Birthday
August 12, 2010Has it really been more than a week since I posted? Sorry.. I have a bunch of small random things to mention, so this might not flow.
I’m still anxiously awaiting Allan’s blog…he wants to wait until he hits his halfway mark and I’m not sure how long it will take. We both had birthdays in the last week and if his was anything like mine, it’s gonna take a while to recover from what we ate.
I will admit, I ate birthday cake and didn’t feel guilty. I ate some chocolate covered cherries and didn’t feel guilty. I ate a cheesy bread stick, and kind of felt guilty… I wasn’t really hungry, but it looked so good!
This morning I hit 48 pounds! So exciting. I had gained a couple pounds on the reset, and then started losing once I got back on the hcg last Monday, then the birthday weekend hit and I had NO plans to cheat…but…
Sunday we went to Benihana’s, the Japanese steak house where they cook the food in front of you, and I decided to have the lunch filet minon, no fat on that hunk of beef! And as I as reading the menu I saw as an appetizer, vegetable tempura. I had no idea what “tempura” meant, and I didn’t think to ask, I thought it was a side of veggies. I only thought to spend 5 minutes convincing the server that I wanted only bell peppers “tempura”. Imagine my surprise when they placed in front of me a gigantic plate of deep fried bell peppers. I had no idea “tempura” meant super yummy deep fried. So I made a choice. Birthday celebrating only happens once a year, so I figured, why not? I passed around the plate to get rid of as much as I could, and then I indulged in a few slices, and it was soooooo good. But then I didn’t lose any weight the next two days. Day 3 was my actual birthday and I ate all hcg approved food, except the 3 things I mentioned above.
Can I just say, my birthday was so much fun! I had such a great time. I saw a movie with my sister and then had a bunch of girls over to play Just Dance on the Wii. If you want a super fun cardio work out, get this game!! You dance to all kinds of crazy songs and all the moves are really basic cardio moves.
So, today I’m at 48 pounds lost.. so close to 50!
I wanted to hit 50 by tomorrow because I leave tomorrow and will be gone for 10 days and it’s so hard to weigh myself on the road. Even if I used a different scale, there’s no telling how accurate it is compared to mine, so I won’t know exactly where I’m at. Plus, hotels don’t often have scales, so I have to go several days with no weighing at all. Anyone have advice for how to keep track on the road?
Anyways, I’ve convinced a few friends to do some guest blogging, so hopefully soon we’ll get some good advice from some people who’ve overcome their eating struggles. I also know that Todd (from Selah) has been preparing a blog to post on our website, but I don’t know when he’ll get around to posting it. When he does, I’ll put it here too. I think he’s down a bunch of weight.
And the last random thing I’ll mention is that I’m packing up a bunch of clothes to donate to Cyndi Benson Ministries for her clothes sharing project. Last night I went through my tubs and my closet and tried on stuff and actually found it hard to let stuff go. Why is that? All I’ve wanted this whole diet is to get to a smaller size and now that I’m down 2, I found it hard to pack up the big ones. I was folding up my “Selah” pants, as I call them, and felt sad. What?!?!? Then I started to realize, I hold onto things. Not like a hoarder, because I hate clutter, but there are things in my life I’ve held on to that aren’t good for me.
Anger.
Hurt.
Food.
Well no more! Since God has been dealing with me on this diet I’ve felt so much better, not just physically, but spiritually. I’ve been able to get over past hurts, even had healing conversations with family members who inadvertently hurt me with their words. God has been so good. So I let the pants go. No more holding on. I’ll be sending Cyndi a box of sizes 18-22 and I have a friend who’s lost 40 pounds and she’s got a bunch of size 14 she want’s to go to Cyndi, (I’ll be digging through that for myself first!) So any of you Cyndi Benson clients who want to clothes share, just give her a shout.
Did I mention I’m seeing Cyndi this weekend??? I’m so very excited to get to see her and hug her and tell her in person how much she has helped me. Yay!
I’ll let you all know when I hit 50!!
amy
Amynperry's Blog 
So so so proud of you Amy! I joined Weight Watchers 8 years ago and lost 31 pounds. I kept most of that weight off until about a year or so ago when I realized I had regained almost 14 pounds! I returned to Weight Watchers in April and have since lost just over 9 pounds. We will do this together, and with God’s help of course. I got to see you perform with Selah in Portland a few weeks ago and just loved you all, as usual. My husband and I have seen Selah in concert at least three other times! Keep on keeping on. Summer has been difficult for me, I have had it off so I haven’t been as careful about what I have been eating. The good news is that I seem to have only gone up and down one or two pounds all summer. Back on the horse come September! God bless you!
Glad you had a nice birthday! Just remember Birthday Calories don’t count! Well maybe they do, but they should be guilt free.
Wow, Amy…I wasn’t even sure that this was the same gal by your picture…How good the Lord is…you look amazing…FREE…thank you for sharing your heart with folks and I pray this is your best birthday ever! Psalm 139
That’s really awesome Amy. I just ordered HCG the other day and I am eagerly awaiting it’s arrival. I have approximatley 40 pounds to lose, possibly 50 if I look and feel all right. ( I don’t want to be one of the icky skinny people either) Your blog was actually the tipping point in me ordering the HCG. I am really nervous about the 500 calorie diet but generally when there is a specific length of time I do much better. Can you give me an example of what you eat in a day? Thanks, Danielle
Wow what a great post!!!!! I love following your blog with your ministry and weight loss journey. My name is Amy also and I live in Louisiana. I came to First Baptist Mccomb Ms to see yall and it was one of the GREATEST nights of my life!!!!!! I did get an autographed cd and a great pic with yall.Keep up the good work!!!!!
Amy Allen
hi Amy, I just got to know you and Selah. I’ve never heard of you until a friend posted a video of ”All my tears – Washed Away) wow, that was really touching. Now I just downloaded 2 of your cd’s on Itunes, so excited I’m seeing you guys live on 09/10 here in Modesto, CA. I belong to a Brazilian Church where I sing and play the piano, will bring some friends with me as well, want them all the be blessed as I’m being by listening to your songs. Thanks, Jesse Rabelo
Hey Jesse! : – )
We were at the concert last night too…it was awesome!
We were sitting right behind Amy’s family in the 3rd row on the far left.
The whole night was so fun, I even got to take a picture with the group and then just beautiful Amy & I. : – )
I don’t think I will forget the Target story anytime soon…that was SO funny! LOL
Have a blessed day, sister.
In His Grip of Grace,
Laura W. (Central Calif.)
Hi Amy,
I just logged onto the Selah website because I needed to find the name of a song. I just bought your latest album yesterday and was weeping in my car at just about every song. I’ve been a Selah fan for 6 or so years – since a friend introduced my husband and I to them – and every album has its way of speaking to my heart. You are a great addition – what an amazing voice – but more than that – you have a passion in your singing, a vulnerability – that shows your heart. Thank you for blessing me yesterday as i listened to Unredeemed – and the rest of the songs. 🙂 i joined Weight Watchers last August and lost almost 30 lbs. i felt so much better. i still struggle because I love sweets. I know it’s a struggle but know that you’re not alone. Blessings! Mary
I saw you yesterday and think you look amazing. I was in a musical this summer where I lost about 20 pounds because I didn’t have time to eat… Now that I’ve had time to eat I’ve put a little back on, but I tried out for Godspell and I go back to teaching tomorrow (pray for me). If I get the part then I will go back to not having time to eat… which will be good, seeing as how I need to lose about half my body. Gee, doesn’t that sound fun.
I bought a treadmill and now that I’m making payments I guess I should use it. So my goal is to come home from work, walk for an hour, shower, and drive to rehearsal for the evening.
I think you raise a good question of why do we hold onto things. I hold onto the same things you do… only I would add chocolate. I guess that is food, my favorite one!
I so related to every single thing you said at Women of Faith yesterday… and I felt like you were reading a page of my life. One that is a big struggle for me. However you’ve motivated me to read about HCG diet. With little to no time to eat, hopefully I can do it.
Hello there:
Proud of you! I am working on losing as well! Not doing anything except planning my meal (such as they are) and posting on my Facebook page what I have done. Nothing like being accountable! I figure even if no one reads them, I know they are there.
At 280+ (you can peek at my YouTube song postings and see my Thumbnail face pic as proof that I am that big, if you like), I need to lose like 140 pounds.
As I once posted on Facebook, my big thing isn’t really like sweets… it is COKE.. not Pepsi, Sprite, or any other soft drink… 100% full-on COKE. You know, the Lord has really blessed me, to keep me away from it for the last three weeks (that is when I started my diet). I actually tried one the other day, and it tasted sour to me, so I think the Lord is helping me along this path.
Luckily, my Facebook page has some great Christians who say they will pray and they really do, to support me. I think they are interceeding for me, so I will offer to do the same for you, if that is okay with you.
Blessings, and May Jesus lift you up from temptation! Happy Belated Birthday too!
Hello there:
I am curious about something. In my observations of alot of Christian churches, to be overweight is treated almost an unpardonable sin. In service areas, for example, there aren’t alot of overweight people “allowed” to fill those positions. From greeter, to primary teacher, to worship leader, the expectation is that the sin of “gluttony” is untolerable. (The exclusion is mothers of course, they seem to be okay with left over baby weight as long as everyone is aware that is where the extra weight came from).
So, my question is… because you were already part of an internationally famous worship group, did/do you experience that type of discrimination?
Well, I’m not sure what church you’ve been attending, but I’ve never had any kind of discrimination in the way you described, nor have I noticed any like that at any church I’ve ever been to. In fact, in my experience, I’ve seen that it seems most of the churches I’ve visited or attended have many overweight people. It’s something I notice, because usually when I walk in a room, I immediately assess whether I’m the heaviest person there.
As for discrimination as part of Selah, no one ever says it to our face, but we’ve gotten rude emails from people who think it is their job to tell us we’re overweight, as though we couldn’t look in the mirror and see it for ourselves.
The thing I’ve learned is, no one can tell you when you should lose weight. It’s like anything else in life, you need to work it out with God on your own terms. Not everyone who is overweight is gluttonous.. but I was, and I had to come to terms with the fact that I treated food as a drug to self soothe and satisfy. Once I was ready to admit that, God was able to guide me into the weight loss I so desperately needed.
thanks
amy
Blessings to you and thanks for answering.
I am shocked that anyone would be rude enough to email you anything like that! Your music supercedes everything, as the Lord has blessed you and your group greatly.
I guess maybe my experience has been poor then. I noticed that when recording, the camera people would get closeups of all the other thin people and then shoot me (even in my solos) as if I was 100 miles away. Kind of like in the movie “A League of Their Own”, I had the Marla Hooch syndrome.
I have also tried out for a couple of different worship teams, and the minutes the auditioner saw me, I got that “blind-date” nearest-escape-hatch look. I was “allowed” to audition, but it was short and by then I knew I didn’t have any chance. And in looking at the other worship females of each of these churches, all of them were thin… so that tells me something right there.
Thanks for getting back with me.
I went to the doctor today, and I have lost 13 pounds… (just started three weeks ago).
Hello there… me again….
I met you in Tucson, and I thanked you for answering my post here.
I just wanted to update….
I did finally get on with a worship team… in fact, there is also a second worship team that offered to allow me to join. And a band that has asked me to fill in on a couple of occasions.
Ironically, one of the first sermons after my first church service on worship, the topic was about obesity.
I had to snicker…. what else can I do?
I am just SO SO SO thankful that someone has given me a chance.