D is for.......... DIET? OK, so my little OCD acronym (Organize Create Design) may be taking on a new spin! Those of you who have been following me on my fitness and nutrition journey know that nutrition has become a very important part of my life. So important in fact that I have taken new steps in my journey to learning more about nutrition in order to become a "health coach". I have truly been inspired by how nutrition effects us. Not only does it effect our physical bodies but also our emotions, mental clarity, and can even effect our spiritual health! 

Lets rewind a bit..........back to, oh let's say October. During my training my diet changed drastically. It is safe to say that 75-80% (if not more) of my competition prep was in my diet. I didn't mind the new diet at first, I actually loved the organization and structure of it (surprised?). But, after several weeks I began to feel the effects of the extremely strict diet. Physically I was feeling depleted and I was becoming very bored eating the same thing day in and day out. It became hard, sticking with it took a huge amount of discipline! Have you ever had a craving? Have you ever felt hungry? Multiply that by a 100! But you know what? It made me dig down deep and surrender to my Jesus. In my previous blog I Am An Overcomer I share how I found my strength and encouragement. I knew that the strict diet was temporary and I would have more flexibility when the competition was over. And I looked forward to it, believe me. But, during this time I learned so much about how food really can effect your body. I saw changes I had never seen before. Despite being tired and overwhelmed at times it really did feel good to be healthy, eating a clean diet, and being in the best shape of my life. 

I made it through competition day (November 23, 2013) but the journey was far from over. Remember the flexibility that I couldn't wait for.......Well, the flexibility quickly turned to a new struggle. Actually this was an old struggle with a slightly different face. Balance! 

Hello........Hello.........Self-control are you still here? No answer. Are you hiding? Come out, I want you to meet my friend Balance. I know you will be good friends! 

O.K. not exactly how it went but you get the picture. I felt like I had lost control of what I had worked so hard on. The problem was I had no goal now, well not a specific one. The Holidays had tripped me up, I had given in to the lies that "I deserved a break. I deserved to eat a little, after all I had been on some form of diet for 7 months."
But now it was January and I couldn't seem to get out of my hole. I desperately wanted my self-control back and wanted a balanced healthy lifestyle. So here I was again full circle struggling with the same things I had been struggling with when I began in the spring. Condemning myself for my lack of self-control, fear that I will gain all of my weight back, and feeling depressed and angry about it all. 

In her book Made to Crave- Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food  Lysa TerKeurst talks about the truths in Gods word that can fill our hearts when these lies we tell ourselves creep in. www.madetocrave.org 

   Old Lie: I am such a failure with this healthy eating thing. Why sacrifice this instant gratification now when I know eventually I'll just go back to my old habits anyhow?
   New Truth: I am not a failure. I am lavishly loved child of God. Part of my right as a child of God is to operate in a power beyond myself. The Holy Spirit is God's gift to me so it is possible for me to use the self-control I've been given. 
   Favorite Verse: " How great is the love that the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (John 3:1)

The thing about me is when I get angry enough I get determined! So embracing this "truth" I was determined to use my God given self-control, find balance, and figure out this nutrition stuff . I began soaking in everything I could about nutrition and learning how to create healthy diet plans. Thanks to my friend and trainer Heather, she was willing to share her wealth of knowledge on the subject. I also checked out a few books at the library, connected with health related Facebook pages, and read nutrition articles. 

So now I'm on my way. Everyday I'm learning new things. My ultimate goal is to get a Certification in Nutrition, but for now I have started writing a few diet/meal plans including my own under the mentor-ship of Heather and doing pretty well with it. I am officially a nutrition NERD! I actually enjoy writing out meal plans. I am so excited to see where God takes me from here. My cravings haven't disappeared but I feel like I have a little more self-control. So then my journey continues!


If you struggle, I would love to hear how you deal with your struggles with food. Comment below or email me mailto:melissakmacgregor@gmail.com.
 
Oh and just a note.......! In my first week of my new diet plan I lost 5lbs! And I'm back in the Gym on a regular basis (well when the snow doesn't interfere). 


Blessings, 
Melissa
OCD Mama  

I thought I would share a few before & after photos. Thank you to my contributing photographers Larry W. Stone Photography, JLH Photography, Robert Thomas Photography, and my friend Pearl Conroy. 

To see more Mt. Rodgers Competition photos click below

I knew training would be hard but  last week was my hardest week so far. Depletion had set in! But I believe that God was teaching me a powerful lesson. Because it is in the times when we are weak that His power and strength can truly be seen.

Monday afternoon after Boot Camp and on my way home from picking up my daughter I was feeling worn down and particularly emotional. Hungry, tired, and completely depleted I questioned my own abilities to see my training through. I thought, how will I make it through these next five weeks. To make matters worse I still had weight training to do for that day. Then I heard these words on the radio by Christian Music Artist Mandisa.

"Overcomer"

Staring at a stop sign
Watching people drive by
T Mac on the radio
Got so much on your mind
Nothing's really going right
Looking for a ray of hope

Whatever it is you may be going through
I know He's not gonna let it get the best of you

You're an overcomer
Stay in the fight ‘til the final round
You're not going under
‘Cause God is holding you right now
You might be down for a moment
Feeling like it's hopeless
That's when He reminds You
That you're an overcomer
You're an overcomer

Everybody's been down
Hit the bottom, hit the ground
Oh, you're not alone
Just take a breath, don't forget
Hang on to His promises
He wants You to know

The same Man, the Great I am
The one who overcame death
Is living inside of You
So just hold tight, fix your eyes
On the one who holds your life
There's nothing He can't do
He's telling You

Maybe you have heard it many times as I had but on this day at this particular time her words hit me like a ton of emotional bricks. As tears streamed down my face I prayed, "God I do not feel like an "OVERCOMER". He whispered, but you are. Look how far you've come. Mandisa repeated these words again...

    You're an overcomer
Stay in the fight ‘til the final round
You're not going under
‘Cause God is holding you right now
You might be down for a moment
Feeling like it's hopeless
That's when He reminds You
That you're an overcomer
You're an overcomer

When I got home I picked up my weights and pushed through my training for the day. I know I did not have the physical and mental strength in me to get through that workout. But it did come, by relying on Gods strength! You see God used my physical and mental depletion to draw me to Himself. I know I serve a powerful God! Too often I do not tap into the power He so freely gives. I focus on mySELF and think I can do it on my own. I don't typically follow celebrities, musicians, etc. but I decided to do a little research on Miss Mandisa and the story behind the moving words of "OVERCOMER". What I found was a more amazing woman than her inspiring song. God has a awesome way of piecing things together because in her recent blog post on October 16, "An Eternal Perspective" , she talks about exactly what God was trying to teach me. In her opening paragraph she states, " If you've been to one of my concerts, you may have heard me talk about followers of Christ having resurrection power. That same power that raised a man from the dead can raise us from [insert impossible situation here]. Jesus said that, “whoever believes in Me will be able to do what I have done, but they will do even greater things…” (John 14:12) I don’t know about you, but there are some situations I am praying for that could really use some supernatural resurrection power!"
She goes on to say that when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He allowed Lazarus to die first. Death was necessary ingredient for God to be glorified. To see Mandisa's full blog post "An Eternal Perspective"  click this link
http://mandisaofficial.com/home/an-eternal-perspective/.The same is true for me. I must die to mySELF in order for Him to raise me up, to become an overcomer. I am continually amazed by what God has been teaching me and how this journey has transformed my life. Did I completely overcome my struggle through my feeling of depletion? I wish I could say yes. The truth is I felt even worse the next day. But, I continued to push through. And I'll have to say I have a awesome and gracious trainer who takes care of me. She adjusted my training and so far this week my energy is back and I've been feeling good! Will that be the last time I feel depleted, tired, worn down and want to quit? No, I'm sure it won't be. But, less than four weeks left and I am continuing my training " Stay(ing) in the fight ‘til the final round"! Because I Am an Overcomer!I hope that you are encouraged by Gods message! And I pray that whatever fight you might be in that you see yourself as an OVERCOMER too!
Inspired by His Power,
~Melissa

It has been about three weeks now since I officially began training for competition. I truly had hoped to journal more at this point. But, breaking into life of competition has been an adjustment for me and my family, for sure.

The first week and a half was pretty hard. Outside of taking care of my kids I felt like my life was centered around diet and workouts. My body was tired and sore from increase in training (weights & cardio) and the depletion of calories. Don't misunderstand, I eat constantly. In fact I eat six to seven times depending on the day. The diet in itself has taken a lot of planning and organizing. Preparing meals for each day takes a lot of work. Then there is fitting those meals in between transporting my kids back and forth to school (remember my two different pick up times) and my work outs. It has been a challenge. I started out preparing all my meals in the evenings for the next day but that was exhausting. This left little time with my family and more time in the kitchen than I wanted. Then I got a bit of a handle on the process by cooking most of my food on Sunday and dividing my meals in storage containers for the week. I am now able to pull out the meals I need each day, pack them into my cooler in the morning and head out the door. Easy Peasy, lemon squeezie! No room for cheating! 

I've tried to make it as little change as possible for my kids, but for my husband it has meant a little extra help. OK that is saying it modestly, he has helped A LOT! He has been super supportive and a true blessing to this whole process. He helps me prepare my food and helps with the kids when I need to fit in a workout. He always asks, "What can I do?" I would not be able to do this without him! 

On the subject of "breaking in" the news, I find that reactions from family and friends have been interesting. Several times I got the question,
Are gonna get ALL those muscles? 
Well yes, that is kind of the point of the competition. 
Am I going to become She Hulk in the next six weeks? 
Well no, that would be a slight misconception there! I assure you that this would be far from reality (for me at least). Training naturally (meaning no drug enhancement) that just won't happen. 
Over all my family and friends have been supportive. Some I will call "my groupies', those promising to come to the competition waiving signs and cheer from the audience. 
Then there are my "Facebook fans" my most overwhelming reactions of all! Early on I struggled with sharing my news and progress on Facebook. As a Christian woman I was worried that many would think it was immodest or about vanity. But, stepping out of my box (because after all that is what this is all about) I did share a few posts on Facebook. Here is one of my posts.
   

God is "dragging" me out of my box on this journey of mine! I had a hard time with the vulnerability of taking photos of my progress but I am also amazed by the result! It seems a bit surreal! I am discovering how amazing these bodies God gave us really are! For the sake of modesty this is all I am ready to post right now! 

I could not believe the support I received on Facebook.  I had so many encouraging comments in support of what I was doing. And most of all I was amazed that church friends who had seen the post were asking me abut the competition. 

But really I feel God is using this opportunity to stretch me to bring me out of my box (my comfort zone) and help inspire others. I do not expect it to be an easy journey (and it hasn't been) but it has been an amazing one so far. As my lifestyle, diet, and body continue to change over the next several weeks I hope you will support me too. Even if it is nothing more that prayer through this journey!


"I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me." Philippians 4:13 AMP


Philippians 4:13 has been my life verse. Though not the version I have memorized I love how it uses the words "Christ Who empowers me". I constantly have to remind myself that He is the one who empowers me, especially when I feel weak! I need to remember this when I am not feeling confident or when I don't feel I have the physical strength. And I am taking it one day at a time. 


I would love to hear your comments here as well. Do you struggle with confidence or worry about what people think? I'd love to hear how you deal with your struggle or maybe how God is dealing with you. 


Thank you for joining in my journey to competition I know there will be much more to share!    
  

I promised you some big news so here it goes....

Those that know me or follow me on Facebook know that the last five months have brought on quite a fitness "addiction". Following my new found addiction I was presented with an opportunity that would bring a life changing experience for me. For the past few weeks I have been praying, pondering, and struggling with my decision to pursue this opportunity. This will bring my commitment to fitness to a whole new level. Though I am terrified of the "new territory" I am blessed to have support from my husband (the love of my life), family and friends (the few that already know). This is going to be a challenge but I am excited to share the journey with all of you on my blog. 
​
I'm going to keep you in suspense for a few more brief moments.... so keep reading! I want to start with a testimony of the last few months and the amazing transformation I went through. Make sure you read to the end then you will see my big surprise!