My 24 Day Journey {& An Announcement!}

If you've been following along on my Instagram (@sweethomesb), you know that 24 days ago, on the first day of my 26th year, I started a fitness, health, & overall wellness journey. 

And friends, I've tried a lot of different health regimes. I've cut out sugar, I've counted calories, and to be brutally honest, the majority of my life I have bounced back and forth between feeling guilty about food and feeling restricted. 

And today, I can whole heartedly say that the last 24 days have

changed. my. life. 

I'm not going to shove before and after pictures in your face, and I'm not going to list statistics of how much I lost. Instead, I'm going to praise my God, and I'm going to tell you about how much I gained from this experience. 

I have been praying for freedom in my relationship with food for a long time. 

Those that know my story know that I battled a pretty brutal eating disorder for over 8 years of my life. Whenever I doubted if God was at work in this fitness journey of mine, whenever I wondered if I was doing this all for myself and my own desires, I was brought back to that fact. 

Over a third of my life was marked by an eating disorder, and my God, 

He redeems everything. 

So let me shout it really loud, with literal tears streaming down my face. 

This is not a fitness story. 

This is a redemption story. 

Man, my God is mighty good. 

In the last 24 days (3 Day Refresh + 21 Day Fix), I have found myself in a magically foreign place of having simultaneous joy + self control with food. The color-coded portion control system is so easy, and it really works. I have finally come to a place where I can enjoy my food (because guys, this girl loves food) AND treat my body well. 

And it feels so good, my friends. For a girl who has struggled in her relationship with food for nearly her entire life, 
I feel free. 

Photo by Becky Davis Photography

I was in a funk with my fitness routine before I started the 21 Day Fix, and was not looking forward to my work outs. I was doing them out of obligation, and that showed itself in the drastic decrease of my weekly work outs. 

These 30 minute videos? I love them. They have brought the joy back into my fitness routine, and I am so grateful. 

So yes, I lost weight in these last 24 days. But for me, that wasn't the goal. That was just the by product of the real success story here. 

Here's all that I gained: 

Joy. Joy. And More Joy. 

Peace in my relationship with food. 

Love for fitness, and for cooking, and for grocery shopping.

{Anyone notice that those are fruits of the Spirit? Galatians 5:22? I see you here, God.}

I Saved Money. My bank account was verrryy happy about how little I was eating out.

Muscles. ;) 

I made so many new Friends, other people doing the program who helped keep me motived and excited. 

Passion. Guys, I never ever saw myself in the health & fitness industry. But after experiencing this life change for myself, I want to be a part of it. 

My favorite part of the 21 Day Fix program is that it is absolutely sustainable. The eating plan is 100% do-able, and yes, I allow myself treats when the opportunity arises. The work out videos? You get to keep them for life, and can continue breaking a sweat each day & building those muscles. 

This isn't a 21 Day thing, it's a life thing. And I'm in. 

 So guys, as a result of how much I loved my experience, I am both excited and nervous to announce that

I am now a Beachbody Coach!

I believe in the programs this company offers. But I believe in them because 

I believe in YOU. 

You make the program successful, it doesn't make you successful. 

And ultimately, I believe in these programs because I believe in something bigger. 

I believe in a God who loves to change lives. 

I believe in a God who is passionate about freedom. 

And so this isn't a sales pitch, it's an invitation. This health thing? It's a lot like the journey of faith. It's not a one-day decision, it's an entire life endeavor. And like I said, I'm in. With every fiber of my being, I'm in. 

I want this freedom, guys. So this isn't me selling you freedom, it's me inviting you to join me on my quest for it. 

Photo by Becky Davis Photography

My wonderful coach (@carriemflynn) & I will be co-leading an August "Love Your Body" Accountability Group, beginning August 10th. 

If you have any interest in being a part of it, leave your e-mail address in the comments below, and I'll be in touch! Or, you can e-mail me at sweethomesbblog@gmail.com. 

I love you guys! I really, really do. You've been there with me through so many life journeys, and I thank you for being a part of this one, too. <3

What I want to tell you

I'm sitting here in bed at 10:42PM listening to the rain, and trying to figure out how to kick off this blog post. And since I really want to say 'why hello there!' but I've already typed and erased that a few times cause it just doesn't sound right, I figured I may as well get on with it. 

I'm really glad I don't have an English teacher grading these blog posts. Pretty sure she would cringe at that introduction. 

There's just so much that I want to say right now. I want to tell you about the wonderful, fun, relaxing Bachelorette weekend I had in Palm Springs. 

I want to gush about the fact that I've known this girl since second grade, and it's crazy to see how the Lord has worked in each of our lives, and in our friendship. It's equally crazy that in exactly two months from yesterday, I'll be standing beside her as she gets married. Like, woah. 

And just for kicks:

I want to tell you that I'm reading this book: 

I want to tell you how reading Dave Lomas' vulnerable account of his own identity crisis has helped me identify my own. I want to tell you all about my Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis diagnosis, which is basically a super professional way of saying my eyes hate contacts. I would probably make a lot of jokes about it, and say a lot of positive things about how there is so much purpose in this & God is using it for His good and His glory. 

And, to be fair, both of those things are entirely true. God's using my broken eyeballs to do a lot of good in my heart, and it is pretty funny to say that I have broken eyeballs. 

But I also want to tell you that it's hard. I want to be authentic and say that it's shown me how much I was relying on feeling confident in my physical appearance. Sometimes you don't realize you're using something as a crutch until God so graciously takes away the crutch. 

Actually, it's not exactly when He takes it away that you realize it; it's what happens after. It's when you find yourself ugly crying, or grieving like you lost a limb, or feeling the crippling sensation of fear, hoplessness and doubt. All over whatever simple thing was removed in the first place, for me: contacts. 

 I also want to tell you that it's okay to do those things. It's okay to ugly cry; it's okay to grieve when you feel like you don't have a reason to; and it's okay to acknowledge that you feel crippled from fear, hopelessness, or doubt. God doesn't ask us to hide our emotions, and He certainly would never tell us they're invalid. They are valid to Him, because He understands them. He understands them more than we do. 

He doesn't want us to hide from our emotions, He wants us to walk through them with Him. Because guess what: there's a light at the end of the tunnel. A light that we might never have found had we not gone through the crutch-removal surgery in the first place. 

For me, I see that light. I see the fact that my heart and mind and vision are being restored to see beauty the way He sees it. I see that I'm learning to truly find confidence in the Lord above all other things. I see that I'm learning to throw up my hands, and surrender to Him what every part of my flesh wants to control via wikipedia/google/wedMD. I see that I'm learning to trust that He has good plans for me. 

And now that I've turned what I thought would be a tip-of-the-iceberg post into a full blown heres-my-life post, it's your turn. 

What's new with you?

Redemption

Redemption (noun)

1. an act of redeeming or atoning for a fault or mistake, or the state of being redeemed.

2. deliverance; rescue.

3. deliverance from sin; salvation. 

4. atonement for guilt.

5. repurchase, as of something sold. 

(as found on dictionary.com)

///

This past weekend, I got to reunite with some very long-time, dear friends. Friends who I hadn't seen in quite some time, we're talking years here. 

This picture. Man, it just screams redemption. 

I wish I could sit you down for coffee, and tell you about each woman looking at you in this picture. I wish I could walk you through each of our lives, because you would be blown away by the power of God's love. 

Some of the stories are mine to tell, and others aren't. Some may grace this blog at some point, and others will not. 

But just believe me when I tell you, 

the love of Jesus Christ is life changing. 

You look at this picture and you see three smiling faces looking back at you. 

You don't see cancer. You don't see drugs. You don't see jail. You don't see alcohol. 

You don't see these things, because when Jesus is in the picture, He takes over. 

I look at this picture, and that is all I see. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. 

I see that prayer changes things. 

I see that God heals. 

And I see that there is no such thing as "too far gone" when it comes to Christ. 

He will reach down and pick you up from where ever you are, He's not afraid to get His hands dirty. 

Today, I am thankful that we are redeemed. 

That we are delivered, rescued, saved. 

Set free from guilt. No longer slaves to sin. 

Purchased as a prized possession. 

It doesn't matter where you've been. Walk in that truth today.