you now that I did get a meal plan developed and will rotate various foods in and out of it for the next six weeks. Since there are only 2 days in this first week, in order to allow myself time to adjust, I am using today and tomorrow as something of a preliminary diet. Basically, I'm getting in 2 extra days that "don't count."

I made it to the gym today and followed the exercise routine established for Fridays. At least I tried to follow it. Let me start off by saying that circuit training seems to be very effective. At the same time, you are constantly on the go, more than I have been moving in the weight room. I worked on the first circuit. During the first week, I will work on doing each circuit twice. Though I was up past 2:00 AM celebrating the New Year, I awoke at 8 AM and got to the gym about an hour and a half later.

While working out, I could tell it had been a few weeks since I had been in the gym. I got a little light-headed and felt like I wanted to throw up. I didn't though. I haven't broken a sweat that fast while lifting before; it was pretty cool. To say the least, that's the effect I want (minus the nausea). Just given how the day has been, I have not had 6 meals. I had 3. I'll definitely have to beef up my meal numbers if I want to do this thing the right way.

I'll go back to the gym tomorrow in order to do some interval training. Gotta keep that heart pumping and my legs moving!

On a personal note, I have decided to take body measurements (besides my weight) in order to gauge my progress. I'll go ahead and say right now, I am NOT going to post these measurements. No one besides me and God will know how big my butt actually is. I will be willing to note how many inches I have lost/gained (hopefully all in the right places) at the end of the 6 weeks.

I hope you all have a blessed New Year and meet the goals you have set for yourselves this year!