Thursday, my weight went up again.  Today it dropped again.  Yay!  I have started a new pattern of eating:  fasting 15 hours until 8:30 AM, then eating ¼ of my calories for breakfast, ¼ of my calories at 11:30 AM, ¼ at 2:30 PM and ¼ at supper at 5:30 PM.

 

That way I only have to wait less than three hours between meals, except at night when I do an intermittent fast for 15 hours.  Fasting 15 hours is quite a stretch, but I am getting close to being able to do it.  The number of daily calories I will be consuming is less than what I burn but not much, so my weight loss will be gradual or I should say up and down.   This pattern, which includes a full meal at 2:30 PM, helps me get through the 3 PM and 4 PM munchies, which have plagued me ever since I started dieting as a teenager.

 

Yesterday, my food log looked like this:

 

 

Notice, I had a small serving of Silk almond milk at 9:23 PM.  Other than that, I conformed to my diet very well.  I did okay today too, but tomorrow I will show you that if all goes well tonight.  I pray to God that he will help me overcome the behaviors that have kept me from succeeding at losing 15 pounds so far.  Today, I created a couple of recipes.  However, I did not snap pictures.  I plan to do that more regularly and develop my creativity and photography skills.

 

Are you excited about what is coming?  I am.

 

 

Today, I mind-mapped my day in my Aspirations notebook.   I also used a Mind Meister mind map that reflects my JV Life Tracker master activity list, which I have been using for my meditation link, for instance.  Today was a relaxing day.  I read Unshakeable Trust by Joyce Meyer, which is about trusting God all the time.  We did not have any medical appointments today, which made the day more relaxing.  My husband’s birthday is on Sunday.  We plan to go out for lunch at the Corner Bakery Cafe, which is down on the corner.

 

 

My husband, my baby, is faring a bit better.  I pray things will continue to go smoothly.  I do not want to visit him in Denver Springs hospital any time soon.  I think he has been losing weight lately because he has cut out Ruffles potato chips, etc.  That is a good thing.

 

 

 

I am currently baking dinner, starting to feel my appetite.  I had two salads today, which were great.  I am looking forward to a hot meal.  At the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I learned about raw food diets.  Eating raw helps prevent acrylamide formation on baked food, which can cause nerve damage, muscle weakness, and impaired muscle coordination.  Right now, I am not ready to commit to all raw foods, but having as many as the digestive system will allow is not a bad idea.

 

 

I am glad I am learning from Joyce Meyer who is a Bible teacher.  She says forcing communication with God can give you messages from the devil.  God trusts us to make our own decisions and go for periods of time without his input.  It is not necessary to get every detailed instruction from God.  Big decisions though are best made prayerfully.  That is her view of God, and it may work for me also.  I relied for years on my inner voice, but I realized this May, Day 240 and 242, that what I thought was God is not.   Instead, I can rely more on the Holy Bible for communication from God.  

 

 

Of course, Joyce does not believe there is any limit on what we say to God in prayer.  I finished Unshakeable Trust tonight.

 

So far in 2019, I have read the following titles, sharing thoughts about most of them in my blog.  I hope you will search my blog for these titles and authors and review the thoughts I had about them.

 

Unlimited Memory, Kevin Horsely   Psycho-Cybernetics, Maxwell Maltz, M.D.   The Dental Diet, Steven Lin, D.D.S.   Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment with Lithium, Dan Hild Damn You, Weight Loss Plateaus!: 7 Easy Steps to Move Beyond Frustration & Finally See Movement On Scale, Heather Tucker The Honeymoon Effect, Bruce Lipton, Ph.D.   Human By Design, Gregg Braden   Recovering Sanity, Edward Podvoll, Ph.D.   Lost Marbles: Insights into My Life with Depression & Bipolar, Natasha Tracy   Got Bipolar?, Alfredo Zotti   Fat Chance, Robert H. Lustig, M.D.   Feeling Good, David D. Burns, M.D.   The Time Paradox, Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D., John Boyd, Ph.D.   Focus, Daniel Goleman, Ph.D.   Linchpin, Seth Godin   Nothing Changes Until You Do, Mike Robbins   The Future of Happiness, Amy Blankson   The Power of Positive Self-Talk, Kim Fredrickson   Our Bible:  How We Got It, Charles Leach   Unshakeable Trust, Joyce Meyer

 

The book that had the greatest positive influence on me was probably Feeling Good by Dr. David Burns.  I have been able to root out cognitive distortions from my thinking, as described in Day 270, 276, and 278, which has spared me depression and anxiety.  The only time since I had a serious problem with anxiety was when I made a poor choice in getting movers to move my things from Utah to Colorado in July.  I still do not know how many things got broken, but at least one thing did.  However, I managed to get through that experience with Dr. David Burns’ help.

 

Each of these books was great in its own way.  I look forward to selecting many more titles to peruse.  I greatly enjoy reading and the learning that goes along with it or can if I apply myself.

 

my new approach to dieting:  four equally-sized meals at three-hour intervals with 15 hours of fasting daily my trust in God Joyce Meyer’s teaching of the Bible Charles Leach’s knowledge of ancient copies of the Bible my husband’s health

 

1. My body is healthy; my mind is brilliant; my soul is tranquil. 2. I believe I can do anything. 3. Everything that is happening now is happening for my ultimate good. 4. I am the architect of my life.  I build the foundation and choose its contents. 5. I forgive those who have harmed me in the past and peacefully detach from them. 6. My ability to conquer challenges is limitless; my ability to succeed is infinite. 7. Today, I abandon old [ineffective] habits and take up new positive ones. 8. I can achieve greatness. 9. Today, I am brimming with energy and overflowing with joy. 10. I love and accept myself for who I am.

 

	0-100	comments
mood:	70	slightly hungry and tired but not bad considering how late it is
energy:	60	ready to go to bed, but not too tired to get ready

	accomplishment	the reason it is important	next action(s)
1	I am still able to recite my 10 positive affirmations.	Positive mental attitude	Recite them whenever you feel they are needed.
2	I am staying mentally focused throughout the day.  My concentration is good.	I am using the prefrontal cortex in the brain.	Continue.
3	I memorized the functions of the prefrontal cortex today:   1.  Planning 2.  Organization and implementation of action 3.  Decision-making 4. Judgment 5. Inhibitory control 6. Interference control 7. Inhibition and control of emotional behavior 8. Set or preparation for action 9. Working and memory or executive attention and focus 10. Creative intelligence or inventing the future	PFC is needed for success	Use these functions.  Keep taking lithium to protect the prefrontal cortex from the damage bipolar disorder does to it.
4	I showed great progress on my neck x-ray.  I have only two of the five subluxations I originally had.	Health	See the chiropractor once per week.
5	I lost some weight and think my plans are in place to lose more.  (The red dress picture is from 2016 when I was leaner.  It is my inspiration.)	Weight Loss	Continue with plans.  Pray to God for help.

 

 

I fasted last night from after supper on.  Now I just need to fast until 8:30 AM.  It is 5:52 AM now.  I plan to drink water though, in case you are wondering whether I am fasting from water also.  [It is 7:42 AM now.  I am still fasting but very hungry.]

 

I just spent some time planning the upcoming week and mind mapping it into my Aspirations notebook.  The sun has not risen, but I am excited about the new day.  I scored JV Life Tracker this morning and got 90 points for yesterday.

 

 

 

Morning Prayer

Dear Lord,   Trusting God I finished Joyce Meyer’s book on trusting God.  What can I do to implement a higher level of trust in my life?  She emphasized that you would vindicate us for wrongdoings we suffer from.  We do not have to avenge the wrongs of others.   When I lost weight before, I relied heavily on you.  Lately, I have been trying to do it by myself, thinking I can.  I cannot.  Lord, I need your help.   Dozens of people on Facebook have liked the 2016 photograph of me in a red dress.  Will you help me look like that again?  I realize I am older now, but that is okay.   I cannot do it by myself.  I cannot overcome all the behaviors that lead to weight gain.  It is more than I can do by myself.  Even with all my knowledge and experience, I still cannot do it alone.  Help me, Lord, to overcome. Change my heart, Lord.  Let your divine influence change me from the inside out.  Calm me in my stress, so my stress hormones will not mess up my weight loss efforts.  Heal my liver and kidneys, my brain and heart, my digestive system and gut bacteria, my thyroid and all my endocrine glands, my nervous system, and my female hormones so that I will function well, enabling me to serve others.  Do this for my readers also, as they seek you and ask.   Help me to do what I can for these things.  Please do what I cannot do for myself.  Let us work together.  I thank you that my body is working as well as it is.  It has been going for almost 60 years.  That is a long time.  Most machines that old would have worn out long ago.   Lord, I trust you.  Help me to rest in that trust with freedom from anxiety, worry, or distress.  Please bless my husband and my readers also.   Amen.

 

If you would like to join me on this journey from the beginning, please start with Day One.