Wendy Shelton RIP

                                                 The Shelton Family



Wendy Shelton wife of Obie Shelton went on to be with the Lord on Thursday May 31st at 3:30 a.m.  She was an awesome woman of God, wife and mother.  She was a friend to many and such an encouragement to others.  She was a faithful oh so faithful.  I will always remember her beautiful smile and her love for God.


Lord Bless the family and give them peace as they begin this journey.  Allow them to feel your presence.  I pray that a smile comes across their face whenever they think of Wendy.

Wendy's memorial service will be Friday, June 8th at New Community Bible Fellowship 3557 Washington Blvd. Cleveland Heights; Family visitation 9:30AM, memorial service 10AM. 

Psalm 108;1-6.

                                                               

One is Not Enough-Addictive Personality

Lord you are so gracious.  Your favor always amazes me.  How you use Your people to help and bless others.  You align things in my life, when I am obedient.  When I humble myself You show up.  Thank You for your favor, grace and mercy.  Lord I am trying !

_______________________________________________________

Please don’t judge me !  Read and be blessed by the content !

I am Vanessa I have an addictive personality.  Really I do.  It Is What It Is!  I write this for those that may identify.  I am calling myself out and preaching to the choir.  I am coming out of my secret closet of addiction.

My addictive personality shows up in my eating habits.  I am addicted to sugar and flour.

Today at work, a coworker brought some cute little sweet cookies.  She invited me to have some, I told her no.  She said one won’t hurt you.  I explained to her that taking one for me puts the taste of sugar in my mouth and I will continue to eat them until they are all gone.  I am going through some things right now in my life and as I am a known emotional eater I will eat every cookie in this place.  I will neglect the salad I brought in for lunch and seek out other foods like pizza for lunch. 

I said all that to say that I cannot have one.  I am working to stay focused and not allowing my eating to go out of control this week.  I am doing everything within my means to stay focused.  Blogging is one of the tools I use to stay focused. So bear with me. 

In addition to being a food addict.  I am a shopping addict. You see addictions takes on many forms.  Some drink, do drugs, gamble or have sexual addictions.  Not me give me some sugar and a mall and I’m good.  But that’s not good for me, because things spiral all out of control.  When I am feeling down and out I need to seek more of Jesus.  He is the answer.  You see the sweetness of the sugar, gives me a temporary rush and satisfaction.  Shopping, buying out of control gives me a temporary thrill.  God loves order and being out of control in my life means things are out of order.

One has never been enough, when I see a dress I like in one color I am searching like crazy to see if there are others in different colors.  And the same with shoes.  I am sick of it.  I am giving it up.  Now I write this blog in my mother’s honor, but I am gonna rat her out on this one.  Sorry Ma !  I learned my shopping habits and eating habits from her.  My dad had excellent credit, he prided himself on it.  I liked walking into anywhere with the power as a consumer to get what he wanted.  I choose to be more like Ma.  She loved to dress me and shopped all the time.  Poor eating I learned from both parents.  I say to say, my childhood habits have to be broken.  They are keeping me from freely serving the Lord, why because my focus is on other crazy stuff instead of the Lord.  I am asking for God’s forgiveness.

I have been on a NO BUY; no makeup, no clothes, no shoes.  Nothing !  I have an abundance of things that I have accumulated.  The plan is for me to not buy and use what I have.  I have been doing ok with it.  I have not been to the mall, I have gone to a drug store and skimmed through cosmetics but didn’t purchase.  Now I do need to pick up some skin care products and I will because I feel this is a necessity.  Check this out, I have back ups of my back ups when it comes to makeup.   The way my addiction works on me is a sin.  A form of idolatry.   Nothing should stand in Your way of reaching out to God and trusting Him to make things right. My mom use to always tell me God is a Jealous God.   

I pray if these are issues of yours that you will take the time to analyze your weak areas, ask God for strength and move forward.

I am praying that everyone has a really safe blessed day and that you feel the presence of the Lord in your life.

Follow my beauty and fashion blogs at Squidoo.

 http://www.squidoo.com/eye-makeup-department-store-drug-store-brands

Reduce Your Sugar Intake

WOW

LORD LEAD AND GUIDE US.  GIVE US A HEART TO FOLLOW YOU.  LORD I ASK YOU FOR STRENGTH AND PEACE AS I GO THROUGH THE STORMS OF LIFE.  KEEP MY FAITH STRONG SO THAT I CAN WITNESS OF YOUR GOODNESS !

Yesterday the women of Fit for the King took our first walk of the season at Euclid Creek.  We all did the 5 miles, the time went quickly as we talked, laughed and shared our various motivations.

Last week topic was ; Focus, Motivation and Action (feel free to go back and review)

This week the topic of discuss will be "What We Put Into Our Bodies".  Just to let you know that in order to lose weigh you have to burn more calories than you take in.  It's simple in theory.  Now this week we we apply this rule.

This is where we will begin to write down what we consume on a daily basis including our snacks.  The photograph above gives us an example of just how much sugar is in the beverages we drink on a daily.  WOW !

I remember a time in which I would drink at least three 16 oz of PEPSI per day.  My friends use to tease me about it as they knew it was my favorite drink.  Well I don't drink PEPSI anymore, I drink diet COKE, BUT I do know I need eliminate it from my diet and drink 8 glasses or more of water per day.

The photo above illustrates the sugar in drinks only, think about the cakes, pies, and other sugary treats we consume.  This is where focusing comes into play.  Keeping this illustration in my mind this week will help me focus on drinking more water this week.

My mother died from complications to being a diabetic.  She was a long time diabetic and had managed the diabetics with medications.  After her heart attack they removed the vein/artery from her leg and the incision on her leg would not heal.  It got repeated injections, one after another. The injection attacked her spine and she could not sit unsupported in a chair.  But at the end it was the diabetics that was out of control.

My mother was a diabetic first, stroke victim second and then heart attack victim.  My father was diabetic and had heart disease, high blood pressure and prostrate cancer.  As I list all my parent's illnesses they are all but maybe one food related.

So my message to myself and to you is to decrease the sugar, fats and food heavy in cholestrol.  I am sure some of you can relate to a family history of poor health related to food.  Yesterday one of the ladies explained to me that a certain form of cancer feed off sugar.   I was shocked and this help confirm to that we are what we eat.

Since September 2011 I have made a point of eliminating as much sugar and flour from my diet as possible.  Now this has not been easy, it is definitely a process; which I have to have God for strength. I have to workout,  I write this journey to help me with my journey.  I fall off as I am an emotional eater, but I don't give up.

This week let's reduce sugar, flour and fat in our diets.  Let's commit to living a healthy lifestyle.  Let's plan our meals and stick to it.  COME ON YA'LL let's do it.  Then Do it Again, it will become habit forming.

Beauty Tip -  Last week I did not focus much on beauty products.  And I must admit I missed it.  I have begun another blog through SQUIDDO which I will be doing more fashion and beauty type blogs, where I will be doing reviews/fants and raves.  I currently have 2 beauty related ones; The Maxi Dress and the other is pertains to eyeshadow on a budget.

Beauty and fashion blog
http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/OliviaDaughter

ACTION - EUCLID CREEK

AT THE TOP OF THE HILL AND WE ARE STILL SMILING 

             "LET'S SHED THOSE POUNDS AND GET HEALTHIER"


WEEKEND UPDATE :   WE MET FOR OUR FIRST WALK OF MANY.   WE ARE THE LADIES OF  "FIT FOR THE KING" FROM NCBF (church).   WE HAVE COMMITTED OURSELVES TO A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE.  THE GROUP IS OPEN TO ANY WOMAN SO FEEL FREE TO COME AND YOU CAN DEFINITELY BRING A FRIEND.    

AGENDA:  8:30 a.m. to 8:40 a.m.- warm up and stretching
                    8:40 a.m. - Prayer
                    8:40 a.m. - til about 10:00 a.m. - walk 5 miles
                    10:00 a.m. - cool down
                    **** once a month we will have breakfast together (TBD)

WE ARE ALL AT DIFFERENT FITNESS LEVELS AND WE ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER TO WALK AT YOUR OWN PACE.

AS WE CLIMBED "THE HILL" 

FITNESS EQUIPMENT AT THE EUCLID CREEK 

                                                 

GROUP LEADER:  JIESHA PERKINS
GROUP ASSISTANT : VANESSA JORDAN aka Olivia's Daughter  - 216-773-9665

Just Do IT. Then Do IT Again !

Lord God You are everything to me.  I am so grateful for Your love.  Lord protect my home, my family and friends.  Build us up, give us strength as we do your bidding. We want to be persistent in all the good that we do.  Lord we need  You.  

FOCUS, MOTIVATION and ACTION – Lifestyle Change

This week I have written about what gets  us going, what inspires us to change.  Changing the way we think is about 80% of the battle.  When we begin to think positively, knowing that we can do what we set out to do, we begin to put things in place to make change. 

                                                                          

One of this week’s blog focused on Motivation.  I uploaded a motivational quote “Motivation is What gets you started -  Habit is what Keeps you going”.  I am a Pinterest lover and I pinned it to my page.  I got an overwhelming response of 40 repins.  Great Right !  Normally quotes I pin receive 1 or 2 repins 4 the max.  Allowing what makes motivates you to turn into habit can be a good thing.  Habits means turning something into a lifestyle change.  When something becomes a habit we do it routinely.  I have practiced the habit of eating the same breakfast for nearly 6 months.  I have strayed away here or there but it is my habit.  Before breaking my foot, I practiced the habit of working out 3 times per week. 

Habits that make for a success weight loss: 

1. meal plan-put together healthy meal menus
2. chart what you eat
3. chart your weight, preferably in the a.m.
4. workout regiment – 3 to 4 times per week
5. drink 8 glasses of water per week
6. always eat breakfast with a good protein; egg
7. pray daily asking God for strength

• I know there are others but this is some things that should be in amongst our basic habits.

FINALLY TAKING ACTION - 

     Let’s say you have focused in and got your mind wrapped around the need to live healthier.  And you have found your motivation.  It is now time to ACT.  Depending on your needs you need to get up and JUST DO IT. Whether it is workout videos at home, power walking, boot camp, treadmill, you choose what works for you and your medical and physical needs. 

    Get up and do it.  You are definitely worth it, your family is worth it, that outfit you want to get into is …………………………..   You get the picture !

                                                                                  

Tomorrow walk is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Euclid Creek, meeting near the basketball court.  Come on out and let’s DO IT !




Please let me know in the comment box, what good habits as far as fitness you have incorporated into your life.

What Motivates You ?

http://www.godvine.com/Man-Barely-Able-to-Stand-on-his-Own-Does-the-Unthinkable-Amazing-1476.html
******First please click the above link and check out this guy, who had such odds against him.  His story is one of motivation.  Video should inspire you, if not, let's talk :)

Lord I honor You and feel Your favor, grace and mercy.  Lord I thank You for what You do in my life and the lives of people I love.  Lord I love to watch You work Your amazing work.  I love to see You do what we know only YOU can do.  To fix broken hearts to rebuild lives, to motivate us to push on.  Lord I will serve You til I die.  I marvel at the day I see Your face.   Thank You Lord.

Focus, Motivation then Act

What Motivates YOU ?

Building on the last two blogs, we will explore MOTIVATION.  Once I find my focus and become centered and I have made my mind up to do it.  I am at the point where I am pumped, fired up and ready.  We tend to find our motivation in different ways.  Some are motivated by wanting to become healthy; to come off medications.  Some want to feel better about their self image; losing weight to be slimmer and trimmer.

For myself, and I am just putting it out there, keeping it real, REAL.  You know me I’m transparent.  I like to look and feel my best, to be my best person at age 53.  When I am on my treadmill, I can go into a zone of thinking about how I will look in my new dress.  Now that might’s be what I should be thinking, oh but I am.  But in a good way.  Looking your best, being physically fit and taking care of the body God gave us is a good thing.  I am not a vain person by any means, but when I want motivation I go right to how I look.  I do feel that this is true for a lot of us LOL  Come on now !

Now maintaining motivation over the long term is quite a different story.  Going into maintenance for me is my most difficult struggle.  I do absolutely well in the initial stage it is after the loss that I begin to slip back into old habit and my new habits sneak away daily.

We will explore maintenance phase on another blog, as it needs special attention.

Beauty:  I am on a “no buy” and doing really well.  I must admit I did purchase a $10 ring from a lady that sells jewelry.  I was supporting her black owned business LOL

For me this is good, within the last 2 weeks, a ring only.  I am focusing on things that I have, cherishing those things, and using them. 

Reminder:  Walk is every Saturday, Euclid Creek at 8:30 a.m., lower end of the park by the basketball court.  Wear comfortable attire, bring water !  Come ready to get a really good workout in.

**********Now just to let you know I am not an expert, not a fitness guru, none of that this is my own opinion.  But these key elements have worked for me. 

Leave your comments and give me your best motivational story.  Feel free to interact in the comment section.  It makes for interesting diaglog and a means to support and bless others.  

Day 2 - Focus: “Wrapping Your Mind Around It”

Lord Thank You for giving me Peace through the storms of life.  Thanks for keeping me close to You.  I am so grateful that You love and keep me.  Keep me focused on Your love for me Lord.

FOCUS, MOTIVATION, ACT 

Yesterday’s blog, began a series of key elements for healthy living and weight loss.  It based on good practical steps that can be applied to almost every area of your life.

As we know, exercise and fitness does not come easy, nor is it something that we just naturally want to do.  At least I don’t.  We have to take steps; both big and small to move toward our fitness goals.  In order to be successful we need to begin by putting our attention on IT; losing weight and maintaining.

Focus:  Focus is where we will put our attention.  Focus begins with what I will refer to as “wrapping your mind around IT”.  Have you ever wanted something really bad, you woke up and went to bed with it on your mind?  You focused in on it enough until you were successful in IT.  Whether it was getting the job, finishing school, buying a home you focused and got it done. 

**** Focus on God - Now a key element in this is putting God in the center of our focus.  Incorporating our desire to be fit into our prayer life.  Honoring our bodies as vessels that glorify God.   Focus on God, and ask Him for strength to take on this challenge.

***** Focus helps us establish good habits that will help us meet our short and long term goals.  Focus puts you in a position of gaining control over poor habits.

******Let’s begin by first focusing on how we want to look and feel.  Close your eyes and image a thinner, healthier you.  Take a before photo of yourself, place it in a couple spots, on your desk, dresser/vanity, refrigerator.  Then weight yourself, and measure if you like (I never measure).  This is where you begin to chart (see yesterday’s blog and print log).

Let use the tools and take the road to success 

Now you have began the process, you have “wrapped your mind around IT”.   

Tomorrow we will continue in this series.  I pray you have been inspired by this blog, and feel more equipped to get started or continue in your weight loss challenge. 

I have included a few tools that will assist you in keeping your focus. 

Thanks for subscribing and following Olivia’s Daughter.  Please leave me your comments and any suggestions you may have so that other’s may be blessed.  Talk with you soon.