"If you take that first step into the unknown, He won't let you go..."

My name is Jamie, and I'm a food addict. This probably isn't a surprise to a lot of you: you've seen me, you've been out to eat with me, you see all the yummy things I post on Facebook about food. I love good food, I always have. And for many years, there, I'd finally settled into a decently curvy figure that I was HAPPY with. Then not long after meeting Andrew, I started to gain weight. I blamed the birth control and the fact that I was happy. Then it got much worse, and I finally asked my doctor after realizing I was about 80 pounds higher than I was when I met Andrew. As you all know, I was told I had PCOS, and that was the root of the dramatic weight gain. But the PCOS wouldn't really go away unless I started losing weight and taking medicine for it. The only problem was: the medicine I need to treat it makes me SUPER hungry or I get SUPER nauseous and sick. I've lost 5 pounds doing absolutely no dieting or working out, but that is over a few months time.

I've been praying about it. A lot. And we decided to get a treadmill, and now there's a cute little TV attached to the wall so I can get through my workouts without feeling like they are taking QUITE so long.

But that didn't seem like enough. I've "dieted" before, but I wanted to do something more serious and permanent.

The Lord heard, and He answered my prayers for help through a friend of Andrew's in Indianapolis. I was browsing through Facebook after working out last week, and I came across a picture of him, with his little blurb about how he'd lost 40 pounds in 38 days and had energy and felt great and all this good stuff. My first thought was "fad diet." Then I read on to see that he had done "juicing" for that whole time. He also provided a link to a documentary he'd watched. I watched the trailer for it, and was interested to do some research. So I spent the rest of the time until Andrew got home looking up story after story after story, and looking up what different juicers had to offer.

When Andrew got home, we sat together and watched "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead". A man named Joe in Australia came to America and fasted for 60 days total, drinking only vegetable and fruit juices (freshly made with his Breville juicer) at meal times. He inspired others to do it, including a 429 pound man (who ended up losing 202 pounds in less than a year and got his life back). Doctors monitored them as they went through this, and were stunned by the medical conditions that this change helped to cure. Nutritionists were interviewed.

It seems like a no-brainer, right? Fruits + veggies = GOOD FOR YOU!! Fast food + processed foods = BAD FOR YOU!!

I knew that. But this documentary just made something click. Andrew and I both immediately wanted to do this. We have ordered a really nice juicer, and we went down to the Farmer's Market this weekend to find a wholesale vendor who can sell us organic products cheaper than we can buy the "cheap" (and less nutritious) grocery store stuff.

I realized also this week, that I have been a food addict. I drive home, I crave something, I stop and get that something. Andrew and I eat out many, many times in a month because it's just easier. When we do cook at home, often times it's a Hamburger Helper pasta dish because of how easy it is.

I crave certain foods big time, and I do satisfy those cravings with horrible-for-me foods. And I've been dragging Andrew down with me. =(

The Lord has shown me what I'm supposed to do, though. It's going to be SO DIFFICULT, it's basically quitting cold turkey. From what the documentary showed, it will be 2-4 days of feeling icky, as your body releases all of the toxins you have, from the processed foods you've been eating, into your bloodstream. It's basically cleansing your body (which also means a few days of staying close to home, haha). But after those first days, EVERY SINGLE STORY I read just kept talking about the energy they had, that they had no idea where it came from! And the weight loss was an average of about a pound a day for most people, sometimes more. And while that is great, and losing weight faster definitely allows me to stand a better chance of getting pregnant faster (very important to us after a year and a half of not being able to get pregnant)...I am so excited about the healthier lifestyle part.

The Lord is turning my heart to finally, truly want to take part in getting my life back. I've always "wanted" to do something, but never had the drive or the will to stick with it. This time feels different, and it's amazing that Andrew is ready to do the same drastic change as me.

We want to do this like in the documentary: for at least 30 days. If we are able to make it 60, then that would be great! Even after we're "done" fasting, our diet will be considerably different afterwards. We plan to eliminate as much of the processed foods from our diet as we possibly can, eating mostly fruits, vegetable, and protein when we go back to food. We will probably incorporate juicing as meals, like for breakfast, at times. We will allow ourself two "treats" per month; and every other or every two months, we will do another week or two of straight juicing again. Just to keep us on that right track, to keep our body continually getting nutritious food and seriously cut down and mostly eliminate all of that unhealthy stuff.

So as soon as the juicer arrives, our new life begins! My top New Year's resolution is to get my LIFE back physically, and this is how it's going to happen. I'm so excited, Andrew's so excited! I will probably periodically blog about the journey to share with you all what is going on with it.

This song is called "Walk On the Water" by Britt Nicole. I heard it a few years back on an episode of Biggest Loser, and it's been a song I've loved ever since. And it came to mind today as I started this blog post, so I thought I'd share it with you guys...

"You look around, staring back at you
Another wave of doubt, will it pull you under? You wonder
What if I'm overtaken? What if I never make it?
What if no one's there? Will You hear my prayer?

When you take that first step into the unknown
You know that He won't let you go

So what are you waiting for? What do you have to lose?
Your insecurities, they try to hold to you
But you know you're made for more, so don't be afraid to move
Your faith is all it takes, and you can walk on the water, too

So get out, and let your fear fall to the ground
No time to waste, don't wait, and don't you turn around and miss out
Everything you were made for, I know you're not sure
So you play it safe, you try to run away

If you take that first step into the unknown
He won't let you go

So what are you waiting for? What do you have to lose?
Your insecurities, they try to hold to you
But you know you're made for more, so don't be afraid to move
Your faith is all it takes, and you can walk on the water, too

Step out, even when it's storming
Step out, even when you're broken
Step out, even when your heart is telling you
Telling you to give up

Step out, when your hope is stolen
Step out, you can't see where you're going
You don't have to be afraid
So what are you waiting, what are you waiting for?

So what are you waiting for? What do you have to lose?
Your insecurities try to hold to you
You know you're made for more, so don't be afraid to move
Your faith is all it takes, and you can walk on the water
Walk on the water, too"