Update to New Year, New Goals!

I started this journey the day after Christmas.  I thought giving up sugar would be the hardest thing ever.  If you know me, you know I would rather have dessert than dinner.  Seriously.  Kenny encouraged me to choose one thing I thought I should give up and that was it.  Then I read an article about artificial sweeteners and how it can effect weight loss.  The first thing I thought of was my beloved Diet Coke.  *Sigh*...but here I am a few months down the road and don't even think about how much I once missed DC.  Then, I had a texting conversation with my friend Cristina...after a few questions about diet (knowing she is a competitive athlete with a physical trainer husband gave me the idea they might know a thing or two about proper diet:)) she suggested a book to me that had been helpful to her sister in law in losing 50 pounds!  The book has taken some time to digest (no pun intended), read through a few times, pray about, and talk with Kenny about but today I am so excited to share it!  It's called "Maximized Living Nutrition Plans - The Solution to the Dangers of Modern Nutrition".  The gist of the book is everything you eat needs to be the closest to the earth as possible (organic animal products, lots of greens, good fats like avocado, olive oil and nuts, water, water, and water).  There are two tracks - the Core plan and the Advanced Plan.  The Core plan is for people who just want to get healthier (but probably will lose weight in the process, even if just a little.) The Advanced Plan is for people like me who have a significant amount of weight to lose.  Let me be clear...I have struggled with my body my entire life.  I remember having negative thoughts about myself as early as Kindergarten.  I have always strived for thinner even when I was a size 8.  God is SO patient with me through my struggles.  Although I don't look in the mirror and scream with delight :), I am striving for a healthier me because God gave me one body to take care of and being overweight raises my chances significantly of having some weight related disease namely diabetes (hereditary), high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc.  NO. THANK. YOU.
So...the burning question I'm sure...how much weight have I lost?  I can say more inches than weight.  I look different, I feel different, and my clothes are looser.  The scale only says 4 lbs less but as my loving husband reminds me, it took 7 years to put it on and it's not going to come off in 3 months.  Oh. right.  So, I blog now so that I can come back and read this later. :)