BOOYAH

Victory. Change of pace. Rapid growth. Exciting. Joy. Fist pumping. Beast mode. Glorifying.

 All of this to describe the last few weeks. In Christ, we are already victorious, but sometimes we choose to sit in defeat. These last few weeks God has really been helping me stand and run and lift and row and run and walk in victory. Few updates.

Whole Foods Whole Paycheck

My eating habits have changed pretty drastically. I started eating almost entirely organic and local foods. Now before you put me on the Volkswagon bus with the rest of the hippies (although it would have to be a hybrid VW), listen up. I did a gut-ton of research before I switched.  I switched for two main reasons. I will keep it brief because I do not really intend to become an organic blogger.

 

(One of my favorite stands at the farmer's market)

My Health

I have this fun health issues that will just not go away. The little booger! I thought, hey if all these crazies on the internet are right, this organic thing might be worth it. A ton of people claim to have healed their body by eating completely organic. Well, I believe that Jesus heals. However, I do believe that modern medicine is an undeniable blessing from God.  I also believe that he created the body and that we can hurt it by consuming things we were not intended to. I started going to a doctor who integrates medicine and nutrition. My first visit at the Little Flower Center for Integrative Medicine, was amazing! She strongly suggested an organic, casein and gluten-free diet. So I am back to not eating bread. I have had a ton of tests taken, so that we can measure how my body improves with this diet. I will bet back to you with the results.

The World

God made us the stewards of this Earth, and we have to admit that we have not really done a good job with that stewardship. As a Christian, the way we treat our earth and the animals that God provided for us does not sit well with me. In fact it drives me crazy. More importantly I hate that the way we consume and handle our consumption here in the states, hurts people in the rest of the world. Now there is not a simple answer to this. I know this. I am not going to ever proclaim that I am an expert. However, I have and am doing hours of research so that when I eat I do right by my God and his creation. I do not want to hurt people just because I had a craving. So this has lead me to purchase products that I know more about. This has been an incredible experience. I will write more about my adventures soon. I am not trying to persuade you. Like I said, I do not know enough yet. All I can do is try to educate myself, and make the best impact on this earth for the name of Christ that I can! Why not try to glorify him in every area, even if that means I get called a pretentious hippy?

 
The jury is still out on this. I am not sure if it really better for the environment or my health in the long run, but I am still researching and taking advice if you would like to give some. I have been reading a lot of science and opinion from both ends. I will keep you updated.

 

"It's fun to be at the...."

I committed to working out six days a week this summer. I like a challenge, and this is a challenge, because I am always finding too many things to do with my 24 hours.  I have always loved working out, it really has never been an issue. The struggle is consistency. But I want to change that! I want to be the girl who has self-control and who can commit to fitness for the long haul. So every day I get off work and go straight to the gym. I am super blessed to have a YMCA membership. Basically I have legitimately no excuse to be so delightfully chunky this summer.

I have seriously been enjoying it. I started doing this killer 4-week strength training program. Not only has it been super challenging, it has produced wonderful results! I am not sure my arms have every looked this good or been this strong. I really have been enjoying it. I still mix it up! Monday nights I play sports with people from my hometown. Fridays I go to a Zumba class that makes me super happy. The instructor is a total thug, and there are like fifty girls just getting it for an hour and a half. I smile the entire time, and also almost die. The rest of the week I completely crush it on the row machine. My version of crush, which is somewhere between embarrassing and really, really sweaty.

 

Results

The results are coming in! Or maybe they’re going out? So the scale says I have not lost much weight. I need to take measurements, but the tape is packed away in one of the boxes I brought back from school, because I know I look and feel different than I did before the summer started even if the scale does not agree. I am using my favorite summer dress as a mesuring stick of sorts. When I first bought the dress, it fit but not like I wanted it to. Now it fits almost exactly how I want it to. I am not sure whether to attribute the results to the diet or to the exercise, so I am just going to tell you what has changed and you decide.

Strength. I am way stronger. Muscles are popping up where they have not been in a long while. I keep going, "Mom look! Arm muscle!" She then always proceeds to show me her arm muscle. Thanks mom.

Will power I am definitely able to push myself for a longer amount of time and a harder level. I do not have a personal trainer, but somehow I am getting strength to push myself. This has always been really hard for me.

Veins. My varicose veins are not swelling. This is a huge change! This past semester my veins would swell and hurt nearly every day. I would have to lie down with my feet in the air every night. If I stood up too much or sat down too much they just hurt. They would get really bad in the heat. I was like why do I have the legs of a pregnant woman?? I have had almost zero problems this summer! This is a really big deal.

My skin color. Okay I unfortunately have not been outside during the day-time as much as I would like to be. So this cannot really be attributed to the sun, and it really is not a tan. I am usually anemic and my skin has a bluish tint. My mom pointed out that my color has gotten a lot better, and I was like wow it has! Now I do not know if that is scientific or if it even makes sense, but my skin just looks healthier!

Bloating. I think this has a lot to do with my disease, but this past year and a half I have fluctuated about 7lbs, from day to day. This is extremely frustrating for a gal' who likes to dress nice. My face would bloat to. So you know how girls say they have fat days? Well I actually seriously do. This has gone away almost completely. I have one thing to say about that: booyah.

Energy. I am still not at the levels that I would like to be. I used to be so full of energy all of the time, but for the past two years I have been fighting exhaustion almost every hour every day. My energy is definitely improving. Now I am just getting the sleepies around 2:00 p.m. and I think that is pretty normal.

Emotions. They are almost normal. I am not dealing with that severe melancholy anymore. I cannot explain to you how huge this difference is. I honestly feel like a different person.

Mindset. My relationship with food is by no means perfect yet. I am not sure I will reach a day where I just stop struggling with wanting to over consume, but I am really have begun to think about it differently. I have been cooking all of my food and it has made me more grateful. I have also tried to decrease what I am eating, not just because I want to look “bad,” but because I want to spend less so I have more to give! If I can only eat what I should, I will have so much more for this world! This is so much bigger than a smaller waist line, although that will be awesome too.

Vision I can see it y’all. I can see what this looks like when it is all said and done and it makes me stoked. I have so much hope that God will get me through this!

 

Please continue to join me on this journey. I need your encouragement. I need your prayers. You have no idea how much it means to me. Your love keeps me going. Please send the texts, send the messages, say the prayers. Sorry if that makes me sound needy, but I am! I need help in this. This is not over at all. I have a long journey ahead of me, full of ups and downs; but we are going to win! We already have.

Jesus gets every speck of glory for all of this. Any improvement in my spirit and body goes to him. Every gift is from him, and I am thanking him for it every day. Cannot do it without him. Seriously cannot.

Next goal post is August 8th. That's the day I return to school, and the second half of my year starts.

 

Much love,

Sarah Jean