Getting Healthy….Again!

Posted March 29, 2010 By Andrea and has no comments yet.

So, yes, I successfully lost 30+ pounds in 2008. Then in 2009 I proceeded to get pregnant and put back on almost all the weight with the exception of about 8 pounds. But I would say now I’m more determined than ever. I want to be able to swim, hike up Stone Mountain, run around the park and more with my little girl. In order to do that I have to get serious all over again!

It is lovely being a mother, so I know all the curves and jiggles are worth it, but now (most) of them need to go. For reals.

My 1st goal is to lose 12 pounds by May 10th. No, that is not far away but it will probably allow me to fit back into my (non-maternity) bathing suit and take an infant water class with Gems before summer officially starts!

Another thing, I LOVE food! With the exception of some meats I am never going to be a huge “eliminator.” I like a variety in my life and as a Southerner of course I have many weaknesses and loves that are full of fat! Diets DON’T work for me. So here is what I did to get some balance and have a healthier attitude about food and weight loss.

Here are my tips (and how I did it before). I’m posting them here for myself and anyone else who might be interested.

1. Hit the gym AT LEAST 3 times a week (Preferably 4-5).
2. On non-gym days take a walk, do some yoga, something to get that body moving.
3. Eat often, but don’t overeat. Snack on almonds, apples, a little peanut butter with crackers, or a yogurt to get you between meals.
4. Love those leafy greens (and often)! Eat healthy salads (think spinach and bitter greens) with dressing on the side. If you want that fattening dressing, go ahead, but dip your fork and use less than half.
5. Eat breakfast! To be honest I would have a bagel with light cream cheese and a large coffee at least once a week, but it didn’t hinder me losing weight because I kept moving and ate healthy most of the time.
6. Maintain a healthy attitude about carbs, don’t neglect them but don’t make them the centerpiece of all your meals!
7. Eat off the kids menu. Sometimes I wanted something with fries, ya know? Ordering from the kids menu is instant portion control. If you’re still hungry get a side of steamed veggies or a side salad.
8. Have a treat night. Don’t overindulge yourself for a whole day so that you feel gross and run-down at the end of the day. But choose a night and split the cheesecake or have that steak (from a restaurant that serves grass fed beef hopefully) ;) .
9. Don’t think, oh, I can’t eat there or I can’t do that. What I learned? Bruster’s has great yogurt and even the unhealthiest places will let you create your own healthy option (no butter, can I get that with mushrooms and spinach instead of cheese? are great)
10. Drink water!!! Keep a bottle on you and refill it and keep refilling.

Okay! Time to start following my own advice. :) If this doesn’t help you or you think I’m crazy, sorry. Like I said, I’m not a dieter and I’m from the South (unhealthy eating is sometimes a requirement)!

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Categories: Staying Healthy

Have a little Compassion…

Posted March 25, 2010 By Andrea and has no comments yet.
Name: Jahidul Islam (BD2190180)
Birthday: November 10, 2002    Age: 7
Gender: Male
Region: South Asia
Country: Bangladesh
Program: Kaunia Child Sponsorship Program

Personal and Family Information:
 Jahidul lives with his father and his mother. At home, duties include carrying water, buying or selling in the market and caring for animals. His father is sometimes employed as a seller in the market and his mother maintains the home. There are 2 children in the family.

As part of Compassion’s ministry, Jahidul participates in Christian instruction. He is also in pre-school where his performance is average. Soccer, singing and art are his favorite activities.

Please remember Jahidul in your prayers. Your love and support will help him to receive the assistance he needs to grow and develop.

Community and Project Information:
Jahidul lives on the plains of Kaunia, home to approximately 5,500 residents. Typical houses are constructed of dirt floors, bamboo walls and corrugated iron roofs. The primary ethnic group and language is Bengali.

The regional diet consists of beans, rice and lentils. Common health problems in this area include viral hepatitis, typhoid fever, asthma and malnutrition. Most adults in Kaunia are unemployed but some work as day laborers and earn the equivalent of $26 per month. This community needs health care facilities, educational materials, schools, employment opportunities and income-generating activities.

Your sponsorship allows the staff of Kaunia Child Sponsorship Program to provide Jahidul with Bible teaching, nutritious food, medical treatment, health and hygiene education, safe drinking water, recreational activities, picnics, tutoring, uniforms, shoes and academic support. The center staff will also provide meetings for the parents or guardians of Jahidul.

Please consider and pray about being a part of Jahidul’s life. You could be a huge difference in the life of this child. Click HERE to sponsor Jahidul. This child has been waiting for a sponsor for more than six months. Credit card payment is required to ensure that this child’s wait ends today. Help make a difference in the life of this child, who is anxiously waiting for a sponsor.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Categories: Random

Have a little Compassion….

Posted February 11, 2010 By Andrea and has no comments yet.


Today, give a gift to Gifty. At four years old, Gifty lives with her stepfather and her mother. At home, duties include helping in the kitchen and running errands. Her stepfather is sometimes employed and her mother maintains the home. There are 2 children in the family.

Gifty is not presently attending school. Singing and playing house are her favorite activities. She also attends church activities and Bible class regularly.

Your love and support will help Gifty to receive the assistance she needs to develop her potential. Please pray for her. Click HERE if you are interested in sponsoring Gifty.

This child lives in an AIDS affected area. In Africa, the disease has impacted the entire continent, creating a generation of orphans and vulnerable children. God can use you to help ease the pain of a child in desperate need.

IMPORTANT: A CREDIT CARD IS REQUIRED as payment because this child has been classified “HIGH PRIORITY”. This child has been waiting more than 6 months for a sponsor. Help make a difference in the life of this child, who is anxiously waiting for a sponsor.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Categories: Compassion

Lend a Hand

Posted January 14, 2010 By Andrea and has no comments yet.

Although most of us cannot be there literally, there is way to lend a hand in Haiti’s recent crisis. Give to an organization that you know proves themselves to be true and gives the money you donate straight to the people who need it most. Compassion already has workers on the ground in Haiti. If you would like to give, or just learn more about what they are doing, please click HERE.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Categories: Compassion

Beautiful Life

Posted January 12, 2010 By Andrea and has 2 comments.

All of you who are parents out there know…life becomes all about baby. At least for the first few months. I’ve learned so far that you can’t prepare yourself for anything, immense love does come instantaneously and naturally, and it is imperative to keep trusting God.

You never know if you’re making the right decision, you just have to pray and follow your heart. Pretty much like everything else in this life.

It’s scary, because I see the world moving around you and it almost seems to be moving past me. There is nothing I can do or say to make it slow down and fit with the pace my body and brain seem to be permanently resigned to. However, I see some light at the end. I see my baby girl laughing and smiling more, and I know that eventually, not only will I be able to fully return to trying to live, learn, and give as Jesus called me to (not that I have “paused,” rather I have very little people interaction at the moment), but I will be able to bring another little person with me and show her how important it is to care- about people, the world around her, and most of all the God who blessed us with her precious life.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Categories: Being a parent, Spiritual Reflections

Growing Up

Posted September 30, 2009 By Andrea and has 1 comment.

I always wanted to…

Have it all together
Establish a career
Go back to school
Be financially stable

…first

However, don’t we all know by now God has other plans. I might have free will, but that doesn’t mean I’m always in control. Two days ago I saw the sweetest little face peering at me from the shoulder of another woman. He looked so peaceful, so tiny, so perfect. And I thought okay, I may not ever be ready, I may never have it all together, but this is something God put in my life for a reason. Not only can I give this child all the love I have but God has placed that desire in my heart. To pass on the immense love and grace God has given me, a purpose and a calling, onto another life.

Train s child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Proverbs 22:6

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Categories: Personal, Spiritual Reflections
Tags: ,

Reflections on Judgment

Posted September 15, 2009 By Andrea and has 3 comments.

“You lie.”
“Beyonce’s video is better.”
“We are turning this nation socialist.”
“I want Obama to die.”
“He is a horrible person because he said X.”

I feel that somehow all of these are strangely connected. Based in a society that thrives on pointing out flaws and living on broken systems and never wanting to realize something better. In reality it seems that our plight for individual happiness has made us more upset, judgmental, and unhappy than ever. Our fringe groups bash other systems for having no control over their totalitarian terrorist government regimes then accuse Obama of being Hitler? Do they even know or realize that in these other countries the government bodies are actually the ones doing the raping and pillaging? And I’m not just talking money.

In light of all this it seems highly critical and narcissistic for so many people (Americans really) to be focusing on their own likes/dislikes, i.e. judgments, as the only approach to something. Showing no room for compromise or deliberation points to a God complex of being all knowing, which I can’t say I know of any one person who is even close.

Not only does individual effort have to be made to stop the judgments from coming from our own mouths, but a cry of prayer to our Father for intercession and a global softening of hearts towards others who may be different from ourselves. Sound like a big enough task? It is. But just asking God to change our hearts and looking at everything through the lens of our Father God is a massive start.

The deprivation of our world is only made more apparent by our autocratic need to look out for only ourselves or those like us.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Categories: Politics?, Social Justice, Spiritual Reflections
Tags: , ,

9 months up and 9 months down

Posted September 8, 2009 By Andrea and has 2 comments.

Not only is there much to learn about pregnancy and becoming a mother, there is also that pesky weight gain. Whether you are a light gainer, a heavy gainer, or a moderate gainer, you think about your body constantly and notice the ways that it is changing- and there ain’t no stopping it! I think jiggling body parts are synonymous with expecting.

Everyone I meet or share a conversation with about this likes to remind me of the (apparently) old adage “Nine months up, nine months down. Don’t expect it to all fall off immediately!” Well, gee, thanks….?

I feel like God is trying to work with me though. Soften me to importance I have placed on physical appearance and perhaps still place on and lead me towards a place of more emotional, physical, and spiritual health. Balance. Finding beauty and peace in the absolute miracle (and pain) of bringing another life into this world.

So next time you are conversating with a woman, don’t try to argue away the weight gain, don’t try to share the lamest adage in the world, just focus on the wonderful, beautiful thing she is doing.

Okay, okay, you can remind her that she looks great for being a preggo, but don’t overdo it. We know we look different!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Categories: Spiritual Reflections, Staying Healthy
Tags:

Yesterday

Posted September 1, 2009 By Andrea and has 1 comment.

I had a miniature breakdown. I had to admit to my husband and myself what has been going on.

Pregnancy is not easy for everyone. While a lot of women love being pregnant some women really find it a time of struggle and low self worth.

I am the latter. I am lucky though. I have good days and bad. It is not all darkness. And I can see a happiness with bringing a new life into this world. I have great people around me and most of all a great God.

It is time to start turning over my emotion and my doubt to him. Thank you for all your prayers and support during this time.

And thank you most of all for keeping my husband sane. He needs the support as well since he is living with a crazy preggo. ;)

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Categories: Random
Tags:

Compassion Thursday- Thank you!!! Brian is sponsored

Posted August 27, 2009 By Andrea and has no comments yet.

It is time to open your heart to Brian. Brian is from Uganda, a nation that has been torn by war and violence (especially against children and using children) with Joseph Kony’s “The Lord’s Resistance Army.” Your sponsorship of Brian, your prayer and support, can make a huge difference in his life. Please consider allowing Brian to be part of your extended family. He is so young and has so much in front of him. Show him the love of Jesus, you never know what God has in store for this relationship.UG4500038-Fullshot-200w Click on Brian’s picture or name to sponsor or learn more!

Name: Brian Matovu (UG4500038)
Birthday: September 10, 2004    Age: 4
Gender: Male
Region: Africa
Country: Uganda
Program: Kyanamugera Child Development Center

Personal and Family Information:
In his home, Brian helps by carrying water. He lives with his father and his mother. His father is sometimes employed as a farmer and his mother is sometimes employed as a farmer. There are 7 children in the family.

For fun, Brian enjoys soccer and singing. He attends church activities regularly and is in kindergarten where his performance is average.

Because of your sponsorship, Brian will have new opportunities to learn and grow physically, mentally, and spiritually. Thank you for your concern and prayers.

This child lives in an AIDS affected area. In Africa, the disease has impacted the entire continent, creating a generation of orphans and vulnerable children. God can use you to help ease the pain of a child in desperate need.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Categories: Compassion
Tags:
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