HURRICANE SCARE!!! I noticed Kassiemarie another member here from Louisiana posted a blog today about the impending hurricane (Gustav) headed straight for them. It is expected to take landfall Monday or Tuesday. Another member of ours, my daughter Estel or Stella as many know her here also lives in Louisiana. She too has asked that I request your prayers for her/their safety. Let us all keep them in mind, in our prayers, and any other Louisiana residents that may belong to our Sistahood that we might not be aware of yet. Better still let’s pray for the entire state of Louisiana so God may keep them all safe. Have a blessed holiday! Love, LindaPS………please pray for me I am very concerned about my daughter and her beautiful family. God Bless Kassiemarie and her family for housing Katrina victims when they themselves had already underwent so much hardship from another devastating storm, be sure to read her blog! today! also. I am praying diligently for you too and your loved ones Kassiemarie. Luv Ya! sista!

I am so relieved that He gives me the “todays” to make up for the “yesterdays” that I failed Him, failed myself, failed others. Yesterday was one of those days. I should have given Him my sorrow instead of proclaiming it to everyone who could not even help me. I should have trusted in Him and known He knew my pain and would comfort me through it. I should have taken the time to count my MANY blessings instead of dwelling on my misfortunes. I should have “let go and let Him”. I wish I had listened to His will and done right by Him, by me, by others and not listened to mine just because He gives it to me freely.

Although I made a mess of things He was right there to pick up the pieces. He was there to forgive me and help me move on. He was right there beside me the entire time but I was too self consumed with sorrow to even realize it. His hands were reaching out to me but I was too pre-occupied with being discouraged to even see them. He was trying to tell me something but I was not listening because my ears were not planted in Him. Despite my resistance and disobedience to His will however as well as my immature approach in dealing with my sorrow He never gave up on me. My God is an awesome God!!

In the depth of my sorrow He sent me a faithful servant to deliver His message. He the messenger manifested himself in the garments of a Roman Catholic Archbishop being interviewed by a news anchorman on a cable television station. The purpose of the interview was to defend his/my religion, his/my faith as a result of statements that were made the prior day by a woman in politics who professes to be a Roman Catholic, statements that contradict the doctrines, the teachings of the Roman Catholic church. I will not be discussing the details of the case, the interview, however, to respect all religions reading this, I will just say that I received His message and my burden has been lifted from my shoulders. He restored my inner peace, replaced my sorrow with joy and gave me renewed hope. He came through for me once again as so many times before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A2Jt4WOxN8

I know now what He is delegating me to do to be happy, fulfilled, at peace with those who do not treat me kindly, consequently at peace with myself when that happens and most importantly at peace with Him. As many of you already know my husband and I are retired and we have a home in Florida that we spend the winters in. Soon we will be returning there to do just that. I/we belong to a wonderful Catholic church there that we just joined last year when we first arrived in Florida. Yes I consider myself a Christian but first and foremost I am a Roman Catholic and have been one all of my life. As you know also I am deeply spiritual and who I am is based on my “inner faith”, my intimate relationship with Jesus-Christ. It gives me immense pleasure to inspire others and to be inspired by them as well.

His message has made me realize what it is He is guiding me to do to please Him, please myself, please others. I will be joining various organizations/groups in my church such as the Woman’s Guild and the Weekly Bible Study Group. I will also be administering the Eucharist to elderly parishioners who are shut-ins. I will be visiting them in their homes to do so. I may return to teaching CCD also if time allows. I have a huge devotion to the Blessed Mother also, she is on my front lawn in Florida and responsible for us being fortunate enough to have that property, so I would like to get involved in teaching the parish youth, the rosary. I would even like to start a group that would do as I did growing up which is going house to house once a week where She is displayed and singing our praises to Her. I wrote a few songs when I was the Spiritual Director in a nursing home and I would love to write a few more. I am sitting here so happy at the thought of all of my prospects, my goals once I get back to Florida. I am truly doing the “Happy, happy dance of joy as Jen would say.

Gyms in Florida where we live are very inexpensive so hubby and I will be joining one together in hopes of reaching all of our weight loss goals. With all the motivation, and inspiration I get here coupled with the gym how can I go wrong? We intend to continue our daily walking and daily exercise routines as well as consuming only foods that are healthy for us more often than not. It is actually easier for us to accomplish all of that there because we are alone and our adult children are not our parents, lol! The grandchildren have to get spoiled so while doing so it is difficult for us not to eat the occasional ice cream cone or chocolate bar. I must say however that my daughters are very good about feeding their children nutritious foods only. They prefer fruit to sugary snacks and salad to french fries, yeah!!!

Time to shower and go walking. I have a busy week ahead of me, packing for the trip. I hope you have a Fun Friday filled with many happy memories. Luv ya! sistas! and mistas! 

PS………..Forgot to mention one more of my goals. Getting as many of my very close buddies here on BS together for a fun reunion at my house as I can. I am getting all gitty just thinking about “what a pajama party we could have”. Oh! I will get rid of hubby first, send him off to a hotel or something for a few days, don’t think he’ll mind that at all lol!

OH! YES! 

Hubby will have his byopsy as soon as we get there  (friends were asking when he gets it) and I will have my colonoscopy, anxious to get that behind me, lol!  We are both concerned about hubby of course so say a prayer for us please!, maybe two? okay?

How To Stop Bingeing,

End Emotional Eating

And Avoid Diet Relapse

In a study published in

the American Journal

Of Clinical Nutrition,

Susan Kayman and

colleagues set out to

discover the difference

between women who

took off weight and

kept it off successfully

(maintainers), and

those who took off

weight but eventually

regained it all

(relapsers).

They found many

differences between

relapsers and

successful

maintainers, but one of

the differences stood

out like a sore thumb…

Relapsers were emotional eaters who lacked skills to respond to and cope with stress and unexpected problems.

While almost all of the women reported stressful issues or problems, there were major differences in the way the relapsers and maintainers coped with their problems.

Very few relapsers used problem-solving or confrontive ways of coping with their problems as compared with maintainers.

Instead, they were more likely to use emotion-focused or escape/avoidance behaviors for coping such as eating more, sleeping more or just wishing the problem would go away.

Relapsers reported using food to make themselves feel better when they were upset. They also attributed weight gain to unexpected or unpredictable stressful life events.

Maintainers, by contrast, confronted their problems directly and looked for alternative ways to cope with them (other than eating)

These included relaxation techniques, meditation, exercise, focusing on productive work, seeking social support, getting professional help, or talking out their feelings with other people they trusted.

This by the way, confirms previous research in the area of addiction recovery which found that a person who has made a successful behavior change will return to a previous negative pattern if a stressful situation occurs and no coping skills have been developed to deal with it.

Another big difference between maintainers and relapsers was conscious awareness (or lack of it)

70% of relapsers ate unconsciously in response to emotions.

Maintainers, on the other hand, were vigilant and conscious of EVERYthing:

• They were conscious of the quantity and type of food they ate
• They were conscious about the amount of activity that they needed personally to maintain their weight
• They consciously worked to “keep in shape” after they reached their initial goal
• They were conscious that they felt uncomfortable in their clothes after they gained even a little weight such as a few pounds after a vacation
• They intentionally wore close-fitting clothes to keep themselves aware of their bodies, which prompted them to exercise more eat less if their clothes felt tighter.

From these findings emerge two of the very first steps that are absolutely necessary for you to end emotional eating and prevent diet relapse:

1. Develop greater conscious awareness
2. Develop alternative behaviors and coping mechanisms for dealing with stress and emotions

It takes courage to directly confront your problems and strength to overcome them, but you can’t even begin to solve a problem unless you are aware you have one. It all begins with AWAREness.

One of the best ways to increase conscious awareness of your eating habits is to keep a nutrition diary at least once in your life for a period of at least 4-12 weeks.

Many people are catching on, as reflected in the popularity of sites like fit day, which lets you log in your daily food intake, while others keep extensive written journals.

People who are struggling with relapse and weight regain, but who refuse to admit that calories are important, who find keeping journals to be too much like work, or who don’t at least find some other way to raise their awareness about what and how much they are eating, are likely to continue to struggle.

I found this on the net while I was surfing for weight loss solutions. I hope the information will shed light on this subject to arrive at a better understaning of it and solutions for dealing with it.

I have returned to my motivational cards and that truly helps to keep me on track. Let’s see what my cards say today. Here Goes! The jar awaits!

Pulled the card for the “Prayer Plea” and it came out Donald and I so I guess the candle will burn for us today to have the courage to be successful on this weight loss journey.  Obviously the prayers go out for everyone as usual it’s just for whom the candle burns that differs on a daily basis.

Additional healthy foods today: 1 fruit and 2 veggies.

Additional physical activity: increase my walking today. For me that means walking at least 4 miles I usually walk at least three.

Good Deed: Share His word with someone today who tells you that they are suffering for whatever reason. I already have, I started my day making comments on blogs. However that deed is never limited for me so off I go to read some more. Luv Ya! sistas! and mistas!

May you have a wonderful day filled with many happy memories.

There is nothing like the bond between a mother and her children. Especially the bond between mothers and daughters. For those sistas out there who have daughters you know exactly what I mean.

I have been blessed to have three of my four daughters here with me this week. I love that they are adults now because we are bonding more than ever these days. There isn’t anything we do not discuss and anything we do not support each other on. We may differ in opinions obviously but that is how we learn from each other. I so love and cherish that.

Yesterday they showed their love for me more than ever. They made me walk an entire afternoon and part of an evening in Portsmouth, NH, lol! Up the stairs, down the stairs to all of the amazing! landmarks there. My daughters took many pictures that depicted all of this beauty and ours, just kidding! but we are not proficient enough with computers to get them to you.

Hopefully we will figure it out soon, lol! They were so adorable even at 26 and 30. They made sure that I was comfortable every STEP of the way by offering to get me food and drink every hour on the hour, so cute! Or maybe it’s because I was the one with the credit card. Still priceless!!

I am just oozing with that warm fuzziness today because God gave me four unbelievable daughters all different in their own way and all so special to me. It’s crazy ugh? no matter how many children you have you still seem to manage a unique pocket in your heart for each and every one of them, right Deborah? Estel?

We talked about the past, the present. the future and everything in between. They teased me unrelentlessly something they learned from dad and have mastered. They sure know how to make me laugh in fact I almost had a bladder mishap at one point thank heavens we were not too far from a powder room.

Amidst all the prominent splendor were hidden the bees on the majestic flowers, the sea gulls on the pier, and the quaint park benches. The squirrels were frantically looking for food and the sparrows fluttered about aimlessly above it all. Families were gathered in restaurants and outdoor cafes and everyone had a smile on their face, priceless! once more.

Well without the pictures you cannot really get the full effect of what I say, I write so I will crawl back into my memories that I will cherish for a lifetime. I will especially remember that time when I walk alone every day and nobody is there to offer me anything my little heart desires or to ask me frequently if my feet hurt or I need to sit down, priceless! for sure!

All the talking and blogging about it in the world can never come close to experiencing it, the joy I feel today as a wife, a mother, a grandmother and a child of Jesus-Christ not necessarily in that order.  As I get older my life becomes more and more enriched with the true sustenance of life Him (all the blessings that come from following Him) and everything else is simply trivial.

I find that life is far too short to do anything but love, forgive and treat everyone as you yourself would want to be treated. There is so much beauty around us that we can easily miss if we are not enjoying our lives to the fullest by having our eyes and our ears strongly planted in Him. Luv Ya sistas! Linda

This blog is in response to a comment that was made on my blog yesterday, (Sunday). Thank You so much Deborah, sista! You are truly Blessed!!!

Deborah commented:

well said!!
i am glad we can speak what we feel and are passionate about whether it be weight loss or our love for a Savior!

ME TOO! DEBORAH, ME TOO! I cannot be detached from such a passion and it would be my destruction if that travesty were ever to occur. It is not a “wordly” pleasure that brings me instant self-gratification, as a result of listening to my “free will” to serve my selfish needs, my wordly desires.

For me it is an appendage and WHAT AN APPENDAGE IT IS!! It (HE) is always there, always protecting me from all of the outside elements, always healing me from within and always there to support me. If my passion offends others it is only because the understanding of such a passion is not always growing within them.

I do not listen to and follow this passion to hurt or offend anyone however bold I may speak because of it sometimes because of the burning zeal within me for my Creator. Jesus did not speak meekly either when He spoke to those in Babylon, He defended His faith. Keeping peace for me does not mean succombing to everyone’s opinions and ideas, agreeing with and following them to retain a position in the popular sect. I feel peace is only peace when it comes from Him and the intense faith He gave me was meant to be shared in fact He insists that I do so.

He says “what good is a faith that is not nurished, a faith that is hidden from others and therefore cannot grow to benefit everyone”? He also told me (in the 8 Beatitudes) that if I am persecuted by anyone as a result of my faith I can consider myself truly blessed by Him because I am doing as He tells me.

He also says that the many conformists to this world who do not suffer this persecution are not doing His work. I strongly feel we should only strive to be popular in His eyes, He is after all in charge of everyone and everything He created. For many that is a “maddening, horrifying” thought they cannot accept if His passion is not truly within them. They feel strongly that, that way of thinking leaves them with no “free will” at all to do as they please in every situation in life. Therefore it must be brainwash.

If only they knew the unbelievable!! freedom that comes from such teachings, from Him! when the “free will” He gives everyone is used to do good only!!! Not used to manipulate others, encouraging the like to persecute those we truly do not understand or even begin to try to. Who are we to judge others and therefore cast them aside and persecute them if they do not conform to our way of life?  Love, Linda     

I am so excited! I just realized that  Dr. Marc  has incorporated a category to the blogs to include “inspiration” I guess it was here all along because one of my dearest friends at BS has many blogs on it, she has been here quite a while now. God Bless her dearly for that! The good doc calls it “Keeping Your Faith”. He must be a spiritual man himself to have thought of that. I like the name he chose because the “YOUR’ leads me to believe that all faiths are welcome here, that is So Beautiful! So Christ like! So Awesome!

While I realize not everyone is spiritual for those of us who are however this is an exciting outlet to encourage, motivate and inspire each other that Buddyslim is offering us on this site, and it’s right here! Yeah! Thank you Dr. Marc for including that category in our daily blogs to one another, giving us that option if we choose to use it. Losing weight is no easy feat so inspiration for me needs to come from many sources, lol!

Funny thing about spirituality everyone is so different in their approach to it. In such a different place with it. Myself for instance, my passion for Jesus-Christ is so intense that I sometimes get boldly assertive and almost cocky and demanding with it wanting everyone to experience the peace my faith rewards me with. I am working on and praying for a better approach however to share the Word, share the Happiness I feel.

Everyone after all was given a “free will” to help us to obey His teachings and along with that a maturity to help us behave with morality, ethics, scruples and self-respect etc. etc.  I like that a “free will” to do only good with that makes so much sense considering Who gave it to us doesn’t it? Well, time to get some shut eye to receive all the company tomorrow, family outing! should be fun. Have a blessed Sunday, eat healthy, get going! and most of all cherish the day with your loved ones. Luv ya! sistas! and mistas!    Linda

My momma didn’t raise no chicken

My daddy didn’t raise no wimp

My Savior made me in His image

Why then have I gone limp?

My momma didn’t raise no quitter

My daddy didn’t raise no fool

We always stood up for our faith

That was the golden rule……..

My momma didn’t raise no show off

My daddy didn’t raise no queen

We didn’t care how little we had

We never strived to be seen………..

My momma didn’t raise no bully

My daddy didn’t raise no beast

We loved and cared for each other

Tried to be kind at least………….

Thank God for my dearest of friends

Who reminded me to refocus and see  

There is no hurt that I can’t overcome

As long as He lives within me!! ……….

I have a weight loss journey that is far from being over and I will not succeed unless I am here being encouraged and encouraging others as well. I have every right to be here and I will not allow anyone to tell me otherwise anymore. I have very dear friends here who need me as much as I need them. I will try not to let them down. I will help them as much as I possibly can to reach all of their weight loss goals. I cannot help them if I do not always stay focused on my humble beginnings, be true to myself. Therefore that is my quest. Thank you everyone for making me feel loved and accepted here.  

MOTIVATIONAL CARDS

Prayer Plea ……………….Job for WW’s hubby. I of course pray for all of you, the candle will be burnt for WW today however since that card came out of the jug.

Additional healthy staples to eat today…………………yogurt and oatmeal

Sacrificing something………………… is the good deed that came out of the jug today. Anyone want my husband? Just kidding! Well you might after you see my new pics that I just posted, lol!

Additional physical activity………………an extra mile of walking at the mall.

Alright sistas! and mistas! WE CAN DO IT!! one day, one step at a time! Dang! it’s good to be here!!!!!!! Luv Ya!

GOODBYE!! AND THANK YOU!! TO ALL!!

Still tired from the jet lag so please forgive my Frenenglish ( I am bilingual, French and English), so sometimes they both come out at once, lol! It was a 14 hour trip back from Louisiana only, everything that could wrong did. It tried by faith, my patience and most of all my nerves. Oh! well! so much for loving flying. I do still love the peace that I have however when I look out the aircraft window at those clouds and talk to Him, in His home.

Speaking of talking to Him I am still doing all the “prayer pleas” so if I have not received yours yet just send it along to me okay? Reading many blogs yesterday, trying to catch up, I realized there are some scenarios here that require my prayers so I have written them down and added them to my list. Some being more serious than others but all requiring a little faith to overcome.

By the same token, I myself need your prayers for issues in my own life that I need to deal with. They are not serious matters but they do require His/my attention to resolve. Inspiration from Him about how to deal with all the world’s problems, the One who knows all the answers and even all the outcomes, is of tremendous importance to me, it is so Uplifting! 

Without Him on this weight loss journey I would not be so diligent to get healthy for myself and everyone I love and who loves me. To do it alone is not an option for me, I am too weak. He is my “footing” and without Him I would fall. Without Him I would have been unkind this week-end to the many people I encountered at the airports who did not know their jobs and consequently gave me many problems, made my trip so much longer than it should have been.

Without Him there would be no Me therefore no life to enjoy, no purpose. I have so much to be grateful for that it would be unkind and selfish of me not to remember always, Who is responsible for all of my happiness. To remember my failings are a direct result of the “free will” He gives me that I do not always use wisely creating havoc for myself. To remember Who is always there to pick me up when I am about to fall, Who is my footing.

Well, it’s off to the mall for my 3-4 mile walk, not sure what my still tired body will endure today, lol! Then it’s the grocery store for healthy food. Sorry Donald, I’m back no more Bismarks for you honey! He needs much faith also to eat the staples I make him eat and not be upset with me, lol! Actually, he has much motivation given his past health issues. He inspires and motivates me most times. It is nice to be home again and getting serious once more about this weight loss journey. Have a blessed day everyone!