He Lives !

Hello, It’s me Again, Vanessa!
I want to thank the Lord for a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Resurrection Sunday. I know it is now August 29th and Resurrection Sunday was last week. I am grateful to God for presenting our congregation with the wonderful performance. It touched on a lot and spoke to me. The entire weekend was blessed. Again, I thank you Lord.

I have not blogged since last week. I have not been on my regular schedule of blogging, logging in on calorie count and I have only been drinking 5 glasses of water per day. I am aware that I am off course; I have not and do not plan to beat up on myself. I continued to workout and my eating has been ok. The craziest thing is that Zumba was cancelled for this past Monday night. Bummer! But the best thing ever is that we will now have Zumba two times a week at 7:30 p.m. starting next week. Yes! Yes! Yes! I am aware of the change of the last week and I have begun to gradually get back on track. I weighed in this morning and I had lost 1 lbs. Total of 24 pounds. Thank You Lord for your Favor, Grace and Mercy. Weighing in this morning began my journey back. I was so grateful, so very grateful.

My work life has been great; our supervisor went for a much needed vacation. She works so hard she needed this time off to rest and be with her children. I pray she comes in feeling renewed.

Foods; Resurrection Sunday, I ate at my aunt’s house. Right ! It was the bomb ! Candied yams, baked chicken, collard greens, cornbread, ginger ale and PEACH COBBLER. Yes, PEACH COBBLER. You know I ate what was on my plate, oh yes, and there was boiled corn J I ate and did not worry, I had two servings of PEACH COBBLER which is equalent (sp) to my mother’s sweet potato pie recipe. God does give us what we want sometimes, He is good like that. I enjoyed being with family and being with them helped me to get through the holiday. Easter was also important to my mother and father. I have tons of memories !!!! She use to dress me and herself up like princesses. My father was a very sharp dresser. We all loved to eat and we would either go out or my mom would cook. Yesterday, I found a photo of Chris at about age 10 all dressed up in a green suit. At that age, he loved suits. He wanted a red suit, NOT ! But this Easter Jayden was “Clean as the Board of Health” (voice of Olivia Dunlap). Jayden is a character with so much personality. I will try and upload his photo ! All I can say he is gma’s lil man. He shows he has swaggert at 16 months, I think he gets his cool from me, he was styling in his shades. YES, his own shades. I know, I know, this is Resurrection Sunday not a style show. Lord knows I appreciate his dying on the cross for my sins. I will never, ever forget, what he done for me !

Until my next Blog, Peace be with you!

This is my pamper me weekend! Hairdo tonight ! Nique is treating me to ½ of the cost of my hairdo. What a blessing! Kids! I will do my own mani, pedi and facial. Summer is coming and coats come off and sandals slide on. I may do another makeup haul this weekend. Maybe !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I ordered a couple products from Amazon, but some things I have to see up front and in person.

One more thing, Ariel and I took Jayden to the park for his first official swing and slide adventure. At first he was hesitant, he was not sure about the swing, he kept saying “bye bye” meaning get me out of here. I know at that time he wished he had more words J the slide he loved.

Seeking Godly Words !

I continue to experience the love of God. He is the true living God. I appreciate God in my life and He gives me hope. Thank You Lord for your salvation.

Yesterday I took care of some important business. After the close, life altering losses in my life, I am working to plan. My mom planned for her home going throughout her life. She told me what to do in the event of her death, and I have learned from her example. She paid her insurance policies timely, she made sure me/family would have a home that was paid for upon her death. A few years before she passed she began to sell off her cherished furnishing and hats as she wanted to get the financial benefit of these objects. But she made sure I didn’t want them. She left me her most treasured piece of furniture old antique ice box which is priceless. I had always had my mom as my beneficiary in the event I passed away first. Now that she is gone, I had to change mine. I did it, because I want have to prepare a will and a living will with directives for my medical care if need be. It is what my mom taught me. I decide who to leave my polices to. Yesterday I did this, I made a decision and left it at that. This is a relief. Dominique and Jayden to have a bit of security. I want them to be able to bury me without the stress of not having insurance in their name. I wanted to put the policy together as if it were a will, spelling out my desires of how and when Jayden’s part would be spent. But I was not able to, so I am trusting God and his mother to do the right thing.


I blog/journel because it gives me an outlet to express myself. As a therapist I understand and appreciate the importance of getting it out and dealing with the problem. But realistically it is difficult for me. I will often take the hurt instead of passing it on to the deserving person. It gives me an opportunity to get things out. I am not real good about getting things out. Especially in my interpersonal relationships. I often want to say things but fear I will hurt other’s feelings. So then I walk around carrying stuff/junk. I am asking God to give me tactful/Godly words. I promised myself in 2011 I would take care of me, and do things that are important for me. I would say I have been 60/40 on this. I want to be tactful/Godly in using my words, when I keep things in for so long when it comes out it often doesn’t sound good. I need to make baby steps on using my Godly words.

Yesterday’s workout was good. Camille is our Tuesday evening instructor. She was disappointed that our music system was not functioning properly. Even though it was not she still managed to give us a good workout. My heartbeat was definitely up. I was able to do all my crunches, even the ones when you hold your legs straight up. YEAH. My suicides were not as good, but I did as many as I could. I actually did 2 45 minutes planks, which use to kill my left shoulder. I modified them. They are excellent for building core muscles. EXCELLENT.

Foods and water intake yesterday could have been better. Five glasses of water instead of 8. I also had a few two many Doritos with my turkey taco. Everything else was cool, plenty of fruit, Jayden and I shared an apple, and he loves apples, oranges and banana. Not as much banana, I think his favorite is orange slices. I usually keep my fruit in my bedroom, so I can reach them quickly. He loves to find them and tear into them. This is good. He also likes the steamed veggies.

Today’s eating is good: breakfast, two boiled egg whites, coffee with ½ and ½. Lunch: Progresso 70 calorie a cup soup, and an apple. Not very hungry, I think yesterday’s Doritos are still in my system J

I see Ms. Juanita this evening after work. I need to be freshened up. My do is hit, my workouts wipe my hair out. I even wrap it but sweat still affects the hair, and it is if there is a build up of cakeiness. YUCK ! I am sure I will feel like a Queen when I leave her chair. She works magic on me.

What's happening with me !!

Praise the Lord !

I am thankful for all of God’s blessing ! He has kept me, shield me and fought my battles. He is a mighty warrior and I trust Him. He continues to bless me and I am working hard to listen and be obedient to his Word. God’s love is so awesome, it embraces me and keeps me breathing and seeking Him.

I have not blogged in a few days. I have been busy with work. My responsibility has grown so much. I am working to be a good servant in my workplace and to be obedient and helpful. The Lord has helped me to keep my mouth shut and stay in peace and allow him to work things out. And He has !!!!!! I come in with an attitude to get the job done and to get it done well.

My workouts have been fantastic. I was able to do 5 workouts last week including Zumba. Yesterday was Power Monday, I did my True Image workout and Zumba. I feel so encouraged when I complete both. It starts my week off with a BANG. Takeema came, it was helpful to have her at my side. She is such an amazing young woman. We all continue to encourage one another. This past Saturday, I dropped two more pounds, grand total 23 pounds since March 1. This is God’s work ! God gets the glory at every workout and every meal. I continue to ask God to get me through my workout and to take my greedy food eating spirit away. It is a process, day by day, meal by meal, workout by workout. On Saturday most of the ladies came out feeling quite successful. We encouraged one another and shared some of our To Do things for this life style change.

Jayden is something else. He has so much energy and personality. He likes to play rough and now he is roughing it with me. I give him piggy back rides. He has discovered that he has a tummy and that granny has a big stomach, and he likes to poke it J Ariel will begin work Thursday and he will begin going to a babysitter. Pray that he will transition and do well. Dominique is much better, she is blessed.

Food : I am staying below my 1,200 calorie intake. Which is helping me lose. I am careful to eat proteins and veggies. Calorie Count has been helpful, I log my foods and activity. Logging each food item helps me see the calories in each item. I was definitely putting some high calories items into my salads, for example chick peas. They had more calories than the chick peas were worth. So I cancelled the chick peas. There was another items I deleted but I can’t remember. I also checked on my dressings and changed to the French low calorie dressing, which I love. I usually mix two dressings.

New Goal: I have met my level 1 goal at True Image and I am moving on to Level 2. My first goal was to lose 20 lbs. Guess what? My new goal is to lose another 20 lbs. I am 3 pounds into my new goal. 17 more lbs to reach the next level. The long term goal is
for me to lose about 60 lbs then I will be a Level 4 meaning I can begin to incorporate more foods, less weekly workouts required and my monthy fees are cut to ½ price. It is a win/win.

Hump Day !

Hump Day ! Good Day ! Just Another Day that the Lord has blessed me. Just another day that the Lord has blessed me. Boy did my mom love that old hymn. I know now why she loved and appreciated this hymn. The Lord blesses me and keeps me from losing it. I ask him daily to give me peace and to keep my anxiety down. I know I suffer with depression and anxiety as my mother did. I know when I take care of God’s temple I feel so much better and so alive. I am blessed that the Lord blesses and gives us new mercies every day. It feels so good to know God loves me for who I am. I have tons and tons of paperwork to process. I will get it done, no doubt. I ask that the Lord give me what I need to do it and do it with a caring spirit. Our department is down a worker and so we are all taking on more assessments. My supervisor has done two already this week. We are trying to keep the beds full which helps the agency survive financially. Today is my off day from workout, it is my day to let my muscles relax. During our workout yesterday, we got DOWN. Camille work it out !!!!!!!!! Again we had so much energy. I modified the routine to the best of my ability. When I feel like giving up I ask God for strength and I get through. Cardio is so exciting, ab work is much needed, so I do it. Today’s weather is wonderful, it makes me appreciate God even more. I was actually able to wear my sunglasses J I continue to experiment with self improvement things to help boost my self esteem. Eating: Breakfast: orange, coffee/creamer Lunch: Progresso Traditional Barley Soup (160 calories). Lunch was delicious and warm.

I'm Back to my routine !

God I want to thank God for everything you have done for me. Yesterday, could have been a really stressful situation, but God you placed people in my life that love me. I see you working in my life. Thank you Lord for never leaving or forsaking me.

Friday, I got a call from work that the fire department, police and an ambulance were at my heart. My heart fell, I was thinking, what is going on now. What does me and my family have to deal with. Well it was Dominique. She was at the hospital with carbon monidoze (sp) poisoning. She had inhaled fumes from a van at work. She was feeling faint for no reason and not herself. The doctors ran a blood test and said she had high levels. So Cleveland Heights came to the house to make sure it was not in the house. The house was fine. I praised God for that. Her supervisor is having the van inspected. When she was discharged from the hospital her supervisor came over and brought her 3 beautiful cupcakes. She was happy. On Saturday she got ill again and went to the hospital. Her blood was good. We began to look up side effects. She needs to drink plenty of water and go out side and take in fresh air. By Monday she is beginning to feel more like herself. She said she was feeling disoriented and her legs felt heavy. I am praising God with each day she is feeling better. God is real good, real, real good.

The last few days have been full. Brandy's baby is here and he is sweet. He went to the doctor's yesterday, and he lost a few ounces. I am continuing to pray for his growth and health. Ariel's birthday party and dinner was this weekend. We had alot of fun. Ariel loves to celebrate birthdays. It was fun being with her and her family, they are really nice people and have a good sense of family. Jayden seemed to love having so many people in the room that he knew and that loved him. I thank God he has a good family experience. You can never get too much love.

Over the weekend, my getting was good, I stayed under my 1,200 calorie allowance, but I usually do not intake near this much food. My water intake is usually 8 to 10 glasses over the weekend it decreased to about 4 to 5 glasses. I am getting back on track. I did not feel as guilty as I thought I was. Oh yeah, at Saturday's weekly weigh in I lost 4 lbs. Total of 22 lbs. Oh, yeah ! I am grate to God !

Yesterday's workout was cool, I left the office early for a home visit. So my evening started off with a bang. Most days I like being out of the office. It was good seeing my fellow workout buddies. Today, I did 20 suicides which is a success for me, I can usually only do about 4. I changed my technique, Freda does them this way so I tried it and it WORKED. I thanked God all the way to the door. I modify most everything I do, so that I continue to move. I am inspired by others that can do every move, but I can't so I do me.

Zumba was awesome. Again Shante brought it. Her energy is fantastic. Aretha came this week for the first time and Takeema was there too. It was fun, we danced and danced and danced. Two workouts back to back is no joke. I am feeling results. I feel really good about what I am doing.

It feels good to be able to blog again. I need to stay with my routine. I am seeing that routine helps me.

Encouragement Part II

I feel like keeping on. This is a saying my mother use to say. This meant she felt encouraged. I want to thank God for his encouragement and love for us. God loves us so much. Thank You Lord for being there for me, for me.

Today I am taking care of some business, feeling real encouraged today and prayful that tomorrow will be a good day. Ariel is planning for her birthday which is the 14th but her party is tomorrow night and dinner is at Washbi on Sunday evening. I pray she will have fun and this won't be an empty experience for her. She loves celebrating her birthday and the birthdays of others. She has been planning her party since January : I got a text from her today saying she did not like the dress she had ordered from an internet store. I want her party to be a success. I work to encourage her as she is a young single mother.

I am not having hungry cravings this morning. I had 2 boiled egg whites, orange and coffee/half and half for breakfast. That was satisfying enough. I have been drinking water, but sometimes I feel bloated from it, I am still getting in 8 per day. Well yesterday was 7 ½ : I plan to workout tonight at True Image, I believe Takeema is the instructor tonight. She likes to use the step machines. The steps give us a good burn. Her floor exercises for Abs are awesome. Looking forward to tonight. I feel so much energy in the room as we exercise, it is if everyone is on one accord and invested. update: Takeema lead us through a really good exercise. I have so much difficulty doing suicides, I try but it hurts so much. I will try to incorporate some in my workouts at home. Also I was so thristy for something good I drank a half bottle of Diet Pepsi. I did not want to deprive myself :)

FAMILY

Family I am thanking God for the safe delivery of Carmello Reshaud Davis. God is good. I am grateful that Brandy has a healthy baby. God she knows it was YOU and is grateful, the entire family is grateful and thankful. Work dynamics are much like family dynamics. Always some type of drama. You try to avoid it as much as possible, but get pulled into it. My work family is cool, we spend 8 hours a day together so we know one another quite well and work to keep harmony. Our supervisor serves as “mama” I guess, so when we feel she is favoring or running slack on a slacker we get upset. I am asking God to help me respect my supervisor and this co-worker. I enjoy peace and work to bring the peace. I want to present myself in a Christian way in every encounter, and I have been slipping up. Usually I am the one to offer hope, but recently I have allowed myself to get pulled in. I want to start today anew and move on in positive manner. We all need our jobs and we need to get along and get the job done. This morning I vented to my two supports for my dietary life change. LOL I am still tripping out that I ate a bagel yesterday that was 270 whopping calories. I need to move on, but I know I ate it because I was visually attracted to it. I have been reading the research and thought I was in tune with my inner eating monsters. Yesterday, it was revealed to me that I am not. I was just greedy, there was no real hunger. I had passed up Einstein Bagels went up to Brandy’s hospital room, sat there, keep thing about it, walked out the room, got on the elevator and walked to get the bagels. I need to stay in prayer about this. I am not obsessing about eating, willpower calls other areas of my life where I have made poor choices and gotten into financial trouble. Boy do I have stories. Food Stuff: Braakfast: 2 boiled egg whites, coffee with ½ and 1/2 , orange. Lunch: Cup of Soup (Stone Oven) Snack: avocado - yuck (but it is suppose to help belly fat) Dinner: No workout tonight – Last Wednesday I picked up a extra Zumba class at Nulife. I don’t think I am going tonight, I will let my muscles rest and heal. I see Ms. Juanita this evening and that will be nice and relaxing.

ENCOURAGEMENT

Encouragement Praise God ! Praise God ! I am praising God for each day that I live. Thanking Him for giving me strength, for giving me an encouraged spirit. Thank You Lord for who you are. I am still pumped up after last night’s workout. The energy was so high and encouraging. Everyone was burning and encouraging one another to push (without hurting yourself). Kim was not at this Saturday’s weight in so she missed my weigh in. She had heard about it and encouraged me to continue in my journey. Last night Aretha came back to True Image it was good to see her. She was impressed by the new location and new routines. I am finding that encouragement is crucial in reaching my goals. We need to hear from one another and share new found discoveries. This is what True Image is for us ladies. Monday is my favorite workout because of the Zumba afterward. Last night was the bomb, the instructor’s energy was awesome. She started off by telling us she was sleepy and that she needed the workout to wake her up. Well it woke her up alright. She pushed up with her excitement. Zumba is a party ! We shook parts of our body that we didn’t know we had. I was really tired at the end of the workout, but I believe she said she is adding Thursday workout at a later time. You know I’m All In. Which would be good to have a powerful workout on Monday and then Thursday. ‘ After I got home last night, Dominique and I played with Jayden. He was showing us all the stuff he knows how to do. Wonderful stuff ! Touching his nose, eyes, feet, ears, saying good-bye, waving. He loves to watch us clap and encourage him. The funny thing is he when you ask him who Tree is he points to her, but when you ask him who grandma is he won’t point. He is so funny ! He has lots of personality. LOTS. Brandy is scheduled to deliver today. I am praying for a safe deliver, and a healthy baby. God Bless her and the family. Food: Breakfast: Greek Yogurt (non fat) with banana and strawberries, 2 egg whites with mushroom (my fav). I will have a stir fry from Heininen I love that you can choose your veggies. Morning snack: 7 wheat thin crackers – I love the crunchy stuff. I think I am substituting crunchy stuff in place of my beloved sugar. I will have chicken. Maybe a double portion of chicken for the protein blast. Dinner will be small, because I am working out tonight and I am usually not hungry. Water intake is real good. 8 glasses per day. YES YES YES update: Well I went to the hospital to visit Brandy and Carmello and he is beautiful. He is 5 lbs. 10 ounces, 18 inches long. I held him alot and actually gave him a bottle. Brandy was sick from the anthesia, really sick. Hey gave her a different med for nausea and it kicked in within a minute and she began to slowly feel better. While I was there I had a cup of chicken noodle soup and a bagel with a little butter. Well when I got home and log this into calorie count I was pissed. Bagel 270 calories soup was 150. Well I was still below the calorie range my doctor put me on. But over way I put myself on :) I got over it and drank 4 glasses of water. I'm OK. I needed the carbs I guess.

My workout was real good. The first week of the month True Image does cardioblast which means no weights. We do cardio for 45 minutes then hit the floor for ab work. Of course, this is a more difficult burn, when we have done 30 minutes for 3 weeks. But it helps the body by changing things up a little. I am modifying the things that are not right for my body right now. I am doing this so I won't burn out or injure myself. I do want to push it up to the next level and I will when my body is ready.

Ariel called me at work today and told me Jayden said his first sentence. She asked him to brush his teeth and he said "Brushed my teeth" she said well brush them again and he did.

Power Monday !

Praising God for a wonderful weekend with friends and family. Thanking Him for providing me with the Word on Sunday. It was wonderful to be in God’s House around His people. Thank You Lord ! Well yesterday I was too busy You Tubing to journal. How about that ! I am loving You Tube, it’s new to me. Well I went to dinner with Oren/Nicole, Bill/Amber we had fun, lots of laughs. Food was good, I ordered an omelet, oh yeah the toast was delcious (love the carbs), I forgot to include the toast in my calorie count last night. Darn it ! To top off a wonderful dinner we went SHOPPING. We got some really nice bargains, I will go back, real soon ! I got a couple of dressing I will be able to wear to ballrooming. I need to lose about 20 more lbs. before I can even think of getting into those dresses. Lord Help Me. I will begin to coordinate my accessories as I get ready to fit in them. The bonus is I was able to add 30 minutes of shopping as my activity in Calorie Count. I love this tool. Do I burn more for shopping in heels LOL I got some things done at the house. Most importantly my attorney called yesterday. I have been in prayer and God definitely has it. I have not called the attorney in over a month, I did not want to be too anxious, but I was a lil bit scared. God has definitely keep me through this process. He has provided me with the means to handle this business. Praise God ! I know God is amazing, yesterday as I listened to the sermon, the pastor said we should always have examples of God’s work in our lives. I can say GOD has been working in mine. Thank You Lord for your mercy and favor. Food: Yesterday was the first day I ever had goat cheese, it was in my omelet, it was of a different taste than what I am use to, but it was good.

Update: Boot Camp + Zumba = Dynamite "Enough Said" Good Night

Eighteen !!!!!!

Today was lots of FUN ! I thank God for allowing me to see another day. He woke me up this morning and started me on my way. To God be the Glory !

My day started off with me being determined to to complete things that were on my to do list. I started by doing my workout. Excellient workout, Camille came in with lots of energy ready to work us out. After the workout, it was time to weigh in, time to see what I had accomplished from my week of focusing on a healthier lifestyle. I was anxious to see so I was about the second person to be weighed. I handed Tammy my meal plan, I stepped on the scale and I had prayed for this type of success, but seeing it was crazy. God gave me the strength, every minute, every craving and ache and pain from exercise, the extra Zumba class, it was all right there on the scale. Debbie screamed all I could do was stand their in silence. Then it hit me and I began to rejoice. I gave God the glory because it was only him that could do such as amazing act. Well, (drum roll) My total weight loss for this week was 5.6 lbs. I was thrilled and then did I see all the hard work pay off. I often talk to LaVisa and Tahila at work regarding GUARANTEEING your weight loss. Meaning do what you know it takes to see the weight come off. Most of us know to lose weight we must reduce calorie intake, exercise and drink 8 glasses or more of water. My goal is 3 lbs per week, but I will take 5.6 lbs. I will give myself this push one week per month, other week's goal is 3 lbs.

Since March 1, 2011 I have lost 18 lbs. Fantastic ! Praise God !

After workout I got my hair done and then I got ready for dinner with Stephanie and Tierra. We had lots of fun at Stir Crazy. We talked and laughed and shopped til we could no longer shopped, the stores closed up on us. The lady made me feel real special. We found lots of bargains at Legacy, Francessia Closet, Charming Charley and Nordstorm Rack. Big Fun !

Friday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God Blessed me with a VERY good day ! Through it all God is so faithful. I am listening quietly for God to lead me through life. I need him so desperately as I make decisions in my life. I want to make Godly decisions that will impact me positively and affect others in a good way. I feel positive about life and what God has to offer me. I am living each day trusting and believing God. Today a friend of mine is discouraged, I am asking God to rain down blessing on her. I am also in pray regarding my cousin Brandy. She goes to the doctor tomorrow for another ultra sound, they may or may not keep her. I pray that Brandy will not be stressed today and tomorrow and rely on God. I also pray the baby is in good health. I pray God’s will. My work day was well planned out yesterday, so today I am on point. We are at a steady pace today, which makes the day pass. I am so looking forward to the weekend. Time for me to regroup and also be with friends and family. Lifestyle Change: I continue to log my calories in Calorie Count and am making good use of this tool. The tool allows me to track my calories and it analyzes what I eat, letting me know what my body needs. It also gives the foods I eat a grade. Which is helpful. Say for instance if I am eating something that is a C+ it allows me to see other brands/types that are A or A+. I took all my needed supplements this morning and had a simple breakfast; Chobani lowfat Greek yogurt (pineapple). Lemon is my favorite but Heinen has sold out. L I also had coffee, and a orange. Wow that was an excellient choice for breakfast. I talked to a friend last evening and I was able to share some healthy tips with her. She has high blood pressure and high cholesterol, she is cutting back on sodium but needed some food choice. My lunch will consist of steamed veggies, jello temptation, green tea, strawberries. My goal is to work out this evening. I really don’t like Friday night workouts, if I go tonight, it will be by the strength of the Lord. My weigh in is tomorrow morning, so I will be in prayer. I am always amazed when I step on the scale. ALWAYS !! I know I am making better choices, but …….. My dinner will be minimum, after I workout in the evening I am not hungry, maybe a fruit, I have a banana I plan to eat on my way to workout, I will need the potassium. Lord give me strength, continue to encourage my heart. Thank you for your blessing. All this I could not do with you. I give you all the honor and the glory for renewing me. Thank you for the special blessing I will receive in a few days. Lord you are magnificient.

Update: To exhausted to workout this evening. Ran a few errands so I would less to do tomorrow. Had 100 calorie Pop-Secret for dinner.