Today was a very exciting. I stepped on the scale and low and behold, I weighed in at 188 lbs. I am down 12 lbs since I began this journey on Memorial Day.

Yesterday was a tough day for me. I participated in a one day fast that was part of my bible study. I have never fasted before and even though I read about it, I really didn't know what to expect. On Monday, I ate my last meal at supper and a snack later that night. I was okay most of the day, kept drinking plenty of water, but by supper, I was very hungry and agitated. Of course the purpose of fasting is not to starve yourself to loose weight (even though a lot of people will do it for that reason), fasting is about praying and seeking God, sometimes to seek an answer from God, but other times, just to increase fellowship with Him.

Since I was at work most of the day for this fast, I spent all day in "mental" worship and prayer. Fasting did not seem so hard. Once at home, I was studying my bible. I chose to study the book of John. I got most of the way through the first chapter and I was really hungry and snapping at everyone. I had decided earlier in the day that I would not walk because I hadn't eaten and felt it would be too much on me, but the later it got, the more agitated I got. I decided that I needed to get away from the family and went to Tyus park to walk. I planned to only do 1-2 laps around the walking track, but was enjoying my worship music so much that I kept on going. I was in deep communion with God. I wound up walking 2 miles and felt great when I was finished. By the time I got home, the fast was over. I ate a light snack and settled in to do my nightly bible study. I was exhausted and slept so good.

1 Tim 4:3-5 says 3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

This verse was very interesting to me because every diet I have ever been on encouraged restricting yourself from certain foods in order to loose or maintain your weight loss, however, as you can see, the bible clearly states that nothing is to be rejected if received with thanksgiving. I think the key here is to control the amount of what you eat, which is essentially, portion control. Indulgence of the flesh is what most people live by and do not even realize it. It is easy to eat a huge handful of cookies, but how hard is it to only eat one? For someone like me, it is very hard and becomes a matter of mind over matter or, learning to have portion control through prayer and fasting. This is a concept that I am working on and hope to achieve it by the end of this 60 day bible study and in the meantime, loose the unhealthy weight. I know I can do it!!

Tonite I did my 5K training and very excited that I was able to complete all 8 cycles of 60 second runs. I completed the entire 30 minutes as planned. I am very excited, although, I will repeat the week on training because I didn't feel like I had completed it the way it was meant to be. I am very proud of myself for making it, but I really felt like my chest was closing in on me tonite when I finished. One more week should get me on track.

Keep walking and watching your portions!! You too, can do it. Talk to you soon!