Lessons Learned...so far

Four months have passed since we started this journey to honor the Lord with our physical bodies. Beginning month five has brought a new sense of excitement to our house. JT is now down over 75 lbs, and I have lost over 45. Both of our older girls have lost quite a bit of weight (out of respect for 2 teenage girls, I'll not post their results). Our family is in a much healthier place! We are eating well and exercising 4-5 days a week.

I must say that my favorite days are the ones where JT and I both get to run in the morning and then head to the park in the afternoon so we can all ride bikes. Playing together as a family has its perks!

Over the past month JT and I have both been inundated (in a GREAT way) with lots of emails, messages, and phone calls asking about what we are doing. People seem to want to know WHAT exactly we are doing to lose the weight. My first answer is such an encouragement: "It is really hard. The hardest thing I've ever done. Is that what you want?" If someone responds positively, I figure he/she must really be interested. So, here are the basics for Team Turner:

1. We read the Bible, specifically the verses about food, taking care of our bodies and honoring God with every part of us. God convicted us quickly about our eating habits and lack of exercises (i.e. gluttony and laziness).

2. We got on our knees and repented for our pride, laziness, overeating, mindless eating, lack of self-control, apathy, etc.

3. We begged God to show us His ways and to strengthen us to walk in them.

4. God directed us to a particular eating plan (the 17 Day Diet by Dr. Moreno). It is a 17 day cycle plan with 4 cycles. It focuses on eating lean meats and vegetables. We also eat yogurt and drink green tea daily. Carbs are allowed but only healthy ones. We do not eat carbs or fruit after 2:00 any day. Every family is different, and this plan has worked well for our family. However, we encourage each family to seek God's plan and not our endorsement.

5. We exercised....at first, we went for ....hold on to your horses as you are about to be blown away...17 minutes. Yep, you read that right. We only went for 17 minutes on a treadmill. And, I guarantee that we barely made it a mile. We eventually went for longer and faster, but it took a lot of time. We downloaded Nike+ apps to our phones and began keeping track of all of our walks/runs.

6. The only advice we have for exercise is this...just walk and run as far as you can every day. Keep going...don't quit! Our bodies have learned how to run and how to breathe over time. It takes time...it does not come quickly. But, it DOES happen!

7. An accountability team was critical for me. I needed people who knew what I was eating, how I was exercising, etc. in order to keep me in line. I report to my team every Monday. I tell them how much weight I've lost, any struggles I've faced, how I'm running, etc. They have access to my Nike+ app so they can check on my exercise at any time.

8. We share our successes and struggles with each other. It's awesome to be able to say, "My clothes are too big" or "Do you have a smaller shirt?" JT weighs less now than he did when we got married, and I'm headed there quickly. What a joy! Having the support system at home is critical to our success.

Recording our journey on this blog has also been a huge help to me. I write so that I can look back and see where God has brought us from and where He is taking us. I NEED to remember. I rejoice in recalling the tears I've shed, the prayers I've prayed and the ways God has taught me for the past four months. I pray that God does even more in the months to come!