Weight loss update

Sooooo I am way over due for an update to my weight loss journey. But first some confessions.

1. I'm whack, in that I never took my skinny fiber as consistently as I should have.

2. I'm still in my third bottle and I'm in my 4th month (go figure).

3. My diet never really improved that much and I still hardly EVER eat breakfast. (I know.... I know)

4. Remember when I said I was definitely going to do that 30-day ab challenge.... Yeah I think I did 2 days of that. (I said I was whack!!!)

5. Ummmm I also didn't get to the treadmill like I said I would. :-/

Ok. But despite ALL of these things. I still to date have lost 23 lbs. And am fitting into some jeans that haven't seen the light of day for like 3 years.

I'm not where I desire to be yet, but boy if it's not nice to no longer be where I was at. So round two of skinny finer will be starting in January and I'm excited to get another 20 lbs off. This time me and the Knowable Fitness guy are meeting twice a week to help keep me on a "work out" page as well as a fiber page. Wish me luck!!

Sometimes sleeping

So. I woke up after a very restless 2.5 hours of sleep, and after turning and rolling and trying for a bit more I've realized that sometimes sleeping doesn't cure our woes. Especially when you can't get any.

I have always been an emotion stuffer, I learned from an early age that it's not always appropriate to wear every emotion on your face. I remember it being take your daughter to work day and my mom was cross with me at lunch time for a reason I don't remember. As we walked in the parking garage from her car back to the building one of her co-workers was walking toward us, my mother shot me one of those "tighten up or else" looks and I promptly put on my most pleasant smile. Pleasant but fake. I don't know why, but that moment seemed to define how I viewed a lot of my life. Things like "never let them see you sweat" played in my mind even at times when it made sense to be vulnerable and hurt. Now I by no means mastered the technique for successful non-public perspiration living too the point that my emotions would at times over whelm me and take over. But I always regretted these displays after.

So anyway, I learned to stuff. I trained myself not to cry for very long, especially not if someone could see me. I would push my emotions down to a more manageable place until I was in a physical position to deal with them (at home). But ohhhhh the consequences of such "self control" tactics. My stuffing became so severe I could hardly allow myself an emotional display in my own solitude. Those tears meant something about me, that I was weak in a particular area or some other reprehensible idea in my mind. The only useful place for these expressions was in my relationships....yeah right. If you stuff enough, you can't express yourself in a useful way it's just bitter, unforgiving, unresolved anger and hurt. That's a recipe for disastrous communication and unfair fighting.

But I did it. Matter of fact up until this moment i don't think I ever really considered the consequence of it all. But I've had an extra couple of hours to think about it this morning....

So here you go. My heart hurts, I mean really hurts over this marriage. Divorce and separation is like a death in the family. It's seeing every dream I held onto be ripped out of my heart and mercilessly destroyed moment by moment. It's knowing that there is no possible way I can recreate the lost time and moments and feeling lost and defeated about it all. It's every question you don't want to ask, but your soul needs an answer to: did I try my best, did I give my all, was it because of ______, will I ever have what I dreamt of? Where do I go now?

I'm so angry and so sad and so hurt. I wanted to sleep off that last conversation we had, but my little 2.5 hours of sleep was no where near the week long coma that I needed.

Sometimes sleeping doesn't give you rest, not if you clutter your brain and heart up with every unprocessed emotion you've felt.

Hi- my name is Delijah and I need to get some real sleep. Period.

Weight Loss Update!!

Hey there!

I've been rolling with so many thoughts I've neglected to get an update on here.   I know!  I'm whack sometimes, but one thing I'm learning about being CEO of my own life and my house is that I have to schedule pretty much everything.  Or at least everything that matters. :-) 

I have to schedule when I'll get my cleaning done, (haven't been scheduling enough of that this past couple of weeks), schedule when I chat with friends, when I'm sitting down to study the word, exercise, budget, bills... BREATHE!  SO I definitely need to have a set time that I update my blog and do my weigh ins.  

Right now I can't weigh in completely but I can tell you that two days ago I was down another 2 LBS YAY!!  That makes 16 total since I started.   Now somehow I restarted my count down on our 90-day challenge website, it is giving me more time than I technically have remaining.  So I kind of have to guestimate.  I have been doing the challenge since the last week of August so thats about 11 weeks. 

My personal results have been great, but not as impressive as some people that I've seen.  And this is because of ME.  lol   I haven't done much to change my eating habits, it's been almost impossible to get work out time in but some how I've still managed to lose the better part of 20 pounds just by taking the fiber every day. (and even with that, I haven't been perfect)   THIS IS EMBARASSING!!

But if nothing else this should be clear evidence to you that Skinny Fiber really does work.   I'm not fluffing it up!   I would not have lost any of this weight if it weren't for taking skinny fiber.  I'll definitely continue taking it and once this 90-days ends, I'll start another one with better scheduling/planning/dedication on my part.

I may not have lost 40 lbs, but sure what I have lost has made a huge impact on me.  My skin is more clear, I have more energy and I'm down a full pant size, with this size giving me a littls space now too :-)  Don't be afraid to try it for yourself! 

Check out the pictures below for some of the great results that I've seen in other people taking Skinny Fiber!

Plant a Seed

I was having a conversation with someone that I love dearly about a week ago  (last Wednesday morning to be exact) and he planted a seed of thought in my head that I’ve had to look at from several different angles.  But let me back track…

Wednesday October 31 was a DAY… I don’t personally celebrate Halloween but as a new member of my team at work I felt that my participation in our team costume would be a good idea.  So I got up that morning, prepared the children for school and with the help of my father got the kids loaded into the truck.  As my dad and I parted ways, I began to walk around to the drivers side of the truck when I noticed a young man, maybe 15 years old, looking around (suspiciously) and walking to the driver’s side door.  You see from his view this truck looked like an easy target sitting outside running with no one inside.  What he couldn’t see were my children in the back seat, me walking around or my dad who had just gone into the garage.  Not until I got around the back of the truck, so he turned and tried to walk away nonchalantly, but it was too late I saw him, I read the situation and knew exactly what would have happened if I’d taken another 3 seconds to be visible. 

If… that’s such a powerful word here.  What if, I’d crouched down to pick something up from the ground.  What if, I’d stood talking to my dad a little longer…. What if that young man (boy) had gotten into the truck and taken off on his “Joy Ride” with my kids in the car… What IF that had happened? 

The situation swirled in my head and I was filled with so much anger and disappointment toward this young man, then immediately FOR him.  That one choice could have changed the course of his life permanently.  Grand theft auto, turned into 2 counts of kidnapping with that one foolish choice.  It burned me up that he lacked the hope for the future that is necessary to keep our young people from making bad choices.  That keeps them choosing to walk to school instead of away from school, ditching, looking for foolish ways to fill that time.  This young man turned and walked away… in the opposite direction of the local High School.  

I thought about it, and I decided to inform him of something… so I pulled up along side him (he was after all walking the same direction as me with my drive), I rolled down the window and I shouted out “Young Man!... I just wanted you to know.  If you were thinking about getting in this truck, both of my kids are in here so that would be 2 kidnapping counts IMMEDIATELY.”  He stammered.  “No!  Why would you say that… I wasn’t even… why you say something like that?”  so I said again.  “I just wanted you to know!!”  and I pulled off. 

I hope it scared him.  I hope that he went to his friends house, changed shirts and looked over his should for the rest of the day.  More than that, I hope that he will think twice before making another one of those “feels good in the moment” choices that could potentially devastate his young life for years to come.   

MY Day Continued on though…. And I spoke with this dear friend during my commute….

I shared with him what had happened with the young man, the truck, the possibilities and the frustration.  We discussed more though, we talked about the marriage, the failure, the why… a gambit of different things.  And from this conversation a seed was planted that has caused me to look more closely at me.  To want to clean out my spiritual and emotional closets and be FREE from whatever could be binding me. 

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

Shabbat Shalom

Just thought I would share my Facebook post from this morning:

Good Morning! Shabbat Shalom... It's funny I woke early this morning and so far have had great clarity and the opportunity the take care of some "business". LOL I was jamming to a little Jill Scott on my Pandora when it FROZE UP Completely! and on a nice little flow too (little spicy though... you know Jill). So I had to stop what I was looking at, and I'm trying to get Pandora rolling again...not happening. So I went to my Donnie McClurkin station. YES!!! (sing it with me: "Speak to my heart Lord, give me your holy WORD, if I can hear from YOU, then I'll know what to do...")

Love THAT!!! and I love that God gave us the Sabbath as a day to rest and join in with HIM. My to-do list can wait....my shopping list can wait....my budget can wait.... it's time to enjoy this beautiful time with the Lord.

Be Blessed today family! and safe this weekend. :-)
and if I can preach a little bit, can I just encourage you. Don't feel pressured to participate in and do things you don't agree with or believe in. Be confident and secure in what you believe. The RIGHT thing for you and your family is not always the "Popular" thing. AND WHO CARES!!!! How I run my house is between me and the Lord! Don't believe the hype, it's better to stand on your convictions, WHATEVER they are.

Donnie McClurkin - Speak to My Heart

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I won't stop there though!!!   Here's another song I LOVE that truly encourages me :

Maureen Black Clark - It Ain't Over

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One More?   SURE!!!!  

Mary Mary - What is This

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I could do this all day!  :-)   But I won't.

~Bye for now

A new Dream

As a child, I dreamed about many things, one of which was becoming an Olympic figure skater, my parents even bought me white ice skates one year (the ones with the Canadian leaf on the side).  I remember going to the ice rink and trying those skates out, it was much more difficult than I'd imagined but as I glided over the ice that dream became more and more real to me.  The fall that I took hurt (BIG TIME) but it didn't dissuade me.  I just recognized that becoming the world class figure skater that I saw in my mind was going to take a lot more work than I originally thought.

Time passed by, and my dreams grew and changed.  The same little girl that wanted to ice skate grew into a young lady that wanted to sing, write children’s books and do back handsprings in front of a gym full of my peers.  I grew up and my dreams grew too, the things that I desired I started to turn into tangible goals, but I reserved some of my dreams for the "one-day" category of life.  Others though, I knew I wanted to achieve immediately, down to that first kiss with my high school sweet heart. 

What I've come to understand as an adult is that having a dream is almost as important as knowing your purpose.  Dreams cause us to think outside of what we believe to be possible and give us a desire that is loftier than just day to day fulfillment.  Some dreams are a bit silly I suppose or completely ridiculous, but all of them serve a purpose.  The dreams that we have help us to identify what we want out of life, they provide a sliver of optimism when things seem dreary.

I remember dreaming about what my wedding would look like, the dress I'd wear, the location of the ceremony, celebrating after and going on this romantic honey moon, I even dreamt about life after the wedding... the entire event was planned in totality in my mind. 

And now I know it's time for a new dream.

I'm excited, and nervous, and happy, and overwhelmed and..... a ton of different emotions about my new chapter in life.  But so far I've developed a sense of direction because I re-opened my dream box, and somehow the things that I want for my family are looking more and more tangible.  (the traveling that I want to do goes hand in hand with the international school I want to send my kids to.  Go Figure...)

Dream Big!
~Bye for now...

If you can't say amen...

I don't know what your spiritual background is like, but mine is Christian. I'm a Torah observant Christian now but I came up in a non-denominational congregation here in Colorado. There were many times that I recalled guest pastors coming in to preach from other churches nationwide and it was always something I enjoyed (well most always). One thing that stands out so vividly in my mind is one particular minister that delivered a poignant message that really challenged people to look at themselves and areas of compromise and what he said was "if you can't say amen, just say ouch". This line became something I heard a bit more often over time, but I'll never forget that first time.

So here I am, challenged to say AMEN, struggling to keep my usual cheery disposition and optimistic outlook on things (maybe because I’m sleepy!) and all I can think is OUCH!

Is it supposed to hurt like this? Surely when I decided to marry it wasn't with the thought in mind that things would end. But it also wasn't with the thought in mind that my married life would look the way that it did, riddled with pain and heartache, the worst of fights and on and on. So OUCH!

This has got to be the most difficult decision I've ever had to make (although I can think of another that was insanely difficult). It's especially hard when right now things give that illusion that they have so many other times. The appearance that we could maybe be ok if we _________ fill on the blank. (I've filled it with many different thoughts, actions and ideas)

The truth is I've kept myself just busy enough that I haven't had to think about it thoroughly and now I know I need to. But opening that book means remembering some chapters that I'd rather never revisit; it means dealing with me and my areas of insecurity, the not so pretty characteristics.... The stuff, you know! That STUFF!   Sigh

And maybe that's what it takes... Maybe it also takes rest. I always feel rejuvenated in the morning :-) so that'll be my first move. Sleep!

I think in the morning I'll be back to AMEN, but for now I'll admit to "ouch".

Progress....

So... I have to admit that I haven't been as diligent as I should with my 90-Day Challenge.  I've been a bit lax in my eating, and I haven't done the 2-a day doses consistently this last week so I wasn't expecting anything when I last weighed in.  But to my surprise the scale presented me as an additional 4 lbs lighter!!! YAY! 

So this of course has me thinking, what if I (gasp) actually take a bit more initiative and start working out regularly.  Eat meals according to my "Noble One's" diet plan.  How much more fantastic will I look and feel?!?!  hmmm... just a thought, but a significant one.  This is one thing that I am doing for me and I deserve to do it right.  So I am going to make some commitments (you can join me if you like)

1.  Eat breakfast every morning!  (Preferably according to the Noble One's diet plan)
2.  Visit my boyfriend “Eddy the Tready” 4 times a week at least. (This should mean at least 4 miles a week)
3.  Commit to the ab challenge for real this time.  (it's only 30 days!!)
4.  Cut down (and maybe out) the unnecessary sugars, and indulgent treats.
5.  Drink more water!  A full cup before each meal right
5.  USE MY SKINNY FIBER REGULARLY.  (Twice a day before my largest meals)


There you have it :-) As I continue on this journey, I'll do better continuing to keep you updated. Maybe this will help to keep both of us motivated? 

Bye for now!
Delijah

There you have it.

The Little Things

Good Morning!

After a grueling couple of weeks full of challenges and small victories, I just wanted to take time out to tell you what keeps me moving forward.  (drumroll....  I know your on the edge of your seat....LOL)   Instead of just saying it, I'll tell you a story.

I have a good friend (James R Davis) who is also my business mentor and someone that has given me lots of great advice and encouragement over the last 4 years.  Often I log in to my facebook account and am immediately motivated by one of his posts, business and personal.  Jokingly I refer to this as my daily dose of "vitamin J".  So this morning, I wanted to show a little appreciation for my "vitamin J" for the day and I acknowledged the roll he was on with his posts and told him in so many words, "I'm looking forward to a time that I can feed into you as much as you feed into me".  His response "you already do, you just don't know it"...

AWESOME!  This is someone that I truly admire and look to for encouragement and wisdom telling me that I do some of those same things for him.  That definitely put a smile on my face.  This small gesture of shared gratitude that lets me know, no matter how messy or difficult this life has become or can be, there is a much larger purpose that we are walking in.  So, on a day like yesterday.... I'm getting by on "The Little Things". 


Some of my Little Things this week:

There are the biggest most vibrant roses growing in front of my parents house, and walking past them reminds me of all the times as a child I would make "perfume" with the petals and a little water.  They remind me of the awesome hair accessories that I saw on the website for "Flowers from Fatima" just the other day.

I cut my son's hair into a near perfect Mo-Hawk for his football pictures, and he loved it :-)

I keep finding amazing things on Pinterest (of course) that I want to do for my kids.

I've been drinking tons of water and my skin looks GREAT! always awesome.

Fall officially starts tomorrow and the leaves on the trees are slowly begining to turn, I love watching the transition.

I get to cuddle with the cutest and wildest sleeping 1 year old every day, mommy time can be tough but it's awesome too!

I could go on and on... my point is just that I've found  reasons to smile everyday.  Like a friend of mine recently said, it's a choice to be happy, there are a million excuses that we can make for why things are miserable.  Why not choose joy over sadness...

Maybe it's time to start listing out your little things. 
Bye ~ For Now

1 week into the challenge

Hello to you!

I am super excited to share with you my progress after one week in the SBC 90-Day Challenge.     But before I do have to back track a bit.   This past week was INTENSE, emotionally.  I was feeling super drained and overwhelmed with different currents of emotion dealing me a tough hand.  I was crazy busy with the kids home, we are transitioning to a new school and I thought it best not to go back to the old one for a few days while I explained to my 4-year old that we were switching and why. (you can imagine that this conversation did not go without tears)  And truly, it's been a battle going from a 2 parent household to 1. 

So with some of these things going on, it would seem like waiting 1 week to get started wouldn't be a bad idea.  Plus me and the Noble One, are still working out the kinks of our training schedule!  But when  I got that brand new pink bottle of Skinny fiber, I simply could not resist.  If I was excited before, I am super excited now!  After just one week of taking the Skinny Fiber, I lost 7 lbs.  This weight loss came without any significant changes to my routine.  I pretty much are like normal, (I'm working to incorporate more meals into my day).  My activity level was moderate with walks to the park for the kids play time.  and BOOM, 7lbs gone!!!

Good Bye and Good Riddance!

I certainly feel good about this early progress.  So much so that I finally posted my official before photo. I want everyone to know where I'm starting so that I am accountable for the progress I want to show.

Now I did attempt to incorporate this Ab Work Out.  and you know what?!?! I was NOT ready for that.  it says it's a 30 day Ab challenge, so I'll give it another try.  

Anyway 7lbs!!!!  :-)   To be continued.

 

Check out my challenge HERE

Bye for now~

Starting my 90 day Journey

Outstanding....

About 1 week ago I made a decision that I had been mulling over for about 1 year now.  To join a company called Skinny Body Care, and take the 90 day Challenge to see about improving my health.  This seems like it would be a decision that was much easier for me to make, or that I could at least make it quickly and act on it.  Well, the decision was in fact easy it was the act on it part that held me up.  If your schedule looks anything like mine trying to find the additional time and energy required to work out is challenging, but if you feel anything like I've been feeling you know that it's necessary.

I had to put this thing into perspective...  

With my first pregnancy, I was 24, I gained about 50 pounds and I lost 30 lbs of it within 2 weeks of having my son.  The rest of the weight, plus some, came off with little to no effort over the course of the following year.  Now, this second pregnancy.... the one where I wanted strawberry shakes everyday and gained 60 pounds... definitely a different story.  2 weeks after my daughters birth I had lost 10 pounds (she weighed in just under 7) and I knew I was in trouble.  Now, a full 19 months later I'm knocking on 30, I haven't lost any weight and I realize that I need HELP!!!

In come 2 factors... Skinny Fiber, and my rock star personal trainer and childhood friend John Noble... (known from here forward as "The Noble One".)    

I'm excited, and nervous, more than anything though I'm ready for a change.  I'll certainly keep you posted as I go on this journey.  Pictures coming soon...

Find out More information on the Challenge HERE

http://Delijahs.SBC90DayChallenge.com

Bye ~ For now

Quick Introduction

Welcome to my Blog!!

As a first time blogger, I'm taking a stab in the dark at where to begin. So I suppose just a bit about me.  My name is Delijah, I am a Colorado native and very proud mother of 2 beautiful amazing kiddo's and I am an entrepreneur.  

I really wanted to start this blog, as a way to chronicle my journey in business, health and motherhood.  I'd like to share with you the things that I have found that work for me, inspire me an in the very least keep me sane.  

I hope you enjoy your visits.  (I'll have more to say in coming posts I'M SURE!)  

Bye ~ For now...