Week 21 Begins!

So I am a full 20 weeks into my goal of 48 weeks and I am happy to report that things are looking up! First off, I have lost 3 more pounds bringing me to 296lbs with a total weight loss of 7 pounds. If you look at if from purely a weight loss perspective, I lost 7 pounds that first week, and now 19 weeks later I am still @ 7pounds lost. However, so many good things have happened for me in these last 20 weeks, here are some of them:
1) I am now graduated with my Masters Degree and have my Diploma.
2) I have received so much support from friends and family who give advice, exercise with me, listen when I need it, relate to me, compliment me, encourage me, send me stories/inspirational quotes, and love and pray for me. I am so grateful!
3) I have strengthened relationships with family and friends in ways I couldn't have otherwise.
4) How I think and feel about food is so different, healthier, now.
5) I want to dress up and look my best more often, even if I'm not at the weight I need to be yet.
6) I am not cranky as often when I don't get to eat.
7) I don't stuff my face and binge on foods anymore.
8) I eat more fruits and vegetables, and I actually crave them more.
9) I am starting to gain more energy and physically feel better.
10) The biggest thing that has changed for me is my relationship with my Heavenly Father.
* I know that some of you reading this blog may have different religious views and beliefs than I do. I wish to say that I respect you very much and hope that you can read what I have to share with the understanding that I am sharing it with the intent to lift and inspire others as I have been lifted up and inspired by you. Thank you.

I know that I am a daughter of God. I have felt His Spirit and I know that He is real. I know that He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to earth to show us the way to live our lives and to prepare the way so that we can live with Him and the Father eternally with our families. Because I know this, I have been baptized and made a promise to keep His commandments. When I made that promise 13 years ago I had felt the power of His healing and I wanted to share that with others. I served a mission and have been married and I continued to make promises to serve and obey God and do what He wants me to do. I wish I could say that I always do what is right, but I can't. Most of the time, I do what I want. Luckily, most of the time what I want to do is the right thing, but sometimes it's not. Recently, in Primary, we have been studying the scriptures in Abraham 3:24-25 which says "We will go down, for there is space there... and we will make an earth whereon these may ^cdwell;  And we will ^aprove them herewith, to see if they will ^bdo all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them." 

It hit me that the purpose of this life is to learn to be obedient. The "proving" part comes in that God will not force obedience upon us, that is not His way. He wants us to choose it for ourselves. He wants us to give our will to Him. All these years I have been trying to be a disciple of Christ, I have still kept back a few things. I wanted to keep doing things my way, but I can't. I feel much like Peter, who even after He had been following the Savior and trying to what is right, the Savior said to Him "when thou art converted, strengthen thy Brethren." (Luke 22:32). I had always thought I was converted, yet I still kept back some of my will from Him. I was scared, and mostly unwilling to have faith and believe Him in ALL things, I had faith in Him for most of the time. But, the scripture doesn't say "to see if they will do MOST things" or "all things EXCEPT the ones they don't want to do". 

        This concept is not new to me, but before I was never willing to fully give up ALL of my will and do ALL the things I was supposed to. But, I have made promises and I want to keep them. So, I have chosen to do this God's way. At this time I am not going to share all of what I have been doing, but I may share that later. It's pretty personal for me, but I do want to share that I have been seeking to know what the right way is for me to take care of my body and my health. I have been doing it successfully for 12 days now. I feel fantastic! Mostly because I know that this is what God wants for me, and I am doing it, even though a lot of times I don't want to. I am doing it because I want to be able to say one day that I do what He wants me to do even when I don't want to. I want to prove that I will be obedient to Him. I know that God knows who I am and He loves me so much. 

I hope and pray that some of what I have shared can help you in whatever trials or struggles you go through.

Well, my goal for this next week is to keep on that eating plan to get my full hour of exercise each day. Exercise is really going to be key in helping my heart to stay healthy.

Thank you all for your support and not giving up on me through this journey.