Kara

Merry Christmas!

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Hello, friends!

Wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas.

My family didn’t have formal pictures made this year (or even a group shot with all four of us in it), so I can’t show you a beautiful, perfectly posed image here.

I guess that’s characteristic of this stage of life for us, though.

Perfectly Imperfect.

Relying on His grace and His strength each moment.

Thank you all for joining with me in this adventure. 2014 has been so fun and I’ve loved sharing it with each of you. I plan to do a recap coming up next week that will pull out some of the important highlights and that will talk about plans for WellnessWitness in 2015.

Know this- no matter what you may be facing right now, we can have HOPE and we can have PEACE because Jesus came.

God sent us a Savior- at the perfectly ordained moment. Christmas for me this year has had two main themes:
1- Jesus Came
2- God with Us

I’ve been reminded again and again that because of these two truths, we TRULY can rejoice regardless of our circumstances.

I pray that you find that same peace, too.

So from my home to yours- MERRY CHRISTMAS, friends! I love you and am grateful for you!

Sharing our Successes: MEET KAT!!!

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When I went for our opening orientation meeting my freshman year of college, I met a girl named Katherine. I immediately loved her sweet spirit, her type A personality, her affinity for fun, and I decided that “Kat” and I were going to hit it off great. We lived on the same hall that first year, and quickly became dear friends. Almost every happy memory I have from my time at Meredith College was shared with this amazing girl. She and I live about 2.5 hours apart now and don’t get to see each other much. But no matter how much time passes in between, we pick up right where we left off. She is one of the truest friends I’ve ever known, and one of the most determined.

Today I’m sharing her Success story with you.

Kat’s story is a bit different than some that we have shared here: She didn’t have a whole lot of weight to lose, but wanted to feel better, get back to her pre-baby size, and to get control of her health back!

I hope that it inspires and motivates you as much as it has me!

My story:
At the beginning of 2014  I had hit my all-time
highest weight, (with the exception of pregnancies), at 138.8 lbs at only
5’4″. 

It started during
Halloween 2013, when I easily ate 10 pieces of my kid’s candy a day!  I
would normally have 2-3 with my breakfast, 2-3 when I got home from work and
was starving, and then 4-5 while watching tv at night.  Then came the
holidays: Cookies, cupcakes, etc. 
I remember the week
before Christmas we didn’t have anything for breakfast.  So I would eat
five cookies and have a glass of milk for breakfast.  I Probably did this
for 4-5 days straight and laughed about it!! 
After weighing in at
138.8, I remember going to work and telling my coworker that I needed to lose a
solid 20 pounds, but I never really thought that was possible.  I also
said I’d be ecstatic to just lose 10. 
I had been reading the
encouraging posts on Wellness Witness, but never was moved enough to do
anything.  My brother, Matt, had just had his first child in December and
so I had booked my ticket to fly out to Texas February 19, 2014 to meet my
new niece! 
I was excited to meet her,
but also very excited to see my brothers!  I had not seen my brother Matt
in five years the last time being before he was deployed to Iraq.  I had
not seen my other brother John in almost a year.  My brothers moved to
Texas when I was just 20 years old, the summer of 2001. 

They both had always known
of me as their petite sister.  Not that they loved me because I was
petite, but that’s how they knew me and I didn’t want to see Matt for the first
time in five years being this size. 

 I had nothing to wear. 
My legs were squeezed
into the biggest pair of jeans I’d allow myself to buy.  Then there was
also my wonderful muffin top.  I was a mess. 
The summer of 2013 my
sister said she had some patients have success using Jillian Michaels 30 day
shred.  I had bought it back in July 2013, did it for four days
straight.  Then fourth of July hit, I missed a day and then I just never
did it again. 
I decided to try it
again. I pulled out that DVD and did a 20-30 minute session of High Intensity
Interval Training.  My sister had also told me about the My Fitness Pal
app that would help me track calories.  So I started doing that.  I
hadn’t changed my diet that much, but I knew when I had hit my calorie intake
limit.  I also started drinking only water. I did drink water, but I
always got kids meals wherever we went and it comes with a kids drink, so I
would think to myself, “why not have the free drink?”.  

That had become my
mindset. 
 

I started taking my 36
oz water bottle everywhere I went.  Especially while driving, it’s easy to
drink a lot on the go. 
Anyway…my fitness pal,
30 Day shred, water…that’s how I started. 
I had lost
about 3-4 pounds by February when I went to Texas.  I was
feeling better about myself. 
My next goal was to run
some of a 5K that my office participates in every year.  My sister
signed up too. 
 I had walked it the year before and I was
hurting for days!  I didn’t train to run the 5K, but just doing the JM DVD
helped equip me to be able to run at least half of it.  My sister helped
motivate me along the way.  I had finished the 30 day shred, in about 40
days, the night before the race. 
Next I moved on to
another set of Jillian DVDs.  I believe it was Killer Buns and Thighs and
Six Week Six Pack.  I alternated doing those 5-6 times a week for
months.  Mixing in a little 30 day shred here and there. 

 But I
believe the real change came when I took on the “clean eating”
approach and I took your advice on the metabolic carbs (find that info here). 
That’s pretty much what I still do. 
 I try to eat a lot of protein in
the form of chicken, turkey, ground beef, nuts, lots of chobani greek
yogurt. 
 In general I stay away from bread and pasta.  I eat
turkey burgers without the bun, which is delicious.  I also just eat plain
deli turkey.  There is no need for the two slices of bread!! 
 Those
protein balls saved me in the beginning of this journey, although I haven’t
made them in months.  But I loved those!  They felt like a treat
and it nipped my hunger in the bud.  
I also loved your protein pancake
recipe.  I did eat mine with maybe a tsp-Tbsp of organic maple
syrup.  I also love the Dark Chocolate and sea salt Kind bars that
only have 5grams of sugar.  I try to stick to the 15 grams of sugar or
less and lowest possible metabolic carb count as possible when it comes to
packaged food.  I read labels and look for whole ingredients.  No
added sugar or salt if I can help it.  I just learned to eat salad in
April which was a huge step for me!!!  But I also load up
on fresh spinach and kale through my morning smoothie that I make a
lot for breakfast.  I can’t remember where I got the recipe,
but it’s one of my favorites.  I’ll write it at the end.  I make
a zucchini lasagna instead of using pasta.  I just try and substitute
where I can.  I quit snacking late at night.  That was one of my
biggest downfalls. I stopped counting calories and now just try to eat
whole foods.
 I also now do Jillian Michaels Ripped in Thirty
and Extreme Shed and Shred.  I just love her DVDs.  Since August
20, 2014 I have been doing Zumba once a week.  I LOVE it!!!  It’s a
workout, but I don’t feel like it’s working out.  I feel like I’m just
dancing for an hour.  I obviously feel a million times better- I have so
much more energy and feel confident!!  I still enjoy froyo with m&ms
and reese cups, usually once a week.  And I’ll have pizza
or something I wouldn’t normally eat, usually once a week.  I’d
say I eat well about 90% of the week. 
 By the beginning of the summer, about 3
1/2 months into my new lifestyle, I had lost probably
13-14 pounds.  I just continued my new eating and exercising
habits, also started a Kettlebell video, but don’t have a kettlebell so I use a
dumbbell.  I started taking Zumba and have just gradually lost another 7-8
lbs since the summer.  
I lost a total of 22 pounds and multiple clothing sizes.
When I started I was a size 8 or 10 and now am around a 2 or 4 in pants and a 0 or 2 in dresses. 
I must say that I think
I’m in the best shape of my life.  I tried on some clothes from my
“prime” and they are too big.  My body is just stronger!! 
I’m SO thankful to
God for helping me along this journey. 
 It has not always been easy.  I have to
fight temptations every day. 
 But I know that my body is a temple and I am
to honor God by taking care of what He has given me!  It also
helps set a great example for my daughters. 
———————————————

Isn’t she amazing?! I’m so grateful that God put this lady in my life and that she’s on a journey to live a healthier life for HIM!

And because Kat’s awesome, she agreed to share her favorite smoothie recipe with you:

Kat’s Favorite Smoothie:

Wellness Witness Gear!

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I’m opening up shop and taking orders for the first batch of Wellness Witness T-shirts and Hooded Sweatshirts!!!

Here’s what they will look like:

The t-shirts are $12.00 and the sweatshirts are $22.00.

If you live locally, you can pick them up from me and save the money on shipping. If you need yours mailed, it is an extra $4.00 charge per shirt for postage.

To order yours online, you can go to :
https://www.wellnesswitness.com/store

I’m taking orders until 1:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, December 14th, so get your orders in before then!

Can’t wait to see you wearing these and spreading the message of Biblical wellness to everyone!

My Best Yes

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Last month I read a book by Lysa Terkeurst called The Best Yes.

So good. So GOOD.

It gave me a much needed perspective shift.

You see, by nature, I’m a worker.

I like to call it being “efficient”, but what I really do is try to do at least 4 things at a time. At any given moment I may be helping my kids with their homework, cooking supper, unloading the dishwasher, responding to emails, listening to the news, and planning the next morning’s workout in my head.

I don’t know how to relax, and up until recently, I didn’t know how to say “no”.

I have suffered from the disease to please and I think this was a big part of why I tend to always say “yes” when someone asks me to do anything.

My husband and I used to laugh about how we are “yes-ers” meaning that when we are asked to help with committees, program coordination, volunteering, organizing, or helping, we tend to say YES immediately. ‘Yes’ without forethought other than that we didn’t want to let anyone down. And truth be told, a lot of my worth and identity was tied to how much I DID…tied to how many people needed me or my help…tied to the list of things that I am in charge of.

In Lysa’s book, she wrote about this and said, “here’s the reality of our current technique: other people’s requests dictate the decisions we make. We become slaves to other’s demands when we let our time become dictated by request. We will live reactive lives instead of proactive. And reactive lives get very exhausting, very quickly. We get requests. We fill up our schedules all the way to the limit. We leave very little white space. We live lives that exhaust us…”

Slowly, God has been showing me another way.

Lysa teaches that the decisions we make dictate the schedules we keep. The schedules we keep dictate the lives we live. The lives we live determine how we spend our souls. So, this isn’t just about finding time. This is about honoring God with the time we have.

You see, I believe that God created each of us with a purpose. He has a work for each of us to do- specifically each one of us…Work that our Original Design can uniquely fill.

And when I’ve got my sights set on ANY good work, I miss the BEST work. By saying yes to every GOOD thing that comes along, I never get to say ‘yes’ to the BEST things.

There are 168 hours in a week.

168.

When you go through and calculate all of the tasks that you are required to do (work, carpool, sleeping, eating, cleaning, etc.) there are precious few hours left. And if I fill up those few hours doing tasks that I should have said ‘no’ to in the first place, I have no room, no margin left to say ‘yes’ to the best things that He has for me to do.

Lysa wrote, “It isn’t about selfish ambitions or vain conceits…it’s about letting out that cry of passion that God entrusted to you. It’s about letting it all the way out so as to touch others, help others, and bless others.” And as I’m starting to really determine the unique calling that God has given me, I don’t want to get sidetracked with other things.

So, the girl who always says ‘yes’ has started saying ‘no’.

 And you know what? It gets easier each time.

 When people ask me to participate in committees that I don’t feel passionately called towards, and that will take up the extremely few precious hours I have right now, I say ‘no’.

 I’ve turned down invites to things I really wanted to be at, but knew that my kids needed me at home more. I’ve decided against amazing professional opportunities as it would take away from the areas God has called me to focus on first. I’ve cancelled all Saturday workouts as I know that as much as I like leading them and my ladies like coming, I need margin and time at home with my family.

I’ve had to start saying ‘no’ to things that cost me financially, also. Are they things that we could afford if we felt like we should? Yes, but by saying ‘yes’ to every invite to ballgames, concerts, dinners, and trips, we are going to have to say ‘no’ to our BEST ‘yes’ and what God may have for us to do instead.

Tonight I had an event out of town that I had been looking forward to for months. But I knew in my heart that I needed to be home tonight. After a challenging week, the only place I needed to go tonight was home with my family.

So here I sit at 4:30 p.m. My kids are enjoying a cup of hot chocolate, we all have our pajamas on and our big plans for the evening are to snuggle and watch a movie.

Am I sad to miss out on the event I was supposed to be at? Sad, yes, but grateful. I know that for me to be able to pursue whatever calling and mission God has me on, I can’t do it with a half empty tank.

So I rest when I know I need to. I spend time in the Word and in prayer asking for direction and wisdom as I try to find the BEST ‘yes’ and to not jump for every good ‘yes’. I seek counsel from wise women that point me right back to Jesus when I need the perspective shift.

And I keep walking ahead.

Sometimes saying ‘no’ will be hard. And that’s okay. We know that with every ‘no’ we have to utter, we are one step closer to our best ‘yes’.

And that, my friends, is worth pursuing.

December…where diets die

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Tomorrow we enter the month of December.

With it comes Christmas parties, classroom celebrations, get togethers, homemade baked goodies, and workplace dinners. It’s the season of overindulgence and a common theme of most is “I’ll start again in January”.

And that’s what I used to say, too.

From Thanksgiving Day forward it was pretty much a free-for-all and I ate whatever I wanted to, without restraint. I can remember the few weeks before and after Christmas in 2012 and literally having a mental list of all the different fast food items that I had to be sure to eat before I began my latest “diet” on January 1st. I would eat much more than normal of my favorite treats because I knew after the new year, they would be off limits. I set myself up for failure time and time and time again.

That was also the same year that I only had ONE pair of pants that would fit me on Christmas day.

Christmas of 2012- at my highest weight other than pregnancy

I remember getting ready the night this picture was taken and trying on everything in my closet. I had put on quite a bit of weight over the last few years and not only did I FEEL terrible physically, I also was self conscious about the way that I looked.

In January of 2013, I began the same old diet plans that I had tried before- counting calories, food journaling, looking for low-fat (highly processed) foods. And somewhere along the way, God got a hold of my heart and taught me a whole new way of doing things. (Read more about that here)

If you know that you need to live a healthier lifestyle, don’t get caught in the trap of thinking you can throw in the towel now, binge until January 1st and then start over.

If it’s worth taking care of your health in 2015, then it’s worth taking care of now.

Do you have to give up all your favorite Christmas treats? NO! But you can choose to only enjoy those you love the most, and in moderation.


Remember some of the basic habits that we have covered over the past year together such as:
Drinking Water
Looking at our food labels to avoid highly processed foods, or foods with a lot of added sugar
Eating Protein with each snack and meal
Moving your body each day
Stopping and asking God how He would have you take care of your body

December is the month where all “diets” go to die. The good part is what we teach here at Wellness Witness is that diets don’t work in the first place. Heart change happens when we ask God how He would have us to take care of our bodies. This leads to lifestyle changes that are SUSTAINABLE for a LIFETIME. No more dieting mentality of off-limit foods and cardio punishment when we overindulge.

Pray and ask God to help you stick to your healthy habits and plan even in the face of the ridiculous amounts of sugar and sweet treats that will be everywhere you turn. Focus on the reason for our celebrations- that Jesus was born and lived a sinless life and because of His sacrifice, we are saved and free and whole.

Make THIS the December when you finally get a hold of this battle- in His name and in His strength. YOU CAN DO THIS.

Praying for you and cheering you on!!!

(And just for a comparison, here is Christmas of 2012 beside Christmas of 2013)

New Favorite: Drumstick Workouts!!!

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I was first introduced to a drumstick workout through Revelation Wellness.

I got to try my first one when we were at Instructor Training Retreat and it was every bit as fun as I thought it would be…and then some.

I knew that this was something I wanted to bring back and share with the local workout group that I lead, but I also knew that I didn’t have the budget to go buy real drumsticks for everyone.

Following the advice of some of the RevWell Instructors, I learned how to make my own and to save a bunch of money in the process.

Step 1: I went to HomeDepot and purchased ten 10 foot sections of 1/2 inch PVC pipes. These are extremely affordable- I paid $2.17 for each separate 10 foot section.

Step 2: Find a kind employee that knows how to work the big saw thing in the store. I found a gentleman and told him to cut the long PVC poles into 16″ sections. That meant I got 7 sticks from each of the poles and then had a small piece left over. Since I purchased ten of the long poles and each pole yielded 7  drumsticks, this gave me 70 sticks, or 35 pairs.

 

Step 3: Purchase some duct tape in a pretty color or pattern. I bought the Duck Tape brand in a black and pink zebra stripe, a solid pink, a rainbow print, and a Superman print. Each roll was $3.57. If you have any at home or if you’re shopping at a store like Wal-Mart, you’re likely to find some for less. These rolls each had 15 yards of tape on them.

Step 4: Wrap the end of each stick in the duct tape. I decided to only wrap the ends, but some people choose to wrap the entire sticks.

 

This took a bit longer than I hoped, but only because I was doing it to 70 sticks and I had two “helpers” that kept wanting to try.

Total Cost:
My cost would have been close to $40 but I qualified for an “instant credit” for some reason, and they took $2.20 off of the cost of my PVC pipes. Including tax (and my discount), I spent $36.14 to make 35 pairs of drumsticks.

Cost: $1.03 !

Once you have your sticks made, you may need to put more duct tape over the ends as they are used a lot. I’ve been using mine now for a couple weeks and you can see where some of the tape is wearing off. I plan to just stick another piece of tape over the ends when needed.

 

Hope you enjoy!!!