A Bucket List for My 40s

I have just written an article about 30 things to do before you turn 30, and it made me think about a bucket list for my 40s.  I have never really thought about this, but now that I am, there are several different things that I would like to do before I turn 50 in the year 2026.  Like learning how to swim and ride a bicycle.  Definitely items for my bucket list.  I would also like to go to Israel for the Jesus tour, and go on a tour of Europe.  I would most definitely like to have my weight under control, and my eating habits changed.  I would love to commit to reading a book each week too, and read the Bible through at least 3 times.  Anyway, I will create a bucket list of things to do between now and 50, and God willing, I will do them all.

my-bucket-list

Weigh Loss Diary: Week 15

Start Weight: 125 kg (275 lbs)

Total Weight Loss: 11.2 kg (24.64 lbs)

End Weight:

Goals

Lose 1 kg per week

Lose 25 kg (55 lbs)  by Dec 31st 2017

Current Statistics

Current Weight: 113.8 kg (250.5 lbs)

Weight Loss Week 15: 1 kg (2.2 lbs)

It’s been a while since I was here last. I didn’t even realize it was that long.  I have had my ups and downs.  Lost morale along the way, but now it’s back again.  I remember for a while just being glad that I was not gaining.  Now I am glad that I am losing again.  

I got myself some new DVDs – Leslie Sansone is helping me walk away the pounds and I am loving it.  I am still committed to weight loss and to change and currently doing a cardio challenge for 60 days.  So far, so good.  I am confident that God helping me and keeping my morale up, I will still achieve my goal.

I have 11 weeks to lose 14 kg and I think it can be done.  Keep me in your prayers!

Plan for Week 16

1200 calories a day

45 min – 1 hour of walking daily (5 days a week)

2000 ml of water a day

 

Weight Loss Diary: Week 10

Start Weight: 125 kg (275 lbs)

Total Weight Loss: 9.5 kg (20.9 lbs)

End Weight:

Goals

Lose 1 kg per week

Lose 25 kg (55 lbs)  by Dec 31st 2017

Current Statistics

Current Weight: 115.5 kg (254 lbs)

Weight Loss Week 10: 0 kg (0 lbs)

 

This is that week when my weight just won’t move.  Oh well, I’m getting used to that.  It will have moved by next week.  This week has been a bit crazy.  For the following reasons:

  1. I fell right of the exercise bandwagon.  I just could not get myself motivated to work out at all.  Luckily, my daughter started daycare yesterday 15 minutes away.  So I carry all 12 kg of her on my back for the 15 minute walk there and challenge myself to brisk walk back home.  When we first moved to Embu I hated the hilly terrain.  At 299 lbs (136 kg) walking anywhere was out of the question.  Just a look at the hills and I knew I was going to have to stay indoors.  Today, I relish the walk to my daughter’s daycare and back.  I enjoy going down the hills and challenging myself to walk faster up the hills.  Today I have done better than I did yesterday by 4 minutes.  Makes me smile :-).  For now my exercise is going to come from walking as much as I can…up and down these hills!!
  2. The intermittent fasting backfired on me so badly!! I ended up feeling deprived and starving which was not a good feeling physically and emotionally.  When it was time to eat I was ravenous and ended up eating too much at the wrong time.  uuuuuugh!
  3. Finally, I started my snacks business.  I have baked, made mandazi and donuts and all the while tasting as I go. I need to learn how to run my business and still lose weight.  I need lots and lots of grace for this.
  4. I am still challenged with drinking water.  I was doing so well there for a while, now I am just a mess. I need to pick up in that area.

In summary, this week was not a very good week.  Regardless of the fact that it is my period week and I generally do not lose weight this week according to my weight loss history, I have to admit that it is only by the grace of God that I did not add weight this week.  Well, here I go.  It’s time to reset and start afresh!!

Plan for Week 11

1200 calories a day – No carbs after 3 pm

45 min – 1 hour of walking daily (5 days a week)

2000 ml of water a day

Weight Loss Diary: Week 9

Start Weight: 125 kg (275 lbs)

Total Weight Loss: 9.5 kg (20.9 lbs)

End Weight:

Goals

Lose 1 kg per week

Lose 25 kg (55 lbs)  by Dec 31st 2017

Current Statistics

Current Weight: 115.5 kg (254 lbs)

Weight Loss Week 9: 1.8 kg (3.96 lbs)

 

My goal this week was to lose 2 kg (4.4 lbs).  I didn’t quite get there, but I am very happy with 1.8 kg (3.96 lbs).   More importantly I am back in the green!  Yes!  I love it when I see the progress made.  I remain on track to lose 25 kg (55 lbs) by the end of December.

One of the things I love the most about blogging about my journey is that every week is a reset.  Once I blog here I start the journey again which keeps me on track.  I can track my successes, failures, struggles and more.  I am also able to see what trips me up in this journey and make the necessary changes.

Right now my greatest struggle is exercise.  I didn’t work out at all of last week and that needs to change.  I don’t just want to be smaller, I also want to be fitter.  That means I have to work out.  I am resetting on that this week.  I need to get back to working out like I know I should.

This week I have also decided to try out intermittent fasting.  I read up on it yesterday and decided it was worth a try.  I will do it between today and Friday, then eat normally over the weekend. My schedule will be as follows:

Tuesday: Monday 8 pm to Tuesday 10 am

Wednesday: Tuesday 8 pm to Wednesday 12 pm

Thursday: Wednesday 8 pm to Thursday 2 pm

Friday: Thursday 8 pm to Friday 4 pm

I will report back here with how that goes.

Plan for Week 9

1200 calories a day – No carbs after 3 pm

Intermittent Fasting

1 hour  of exercise a day (4 days)

2000 ml of water a day

Weight Loss Diary: I Won’t Quit

This is the 9th week of my weight loss journey and in all that time, I have never felt like quitting the way I did yesterday.  It was almost an overwhelming feeling.  However, I have purposed to keep moving forward with my plans to lose weight.  I will keep at it until I see the results I want.  I am already on track to lose 2 kg (4.4 lbs) this week, so why ruin it? My goal to lose 25 kg (55 lbs) by the end of December still stands, and Yes, I will achieve it!

Don’t Quit 
By Edgar A. Guest (1881-1959)?

When Things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and debts are high,
And you want to Smile but have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won if he’d stuck it out,
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the struggler has given up,
When he might captured the victor’s cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown,

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

Galatians 6:9

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Can’t wait to reap my weight loss harvest!  I will make it.  There is no giving up!

Weight Loss Diary: Week 8

Start Weight: 125 kg (275 lbs)

Total Weight Loss: 7.7 kg (17 lbs)

End Weight:

Goals

Lose 1 kg per week

Lose 25kg by Dec 31st 2017

Current Statistics

Current Weight: 117.3 kg (258 lbs)

Weight Loss Week 8: 0 kg (0 lbs)

This week I could kick myself!  I started off so well and I had weighed myself and was down to 116 kg so I knew for sure that by today I would be below that… and then the weekend happened.  We went to shags and I junked up on the way there and I junked up while there and on the way back and by the time I got home I had gained it all back. Consequently, I lost nothing. I am so annoyed with myself!! This puts me in the red as far as my overall weight loss goals are concerned.

I reset yesterday and I am back on track, but that tells me that I need to figure out how to eat when we travel and also when I am with family and friends.  If I don’t figure that out like yesterday, I will have a very hard time during the holidays and may do much damage to the gains I have made in this journey.  May God grant me the wisdom I need in Jesus name.

This week I am going for a 2 kg weight loss to make up for what I have done to myself.  I want to be at 115 kg by the time I report back here next week.

 

Plan for Week 8

1200 calories a day – No carbs after 3 pm

1 hour  of exercise a day (4 days)

2000 ml of water a day

WEIGHT LOSS DIARY: WEEK 7

Start Weight: 125 kg (275 lbs)

Total Weight Loss: 7.7 kg (17 lbs)

End Weight:

Goals

Lose 1 kg per week

Lose 25kg by Dec 31st 2017

Current Statistics

Current Weight: 117.3 kg (258 lbs)

Weight Loss Week 7: 0.9 kg (1.98lbs)

I didn’t quite get to 1kg but I am okay with 0.9kg.  I worked really hard that week and I am looking forward to working even harder in the coming weeks.  Sometimes I get discouraged when it seems like the scale is not moving and I have to remind myself that this is a lifestyle change.

The mistake that I often made in the past was to get so discouraged when I got to this place where my weight was just moving really slowly that I would give up altogether.  Then I would gain back the original weight plus more.  I found a notebook where I had recorded weight loss in 2008.  I had gone from 236 lbs (107 kgs) to 216 lbs (98 kg).  I then gave up coz it felt like it was moving too slowly! #sigh.  Today I can’t wait to get to the double digits and just celebrate that milestone.

On the bright side I met up with a bunch of friends over the weekend and they were all amazed at the change in me.  It is a noticeable change!  Yaaaaay!!!! I got a ton of compliments that really just made my day.  So the journey continues.  You know what they say, if you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl.  If you can’t crawl, roll, but for heaven’s sake, keep moving!!! That’s me!

Plan for Week 8

1200 calories a day

1 hour  of exercise a day (4 days)

2000 ml of water a day

Weight Loss Diary: Week 6

Start Weight: 125 kg (275 lbs)

Total Weight Loss: 6.8 kg (15 lbs)

End Weight:

Goals

Lose 1 kg per week

Lose 25kg by Dec 31st 2017

Current Statistics

Current Weight: 118.2 kg (260 lbs)

Weight Loss Week 6: 0.3 kg (0.66 lbs)

This is that week when my body retains fluids. I have noticed that I either record no change on the scale or very little change when it is that time of the month.  The comfort is in knowing that I am doing what I should and that next week will be better.  I’m grateful to God for that.

Now that I am more fit I can do more taxing exercises than I did before.  Currently I have added Zumba to my exercise regimen as I work my way towards Tae Bo.  I love Tae Bo, but every time I have tried to do it here lately I have found it too taxing.  I will work my way to it.

This week I am in the red even though overall I am on track to lose 1kg every week on average.  I am grateful to God for that.  I have had several wins where my wardrobe is concerned.  I can fit into all my pre-pregnancy clothes.  Yaaaaay!!!  I can even fit into clothes that I couldn’t wear then!  You should see the excitement  I have as I go through my wardrobe and try out one piece of clothing after another.  I am finally spoilt for choice when before I could only wear specific clothes.  What a difference 6.8kg makes!! Thank you Lord!

Plan for Week 7

1200 calories a day

1 hour  of exercise a day (4 days)

2000 ml of water a day

PROCESS

I have been thinking about Joseph all morning as I went about my business. How God gave him a glimpse of the greatness and glory he was destined for and then closed the viewing and tossed him into the process tunnel. That tunnel sometimes seems so dark, that you can’t see the light at the end of it.

I was wondering if he felt the way I feel at times. I can literally feel destiny pushing on the inside of me, swelling in my chest until it feels like I could burst. And yet, I am in Potiphar’s house, slaving away. Sometimes I look up at God and I ask, “How long Lord? How much longer until I can walk in that destiny you have for me?” I always get that reassurance that only heaven can give. It lets me know that it is alright. I am still in the process of God and in the fullness of time, I will step into my kairos moment and everything will change.

Poor Joseph! And just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse, he gets tossed into the prison cell. Goodness! Even the dimmest of lights becomes invisible to him. Been there! It’s that place where you begin to think that you hallucinated that thing that the Lord showed you. Surely it was only a dream that meant nothing. Sometimes confusion sets in. You begin to question what you heard the Lord say. You begin to think that you misinterpreted his message…and yet it had been so clear. #sigh

And it was while he was sitting in that very dark dungeon, serving God even then, that destiny came calling. Chronos turned to Kairos at the drop of a hat. All this while, God had been testing Joseph’s character (Psalm 105:19). He had been training and testing him to ensure that he could carry the weight of glory that God had destined for him to carry. When he was finally ready, it was time to step into his destiny and fulfil purpose.

When God is done training and testing me, it will be my turn to step into my kairos moment and walk out the purpose for which he sent me to the earth. In the meantime, I know that God remains with me in Potiphar’s house and in the dungeon. He will cover me with his pinions and under his wings I will find refuge.