I'VE GOT A PLAN....hopefully...

You wanna know what one of my biggest frustrations is right now? Food prices. Every time I leave the grocery store, I'm mad. I'm mad that I have to hunt down the lowest milk prices like it's the golden egg at an Easter egg hunt. I'm mad that I have to go to a different grocery store for meat and a different grocery store for fruits and veggies. All in an effort to reduce my grocery bill! I've tried, tried, TRIED to do the coupon thing but I just can't get the hang of it. I use coupons when I have them but for the most part, I buy generic.

I was racking my little brain on what I could do to reduce food costs and still eat healthy and started reading up on menu planning. So starting in April, I hope to do a weekly menu. This will include all meals, including Amelia's lunches to school. I have high hopes that this will cut costs on food.

I'm also going to the library today to read up on low carb recipes and low carb living. I really need some help in how to do this low carb thing. I start out great in the morning but by the evening, I'm crashing and burning. I can tell I'm gaining weight by how my clothes are fitting so I need to do something. If I plan out my meals, HOPEFULLY I can actually stick to a low carb eating regimen.

I'm excited about starting this. As soon as my pants feel less constrained, I will get on the scale and see if I've lost anything. I can't look at the scale while I know it won't give me a good result. I know the scale doesn't measure my value as a person, but it certainly hurts my self-confidence!

Ok...let's do this.

Starting over...again

Yup...I'm starting over again. Back to square one. Thanks to the LORD that I've not gained more than 10 lbs so I'm not all the way back to where I was, BUT I've back-tracked a lot lately. 2011 wasn't a total loss. I did lose 10 lbs last year but have been stuck at this weight for a LONG time. I know it's because I've not been super committed to writing down my food AND it's because I've not been in an accountability group.

I've been struggling spiritually too. God provided me with an opportunity to work part time at my church as the nursery associate. While I'm so thankful for this, it's left me spiritually weak due to the amount of time I spend in the nursery and teaching GA's when I could be in group class. I went to my associate pastor and asked to have a class on a morning so that I could attend a class. It was agreed on and now I will be leading (kind of scared about that) a class on Wednesday mornings for stay-at-home mamas like me. I'm VERY much looking forward to being among my fellow women at church and VERY VERY much looking forward to digging into God's word again. I know this is the missing link for me.

I truly 100% believe that for me to succeed in losing this weight and KEEPING it off, I have to be grounded in God's word. I know the enemy's way of making me stumble is my sugar addiction. I'm pretty strong in almost all areas in my life except for my weight issue. It is the one place in my life where I feel like I can't grasp and get a hold of it, like it's the one thing that I can never succeed at. I know that's Satan telling me those things, but the truth is I listen to it and I'm trying NOT to. I have a better chance at keeping the enemy at bay if I'm in God's word daily and being in a group with others.

So...here's to a new start. I'm committed to making 2012 my year to really be a loser!!!