End of First Mission. Bring on Mission Two!

Oh my gosh, it’s been 2 days since I’ve posted. I’ve been quite busy that by the time I get home, I have been absolutely knackered.

But the mission. It is now over and I done it! I’m so pleased with myself. I would say I have definitely struggled but I reckon I have benefitted from cutting back on all the wild snacking.

The Struggles

I’m a big time snacker especially at night. If there is cake or chocolate around, I’m going to have it. I also have a thing for rum and raisin ice cream, where I squirt strawberry sauce and honey all over it and give in to my sweet cravings.

Whilst completing the mission, I’ve still had the same cravings but instead of the rubbish I usually have, I’ve indulged in fruits such as grapes, mangoes, apples, bananas, pineapples and strawberries. Now, I just need to make a note that eating too much fruit is not always beneficial to a weight-loss diet either because of the glucose. If not used up, it stores as fat which is really annoying. It’s like you can’t do anything right! Saying that, I’m glad it was a fruit overload as I’m sure it’s worse if I thoughtlessly gouged on cake instead.

I also struggled with not eating breakfast more so than lunch. I am a big-time breakfast person. I’m not a porridge or cereal eater. I prefer a mini-fry up as I find that it fills me up all the way till lunch time. I never use oil and always grill foods if I can. I usually have scrambled egg (no oil, cooked in a non-stick pan), bacon medallions (fat cut off, lean), baked beans and a crumpet. What I have found though is on workout days (when i was allowed egg as well as the smoothie) the scrambled egg alone fills me for a substantial amount of time. I usually wake up at 8am (I’m looking for a job so this may change!) and have breakfast by 8.30. I’ve found that if I eat a banana on my way to gym, I’m not hungry until I get home where I would have my lunch-time smoothie with a bowl of fruit. So based on this, I’m going to stick with my egg with a post-breakfast banana.

I also got creative for dinner and made my salads more exciting. Variation is key for me otherwise I can’t stick to my healthy eating plan. At the beginning of the week, I just stuck with a basic salad and mixed vegetables which I adore. Towards the end of the week, I added more ingredients to the basic salad as well as beans and raisins! Sounds weird but the different textures and the sweet surprises totally satisfied my need for variety and my sweet-tooth. (Bear in mind that too much raisins is also fattening so I sprinkled it sparingly.

Lastly, I’ve always drank water instead of fruit juices or fizzy drinks with my meals but I got bored because I was only having the one meal throughout the day. So the coconut water was a God-send. I found that I started to crave that more than anything by the end of the week. I would leave the house at 10pm in order to search for it! Haha! Coconut water is so good if you work-out regularly. It restores the nutrients you lost when exercising therefore many athletes rely on coconut water whilst training.

Benefits

The only carbs I’ve eaten is the sweet potato for dinner. I often think that my carb-overload contributes to my constant bloating. I have not been bloated for the whole week! It’s so weird to me! I also think that the fruit-overload made me more regular with my loo appointments lol. Going to the toilet regularly may contribute to my lack of bloatedness, I’m not sure so don’t hold me to that. So I’m sticking to less carbs. For lunch, I’ll stick with fish and my salad and the sweet potato for dinner. I’m also sticking to the no-snacking rule although today is my celebration day and I’m going to indulge just a little bit! But after today, NO MORE!

I have also lost weight people, as expected. Not loads but it’s all a step in the right direction. I really want to see results around my waist and belly but unfortunately, I don’t have control over that so I need to train in the right way to get the body I am working for. All in all, I may not have as much to say on the benefits but I do think it outweighs the struggles. I have found solutions to my struggles so really that is the best result. So if you are looking for a way to kick-start a healthy eating plan and curb any bad habits, try it out. Yes, it is hard but stay strong and it will be worth it.

So, for my next mission! Okay, so I am a Christian and really feel the need to work on my journey with God. I am part of Hillsong London church and I went to a church social on Saturday night where some of our church leaders took part in a lip sync battle! It was the best entertainment I have had in such a long time! But the main attraction was our guest speaker. I’m not sure if many of you have heard of Robert Madu but let me tell you something: every time I hear him speak, he speaks a truth that is so relatable that you wonder why you never thought about it yourself. He is incredible at keeping you focused, making The Word clear, showing you where in the Bible you can find examples to apply it to your own life and doing it so there are no feelings of conflict or confusion. He is also very funny which helps greatly! He spoke in our morning service this morning and again, no complaints.

Anyway, his message during Saturday’s social was titled: The Mystery of a New Birth. One of the questions he asked was: have you truly been born again? I often ask myself this. I have been baptised as an adult but I do wonder if I truly changed on that day. It may have been before because I made the conscious decision to get baptised but sometimes I wonder if it has even happened yet because I do have some habits that I have carried with me. I want to create new and nourishing habits that will help me grow into the person I know I’m meant to be. I used to pray every day without fail, even walking down the street on the way to the train station. I would say it quietly as if talking to myself and pause as I approached someone but I would still pray nonetheless. I don’t even do that anymore. I also have an app on my phone called ‘Abide’ that a friend recommended to me that I used to use on a daily basis but even that has died down.

I also cannot seem to complete reading my Bible. My sister has read hers from start to finish on more than one occasion but I struggle to even reach the middle. I have the Bible app which doesn’t make it any easier. Now, I’m going to be really honest here and say, I get bored. Sometimes I feel like I don’t know what a certain verse is meant to do for me or what it even means. I get distracted with trying to figure it out which inevitably makes me close the book/app. Also there are some books in the Bible that are very laborious and everyone can agree on that! I find myself asking: why am I reading this? Why is this relevant? So I often tell people (and myself) that the bible was written thousands of years ago so some things in it are outdated.

But is that true though? Who am I to say such a thing and I haven’t even read it from cover to cover yet? How can I just dismiss this book that so many people have testified is magnificent? So here is my mission:

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The Mission

To study the bible as if I am at university every day for 7 days. No excuses. Pray twice a day: When I wake up and before i go to bed.

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So in preparation, I am following a devotional on the Bible app, I have signed up to http://www.biblestudytools.com/ to receive newsletters on the word and will be glued to my YouTube to find teachings that can help me interpret the difficult verses. I will read difficult verses in different translations too as this may help with understanding. I’m going to continue with more research into how to make studying the Bible easier as I want as much tools as possible. I may even look for a blog or too!

This will all start tonight and I will update you guys on that.

Here are some stills of my craziness over the weekend:

Photo booth!

Snapchat Stills – Sis was not impressed lol

Dancing to gospel with Mum ❤

Until next time my dear readers!

~Nay x

God’s power is unlimited (Job 36:22)