Walk It Out

Part of being a Follower of Christ is telling others about Him. We should want to talk with others about Jesus! Here are a couple of tips that I've gathered as I've shared my faith:

1. Just say it. Push through the feelings of awkwardness and anxiety and just do it!

2. The next conversation, whether it's with the same person or someone else, is significantly easier.

3. Your actions and your words must match up. Conversation and actions go hand in hand.

I want to encourage you to walk it out! I know that you can do it. FYI: the buffalo have no significance. I just thought it was a fun picture. 

Blessings,

JJ

Abide in Love

A phrase that's thrown around in Christian culture is Abide in love. Have you ever stopped and wondered what that means? What does the word abide really mean? How are we supposed to do that?

Well.... I was wondering the same thing. 

John 15:9 says, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love." I encourage you to read the big chunk of scripture in the first part of John 15. 

Here is the Greek definition for the word abide as it was used in John 15:

to remain, to be held, not to depart, kept, to wait for

Aren't all of those words so safe and beautiful? The key to abiding in God's love is to stay with Jesus, to wait for Jesus, to be held by Jesus. Let these words marinate in your brain for a little while. 

Now the real kicker is how do we do that? How do we abide? How do we stay with Jesus when we're constantly being pulled away by a different distraction every 5 minutes? You try. You stand. You choose to abide. You can choose to stand strong and secure on the Rock both when it's easy and when it's hard. The cool part is that if Jesus lives inside you, then He'll help you. You just have to let Him!

Use that visual example from John 15 to help you rest in the fact that you are connected to Christ. He gives life, supports us when we're struggling, and longs for us to grow in our faith.  Let's apply it!

Blessings, 

JJ

New Name New Journey

Hello Friends!

Today is the beginning of a new blog journey. I am retiring the name of Razor Sharp diving into a new blog theme that does not necessarily focus on my everyday life, but that is focused on ministering to girls seeking God and resting in His freedom. I am thrilled to introduce Crafts & Conversation!

Crafts & Conversation a life blog thats focused on living a full, fun, and beautiful life thats rooted and grounded in Christ. C&C is a celebration of the Gospel where we will find encouragement and inspiration in our every day lives. Join in with me and spend some time making crafts and cultivating uplifting conversation. 

I'm really excited about this new blog journey!

Blessings, JJ

Tunesday: Rend Collective Experiment

Mr. Luke introduced me to the Rend Collective Experiment last week. Since then, they have currently made an appearance in my At Work playlist. 

This song and music video is super fun. 

I hope this brought some sunshine to your day!

Tunesday

At the DNOW I worked a couple of weekends ago, Mr. Luke and I got the opportunity to lead worship with a big group of talented people. My friend Chandan introduced us to this song, "All Things New". Its so beautiful! It blew me away!

Its so joyful and true. 

In Christ all things are made new! Lets rejoice in that!

I hope that you have a blessed day! Happy Tunesday!

Putting on the New Self

This past weekend Mr. Luke and I were fortunate enough to get the opportunity to go to Laurel to lead worship and small groups for my home church's disciple now. 

I love Disciple Nows. They are amazing opportunities to be intentional with teenagers to be real about living a life that revolves around Christ and to simply love on and encourage teenagers. 

The theme of the weekend was Revolve. We focused on Colossians 3:17 which says, "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3 has kind of been my spiritual theme these past few months. 

My friend Lauren said so well in my college small group that we have to choose everyday to put on the new self and walk in the spirit. I completely agree. We must choose Jesus in every thing from conversations to actions to attitudes to what we watch. 

I was asked to do a breakout sessions for all of the Junior High girls. Thats such a cool age. You're still in that place where you aren't too cool for stuff you know? I tried to emphasize that Jesus wants to speak and work in our lives every day, not just Sundays and Wednesdays. Thats a good lesson for everyone not just Junior High girls. 

We also talked about that for our lives to revolve around Christ that our actions had to match up with our actions. Heres an example that I thought was pretty cool: 

You know that 2+2=4. If you ever see something that says 2+2=5, you know thats wrong. Its the same way with us. If our actions and words don't add up consistently, then its wrong. Most of the time people can see it because we put EVERYTHING on Facebook and Twitter. I challenged the girls and myself to think, "is this a 4 or a 5?" 

It was a beautiful weekend with beautiful worship. 
We were truly blessed to be a part of it. 


I challenge you to put on the new self!

The Great I Am

This past Wednesday night at church, Mr. Luke lead us in this amazing song. 

This is one of those songs that you just have to throw your hand up in the air, sing like no one is watching, scream out the words, and/or stand in awe of our Savior and cry. 

I did a combination of all 4. 

We serve an incredible God. 

He is worthy of all praise, adoration, and devotion. 

I challenge you and myself today to put on the new self. 

To walk as Jesus walked. 

We can do this. We can live for Christ. 

I hope that you have a beautiful weekend. 

Daily Prayer

As I was reading the Word yesterday morning this particular passage of scripture basically jumped off the page . 

"May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ"

2 Thes 3:5

Its not our humanly instinct to automatically choose to act/think/talk/love like Jesus. This verse reminds me that we cannot rely on our own strength to fully rock out the Lord's will for our lives. We must rely on Him and allow ourselves to be drawn and moved by Him. Starting now, this will be embedded into my prayers. Have a beautiful day!

Guest Post: Gospel for Everything

Hello! I hope that you are having the best day ever. 

Today is a Guest Post Day! The heart behind this is to feature young women who trust and serve the Lord. I urge you to be encouraged by the stories, scripture, and truth. 

Amy, who happens to be one of my amazing first cousins, is one of the most challenging, encouraging, and inspirational followers of Christ that I know. She and Kyle, her husband who is also amazing, moved to New York City a few months ago. They are working with international students from unreached countries at Columbia University. They are working with international students from unreached countries at Columbia University. They live in Harlem and minister to those students by conducting conversation groups. They share the love and message of Christ through these conversation groups. It's absolutely amazing. 

You can find more information about their ministry here.

"The gospel is not just the way to enter the kingdom, but the new way to do everything and to face every problem and to grow in every step."- Tim Keller

If you asked most people (including me) to describe the Gospel it would be something like: "Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and resurrected the 3rd day so we could have fellowship with God if we believe Jesus is the only way to receive eternal life." And, that is right! But, the gospel doesn't stop in our lives after we confess with our mouth (Romans 10:9-10). The reality of the gospel must be the lens we see all of life through- everything, every problem, a way to grow in every step.

I DON'T murder, cheat, steal, get drunk and I DO go to church, serve others and overall I'm pretty nice. Many of us don't commit the "big sins" but we are probably self-righteous, judgmental, are withholding forgiveness, jealous, or are a little entitled. In Galatians 3:2-3, Paul says: "Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?"

Paul is saying...Your works didn't save you. So, why are you trusting your actions to make you more like Christ? God saved you. Lean on Him, love Him, and let Him work in your heart...if your heart is good your actions will follow... not the other way around. 

An idea that I keep hearing in NYC is "Preach the Gospel to yourself." Now that doesn't exactly mean walk through the Romans Road in your head every time you have a flash of anger or an insecure thought. But, it does mean reminding yourself of the truth Paul talks about. Don't rely on yourself to fix yourself. Let it go and allow God to heal the deeper heart issue...the action is not the issue the heart is. Example: The other night our team was going to a West African apartment complex. I got really sick about an hour before we left. I felt terrible but insisted to my husband that I was going. He told me I was crazy and to stay home. I did, but the first few minutes at home I really struggled with guilt and worried about what the rest of the team was thinking. Then, so powerfully the Lord reminded me that I didn't go to a West African apartment complex to deserve His love...why was I trying to become more holy and earn His love now by going? I preached the Gospel to myself by reminding myself that the Gospel is not works. The Gospel is not trying harder. The Gospel is Jesus. I get to fall in love with Jesus and let Him change me from the inside out. 

Now to my legalistic friends who have red faces right now. Yes, we should continually be working for the Lord. But, the motivation should be from the heart. My motivation was pride, fear of man, and guilt for not serving God 24-7 seven days a week even when I'm sick. The motivation should be adoration because we are so in love with the Lord. And, that kind of love only comes from realizing we are not perfect. And, also resting in the fact that we don't have to be! 

Our walk with Christ started with the beauty of the Gospel! I love in the quote where Keller says the Gospel is the new way to do everything. Wow. Why do we choose to live daily in our flesh? Our flesh didn't please God, so He sent Jesus. Our flesh doesn't please God, He gives us His Spirit so we can daily live the Gospel. No matter what problem, sin, or struggle the Gospel is the way to live.

-  Amy

All He Says I Am

Listen to this. 

Cody Carnes is a worship leader who happens to be dating Kari Jobe. Mr. Luke and I were fortunate enough to see them together this past spring. They sang this song. It blew us away. 

I encourage you to buy it on iTunes. 

"chains are broken

scales are on the floor

truth is spoken 

I am no orphan anymore

I am new again

i am free

I'm no slave to sin

im a saint

i am righteousness

im alive"

I Wonder

Listen to this.

This past Wednesday night, Mr. Luke and the worship band led us in this incredible song. 

Leeland is a great band and I am so excited about this new song. I for sure listened to "The Sound of Melodies" album every hour on the hour a few years ago when it came out. It still makes an appearance in my cd player every now and then. 

We had such a beautiful night of worship and scriptures. Gerald spoke about not being surprised when God shows up and does something cool. Thats so true! One of the major themes of my summer, and now my walk with Lord, is Expectancy. We should be expecting the Lord to work among us and move us. 

It goes right along with truly seeking Him. We don't spend time and energy looking/seeking for something that we know we are not going to find. We seek the Lord because we know that He is there!

He is there! He is waiting for you!

He is able. He is able to provide and encourage. 

"here we go! lets go to the throne, to the place where we belong"

Go seek. 

Professional JJ

First things first: The scripture verse I can't shake:

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is your^[a]life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Colossians 3:3, 12-15

Our lives are hidden in Christ. These are our instructions on how to conduct ourselves.

This summer I started working full time at Mississippi College.

It was absolutely a God thing. I praise Him everyday for letting me have the coolest job on the planet.

This is a photo tour of my work life/space

I knew the day would come where I couldn't' wear v-neck t shirts and skinny jean/crazy skirts all day everyday anymore, I just didn't realize it would come so fast!

I've been trying to build up my professional wardrobe without losing my personal funky/comfortable/classy-indie style.

This particular day I was wearing one of my favorite dresses and had a messy bun. Its purple with dark purple flowers, has pockets, is made from that awesome stretchy material, and is from the Gap Outlet.

I paired it with a creamy white shrug I snagged from a Banana Republic Outlet. I wear that shrug far too much. Im not sure if shrugs are still cool, but its whatever. I'm also wearing my name tag and I got new bangs.

After I get dressed, I grab my work bag (the green one with pale green flowers) and head out the door.

I am fortunate enough to live only 2 blocks away from work.

Its about a 4 minute walk.

MC's campus is known for its beauty.

This is my desk.

This is my work ID. Its sitting in the little log Mr. Luke made for me.

2 monitors.

I do everything on Post-Its

Encouragement Post-Its. Always a favorite.

Recognize these?

I really love my desk.

If I didn't love it, I would be up the creek without a paddle because I spend A LOT of time sitting there.

I hope that was enjoyable.

Forever Reign

Hello World.

I would like to formally apologize for lack of post, but when I say that I have been ultra busy... trust me... I am not lying.

I consider blogging to be a treat and something to look forward to in my week.

In a way to discipline myself until my work was done, I wouldn't let myself blog. As you can see from lack of post my work didn't get all the way done hah.

The week before spring break I prepped for the Praxis 2 all week.

During spring break I was able to go on a youth retreat and worship the Lord and serve Him in beautiful ways.

This week... I have a huge test on Thursday, so this has to be a mini post.

I want to give you some encouragement.

The message is simple.

If you have accepted Christ's beautiful gift of salvation and experienced His forgiveness, the Holy Spirit is inside of you. Another name for the Holy Spirit is Helper.

Helper.

Let the Lord help you. Let the Lord do His job. The description is in his title.

He want to help you and give you peace, we control freaks just have to be willing to let Him

I also encourage you to choose Jesus even when you don't necessarily want to or its not the cool thing to do.

Choose Him in every situation, in every scenario.

Finally, have your identity in the Lord.

Dear friend please don't have your identity (when I throw out the word Identity what I mean is not just how others see you, but how you see yourself, and what you place your self worth merit in) wrapped up in who you are dating, what you can do, or who your friends are.

For a long time my identity was, "I'm JJ. I'm loud. People think I'm funny. People like me. I am successful." Now, I focus my identity on "I'm JJ. I'm a daughter of the King and He has blessed me".

Please don't morph into someone that you aren't just to fit in.

You already fit in God's hand.

I have photos to share and crafts to talk about, but those will wait for later.

For now, I want to share a song with you that we sang at Spring Break Camp.

Mr. Luke and I were fortunate enough to get to participate in the worship band. Thank God Mr. Luke knew this song well enough to teach it to all of us.

Because I am technology illiterate, I couldn't figure out how to put the video into this post, so its one post down. Enjoy.

Choices.

Hello friends.

It is almost spring break. Im almost bursting with excitement.

Currently I am listening to Mr. Luke sing a little diddy while he plays the guitar.

I think this is in my top ten favorite of "favorite things to do" list.

Taking one step further along the path of adulthood and preparing for my non-college life, I took the Praxis 1 this past Friday. I want to be a history teacher and they made me take a math test. Granted, everyone has to take this same test first, well everyone who is not an education major. It was basically like taking the ACT which took me back to some of my most dreaded high school days ha. You know what I mean?

After stressing over not passing the math section, it was finally test time.

These messages of encouragement poured in, Mr. Luke was more encouraging than ever, and me.... I was paralyzed with worry.

When I heard Kay Arthur speak she spoke on the passages of scripture from John 14 15 and 16. We camped out on the phrase in John 14 "Let not your heart be troubled." A lot of times we, okay I, only use that phrase when something that I know that I can control happens. Or when I am giving advice to someone.

I want to say that and mean it whenever my heart is troubled and I'm worried about not just major things, but every single thing.

It goes hand in hand with continually walking in step with the spirit; with being in constant conversation with Jesus.

I want that. I let my own self get in the way 99% of the time.

But how good is He to us? Always ready to forgive. Always wanting to forgive and draw us closer.

After choosing to be in a bad and helpless mood all of Friday morning, it finally hit me that so what if I failed the math portion, I could take it again.

I am some what kind of an over-exaggerator. I make things worse than what they really are and I chose to let my heart be troubled.

So its the same old message. The same lesson that Jesus is teaching me.

Choose me.

Choose not to be paralyzed with worry and fear.

Let not your heart be troubled my child.

In other news, I have been crocheting up a storm in my limited free time.

I have been making crochet flowers to sell!

I don't have any photos yet because I just haven't taken any.

We plan to give the proceeds to Alison and her efforts with the Botswana Orphan Care Center.

So................... once I get some photos up you can buy some!

Personally I love mine. Its a mustardy goldy yellow. I wear it with everything.

Be on the lookout for them!

And if anyone has any suggestions for what we could call them, I would love to hear it!

drop a comment or on my facebook!

Also the best boyfriend in the whole wide world, Mr. Luke, is making me a new blog design!

I'm getting pumped for the grand preview coming up!

I hope that everyone's weekend has been pure magic like mine.

Memory Lane and a good God

Itza Monday! (said in Italian accent)

I hope that you had a whimsical weekend.

I was fortunate enough to spend Saturday with one of my super best friends in the whole wide world, Ms. Sicily Axton.

I want to share with you some special Sicily and JJ photos through the years... I hope you don't mind this trip down memory lane.

We just have so many fun photos together, I couldn't decide on just one or two.

So this portion of the the post is dedicated to Sicily Minette Axton

This is when we graduated from Jones.
We went to the beach and took cheezy beach photos

Fancy Christmas Party
Hanging out downtown
Brooke's Madhatter Tea Party Bridal Shower
Girls Being Girls
This is when Sicily passed off her "JCJC's Most Beautiful" title
Bon fire prom pose
Bon fire pyramid
Christmas with the Arts
That same beach trip
ThE WhItE tRaSh BaSh
this was part of our Ellephare groupie stage when we would go to band practice every weekend. yep.
Prom 07
High School Pep Rally

Well.. I hope that you have enjoyed that. I know that I did.

Anyway, she came up to Clinton on Saturday and we went to Harry the Potter and painted some beautiful pottery and had lovely conversation.

Pictures will follow once I go pick up our items on Thursday!

In other news, I was reading the Word tonight.

I just knew that I needed to sit down and read.

I was feeling uneasy and uncomfortable in the inside and I knew that I shouldn't try to divert what I was feeling and busy myself with something else.

I opened up to Ephesians and started reading and praying all at the same time.

I came across a verse that I marked this summer while at Camp.

Ready to be encouraged?

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through His spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith- that you being rooted and grounded in love may you have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge, that you may be filled with all of the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we can ask or think, according to the power within us, to Him be glory..."

-Ephesians 3:14-21

I know that its a lot to read for a blog, but there are so many wonderful things in this passage.

I can't get over how the love of Christ surpasses all knowledge.

We serve a big God.

He is peace and goodness.

Pray for me while I pray for you.

Bless.

Ketchup

Its so freeing to actually sit down and write.

I'm praying that my joy for journaling be rekindled.

This blog definitely helps.

I've been able to be a part of some ultra cool things that I would like to share with you.

First off, Weight Watchers is going well.

I lost 8 pounds in my second week and since then I have somewhat stayed the same.

But I am not complaining since I have not gained any.

But today is a new day!

I have also kicked up my physical fitness.

My aerobics class that meets at 9 am on Mondays and Wednesdays leaves me super sweaty for class, but its completely worth it.

Also, I have discovered Zumba. My only question is, "why have I never done this before?"

It is absolutely amazing and fun. I don't even feel like I am exercising.

Moving on, Im still daily diving into the Old Testament.

Here a few small bits of encouragement and revelation... okay these are things that I thought were neat:

During the time period where Moses and Aaron are asking Pharaoh to let God's people go (out of Egypt and ultimately out of slavery) and Pharaoh wouldn't let them, the Lord used 10 plagues to torment the Egyptians. As I was reading it, I started thinking "these are the most random things to use to punish people." Not only were they random, but they were the things that always 100% of the time get on everyones nerves.

For instance, gnats. Everyone hates a gnat flying around them and landing in or on your nose or mouth. Imagine nonstop swarms of gnats. Yikes!

If I were an Egyptian citizen at the time, I would be begging Pharaoh to let those people go!

I encourage you to go check out what else the Lord is capable of doing.

When the children of Israel were able to leave the land of Egypt, they traveled into the Wilderness under the guidance of the Lord. Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his men to reclaim the children of Israel and enslave them once more. The children of Israel were trapped. They had Pharaoh's army coming at one side, vast wilderness on 2 other sides, and the Red Sea in front of them. They were trapped. I don't even have to ask if you have felt trapped in certain situations. The better question is, "what do we do when we're trapped?" "how do we react?" I will be the first to admit that I don't look for the Lord to part the waters and let me walk through. As children of the Lord he has promised and is capable to take care of us. We have to be looking for the Lord to un-trap us (i realized that un-trap isn't a word, just work with me). Look for the Lord to help you.

The children of Israel were hungry and began to complain about how miserable they were - remember that they were delivered out of slavery and awful labor, they forgot. The Lord provided food and water. Every morning he rained down manna, which was a honey flavored wafer (thats the description is Exodus. It sounds tasty). The catch was that they were only supposed to gather up how much their family needed for the day. If they tried to overcompensate and stock up, the manna would produce worms and stink. Yuck. So every morning the men had to go out and bend down to get the manna to feed their families. How humbling. We have to humble ourselves every morning (well not necessarily in the morning; although that is a good idea to start your day with humbleness) and pick up what the Lord has for us that day.

Those are just some of the small things I've been learning.

But of course all of those small things work together to make big things.

I got the opportunity to work at a Disciple Now in Columbus.

It was refreshing to be in God-centered activities all weekend.

To end the weekend off, Mr. Luke and I experienced worship under the leadership of Kari Jobe.

I love Kari Jobe.

I have seen her about 3 times now and every time keeps getting better.

I purposefully did not wear any make-up because I knew that I would openly weep.

And I did.

I started to cry within the first 5 minutes of the instrumental. She hadn't even come on stage yet!

For about 2 hours we worshiped like no one was watching.

The Lord revealed himself to me and my spirit was refreshed.

That refreshment could not have come at a better time either.

This week at school is going to be quite busy.

But now for your viewing entertainment, I took my camera down to an overlook at the reservoir. Mr. Luke and I had an impromptu photo shoot between our Thursday classes last week. Sometimes, you just need to go for a scenic drive and get away. And you also need to take your camera.

I am also fortunate enough to learn a few things from Mr. Robby Followell. His work is amazing and he's been teaching me a few things. So I tried to take what I learned from Robby and actually do it. Here are my results. Also, go check out Robby, then hire him.

Responsibility.

Blog time.

First week of school... DOWN... only a million to go.

Even though I've only been to a few classes once, most classes only 1 time, I find myself completely submerged and drowning in my schoolwork.

Okay, it's really not all that bad, but I MUST stay on top of my school work and not get behind.

This task is going to be a little difficult because there are so many other fun things that I would rather be doing. Playing with my favorite little ray of sunshine (my mini sewing machine) instead of reading about the British Empire for example...

But my schoolwork isn't the only thing thats jumped onto the Responsibility Train.

Not only am I pushing for being responsible in my relationship with the Lord, but responsible in other areas such as my relationships, my schoolwork, and my eating habits.

I started reading Exodus a few days ago.

Again, I am reading the Old Testament 1. because I am super obsessed with historical backgrounds and old stories and 2. because I want to find things within in the children's church Bible stories that I've heard for years that I have never known before.

The Word is filled with so many details that we leave out and some aspects of the old stories aren't as popular as some.

For example Moses' mother making him a basket to hide him and save his life is not near as exciting as a burning bush.

But that's what stuck out to me.

Moses' mother making a basket. Not just a thrown together basket to keep food or something random in, but a basket to shelter her son so he could live.

This story plays out in Exodus chapter 2.

The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.

Background info: The Hebrews were living and thriving in Egypt; therefore the Egyptians were jealous of their prosperity and eventually made the Hebrew people slaves (Ex 1:8-14). The Hebrews were multiplying like crazy and Pharaoh decreed that every Hebrew male child born would be put to death (Ex 1:22)

³When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank.

So.... how I am relating this to Relationship Responsibility is that Moses' mother was prepared to save her son. She knew how to make a basket out of bulrushes. I don't know how to do that.

Anyways... She knew what to do and she did it.

A lot of times in our spiritual lives we know what to do, but we don't do it.

I am not going to harp on this, because I already have.

But the encouragement nugget here is to be responsible and grow up in your relationship with the Lord.

Get off the milk and get on the meat.

Well, to finish the story... Pharaoh's daughter found the basket in the river when she was bathing. Moses' sister was standing close by to see the story play out. Pharaoh's daughter recognized the baby as a Hebrew and Moses' sister offered to find a Hebrew woman to nurse him.

Moses got to go home to his mother.

Eventually when he was older he came back to Pharaoh's house and lived like a prince.

Then he led the Exodus out of Egypt.

He was kind of important.

Something else really quick:

I have joined weight watchers.

Just call me Jennifer Hudson.

Even though I have only been on the program for a week now, I can already see how my mindset has changed.

I am now so aware what I am eating.

Here are a few things that I am doing:

I replaced Ranch dressing with vinaigrettes... and they are delicious

When I go to Chick-fil-a, which is often, I don't order a #1. I order a grilled and yogurt or fruit

I measure everything

I follow serving sizes. I'm aware of portions

When I get a box of Cheez-its or Smartpop or Special K, I get ziplock bags and put the portions into bags. So now when I go for a snack, the portion is already counted out.

I cut out carbonation

I have never been so committed to a diet before.

Well... its not really a diet. Its a lifestyle change.

Keep me accountable.