Extreme Effort = Extreme Results

Being transparent this morning...Here are some thoughts and things I'm trying...

I share often that it is so hard for me to drop a pound or two. In fact it took me a month to drop 3...and then one weekend of lack of planning...I'm up 1-2. I realize that for myself, now in the 2nd phase of my P90X hybrid, my weight may fluctuate as I am focused on building muscle.  I am paying close attention to inches. My first month of this workout program, I lost an inch off my waist! :)



Up on Rancheria - scouting out
for some deer w/ dad!


Over this last weekend, major lack of planning. A 3 hr. road trip up Rancheria Rd. to the mountains WITHOUT my own snacks...I ate my lean meal before we left at 5 p.m. But on the way down, I was snacking on 'THE KIDS' FOOD': a granola bar, some pretzels, and....some alphabet cracker/cookie things. (Which I never typically have in my house, but bought on a day that we were at Lassens just cuz...ugh!)

Rule #1 - DON'T BRING JUNK IN THE HOUSE!

Yesterday, I packed a lunch for the boys to have just in case we made it to the park after church. What do you normally take as a picnic lunch: pb sandwich? Yep, that's what I do. I did pack my own chicken breast & apple. But the kids had the pb sandwich (no jelly, they don't like it & I don't like all the added sugar). I had a couple bananas....and pretzel. I was so good to just eat my chicken & apple (right when we got out of church). I did good!

Rule #2 - PLAN AHEAD & PACK YOUR MEALS!

Saturday, made an appt. at 8:30 a.m. Now why would I do this? This is too early to have to get out of the house & fit my workout in. So what happened? I missed a killer cardio workout to burn 600-700 cal. Now, if I'm on a mission to keep that pound off that I lost the week before, I cannot miss this workout. But I did!

Rule #3 - KEEP YOUR APPT. TO WORKOUT!

Now realizing that I was going to miss my workout, I was proactive....When I got ready for the day, I put my workout clothes on! I was ready for any opportune time to work out! And I did get some exercise that day when we took the boys out to the bike path. Daniel on his bike, Jacob in his stroller & our tennis shoes on. And thank God I wore them...Daniel took off numerous times on his bike, and what I thought was going to be a walk, turned into multiple short sprints to catch up with him. Not sure who he was racing, but I had to bolt to catch up with him before he got to the hills, the intersections, and close to being out of sight.

Rule #4 - If you can, wear your workout clothes so that you have one less obstacle to getting your workout on!!!!

By the end of Sunday, I was feeling frustrated with myself. I spent all of last month focused on trying to drop a couple..and in one weekend I can easily lose the ground I gained. So I said, it's time to get extreme w/ the little things that are getting in the way of me getting the best results!!! The kids' food!

I have found that I mindlessly take bites...and I don't add these up at the end of the day. So as a result:





Rule #5 - DON'T EAT THE KIDS' FOOD!

So as a visual aid & an experiment, I am going to stick every bite of their food that I would normally eat. So far today, by 8 o'clock, there were 3 bites of oatmeal & the crust of buttery toast in the jar. Why so many bites? Well, as a reflex, after I stir in butter & honey, I usually take a bite to 'taste it to make sure it taste good for them'. Then, I stick the hot bowl of oatmeal in the freezer to cool for a minute. Then I stir it and take another bite to see if it's cooled down...and if it's hot...I put the bowl back & repeat. Then as I made Daniel's toast, I cut the top crust off to 'get it out of the way'...and yep, I normally eat this.

Now, just doing this little experiment, I have avoided 7 bites of buttery carbs. And I realize, it's out of reflex. I just put food to my mouth and eat....mindlessly. So, I will be MINDFUL today & see how much food I avoid!

You learn a lot about why you can't drop a pound or two when you:

1. Have workouts scheduled (and miss).
2. Are trying to watch what you eat.
3. Keep a calendar of events.
4. Have days jammed pack of activities.
5. And don't plan ahead for your outings.
6. Are in the kitchen too long! :)

Since I have 2 more months of this hybrid...I gotta make it count. Why devote 60 more days of killer workouts and NOT eat accordingly???? If you want extreme results, you gotta put out extreme effort & that's just what I've gotta do!

Who is with me?

And then the answers came....

How appropriate for a Sunday to reminisce on the many answered prayers for Dave's weight loss to begin...

As I mentioned the other day, I prayed for him DAILY. I began praying for him to have a desire, self-discipline...As I prayed over time, my prayers changed. At one point I prayed that God would give Dave self-control over his eating. I prayed a variety of things. His friends who spoke words of love to him about doing something about his weight, was an answer to my request, "Lord, please send someone to talk to him, since he won't listen to me".

If read my post on Sept. 1, I shared that we started our home version of Weight Watchers...mearusing out food and counting points.



Dave, July '07 w/ Baby Daniel...weighing around 425 lbs.

 After 6 months of Weight Watchers point counting...he hit a plateau. He had gone from 425 to about 360/365...and nothing. And the way Weight Watchers is...you deduct points when you've lost a certain amount of weight...and Dave was maxed out on his points from the start and needed to reach something like 315 to start 'eating less points'...and so here was my solution:

"Babe...you just need to go

to the gym &

burn some calories."



Now for the record, my conversations with Dave re: his weight and needing to lose it, was NEVER degrading or mean. I never, ever one time called him names. No manipulative, abusive putdowns! My words were always motivated by love, concern, and care...and yes, fear that I would be a  young widow w/ a young child. I kept them seasoned with love, but very straightforward & to the point. (And in sometimes were TOO frequent...I'll confess. Always reminded to TALK LESS - PRAY MORE!)

His response, after my 'helpful advice':

IF YOU TELL ME TO GO TO THE GYM

ONE MORE TIME...I'M NEVER GOING AGAIN!

Let's consider somethings that I was not seeing:

1. He wasn't familiar with all the gym equipment to begin with.
2. He was still big, so I'm sure that made him feel uncomfortable to go to the gym.
3. He was also just plain stubborn.
4. He still hadn't taken ownership of the idea of going to the gym. (Lose weight = Yes, Exercise = No)

So - back to the prayer closet I went. I prayed and prayed. I asked God to change his heart toward the gym. I asked God to send someone to be his workout partner. I asked God to move in a mighty way...and then, one day, as Dave was starting to not quite stick to the eating plan 100%...I got crazy, holy-roller style...I asked God to divinely intervene...in the name of Jesus & get my husband to the gym!!!! And some other things I'm sure were added as I plead with God to save his life, save our life together, save my son's dad. This was an emotional thing for me as Dave's wife.

(Overweight spouses, hear my heart here for a minute: When your spouse comes to you and talks to you about losing weight, consider what they are feeling inside too! They love you, they need you...but you are eating yourself to death. You're reluctancy/stubbornness to go to the gym or work out...it's all threatening the future they have planned to spend with you. Your kids are going to miss out on playing sports with you. You may not even see your grandkids. Take your eyes off the food, off the desserts...the primetime tv shows, and set them on God who can help you, and set your mind on your goal to LOSE WEIGHT TO SAVE YOUR LIFE!!!!)

Two weeks after my desperate fleece to the Lord to do something quick - Dave came home, we sat down to our 'healthy dinner'...and he says, "Guess what?" - "My brother got me 3 months of personal training...with Tom Strongin."

Yes - I nearly fell out of my chair...I nearly choked on my food...I wanted to jump up and scream "HALLELUJAH!"...I wanted to cry....tears wanted to well up....but I kept my composure...appearing unphased, as though it was common discussion at the dinner table. I didn't want to react in any way, in fear it would be the wrong way & spoil it...but asked, "So are you going to go?"...in the nicest, curious, sweetest tone. My insides were buzzing with joy...as he said, "Yea, my brother wants me to go, the trainer says he can help me".



Here's Dave at 306 lbs. Jan. 2009
Weight loss total: 120 lbs. in 9 mos.



And so that was the beginning of his journey with Tom the trainer. His 5-day/week, 5 a.m. - 6 a.m. 800-1000 calorie burning workouts began...and the pounds began to shed.

In his first 3 months, Dave lost 60 lbs.

What's crazy is that finally after 120 lbs. were gone, people finally started telling Dave, "You've lost a few lbs., huh?" And I thought "WOW - the bigger you are the more you have to lose for people to notice"...but at home, it was a glorious season...and the weight was just falling off.

No secret potions...just lean, clean eating & serious hardcore workout routines 5 days a week, w/a food log, measuring out everything...and Monday weigh-ins...w/ some surprise Friday weigh-ins to keep folks on their toes. It was serious work that was paying off!!!

And then the 3 months of paid training was up...and Tom was amazing to offer Dave a special deal...and I went to prayer AGAIN - asking God to provide...while it was a great deal...we needed the cash.

And then Dave's dad speaks up, "Mijo...you've done so good and we're so proud of you...we'll cover the next 6 mos." I was blown away - again God provided beyond my expectations.



Here's Dave at 187 lbs. March '10



God provided in amazing, miraculous ways for it all. Tom told Dave that he would see him to his goal...and Dave reached 180 lbs. in April of 2010.

All the while Dave was motivated. Continued to stick to his meal plan (despite the boredom w/it). He was a man on a mission.

I did my best to try and change up the way I made chicken (the lowest calorie, most filling meat I could cook healthfully). I baked it, shredded, cubed it...made fajitas, every kind of salad w/ chicken. (I still search for fun recipes to change up our healthy eating.)

And I will admit...I eased up in the prayer department, once he had this kind of success. A total loss of 245 lbs. Who does that???? I thought it was in the bag. Done deal...we're done. Let's move on, right????

And then...something happened the summer of 2010...naysayers. People who thought Dave was 'too skinny'. Can you believe that no one but me, initially, ever spoke up about his weight problem when he was over 400 lbs.? However, when he looked amazing, getting ripped, lean, and super healthy....people picked that time to tell him that he was looking "gauntly", "petite", "frail". I think they had it backwards.

I couldn't believe that people would say that. Look at the pic above...did he look 'gauntly'???? Errr. He was finally healthy. Living a healthy lifestyle. Not everyone around him was used to his not-so round face, his cheeks were gone...no gut. Me, I was in hog heaven, I was like, LOOK AT THE DIAMOND THAT WAS IN THE ROUGH!...Mmmm, mighty fine, mighty fine.

Well...this negative feedback about his new found health & amazing transformation got in his head...and Dave thought...well, I don't want to look frail & petite...I can afford a cheat meal. I am intrigued by people and their reactions here...I was also fascinated by Dave's response to eat some of his favorite foods. And while 1 cheat meal is actually 'okay' w/ some fitness experts...the cheat meal, soon became a 'cheat day'. I could foresee where this was going...and so it was back to the prayer closet for me.

My Husband's 200 lb. Weight Loss Story!

Check out his blog @
http://www.thislittlepiggywenttothegym.com/
for some Before & After Pics!

Many of you know Dave and knew him as a 300 lb. man...and some knew him as a 425 lb. man.

Sharing Dave's story is heavy on my heart. Perhaps it's to discourage the HOLIDAY BULGE. Perhaps it's to discourage the PROCRASTINATION.

Or maybe it's to ENCOURAGE YOU

that no matter how much weight loss you have, it's possible!!!

I'm going to start from the season I met Dave and our friendship days. The days that he was doing that dreaded Atkins, fat & protein/low-carb diet. The meals we shared: salad w/ ranch, fried chicken & NO FRUITS, little veggies.

I'm going to recap what happened the season we got married, when I got pregnant and how a 285 lb. Dave went to 425 lbs. w/in a 9 MONTH PERIOD.

Then I'm going to share the year that things changed when our first son was born. How the desire in Dave's heart was for Daniel to NOT know him as an OBESE DAD was so strong & was his motivation.

I will share the journey from Weight Watchers, thru Trainer Tom...and up to now. We are going to be transparent on the struggles...and how people who told Dave he was getting 'too skinny' had adverse affects on his motivation.

One thing I've learned is that for the obese person - FOOD is the drug. They have an addiction. They have overcome it...yet it still wants to haunt them and creep back in and take over. But if you have the mindset that you are NEVER going back, and you let people help you - YOU DON'T EVER HAVE TO BE BIG AGAIN!!!!

I'm excited to share this info! As a wife, the role I played will be shared as well. When a man & woman get married, the 2 become 1 - And I had an active position as Dave's helpmate to help him reach his goals. I am going to share how I continue to be that voice of reason, truth, and encouragement in Dave's life. We're in this together - join me as I share!

I hope you join me as share this story of a real weight loss struggle and the truth of what food can do to a life, a marriage, and a family! Join me in this journey, as it is my hope that you will receive truth to motivate you to lose weight, yet give you the hope that it is possible!