My One Piece your Bikini

This past weekend the family packed our cars and headed to Wisconsin Dells for a Birthday Celebration! If you are not familiar with the Dells, I would describe it as Branson meets indoor water parks... It was loads of fun! Best part was being with family and celebrating our little miss first birthday!

Little Miss with her Cake! The pure joy of sugar for the 1st time!

Typically January we are covered up in turtlenecks and sweats not bearing it all in our Bikinis! If you are like me when you head to the pool you are slightly self conscious (maybe not slightly) Friday night we headed down to the indoor water park as I remembered I had my glasses on! Forgot the contacts and I didn't want to go down the slides with them on so I took them off, leaving me blind as a bat!

It was after walking around for awhile hand in hand with hubs, so he could be my guide, that I realized I wasn't comparing my body to the other women, I wasn't checking out their swim suits, heck I didn't even think to look down at myself to make sure everything was sucked in! I was just enjoying my family and the pure joy of going down a slide! Just like my 2 year old nieces! It was great!

This is how God sees us! He doesn't compare our swim suits with the next girl or if our legs touch and hers don't... He just loves us for how He created us! It was truly a freeing experience!

Balance in Losing Weight

For many Women the battle of weight is over whelming and seems daunting! I understand completely!

I have battled my entire life with finding the balance in the process weight loss and becoming a Healthy Woman. It is hard to lose weight, hard to keep it off, hard not to become addicted to working out or food, hard to not beat yourself up when you slip up.

The thoughts and emotions that come with weight can be deeply routed for some people. For others it is just a matter of fact that something needs to be done.

Either way finding the balance of living a healthy life can be a challenge. We will never be perfect and I don't think that I will ever have it defeated daily, but I do know that God is in control and he has it defeated daily. I have freedom in Him and peace in my journey because of Him.

While loosing weight these are my encouragements to you!

1. Enjoy the process of learning what works for you and becoming in tune with your body
2. Eat Food God has provided us! Enjoy what He has put on this earth!
3. Celebrate when celebration is due
4. Use your body for Good and move! Move for Fun! (sometimes because its the right thing to do)
5. Our body's change each day! We bloat We shrink We eat Salt We work out.... don't worry about jeans feeling tight for a day... have a check and balance system that you check weekly not daily
6. Weight is a number doesn't define us...feel good in  your body and clothes! Forget the #

With all of these tips and encouraging thoughts we can go over board. Work out too much or Eat to little! Balance is key! Balance comes from with in you have to find your balance and I truly believe you will know it. If you are miserable you don't have it

Goals Goals Goals...

The most common new years resolution/goal is to lose weight. I understand the desire. I find myself with that desire several times a month clustering around my lovely time of month! God Bless Hormones... Thanks EVE! Ha! With that said... seriously... God Bless Hormones and Thanks Eve! Because of Hormones and Eve I believe God has a major teaching tool here.

We as women put a lot of stock in our weight! Society has put a lot of stock in weight and appearance. It has become a defining tool for many. I read a great blog post today about not being defined by a number. Each day we have a choice to not be defined by the number on the scale or even the number in our checking account. Instead let us strive to be defined by who God has created us to be. Let us be defined by love joy and relationships.

Just as I struggle with the frequent desire to lose weight and I fall into the trap of being defined by a number. The number does not make me successful. Being fixated on the number is not living a life of balance.

What is Balance when it comes to Health and losing weight.... There is a Healthy Balance and it is not a Bad Goal to have...

Tomorrow- Balance in Losing weight!