Seasons Of Life

Source: Uploaded by user via Chelsea on Pinterest

So after my downer of a post yesterday, I came across this post on transition, the truth is, finishing college is getting to me. I have no idea what's coming up with my life next year. I don't know what I want to do, every single idea has been shot down by my siblings, I'm just at a loss. I know at some point the answers will come and at some point, I'm going to have to ignore everybody else's opinion and do what's right for me, but it's just a hard time, transition.

Source: schoolgirlstyle.com via Paula on Pinterest

Mary Kat Ehnzeller is one of the artists on Jesus Culture's Emerging Voices album, that's how I found this blog post of hers. Enjoy and also get the album, I have it and I love it.

Re-blogged from Mary Kat Ehrenzeller


In times of transition, we can lose our footing. It's almost like God lets us lose ourselves that we would find ourselves all over again. Some seasons you can become comfortable and there is an ease and a familiarity in it all. 

Those seasons are almost like a sense of home where you can come and just rest. You know where all the bathrooms are located. You know where all the dishes are in the kitchen, including the cleaning supplies and trash bags. You know the junk drawers well and even exactly how long the junk has been in there!

Yet, in transition, your identity can be tested. The questions can rummage through your mind of: "Who am I really?" You don't know where anything is. You've never even seen this place before. 

It's uncomfortable and, at times, your heart can't even comprehend what is actually happening. You feel like you're going crazy or, better yet, you think it's the devil. However, most of the time, it's God shaking what can be shaken in your heart so only He can remain. He shakes the things we are trying to identify ourselves with that are not of Him.

He will tear us down to build us back up. He has been known to do this all throughout the Bible and He's really good at it. I love the quote that Kristine Mueller sings: "Redemption is so much better than perfection." These words have riveted straight through my heart because God is not about us being perfect in our own strife, but redeeming us from ourselves! 

He wants to break us down that He can remake us. He wants to take away everything we have relied upon to make ourselves perfect in our own strength. He desires for only His fingerprints to remain that we would see His power.

Yes, we know the truth is that we have been made new in Christ. Yet, it didn't stop at salvation. No. He continues to make us new more and more everyday! He continues to strip off the old man making us more like Him!

So, as I speak to myself and you, take heart! If you are in a transitional season, this means there is movement. Movement means there is LIFE happening and it's happening all around you! It's time to rejoice for joy comes in the morning. Change is challenging but being made more into His image? Why not? Though it be painful at the time, it truly is worth it. Be encouraged, it's just a season.

Venting

So, life hasn't been peachy lately...before I got sick last week, I had a groove going on. My life was kinda settled, I knew what I wanted to do, I knew where I was going, what I was hoping for, I knew what to do when I was down and how to pick myself up again, I was on a roll with my God-life - Bible reading plan, prayer, I was settled.

Then I was under the weather and now that I've recovered, I'm just lost all over again. It's not just about getting sick but also with the fact that this is my last official semester of college...it's a huge thing, I'm at the end of the line.

Being a last-born, especially being so far apart from my brother and sister and being my mom's "retirement baby", it's a life of guilt. My sister was talking to me about maybe not doing my Masters until I get a job, which is a valid point, but I think one thing that she doesn't need to worry about is taking me on a guilt trip. My life is all guilt...

When I was younger it was feeling guilty about not living up to the example my siblings set in school, the pressure to always perform, then it was the pressure to go to the school they wanted and do the course they wanted, then it's the pressure to make my mom proud, live up to my siblings, time and time again, I feel guilty for not living up to them, guilty for moving out and leaving my mom alone, guilty for looking for a job and having no idea where to begin, guilty that I drive a car and my siblings didn't, guilty every single time my mom puts cash in my bank account, pressure and guilt. It's worse because, you're the baby of the family, everyone treats you like a baby, when you act out,  everyone jumps down your throat. Whether it's calling someone else to "report my behavior" and telling them to "have a talk with me" or the constant lectures on ways that I'm not good enough, or ways that I'm a disappointment or ways that I'm taking advantage of my mom...ARGH! Guilt that I get annoyed when every single conversation with my mom revolves around them, hello, I have a life too! Add to the guilt and pressure, it's the disconnect, everybody else is at a different phase of life than I am. And the intimidation, the whole people can pour into my life, but the moment I give an opinion or try to say where I'm coming from, I'm defensive or attacking or rude and again, there's a phone call to report my behavior or a rude text which of course I cant reply to because then I'm rude and defensive and the "no wonder your life went the way it did" line.

Anyway, I have the option of posting this or not, but I choose to post it, not as a poor me downer post, but as a way to put down how I felt at this point of my life...to understand my kid when they go through this, hopefully to laugh about it in a couple of years at a family reunion, like, "how dramatic was I?"

Ventfully Yours
Jo

In The Week of Typhoid...

Guess who's back?! 

After a particularly bad dose of food poisoning bordering on the edge of typhoid and malaria (for real) 2 weeks ago, blogging was the last thing on my mind!

Remember Sunday I went to that mad love concert, (pictures coming up later), Monday, Tuesday I was at school paying my fees and that fateful Tuesday I bought one f those veggie salads from John and Jo's in town, and yes I'm writing their name hadharani (in public) because they almost killed me. 

I went to the counter and asked the girl if they sold salad without dressing and she pulls underneath the counter and gives me one. A logical person would've taken that as a warning sign and been a little wary...not me, I bought it, got home, took a couple of bites, it didn't really taste "right" so I threw it away, but it was too late. 

Source: medschoolsketches.tumblr.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Thursday night comes along and I'm puking my guts out at 2 in the morning, same thing throughout the weekend. By Saturday morning, I'm slowly feeling my spirit slip away (well-deserved drama queen moment) but, anyway, I was really weak, I couldn't keep anything down, I had a fever, I fainted running to the bathroom to puke again at 2 in the morning and my mum finds me on the floor...really, it was scary, then trying to figure out how she was going to get me to the hospital in the middle of the night!

Got to the clinic a couple of hours later and got a bunch of tests done, got drugged up and got home. Sunday till Thursday, I was in bed recuperating and dealing with the nasty side effects of the drugs they put me under, one was an anti-nausea pill whose side effect was causing lethargy and sleepiness, another was an amoebicide the size of my thumb, and the rest were malaria pills, cough medicine, antibiotics, anti-allergy, antacids, I am telling you, I was a walking pharmacy!!!

Anyway, I'm better now, and I hope you accept my deepest apologies for not being around.

A couple of great things happened while I was sick though;

1. I'm understudying a Mizizi class at Church and obviously couldn't make it to the 1st class, but I was amazingly touched when my "bosses" called me and prayed for me, keeping in mind that at the time I was a complete stranger. (I Love My Church)
2. Bonded with my mom, obviously, seeing as how she was there taking care of me all week.
3. Realized I am not the most inspiring sick person; I barely prayed all week, except the "Oh God, kill me now, I can't take this anymore!" quickly followed by "I was kidding! Please heal me, please, please, please heal me" I mope, I whine, I complain, I'm needy, I need you there to hold my hand, hehe, hope you can deal with me...
4. Realized that because I'm such a needy sick person, I am the most qualified person to take care of a (mildly) sick family member, bring you soup, fluff your pillows, buy your favorite movies...yeah, I'd be awesome...

Apart from all that, I'm good, not eating raw food out of the house for a LOONG time, but I'm good and never taking my health for granted again!

xo

Jo

In The Week of Typhoid...

Guess who's back?!

After a particularly bad dose of food poisoning bordering on the edge of typhoid and malaria (for real) 2 weeks ago, blogging was the last thing on my mind!

Remember Sunday I went to that mad love concert, (pictures coming up later), Monday, Tuesday I was at school paying my fees and that fateful Tuesday I bought one f those veggie salads from John and Jo's in town, and yes I'm writing their name hadharani (in public) because they almost killed me. 

I went to the counter and asked the girl if they sold salad without dressing and she pulls underneath the counter and gives me one. A logical person would've taken that as a warning sign and been a little wary...not me, I bought it, got home, took a couple of bites, it didn't really taste "right" so I threw it away, but it was too late. 

Thursday night comes along and I'm puking my guts out at 2 in the morning, same thing throughout the weekend. By Saturday morning, I'm slowly feeling my spirit slip away (well-deserved drama queen moment) but, anyway, I was really weak, I couldn't keep anything down, I had a fever, I fainted running to the bathroom to puke again at 2 in the morning and my mum finds me on the floor...really, it was scary, then trying to figure out how she was going to get me to the hospital in the middle of the night!

Got to the clinic a couple of hours later and got a bunch of tests done, got drugged up and got home. Sunday till Thursday, I was in bed recuperating and dealing with the nasty side effects of the drugs they put me under, one was an anti-nausea pill whose side effect was causing lethargy and sleepiness, another was an amoebicide the size of my thumb, and the rest were malaria pills, cough medicine, antibiotics, anti-allergy, antacids, I am telling you, I was a walking pharmacy!!!

I lost a bunch of weight when I was sick (yay parasites!) (just kidding, definitely just kidding) but I gained it all back this week, don't blame me, all I can eat is fries, I dont have an appetite for anything else! Hoepfully next week I'll be 100% recovered and I can quit the fries.

The lesson I learnt though is none of this matter, thin, fat, big boned, whatever! As long as you're healthy, nothing else matters. In the middle of my puking, I was just praying for the day I'd be able to eat crunchy, charred, juicy nyama choma (barbecue) and honestly, that's life, deprivation isn't life, restraint and responsibility is one thing, deprivation is another.

Anyway, I'll be back to normal posting soon, I'm better now, and I hope you accept my deepest apologies for not being around.

xo

Jo

Concert Day Outfit Prep

I'm really looking forward to Church tomorrow because there's a concert afterwards and it's been AGES since my last concert, so I'm really excited.

via

Anyway, so I'm on Pinterest looking for outfit ideas, and I think I'm gonna go with...

Source: polyvore.com via Kaci on Pinterest

OR

Source: polyvore.com via Joanne on Pinterest

OR

Source: christinamarie0824.polyvore.com via Joanne on Pinterest

I definitely can't do heels for the event, and I dont want to carry a bag with extra shoes or anything, so I think these are good,

Hello, Goodbye

I know I haven't been posting much recently, but that's becasue I've been setting up my diet & fitness blog slash, the blog that attempts to keep me accoutnable to my weight loss and fitness goals, say HELLO to;

Clean, Lean, Mean, Happy Raha

Please feel free to head over there to check it out :-)

Other than that, I'm good, reading a lot, learning a lot, got my hair done. Now I have long curly locks, with a little bit of bbrown highlights, I love it. Pictures soon.

We opened school this week, classes start on Monday, really I have no idea how I'm going to say GOODBYE to these two:

via

via

 

 

Please don't judge me, but, I am so addicted to these two! I'd even consider take evening classes so I don't miss them, no lie! Especially Pasion de Gavilanes, seriously, I would take that DVD instead of an engagement ring j/k. Seriously, I don't even watch TV, let alone Telenovelas, but these two are CLASSICS!

Apart from that, I'm good. More updates later. Hope your all OK.

xx
Jo

Friday Motivation

Source: blogilates.com via Cassey on Pinterest

xo
Jo

Friday Meal Plan & Workout

There really wan't that much of a meal plan today, mom bought bhajia for dinner last night (yeah, precisel 2 days after I got on a diet) but hey, I made it work, I, with all the willpower in the world, split that packet into three...it was pretty easy actually since all day I was drinking my green smoothie (I made mine with kale, spinach and mangoes, threw them in the blender with a little water) Looked a lot like this minus the garnish.

Source: healingcuisinebyelise.com via Arzo on Pinterest

So today, for breakfast I ate a little bit more of those cold bhajias drenched in Peptang Ketchup, I would have made something more fancy like throw in some kale, onions and tomatoes and make an omelette or whatever, but 1. I ain't fancy 2. I didn't have time 3. I'm LAZY!

Source: google.com via Tina on Pinterest

So, I was out in town all day trying to get my school registration done and working here and there on writing stuff, so all I had all day was a Fanta, yes, fail! I got home and desperately craved chocolate so I caved in and bought Maryland Double Choc cookies, but to redeem myself I did have 2 more glasses of that yummy green smoothie.

So, to workout all that sugar and chocolate, I did 25 minutes of Kim Kardashian's Fit in Your Jeans by Friday DVD...which I think is good considering I'm really not in the mood to do anything, plus with my legs still killing me, I read that I should give the treadmill a break for 24-48 hours and let those muscles rest.

Source: fitinyourjeansbyfriday.com via Khurshida on Pinterest

Anyway, I realize today was just unhealthy and excuse filled, but thankfully tomorrow's the weekend and I'm planning on going HARD!

Source: blogilates.com via Katrina on Pinterest

xo
Jo

It's a Numbers Game

To calculate your basal metabolic rate (amount of cals needed to just live, sleep, and breathe) use thisBMR formula

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) – ( 6.8 x age in year )
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) – ( 4.7 x age in years )

So for me;

Jo: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x 136 ) + ( 4.7 x 61.5 ) – ( 4.7 x 22 ) = 1432.25


Once you get that number – use the Harris Benedict Formula to determine how many calories you need to function daily and maintain your current weight:

To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor:

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) :  BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) :  BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) :  BMR x 1.9

Now you know how many calories you need to maintain your current weight.

So for me, without adding an exercise routine to the mix, I'm, sedentary, I walk about 30 minutes a day to the bus stop or to school, which is little or no exercise, so my daily calorie need would be;

1432.25 x 1.2 = 1718.4 calories

Adding moderate exercise 3-5 days a week, would make that

1432.25 x 1.55 = 2219.9

So what if you wanna lose 5 lbs?

Well 1lb of fat = 3500 calories

So to lose 1 lb, you need to create a 3500 calorie deficit.

If you want to lose 1 lb a week, then you need to create a 500 calorie deficit everyday. You can eat less by 250 cals and workout more by 250 cals. 500 calorie deficit x 7 days a week = 3500 calorie deficit per week. At that rate you will be losing your 5 lbs in 5 weeks! It’s been said that you can safely lose about 2 lbs a week, so you do the math. Some people can lose more based on how drastic the diet change is and it’s also based on where you’re starting from!

So for me, I'll be aiming at keeping my calories around 1700-1800.

I'm not a calorie counter, but this is a good idea about regulation and checking the nutritional value of my servings.


xo
Jo

Thursday Workouts and Meal Plan

Today's menu is pretty simple; its recommended to eat every 2-3 hours, so,

1. for breakfast I had coffee and a PBJ,

2. Plain pbj mid-morning snack

3. Spinach, kale, mango smoothie and nuts (no time to make lunch)

4. Banana milkshake

5. Skinless steamed chicken, kale+spinach

6. TBD

I'm not that perfected at meal planning, especially planning SIX
meals, but I'm expecting to get better at it with time,

Exercise for today is a new video from Cassie and a couple of other
things from this month's workout calendar.

My legs are killing me from going running the past two days, so I'm
not going running today, or I might, we'll see how it goes.

Wish me luck!

xo
Jo

First Post

I've always wanted to add a fitness blog to my list...I read enough of them, I might as well write one!

This story starts in typical fashion; I've been on a million workout/healthy living phases and none of them has stuck, so hopefully this one, with the added motivation of writing everything down will help keep me accountable.

We don't keep a scale on our house, but roughly these are my measurements:

Shoulders 41

Arms (widest part stretched out) 11.13

Bust 37.5

High Waist 31.5

Belly Button 32.12

Lower Abs 33.12

Low Waist 34

Hips 39.5

Legs 23.2

About  month ago I was at 62kg (136 pounds)

Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely comfortable with my weight, I can move around, I'm somewhat fit, but I'd like a little more...definition and toning, and go on a run without feeling like my heart is bursting out of my chest, and not be concerned about health issues considering the myriad of illnesses in my family history.

Before Pics:

So, I'll check back once a week and put down whats up, or whats down.

Starting today, September 5th 2012, I'm following a workout plan from Cassie Ho, (Blogilates) but adapted it a bit to make it a little more "Kenyan" especially with the recipes and stuff.


xx
Jo

Early Morning Thoughts and Hearing from God

Source: Uploaded by user via Damaris on Pinterest

I had an interesting morning, you know that sweet spot between asleep and awake when your mind is so clear and creative. I had one of those mornings today.

First, I feel like we should really pray for our leaders. I feel like there are a lot of worms and parasites infesting leadership and we need to pray for God to remove that, and give our leaders wisdom to draw from as they make decisions that affect so many areas of our lives.

I also feel like we need to pray for the Bible, the word of God to not only go across nations and for people to draw from that but also to pray for people against religious text. A lot of Christianity has already been ripped out of the public, especially in  developed countries and I feel like the Bible might be another target, so we need to pray against that, and again for the leadership and for the people who would stand up against something like that.

I also feel like as Kenyans, we should pray for our “moral strand” not to be broken…undeniably we are influenced by a lot of Western practices which we’ve not only adopted but twisted it into our own, and a lot of things that were once unimaginable are now almost becoming acceptable. (Campus Divas, anyone?) There’s a difference between not hating people or accepting them and enabling them. We should definitely treat people with love and respect, but we should also be bold enough to say, we don’t agree with your practices and pray over them.

Source: myjourneycorps.com via Journey Corps on Pinterest

I think that’s it. On a personal note though:

I think as a Christian, I put myself down a lot for never being good enough, never “attaining the mark” and I feel like God just placed this reassurance in my heart and said, “You’re doing good, don’t you see that? It’s going to be OK and I’m always going to be with you.” So, that was awesome.

Also had this amazing reassurance about some other personal stuff, which involved seeing myself celebrating my kid’s 1^stbirthday on the floor of my house, with me and the hubby eating cake, wearing party hats and surrounded by balloons; and the baby was just wobbling around, just getting the walking thing figured out…so that was awesome. Another one was seeing us at a photo shoot just being totally safe and in love and happy and content and always holding hands J

So as a member of Bethel Church, you know virtually, through the internet J I believe we have a direct line with God and He speaks to us and we just have to listen. 

I was reading Spiritual Java, by the Bethel team, page (203-204) about 2 BSSM students and 1 junior High student who were prophesying over leaders at a conference; each time someone came up the two BSSM students would ask each other, "Do you have a word?" and they'd respond, "not right now" and defer to the High school kid, who'd then go into pretty precise detail and encouragement. The two ministry kids were astonished and afterwards went to the kid asking him how long he'd been prophesying because he was so good at - I don't know hearing God? The kid replied that it was his first time and explained:

"My teacher told me I was going to prophesy today, so I figured since I was doing God's work, whatever came into my head was from God. So when you asked if I had anything, I just said whatever first came to my mind." 

The two ministry students received an instant, life-changing revelation regarding the simplicity of hearing God's voice.

So, where before I'd tend to dismiss a lot of stuff as just a dream, it kind of makes you think, we keep asking God to reveal himself to us and speak to us, but when He does, then what? Do we really pray that hoping for an answer or just because it's the "in thing" to pray? (Preaching to the choir here.)

Source: spiritualinspiration.tumblr.com via Janet on Pinterest

xx

Jo