Welcome to Faith-Filled Fitness!!!

II John 1:3 "Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love."

I am so excited about this new blog. It is an extension of my other blogs and I am so thrilled!!! I have a blog about my life in Christ and with my family. It is a scrapbook of different aspects of my life and can be found here, and then I have a food blog that I have not been very good to keep up, but I plan on keeping up with it better, because I will be referencing recipes and menu's, ideas for snacks, breakfasts, etc., and I will be putting those things on that blog, but I will always link you back there when that is the case. My food blog can be found here. It is also undergoing a renovation, so bear with me on that one.

A lot of you that are viewing this blog today either know me personally, or know me through my other blog. What you may not know, is how I have struggled with my weight.

It started when I was 13 and puberty hit. Up until that time, I was a skinny little kid, but puberty hit and youzers ~~ everything changed!!! I gradually gained weight right into my adult years. I had a lot of trauma in my life as a young adult. I was 19 when I lost my sister Dana (who was 18) in a motorcycle accident, and my husband (of almost 8 months), within 3 months of each other back in 1986. It was an absolutely devastating time for me. I turned to food to help mask the deep pain that I was feeling. And I got bigger.

I moved on with my life as best I could. I was away from God at that time, and trying to do life on my own. I.was.miserable.miserable. And I got bigger.

In 1992, I had my son Dak. That was such an exciting time in my life. But after Dak was born, his dad and I experienced great turmoil in our marriage that ended with me leaving him and starting life with Dak on my own. And then eventually we divorced. It was a very difficult time in my life once again. And again I was still away from God (but coming back).

Well when I was about 29 years old I started losing a little weight. I lost about 50 lbs and then decided to keep going. All total I lost about 100 lbs in about a year. That has been about 13 years now since I got all the weight off.

I have gained some and lost some through the years, but I've never gotten as heavy as I was before I lost the weight.

This is my after and before =) pics. The one at the top is hubs and I from just last week and then the two at the bottom is me as well. (Please click to make bigger if you'd like.) The first one is when I'm about 22 or so and on vacation in Florida (and miserable). And the other one is me almost at my highest, 247 lbs (yep still miserable).



So why start a health and wellness blog now? Well back in August I had a heart scare, a big one, and so I started eating very healthy and exercising as best I could. I had gained weight since major knee surgery in November 2008 and was back up to 159 lbs. I was so unhappy that I'd let myself get there. But the scare with my heart did it for me. I realized that being healthy was not just a looks thing. It was a heart matter. I needed to be healthy to fulfill the life that God has for me. He has a purpose and I want to fulfill it. So I got busy.

I went back on my vegetarian diet and started trying to exercise, be it ever so slightly. I set a goal weight and got to work. My goal was to lose 29 lbs by the end of the year. I am 4 lbs from goal weight, so I reset my goal and it is to have those 4 lbs off by the end of January.

I have learned so much about health and wellness and being able to exercise and deal with chronic pain. I've learned how to stop emotional eating, and to deal with my pain in more healthy ways and I want to share what has worked for me with you.

I am so very excited about what God has laid on my heart concerning this blog. The name alone just thrills my heart so. You see that didn't come from me: totally God!!! I give Him all the praise and glory for what He has done and is doing in my life.

In the days to come I will explain more about the name of the blog and also what I am doing to start the New Year off right.

But for now I'd just like to welcome you and say thank you so much for reading. Please check back often as I will be posting regularly.

I have already posted some "keys to consistency posts" and so feel free to browse those. More on those coming up as well.

Healthfully yours,
Dawn

PS I love your comments and thoughts. If you are struggling with your weight and have a question or just need to "talk", please e-mail me (my address is in my profile). Thank you so much for visiting.

Keys to Consistency ~~ Exercise; the Non-negotiable -- Your welcome =)

So if anyone thought they had an excuse not to exercise it would be me. I mean after all; I live with chronic pain, arthritis that I have dealt with since a child, have had many surgeries and just generally feel rotten some days. But what I have learned is that the best way to deal with these things, especially chronic pain is to exercise.

It seems weird I know. But when I move and do gentle stretches and exercises it helps my pain. It is all about consistency though. This is something that I now do on a daily basis. I take one day off a week, but even on that day I go through the motions of some of my exercises, especially for my knee, and I stretch.

I will be posting much more about exercise and it's benefits and the things that I do personally, so that if you are one who deals with chronic pain, maybe you can find encouragement in my story.

Healthfully yours,
Dawn

Romans 8:37 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."

Keys to Consistency ~~ What is it?

I have found that the biggest key to losing weight and being healthy is consistency. It is key. You just must do things in a consistent manner to have success.

So there are many areas that I have developed consistency in along the way, and so I am calling these posts: Keys to Consistency and then what that key is (i.e. exercise the non-negotiable ~~ your welcome =) and so forth.

If you are consistent with making healthier food choices, counting calories and daily exercise you will be healthier, but the key here is making these decisions part of your daily life. It does take change for most people, but it is a change that I was more than willing to make and I am so glad that I did. I feel so much better today.

So that is what the Keys to Consistency is all about. I hope that you will look around and comment. I love to hear from you.

Healthfully Yours,
Dawn

Romans 11:36 "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen."

Keys to Consistency ~~ Counting Calories

There are several items that fall into the Consistent Key Category:

#1 is Counting Calories. Nobody really likes to do it. It is not especially fun or exciting, but I have found it key in weight loss and health and wellness success.

Counting calories, I have found for me, is a must. If I don't, then extra calories sneak in there. It is annoying, but true. Around CHRISTmas this year, for about four days, I did not count calories. Not good!! I ate too much and NOT the right things. Counting calories also helps me in the area if what I eat as well. I tend to eat much healthier when counting calories.

So let me give you a couple of links for websites where you can log your calories:

1. My Net Diary -- My personal favorite!! There is a small fee for this site, but it is the most user friendly I have found, and with NO annoying advertisements to distract me or pop-ups to drive me crazy. It is easy to use and it is what works for me.
2. Spark People -- This one is free and I have used it in the past. It has way too many distractions for me. I'd go there to count calories, but then I'd find myself signing up for this Spark or that one and pretty soon I was getting all these e-mails and I'd check on those things and not log my food, etc. Annoying. But it is a free service and LOTS of people have lost weight using it. So if you're looking for one to start with, this is a good one since it is free.
   

There are many more out there I am sure, but these are the two I have tried. I have also counted points using Weight Watchers online. It worked, but it does cost more and for me, I would eat more unhealthy items like sweeteners and 100 calorie packs because they fit in my points for the day. So for me it was not the best choice, but if that is what works for you, please use it. I have seen MANY people lose A LOT of weight on that program.

So let's get counting those calories shall we?

Healthfully Yours,
Dawn

John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."