My Weight loss story!

Hi Ladies!

The last few months leading up to the new year there has been a huge swirl on fitness and health.  Many people I know who are both fit and not fit have wanted to either take the next step in their health or have gotten tired of being out of shape and not healthy ( this would be ME!).  So, I wanted to share with you ladies my weight loss story, how I lost my weight, what program I used and what door has now opened up to me.  I will try and keep it short and simple!

Many of you know me personally, but let me tell you a little about myself anyway ;) I grew up, for what I can remember over weight, I was the chunky girl! It wasnt till I reached high school that I started to lose some of that baby fat.  Even then, I really was not into fitness, I just either ate cereal every meal, or salads. Especially when I met Moises hehe! I have never been into sports, as a matter of fact, all I would do is go to school, come home, eat and watch tons of TV.  I just didnt really grow up active, and I dont blame my parents, I just never had the motivation to get off my booty.  Well, fast forward I married Moises, and we had our first baby, with this pregnancy I gained about 30 lbs.  During the process of trying to lose that baby weight, when Grace was 7 months, I found out I was pregnant again! So much for losing that baby weight right?? Well, by the end of my pregnancy with my boy, I was at 199lbs! I almost want to say it was more, but thats the number that sticks to me.  I was the biggest I had ever been! Nothing fit, I felt discouraged, didnt feel I was attractive to my husband, was not eating the right foods, and just felt completely unhealthy.  It wasnt till one day, I saw a picture of me, and I was stunned at how big I had gotten!  That is when something just clicked in me, I HAD TO MAKE A CHANGE! For two reasons 1. I am a young woman! I deserve it. 2. I could not keep having more babies and just allow my weight to sky rocket out of control.

One day, my husband told me about a program called Chalean Extreme by Chalene Johnson.  I was super excited and scared to actually commit to a 90 day program. Every single doubt entered my mind...Will you actually commit? What if it doesnt work?  I am not strong for that type of workout, I will fail miserably...and the list goes on!! But I knew I had to make a change, and the fact that we were actually buying it helped too!! A few days before I started, my sister, Priscilla,told me " Melany, you do such a good job taking care of your husband, your children and your house, you can do this for YOU" and that encouraged me so much! I thought to myself how right she was in saying that. If I can diligently set my heart to love Jesus, to care for my family then I can do something for myself, it is time to set that same dedication towards something that is going to better my life.

I was determined, I was motivated, and Moises took my Day 1 pictures ( which was by the way ONE OF THE HARDEST, EMBARRASSING, SADDEST MOMENTS OF MY LIFE) and the next day pressed play, and every day after that for 90 days!! and guess what??? I DID IT!!!!!!!! I made it back into my jeans that I held on for so many yrs hoping one day I would fit back into, and that NOW are actually starting to fit lose! I lost 25lbs, 27 inches off my entire body, and 9% body fat.  I didn't just work my butt off during my workouts but I changed my diet. I started eating the way God desired of me, clean foods that help keep my body in good health.

So, here I am 4 months later, 30 lbs lighter, feeling great and onto my second 90 day program called Turbo Fire.  My journey has only just begun, I still have more weight to lose, and more goals to reach, but everyday I take a step forward and every day I see improvements!   Something super excited has also happened and it's that I am now an Independent Coach for Beachbody! They are the company I get my workout programs from.  This just means that as a part of Team beach body I can help other women reach their fitness goals, I can encourage them and be there for them pushing them through and rooting for them in every step. I am really excited about this new opportunity. I just want to make my self available to all of you as YOUR coach. If you want to lose weight and be in the best shape of your life, I can help you! I am not a trainer, or a nutritionist, I am just  someone who made the commitment to change my life, and got results!  

You can visit www.beachbodycoach.com/xtrememomma  and join team beachbody for free ;) If any of you are interested in ChaLEAN Extreme or any other program they will all be on my site as well and you can also read other success stories! Also, if you would love to also be a coach yourself let me know! I can help with that!

I will also we starting a beachbody 30 day challenge using ChaLean Extreme.  I know there are a few of you who have ordered it and have started, this challenge is just for a group of ladies who want to go at it together for 30 days and be part of the 30 day challenge group! If any of you are interested let me know, and I will do it sooner then later! You can also stay tuned to my FB page for more info on it when time comes.

So this is my story  and if you can take anything out of this email, leave with this....YOU DESERVE TO FEEL AND LOOK AWESOME!! If I can do it, I think ANYONE CAN!! It isnt about being the most skinniest person ever, or a number on a scale, it about YOU and feeling wonderful, and being the best shape of your life!!

Sorry this was so long and I hope some of you endured to the end! ;) Thank you for hearing me out!

Blessings!

His pursuit for my heart.

There is something that our hearts feel, a tug, a stirring, a LONGING.  That very thing our hearts feel, is the very hand of Jesus, alluring us, beckoning us to come. I hate that I go through times, days, wks, even months running away from that tug. What I love the most, is that even in the times where I am not consistant in seeking him, or in reading my word, He is ALWAYS tugging on my heart. In His mercy, and in His complete adoration, and love for me, He chases after my heart ALL the TIME.  This makes me love Him more.  This helps me stand confident in Him, knowing that in my weakness, in my failures, in my lack of discipline He is always calling me higher and calling me deeper.  He loves me more then anyone in this whole world. And, today, as I give in to His daily pursuit of me I stand in awe of His love, of His faithfulness, of His will to LOVE me, not just love me when I am in 100% obedience, but loving me always and never letting me stray far from Him.

Thank you Lord for your pursuit for my heart, for your faithfulness towards me, for your passionate love that nothing can drown out. I love you. No one loves me the way you do...and today and everyday, give me the ability to love you and say YES!

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, For love is as strong as death, jelousy as cruel as the grave, It's flames are a flames of fire, A most vehement flame..

                                       Song of Solomon 8:6

My new found Love for FITNESS!

Hello Everyone!!! I cant believe I have not blogged since November! Shame on me, seriously! I do want to share with you my new found LOVE....FITNESS! I have NEVER been the type to be into health, fitness, and nutrition. Something took place in my heart about 3 1/2 months ago.  I was feeling terrible about myself,  despite that I know the Lord called me beautiful and what not, I still felt, well, yes that nasty word....UGLY! Having two babies back to back was hard on my body, image and self esteem.  I was not fitting into my clothes, and I just wasn't healthy and was not taking care of my body the way I knew I needed to.  Its ok to love who you are as a person, that is AWESOME, but when you think of what is actually going on in your insides, heart, liver, lungs, blood, everything, that's is when it's time to make a change.

So......I took the leap and ordered a 90 day program from beachbody called ChaLEAN Extreme!  And guess what, IT WORKED!  with the program I lost a total of 25lbs, 22 inches off my body and 9% of my body fat!!! Its been a little over a wk and I lost another 2lbs and several inches!  What I love is that I didn't just workout to just have this slim body, but to eat healthy too. To take care of my body the way God desires of me.  I even have a desire to learn more about nutrition and what foods do to our system.  I know understanding more of why eating certain things does not benefit my body will help encourage me even more.  Now, that I finished one challenge I am on to the next with Chalene Johnson's TURBO FIRE!! It is intense, but I am so proud of what I have accomplished, I am doing things athletes do! It is amazing.

My body has never felt better and CLEANER then it does now.  It is so worth it and there is noo going back! Here are some of my Day 1 and Day 90 results of ChaLEAN Extreme.   I will post results from my Day 1 and Day 30 of my Turbo Fire 90 day challenge when time comes!

One more thing, I didn't decide to lose weight so I could be the skinniest pretties woman out there, I did it because in all reality, there is more then just the physical, there is health, there is much more to being overweight then the outward appearance..and same goes to someone who is skinny, they can be skinny and still not be healthy. I choose health! and with that comes looking great ;)  

I used to be super scared of showing people some of my pics BUT that was the old me...so who cares right?? plus I want to encourage others too! 

  ( Yes I cried ;( )

Seeing His faithfulness and purpose even in the small things..

Sometimes we expect God to always do something BIG, some great ministry opportunity, or some position of importance.  A year and seven months ago, we moved to KC from FL.  It all started out with a dream Moises had.  In the dream, Grace was just a baby, and he was sitting down with his parents telling them that God was sending us back to KC for just a season,  this was even before Grace was born and we were happily active in our House of Prayer back home.  Well, when the time was right for us to come live in KC again, Moes heart started to really long to be here....I on the other hand was hesitant, I didnt want to take Grace away from her family and I also didnt want to hurt our families either.   So we start to pray about it, and Moe secretly begins to pray for my heart and before we both know it we are planning our move and back in KC.

This is what we thought things would look like.....God would open a door to go full time at the house of prayer, Moe would take classes, as would I, we would be fully in ministry raising support, learning as much as we could  to then come back home and plug into our OHOP family.....Well.....That isn't quite the story almost 2yrs later....This is how things have gone....We had another baby, I have stayed home everyday without an extra car raising my kids, Moises has embraced being in the market place and working to partner with God in being our provider, we have bought a house, we don't get much time in the prayer room, we don't get to take classes,  we are together almost ALL the time, and the most I have been able to is join a wonderful moms group.....

But guess what??? We are starting to understand God's purpose in us being here.   I personally have grown to love being a mom, to embracing my call, of not just nurturing and loving my babies but molding them and daily teaching them about Jesus.  I have learned alot about being a homemaker and serving my family, I embraced the life of a servant wife, and serving my husband fully.  We have learned how to be a family, and have built a strong foundation for our babies, and for future kids.  My husband now knows, that his acceptance by God doesn't not come from how plugged in he is in the prayer room, or how many sets her can fulfill but God enjoys him for him, and it is ok to be a working man, providing for his family.  I am OK if this is why we left all the people we love thousand of miles away,  I have loved this journey, because it has made me a better person, wife and mother.  AND, we know, it was only for a season.......and He only knows when the season is going to end.......

Gods purposes are always big even if we are expecting something grand, His grand to us may look so simple and so small...I am so grateful for the perfect leadership of my Shepard! Your lines have fallen to me in pleasant places.

Home management

Piles of landry, clutter everywhere, overwhelming feeling of having tons to do and so little time...yeap that was me, and I'm no perfect momma or wife, it's still is a work in progress...After having my second baby, and really embracing the stay at home mom, homemaking lifestyle, I came to realize that I needed some order in my life.  I was to be in charge of how I wanted my home to run on a daily basis.  How could I balance my life out so that I could better serve my husband and my kids?

Well, once again my amazing friend Nicole over at Historic Homemaking introduced me to this awesome little e-book called Time management 101.  The woman who wrote it showed me how to make my very own management binder, in this binder is all I need to do to help me better manage my home.  What I love about this book is that it allows me to just be me, to run my house in a way that works for my family.  The author does an awesome job at making sure moms know that we are all different and do things differently.

What I really want to do is share with you guys things I have in my binder ;) I am working on revising some things right now but I'm about finished.   This little tool has helped me become more productive, encouraged to set daily goals, and has better helped me serve my family! I know you can benefit from it too.

Here is the link where you can get the book...have a look ;) It's goood stuff! Money Saving Mom

Oh, It's tricky having a toddler!

Discipline! oh Discipline...It has been one tricky week for us.  Our little girl, who we have always known has quit the spicy personality, has definitely been expressing her desires daily.  BUT, there is a problem, this week, little lady thought she was the boss of the house....it has been pretty stressful, and it is a hard thing to discipline out of complete love and not anger sometimes.  In the end, we do discipline her because we love her, and our desire is that our kids become more and more like Jesus, and love others well, but sometimes patience has really run low, and anger is released through my yells....:/

I think we all face the same fear.  The fear of our little ones not loving us or liking us because we discipline.  Sometimes I get sad after I discipline Grace, no matter how nicely I do it, I feel guilt that I made her sad, and fear that she wont love me anymore.  That is also where I believe parents fail, or at least " modern day parents", they don't want their kids to be upset, OR they don't want to deal with the stresses of discipline, letting them get away with it seems much easier......sigh....  I have fallen into the trap many times.  The only thing that keeps me firm is that as a parent, as a christian parent, I am called to discpline my children. It is my job and my responsibility. Here are some scriptures I always keep in my heart and mind.

Proverbs 13:24
Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.

Proverbs 19:18
Discipline your children, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to their death.

Proverbs 22:15
Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.

Proverbs 23:13
Saying 13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die.

So, with all that said, it's Monday, and I am so ready to start this week, to show Grace who's boss.  I refuse to have a disrespectful, disobedient child, if she is rude at home, she will be to others as well.  Through the wisdom and direction the Lord gives Moises and I, I feel confident we will discipline and raise out kids rightly.   This truly is one of the trickiest, hardest parts of raising a toddler, a child in general for that matter.

Nicole and I are going to be reading the book The Happiest Toddler on the Block, this book can't get here fast enough.  Once I start reading it, I will post all of my successful moments with my toddler! Breakthrough is coming people hehe lol

PLEASE, share your thoughts and ideas on how you discipline your child!

Loving my husband...

That they may admonish the young women to love their husbands.

                                                                      Titus 2:4

 

This past week I was given the opportunity to really walk out this verse.  My husband was sick, not feeling well, he had a fever, the shakes, and terrible throat pain.   Although externally I was trying to care for him, internally I was more worried about my kids catching what he had or even me catching it...I mean after all, who would care for me if I were to be sick..These were all things that were crossing my mind and heart.  I felt the Lord really tugging at my heart, and asking me to examine it very well.  " You need to love your husband Melany, do it by caring for him to the fullest".   I have a wonderful husband bless his heart, and he was appreciative of me just allowing him to lay in bed for a couple days and rest.  BUT I know that doing something just because you have to and doing something out of PURE LOVE is very different. 

I talked to one of my best momma friends *Nicole* ;) and as I was telling her " well I made him stay in the room all day, I just dont want my kids to get sick", she quickly stopped me in my tracks and said, "girl, before the ministry of your kids is the ministry of your husband, and you need to serve him" ouch! lol I love Nicole for that because she was right.   I found myself more worried about my kids, or not being able to make it to my free hair cut appointment, or moms group, or having to do everything around the house everyday then worried about making my husband feel as loved and taken care of as possible.  

Once I realized my ugly fallen heart, I asked for forgiveness and was determined to care for Moises in the best way I could.  Soon after, he was feeling much better! I learned something great this past week, and its that I not only LOVE my husband by just showing him the affection he is due, but by showing that love is the lowest time, and by giving him that AGAPE love....The love that doesnt require anything back....the love that gives without expection...the selfless love...

Thank you Moises, for being a godly, selfless husband, for being thankful for what I do, even when I know I can do better. And for loving me rightly.....

What are some ways you live this scripture out?