Losing to Gain- Week 3

 Well y'all,  let's cut to the chase..

This week the old girl is on top!

Woo Hoo!!

I'm gonna tell you why I'm extremely proud of myself for coming in first on this particular week but first let me share all the stats...

I lost 4.1 pounds this week with 2.04% weight loss

Lydia lost 3 lbs with 1.71% 

Elizabeth and Lauren didn't lose any this week

BUT....they didn't gain any either so there ya go!!  

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Ok. Now on to all the behind the scenes stuff.

Even though I lost 4 lbs I was soooo disappointed I didn't knock Lydia off the top position for over all leader. If you read last week's post, then you know I gave her a hard time for being on the bottom as she was posting pics of ice cream and chocolate. 

 She was kinda sliding back into old habits and I exercised some tough love...

nothing like being dissed for the whole intra-web to see!

She was a little mad at me but hey...it worked.  She went from losing 1 pound last week  to losing 3 pounds this week. When we were texting our weight for the weigh in on Monday, I felt pretty good I'd be on top with my 4 lbs for this weeks win but I had my sights set on the over all lead.

Here was the text she sent us.

Don't worry Ladeea.....It's gonna happen.  SOON.

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Now for all the tips and stuff.

We are only in the middle of week 3 and it feels like a lifetime ago since we started this.

My motivation has kicked in high gear and going strong having fun discovering new foods and stuff,

but I think the girls are in a slump.

  Those of you who are rooting for them need to cheer them on!

I texted them to get their input for the post.  The only one who responded was Lydia and this was it.

And I haven't heard a peep from the other two.  

So get busy with some encouragement!! ASAP!

(and I totally meant losing to gain in the above text..oops)

It has been a hectic week for all of us with lots of challenges.

• Lauren has been studying for finals all week.
• Elizabeth has the three little ones who keep her busy 24/7 but on top of that, a couple of them were sick, she hosted a ladies event at her church, and her "trainer" was busy studying for finals.
• Lydia was busy taking pics of Henry....that takes up a lot of her time these days.  lol!! JUUUST kidding They had some big events too at church that she was involved in.

Here are some pics from the week.

Even after only three weeks we are all beginning to see differences in how our clothes fit!

Now I'll share with you why I'm particularly proud of myself for losing 4 lbs on this week.

You see over half of the week we were out of town, staying in a hotel while Nick preached a revival.

For those who don't know what a revival is, it's a concentrated effort where the church comes together for a series of messages that are geared toward the church...asking God expose sin in our lives and asking Him to reveal Himself and His ways to us that our relationship with Him can be revived  and renewed to be better servants and disciples.   It's an awesome thing to be a part of watching God soften hearts and build up the body of Christ.

These revival meetings typically start on  Sunday morning then go Sunday night through Wednesday night.    Now the thing that makes it a challenge for someone who is trying to lose weight or even just eat healthy is the fact besides all the awesome preaching and worship, there is always lots of food.  Lots of fattening food.   Often the church will host a church wide pot luck fellowship and those always consists of lots and lots of casseroles and rich desserts.  Every church we go to has a little lady who is famous for her homemade macaroni and cheese, chicken dressing and pound cake.  Every church I tell you.  And they all are proud of these gifts and want you to sample them.

Well this week was no exception and on top of all the yummy food at night, they also fed us at lunch time too.  The church hosted a noon day lunch for all the business folks to come to on their lunch hour. Nick shared a devotion each day while the people finished up with dessert.  

Food was everywhere.   I wish I would have taken a picture of the spread that was laid before me each day.

**on a side note. I have to give props to the men and women on the kitchen team at this church.  They were some of the most joyful servants we have  had the pleasure of fellowshipping with.  They were there twice a day and  stayed super late because we ate after the service each night yet they were always smiling.  Not once did they rush us, or complain about all the work they were doing.  No...they just served with a joyful heart.  It was so refreshing to me and I appreciated them so much!  Nick is often the last one to leave the sanctuary  after the services  as people want to talk to him, pray with him, and sometimes even counsel with him.  I can't tell you how many times when we finally make it to the fellowship hall to eat, the folks in the kitchen are often so upset that we have taken so long. Sometime's the priority gets out of whack and there is more emphasis put on the food than the spiritual aspect of revival. And if they don't let us know by flat out saying "FINALLY!  Now lets eat before this gets cold again" then we get the picture from all the huffing and sighing and rolling of eyes that we took too long. But not this church!  Their team was a blessing. They always waited for Nick before anyone began eating and they fellowshipped right along with us when we got there and then stayed to clean up after we left.  It was so humbling to be served in such a way.

With all that being said...you get the idea of how challenging it can be to stay on track and lose weight in this environment.  During revivals we often are eating late around 8 to 8:30 each night too.  But I also have been convicted that what I chose to put in my body is a form of worship too.  This body is His temple where He resides and  I have often put so much emphasis on other ways to worship Him that I neglect this major and important aspect.    This week I had to come to grips  that  I will always be finding myself in this situation when it come to food because of our calling the Lord has placed on our lives.  We have one to two  revivals scheduled all the way through October so I had to get to a place of learning how to walk through this part of my losing to gain journey and quit trying to walk around it.

This challenge is here to stay.

So what did I do?

Well for one, I didn't ditch my exercising. I actually used the gym at the hotel.

Every town has a walmart so I stocked our little hotel fridge with some healthy snacks.

I bought strawberries, Greek yogurt, almonds, and broccoli to eat.  I would eat right before we left and drink a cup a tea so that I wouldn't  be crazy hungry just in case there wasn't very many healthy choices to choose from if it was a buffet pot luck type thing.  However, some meals were planned out and you just picked up your plate that they had already served.  I was always gracious and thankful.  I would eat the best choice and then socialize a lot at my table with those I was sitting with.  No one even noticed I wasn't eating everything on my plate.    A couple of the ladies on the kitchen team did realize I was watching what I ate and they made big wonderful green salads the last two days we were there.  

It was so good!

Being that in the past I gained weight every revival we attended....I was super stoked that I LOST 4 POUNDS!!  Yay me!!  

In closing here a few things I've enjoyed trying this week...

A low carb pizza.

The crust is a Joseph's pita... you can find them in the deli section at walmart.  All of their flatbread and pitas and stuff are great choices.  They are chocked full of all kinds of good-for-you stuff. 

I sliced a tomato and then used fresh basil, garlic and feta cheese.  I roasted it in the oven until the pita was toasty.  It was super good.

I've done incredible on  giving up sugar.  I really think it's a God thing.  I didn't eat the FIRST dessert at the revival and they had some scrumptious things available.

But every now and then I fling a craving for something chocolaty.  This is a muffin in a cup that is made without using flour.  I use flax seed and cocoa and sweeten it with Truvia.  It fills me up forever and it knocks out the chocolate craving.  That is plain Greek yogurt with some fresh strawberries on the side.  

But my favorite thing I discovered was roasting my cauliflower!!

I know some of you are like..."Duh....been doing that for years." 

But it's new to me!  I happen to love  cauliflower...even raw.  

I have no idea why I waited so long to try it this way.  It is SO good!

Well there ya have it.

Next week will make one month since we all started losing to gain so I'm hoping to share a few before and after photos and our total weight we've lost so far.

This past Monday made 10.1 pounds lost for me in just 3 weeks of changing my lifestyle.

YOU can do it too!!

I hope you are joining us in this journey of losing to gain!

Thank you to all of you who are so good about encouraging us and spurring us on when we see y'all around on facebook and Instagram.  Y'all are the best!!