I found It! - IChair Workout - Overweight & Obese Fitness

At last!  A fitness programme I feel I could follow.  I have searched a long time and tried many workouts.  A lot of them I could do surprisingly but would give up after a day or two because of pain and the length of time they took.  



A few months back the doctor advised e it was his recommendation I go for gastric bypass surgery to help me lose enough weight to relieve my painful back issues.  I was not comfortable with this.  This was not the first doctor to recommend it to me and I had even gone through the whole process before right up to the point of surgery when I decided no the first time.  This time though I felt uncomfortable I realised if another doctor was recommending it and I was struggling to walk from the pain in my back maybe this was meant to be.



Well the last few days my prayer intensified about this.  I know some of my readers are not Christian and that is absolutely okay however I hope that it is also okay that I am and that I share some of my relationship with God with you.  If you truly want to know me this is who I am.  I have not been comfortable with this decision to have the gastric surgery but then again I realised who really is?  If we didn't take this risky surgery seriously that wouldn't be right.  I had been saying to my doctor/s that I would prefer to lose the weight myself.  The thing is I wasn't and I was in fact gaining and that is why they were pushing for it.  But I didn't know how to lose the weight.  Every diet I tried failed.  But I knew it was my desire to try once more.  My consultation with the surgeon which had been postponed from July but was now looking close to when it was due to happen early October.  My sister had said to me my family would pray with me.  They and I would ask God to either remove the possibility of surgery if it wasn't for me or to let it happen.  I did fear.  I don't like the idea of being on a cocktail of drugs and vitamins the rest of my life.  I feared the complications that sometimes come with surgeries like this.  And worst of all if I went through all of this I could still gain the weight back!  



So I started to pray.  Just short prayers here and there when I thought of it.  I found myself becoming interested in a new eating programme.  That's what I'll call it because I don't want to make this post about dieting.  It's radical.  It's the Raw till 4 programme.  The girl who promotes this 'diet' on youtube is a friendly sort of girl but I have to say I don't prescribe to all of her ideals but found strangely the 'diet' did work for me.  I tweaked it a little bit but I found and felt when I trialed it that I could possibly maintain this for a while and as I needed to lose weight fairly quickly that was my main concern.  I think this 'diet'will work for me along with the vitamin supplements I'll need.  It's a type of vegan doctrine.  I'm definitely not vegan.  But I will do anything to lose weight initially.  So I'll try it.  I like the idea that there isn't a restriction only an omission of certain foods.  But the idea is you eat till you are satisfied.  I won't stop eating meat forever but I'll do what it takes to get me to where I need to be.  It's not the same spiritual move for me as it is for some because I already have my Christian faith to fill me there.  



Of course no 'diet' is complete without exercise.  My achilles heel.  I hate exercise because I can never find the motivation and usually it's too hard and too long.  I hate to leave the house to do it and especially in the winter which we are now approaching.  So this morning I prayed again.  I asked God to show me which it was to be.  The surgery or to try to lose the weight myself.  I spent all morning on youtube watching Raw Till 4 clips to learn more about this.  Then I searched fitness for the obese.  I came across this amazing clip.  And I know what you're thinking.  You probably think it's because the fitness instructor is Christian and that's why I love it.  I won't lie to you for me that was an added bonus.  The way she speaks of God in her clip encourages me all the more.  But it was not just that.  The fact that I could do just 10 minutes of real exercise from my chair was the greatest feeling.  I felt even in moments when I didn't feel like doing this (and I know there'll be a few) I could still push myself for 10 minutes and get it done and over with.  I haven't been this inspired in a long time.  This is the one for me to start with. 



But before I did that I also received a letter in the post earlier today to say my appointment had been postponed again until the end of November.  Some might have been disappointed to receive such news and I do understand that.  When you're ready for surgery like that you're ready and the waiting is hard.  But for me.  I took it as the most amazing answer from God. I believe He responded to me through these 'signs'.  What else do I call them?  I felt that this was the opportunity I needed with God's help to show the doctors and everyone around me that I was capable of doing this myself.  I have some time to prove this now.  I'm not looking to be a size 0.  I'm just trying to get the pressure off my back and make it to a weight that feels comfortable to me.   I'm not going to have lost that kind of weight by my appointment end of November of course but I am sure hoping I'll have lost enough to make them stop and think I really can do this.  With God's, my family's, my friends and your help! 



Yes!  I will need your help.  I don't think many ready this blog but for those of you who do.  I hope you will join me in my 30 day challenge starting next week or at least drop me a note of encouragement in my journey along the way.  I will post (no matter how embarrassed I feel about it) my numbers and details and photos from next week so you can track this journey with me.  I hope you will.  I hope you'll at least try this awesome workout too.  Read the youtube comments.  Both Christian and non-Christians have tried it and really benefited from it. Let me know how you get on if you do. 



Stay beyoutiful  bigYoutifuls!



RayRay



PS - Thank you Alisa Keeton!

Ebook Now Available on Amazon Kindle!

Hey all!

Finally!  It's here.  Long awaited non-fiction semi-bio ebook on plus size living by Alexandra Grace.  Check it out and get yourself a copy.  Spread the word in the plus size community if you will and please do leave a review on Amazon if you can.  

A Personal Guide To Living Plus Size by Alexandra Grace (Sep 4, 2014) - Kindle eBook

• $5.11 Kindle Purchase
• Auto-delivered wirelessly

• Prime members read for free Join Amazon Prime

Hope you like it!

Stay beyoutiful  bigYoutifuls!

RayRay xx

I Have Nothing To Say

I usually always have something to say!  To comment on etc.  And it's usually because some I've come across some article, witness some event or that I've been motivated to by some experience.  In trying to come up with my next blog post I found myself with a touch of 'writer's block'.  There is plenty to blog about but I can't think where to begin.  Because you see everything  I usually share here is something that has 'stirred' me both in my heart and my mind. While there are number of helpful topics I could write about in this post none 'grab' me just now.  My mother and other adults I ever came across in my life have always taught me if you haven't anything good to say about anything or anyone it is better to keep quiet.  I think it is good advice and I have followed it my whole life.  However, it isn't the situation that I only write about something or someone when I want to say something 'bad' or negative about them.  I just haven't anything to blog about  right now that's all.  So with that said I thought it would be nice to share with you this poem by Shalom Freedman:

When there is nothing to say
Try to say something, 
For Nothing is only Nothing 
And saying it will not help- 

Saying something may give meaning to life
Even if what one says is not of great significance-
Saying nothing gives nothing

Saying this little something then
Is another small attempt at giving life meaning-

It may be nothing really and nothing in the end and after all
But for now it is a little something
And a little something is better than nothing 
Sometimes maybe even now- 

And so by sharing the above I share my something which is really nothing and probably not very useful to you at all today.  Except to say if I am going to say something I will also add that it's never useless to say to you today, I hope you're well.  That today you have had a reason to smile.  To wish you well and say most importantly.....

Stay beyoutiful   bigYoutifuls!

RayRay xx