day fifty...in order to grow you must let go

          my friend Kiera and me                                                        my adorable mom and her friend

  
I heard a great quote at the Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa Women's Christmas Coffee this morning. The speaker told us that "In order to grow, you must let go". That spoke wonders to me.

Without me even knowing it, I have been growing lately. I been letting go of my fleshly nature to eat and overeat and have been growing spiritually by that. For you, it may be letting go of a grudge or an addiction. Let. it. go. It is only then that you can grow. If something is holding you down, how can you continue to grow higher. Once those hindrances are cut and torn down, it is then that you can grow and reach that goal.

And as of this afternoon I have also let go of something else...10 inches of my hair! They do say that when you cut your hair, it grows faster and healthy. So letting go and cutting my hair will only make it grow! I will show you some before and after pictures at the end of the post as well as update you all on my weight...today was a weigh in day!

Breakfast
I ate a little earlier this morning so I could eat my morning snack before the Christmas coffee. It worked out very well. I am getting the timing down...sort of. ;) So this morning, I made an egg nog vanilla shake...which is basically a french vanilla shake with capella egg nog drops in it. This is by far my most favorite shake.

Morning Snack
So on our way out the door to the event I made myself a brownie soft bake (in a cup) to eat on the way. Now...I don't usually have desserts in the morning, but I just decided it would be okay this one time.

Lunch
I was having dinner with a dear friend, so I saved my lean and green meal until then. Therefore, for lunch I made myself a calorie burn cappuccino. I was going to have it at 3pm, but that is when I got my haircut...no bueno having to go to the bathroom in the middle of a haircut.

Afternoon Snack
Right before I headed out to the salon, I ate one of my favorites...the brown sugar cinnamon cereal crunch. Some people don't like it, but I love it! Smells like french toast as well, which doesn't hurt.

Dinner
For dinner, I went to greenleaf chopshop and had flat iron steak with sides of green beans and a tuscan kale salad.

Dessert
I ate my last meal of the day right before church...I actually ate it really fast. I felt kinda sick eating it so fast, but oh well...won't do that again. I had a smores crunch bar.

Okay...you ready for my revealing? Here is a before and after...

What do you think? Yay or nay? I think I like it...it will definitely take time getting used to, but such is life. :)

As far as my weight goes, I weighed in this morning at 142.6! I can't believe I just typed that, but I did!!! As of today, I have lost a total of 23.6 pounds. Woohoo!!!

It's late and I am off to bed. Night!

xoxo,
Toni

day forty-three...thanksgiving road trip day three

Woke up this morning to this weather report. Ummm...just a little cold. It didn't end up snowing, but it was still bundle-up weather. And bundle-up we did.

Breakfast
Before we headed out for some adventure, I made a chai latte using some hot water provided by the hotel. While drinking my chai, my parents and I read a few chapters of the Bible and prayed. Lovely start to the day.

Morning Snack
After our mini Bible study we headed out. We walked around the shops in Mammoth and then decided to go back to Bishop and attempt to hike up the snowy hills to the mine shafts. I made a egg nog shake (french vanilla shake packet mixed with some egg nog capella drops) before we left the hotel and it stayed cold for two hours easy...it was 30 degrees outside after all. PS...this is the best shake I have had to date. Perfect start to the Christmas season.

On our way back to Bishop, we stopped at Convict Lake. Story behind the lake is that back in the 1800's, a bunch of convicts escaped from prison and the chase ended at this lake with a big shootout. Bummer story, but beautiful lake. This is a picture of my mom and I with the lake and the snowy Sierra Mountains in the background.

We finally made it to Bishop, and we drove back to the hiking spot to attempt the climb. Here is the starting point. The end point is about the middle of the picture where the cluster of trees are.

Let me tell you...walking through fluffy snow is not easy...especially when it is about knee deep. It was quite the challenge and workout. Near the middle of the hike, we had to cross a bridge covered in snow. You couldn't see what you were walking on, so I was just waiting for my foot to go through some hole. Thankfully, that didn't happen and we made it across safely. Do you notice how the snow glistens? So beautiful.

After about 40 minutes, we finally made it to the mines. These mines were used back in 1879 during the gold rush. That little creek in the picture above is a part of where they would sift their pans in search of gold. I love history, so this was pretty neat to see. The wooden structure is connected to the mountain, where you can also see holes where the miners used dynamite to blow up the sides of the mountain.

On the way back from the mines, I took these pictures of the aspen trees...they are just so pretty against all the white snow.

Here is another portion of our path with the aspens on either side of us.

Lunch
After we got back into the truck, we headed back to town to find something to eat. There isn't a lot, so we just went to Carl's Jr. We never eat here, but the options were extremely limited for me. I looked up what I could have, and Take Shape for Life suggested I order the grilled chicken salad. Honestly, this salad wasn't that great...not TSFL's fault, but Carl's Jr's fault. The only thing that was okay, was the chicken. I won't be ordering this again.

After lunch, we made the decision to head back home. We were going to travel to Kern Valley and stay another night, but we just wanted to get home. But before we did get back on the road, we stopped at the famous Erick Schat's Bakery. They make a delicious sheepherders bread. Walking into this bakery was tough (with the sweet smells and free samples), but I made it through without eating any of the free samples. ;)

Afternoon Snack
After our bakery visit, we hoped back in the car and made our way home. On our way back, I ate a cinnamon raisin crunch bar. These bars are delicious...it was a great snack after such a bummer lunch.

Dinner
By the time dinner rolled around, it was dark and I didn't take a picture of my nacho chili puffs. But all the other pictures I posted today can make up for that...hopefully. :)

Dessert
We finally made it back home!!! I got everything unpacked and settled in and then I made myself a brownie and called it a night.

All in all, it was a really fun and exciting road trip and even more exciting staying on plan. I could not have done it without the help of the Lord.

Pray you have a blessed night!

xoxo,
Toni