GCF: Happy Founder's Day!

Hi!

Ok, I have a good(ish) excuse for being late this time.  I am going to go ahead and blame the "Southern Snowpocalypse" for my delayed post.  As I was in "survival mode", not only did I not post on Monday, but I also consumed some cheese (gasp!!).  I didn't feel like cooking, and my Greek food had cheese on it.  In retrospect, I could have asked for them not to put the cheese on there, but it was a good "tester" for my stomach.  Today, I pretty much confirmed my stomach's all out hatred of dairy substances by rejecting the Greek salad I had that was topped with some feta cheese.  Oh well, now that "snow day rules" no longer apply, I guess that that's the last bit of cheese I'm gonna eat for quite some time.  (And I won't lie, I didn't even really miss it...which surprised me.)

Anyway, some of you may be wondering why I said "Happy Founder's Day!" instead of anything related to Valentine's day.  Well, since I'm not celebrating Super Chocolate Sales Day Eve ;) this year, I decided to wish my brothers a Happy Founder's Day instead.  My fraternity was founded on Feb 14th almost 100 years ago!  I love (and miss!) my brotherhood.

Welp, let's check some goals!

1. Improve my relationship and walk with God
• Still not much improvement here, honestly.  I've been slacking. :(
• I've been struggling with "jumping God's gun", so to speak, lately in a certain area of my life.  Tempted to take matters into my own hands, ya know?  Well, this verse sort of encouraged me to continue to be patient.
• "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.  God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."  -- 1 Corinthians 10:13, ESV
• I'm on day 163 of my reading plan, aka still behind.
2. Lose 50-100 lbs healthily
• So, I'm definitely loving my new scale.  Granted, there is still a ~4 lb difference between my new and old scales, I like the "upgrade" of having this new scale.  Overall, from the initial weigh-in from the first weight loss competition we entered, I've lost ~10 lbs!  (Yay!)  While I was hoping to lose more than that by now, 10 lbs ain't too shabby.  As the competition also measure body fat, I'm hoping that I've lost some fat and/or turned that fat weight into muscles.  
• I was keeping up with the workouts until Snowmaggedon put a grinding halt on going to the gym.  But I don't plan to let this slight setback hold me down.  Come Monday, I plan to get right back into the swing of things.
• Weight Loss Tip of the Week:  Check out FitSugar!  They have some awesome workout tips and routines to work just about anything that you're trying to exercise.  I really like a lot of their routines and have incorporated several of the moves I've seen into my weekly workouts.
• Water intake is still doing pretty well, though I did get a bit dehydrated during the snow party.  (Mostly because it threw off my routine and I didn't have my massive water jug everywhere I went.)

Have a good weekend! :)

K

GCM! Whoa, it's February?!

Hi!

Yes, yes, I know.  I've been absolutely failing at this blogging thing.  I mean, c'mon... 2 weeks, no posts?  Not acceptable.  I'm sorry, y'all.  Just been really busy (and lazy)  when it comes to updating this.  But here I am.  I'll do better, I promise!

Anyway, it's February!  As of (last) Saturday, I've been vegan for one whole month and I'm not dead(!) lol.  It's been way easier than I thought it would be and it really helps with my diet.  The foods I used to binge on (i.e., cheese, sweets, etc) I prevent myself from eating now because I'm vegan.  The one item i have had an issue with lately, as far as binges go, has been chips. (Chips are definitely a weakness of mine.  Just soooo crunchy!)  I found this yummy delicious brand at Sam's Club that were sweet chili pita chips.  I DEVOURED them.  As irritated as I was with myself for eating them so fast, it taught me a valuable lesson.  I can't keep chips, or anything that I might binge on, in the house.  And honestly, I can be very "outta sight, outta mind" sometimes, so not having them in sight really does help.  

On another note, I really am proud of myself for not eating much at the Superbowl party I went to yesterday.  It helped that a good bit of it wasn't vegan, but I usually eat sooooo much at these things.  Not yesterday!  (And there were chips EVERYWHERE!) Progress! :)

On to the goal checking portion of this program!

1. Improve my relationship and walk with God
• Can't say I've improved much in this area since my last post, which is quite a shame.  But I'm a work in progress, yea?  The verse of the day yesterday was so inspiring to me that I just have to share it with you!  It speaks to the constant battle/struggle we face:  being in the world but not of it... and not loving it either!
• "Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life--is not from the Father but is from the world."  -- 1 John 2:15-16, ESV
• I'm on day 159 of my reading plan, aka behind again.
2. Lose 50-100 lbs healthily
• So...I bought a new scale, because I had a sneaky suspicion that my old scale was lying to me.  (I mean, it was telling me 4 lb differences from what any others were say.)  My new scale, sadly, says I haven't really lost that much since last post.  (But it says I'm down 4.8 since my initial weigh-in on my old scale...so maybe I'm down 8?!?)
• Anyway, my workout partner and myself have been hitting the gym pretty hard lately.  We worked out for an hour, or more(!), everyday M-Th of last week, which was really nice.  We've been trying out a workout routine I've compiled from various sources.  We try to get in at least 30 minutes of cardio and 30+ minutes of strength exercises per workout.  I'll have to post the workouts here at some point!  (Note:  I don't claim to be a personal trainer or anything of the sort.  If you try these workouts, you're trying them at your own risk.  But, as my partner would tell ya, they make ya sweat!)
• Also, My team is doing two weight loss challenges now. Hopefully we win some prizes from either (or both!) but the ultimate prize is healthier individuals.  (Though I really do like winning stuff...)
• Weight Loss Tip of the Week:  Challenge yourself to try new exercises!  Sometimes we get in an exercise rut and, when we get bored with exercising, we give up on it.  So mix it up!  Keep it new and interesting, but also manageable.  (Because if it's "too hard", we tend to give up then as well.)  There are tons of resources on the internet that can introduce you to new exercises and how to properly do them.
• Water intake is doing pretty well.  I now have a 101.4 oz (3 L) jug that I lug around with me every day.  Some days, like today(!), I finish the entire thing (plus whatever is my water cup in the morning, ~16 oz) before hitting the gym in the evening!
3. Eliminate my debt
1. Nothing to see here! ;)

Have a good first week of February! :)

K