#Bod4God Week 1

Closing in on the end of the official first week. Last Monday was the weigh in. Can I just say that I want the scale from the Wellness Center? I realize scales are a little different but that one seems to like me more. The official numbers:

Weight: 173

Neck: 12 1/4

Bicep: 12

Chest: 38

Waist: 37 1/2

Hips: 43

Thigh: 24 1/2

Calf: 15 1/2

Weigh in is each Monday. There is a large group speaker about motivation, nutrition, exercise, etc. then we break into small groups. The leader of our small group wasn't there last week and her sub seemed to flounder with what to do. I'm hoping there is more discussion and digging into the book this Monday. I'm not doing this to learn others' "tricks" for losing weight or being healthy. I'm tired of hearing "if I can do it, you can do it."  I'm doing this to find my true motivation and to grow closer to God.

The memory verse for this week was Matthew 16:24-25:

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "if anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

This must be important because Jesus says it six times in the Gospels. Twice in Matthew and Luke and once in Mark and John. So okay, how does this apply to me in 2015? What do I need to deny? What cross(es) do I need to pick up? What is preventing me from fully following Christ?

It is and has been obvious to me since I started exercising that food is my issue. I haven't been able to lose weight or get my clothes to fit better with exercise alone. I do better when I actually track what I eat (even if I'm a little off on portion sizes). When I did track this past week there was only one day that I went over my goal and that day included the choice to both go to Starbucks AND have a couple of glasses of wine. I need to deny myself these indulgences.

My cross? What do I need to pick up? I'm not sure. I've started drinking more water, trying for 48 oz each day and I've eliminated pop. I've also started to hear a small voice speaking to me about sugar. I am reading more labels and trying to keep high fructose corn syrup out -- though it's in EVERYTHING. Many things I'm reading right now talk about completely eliminating sugar. Wow. Not sure this is my cross, yet. 

I am here for the next 12 weeks and I'm hoping to see a lot of results: physically and spiritually.