My Struggles with Obesity

Since about 2008, I have been steadily gaining weight and presently I weigh 210 pounds at 5 feet 7 inches  In 2007, I started to work the night shift and I would eat at nights and attended college in the morning and slept in the evenings. I worked night shifts for 3 years. I  hardly made time for exercise as my main focus was on my college assignments. This form of prioritization was not helpful towards my health as I saw my dress sizes increased. Currently, my dress size has increased 4 sizes. I have tried dieting and have had my weight yo yo back and forth. Once I lost 15 lbs in 2 weeks and then put on the 15 lbs plus extra weight. Therefore, I am choosing to change my lifestyle so that I can live a healthy life.

I have started to watch my portion sizes, use stairs instead of elevators, park my car some distance from my destination, dance to music 3 times per week, and eat more fruits and vegetables. I will continue to practice these activities until they become routine. Later I will add more activities such as walking around the lake to my selfcare plan.

I have a desire to change my lifestyle because I know that obesity is a risk factor for many diseases such as type II diabetes and heart disease. Also, as a nurse I should be an example to my patients. I feel like a hypocrite when I have to talk to anyone about diet and exercise. Now, I love myself just the way I am; however, I know that I do not have a healthy weight and my lifestyle has caused me every pound of excess weight that I carry. I am also aware that I had made poor choices that resulted in obesity and it is up to me to make right choices to get my life on a healthy tract. I take full responsibility to get my weight under control.

With God's help and my support group I know that I can do this. I will be accountable to my daughter for making healthy choices.

If you struggle with overweight or obesity take control of your life today. Together we can choose to live a healthy lifestyle. It's possible!!

What Do You Do When You Have Done All You Can?

Have you ever been in a situation where you have worked on all the ideas and suggestions for a project and you are no where near to completing it? In situations like this one can become frustrated and tempted to give up on the project. Although feelings of frustrations are real, try not to give in to them and stop working on a project/goal that you know that is in God's plan for your life. In these times you may have to step away from the project to rejuvenate yourself and come back stronger with a clearer head.

So, you have exhausted all your options and you do not know what else to do to make this project a success. Here are somethings that you may do to stay strong and eventually  help you complete your project:

• Talk to God and ask Him for guidance: Listen to Him and trust Him to lead you.
• Call a trusted and faithful person (Pastor, relative, or friend) who you can talk to: You may need to vent or pray.
• Apply self-care techniques such as meditations or taking walks.
• Make a choice to have a grateful heart.
• Contact an expert in the field that your project is related to for suggestions on how to move forward
• Make a decision that quitting is not an option.

Wishing you lots of blessings and success as you move forward with your projects/goals.

Be blessed,

Joy

Dorm Therapy: A Web Series About College Residential Life

My daughter Jo-Dean Seymour and her co-writer Adam Carey have written a web series called Dorm Therapy. This series is about college students residential life. Dorm Therapy will premiere in New York and on YouTube on March 28, 2013. Filming of this project will begin on January 12, 2013. It will cost about $5,000.00 to complete this project. Please join me in supporting this project at:

http://www.indiegogo.com/dormtherapy



Please like Dorm Therapy on Facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/DormTherapy


Here are some promotional videos:

Dorm Therapy

Dorm Therapy is a web series that will premiere on YouTube on March 28, 2013. This web series was written by  my daughter Jo-Dean Seymour and her co-writer Adam Carey. Dorm Therapy is a funny and captivating show about college students life in a resident hall. Please check out promotion videos on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBFMB82hW1k&list=PL5yowgRN-vTCDk107F4uQfZQLlcWzmnQl

Having My Entire Family Under one Roof: Priceless

On December 14 -15, 2012, my husband and I were blessed to have our two children, our grandson, and daughter-in-law at home. This was a wonderful occasion. We attended my son's graduation. He graduated with his Master's of Science Degree. My husband and I are very proud parents. We are happy to share in the celebration of the accomplishments of our son. We had lots of fun at home and at the graduation. 

Here are some photographs of the wonderful time we had:

Avoiding Three-way Relationships

Last month a beloved Jamaican DJ called Captain Barkley along with his mistress, Tracy Bennett, were gunned down in Bronx, New York by the husband of his mistress. Ever since I read about Barkley's death on Facebook I found it hard to get the incident out of my mind. I believe that Barkley's death was preventable. I know that many people will say that many men are having affairs out of their marriage and they do not end up dead. This is true but not because many people are doing it that does not make it right.  I am aware that temptations come to all of us but at the same time we have choices: We can choose to yield to temptation or we can choose to run from temptation. Neither Barkley nor Bennett deserved to be killed; however, if Barkley was not having an affair with Bennett her husband would not have killed him. Maybe Bennett would have been killed but not on that night. According to one neighbor of Bennett there were loud arguments heard from her house at times when her husband was home. Clearly, she and her husband were having problems and I do not believe they were solely related to the five-year affair that she had with Barkley.

People who know both Barkley and Bennett reported that they were good people despite the wrong decisions both made in having an affair. They will be missed for a long time.

In all of this my heart goes out to the families of both Barkley and Bennett. They both left children behind. I pray that these children will be comforted and that family members, relatives, and friends will be there for them always. I also deeply feel it for the somewhat "forgotten" wife of Barkley. May God give her peace at this time. It must be very hard for her to face the fact that her husband's last night on earth was spent with his mistress. I pray that her mind will mostly dwell on the good times she had with her late husband as she acknowledges the fact that he had a relationship with another woman. May God give her strength as she works through her emotions and moans the loss of her husband.

How to Avoid Three-way Relationships

• Resist temptation of having relationships out of your marriage or with someone who is in a relationship. If you are attracted to a person you know that you had no right to be in a relationship with you may want to distant yourself from that person. This person is not the right person you want to tell your problems to or even sit and listen to his/her problems. Many relationships begin from sharing problems.
• Limit conversations with this person that you are attractive to. It does not matter the form of conversations whether it is by telephone or social media. Conversations can help to make you feel connected to the person you are attracted to. Some people have emotionally checked out of their relationships by having conversations with people through social media.
• Work on not being alone with the person you are attracted to.Many relationships have started because people were in the wrong place alone.

The Dangers of Three-way Relationships

When a man or woman is cheating he or she is usually emotionally checked out of the relationship with his or her spouse at home. I know that some people are good actors and can hide the relationships but I am convinced that the heart is not capable of giving 100 percent to both relationships.Someone is getting more out of the relationship and it is is usually the woman or man on the outside.

Many people can get hurt in three-way relationships. Some of these people usually include the children and the spouse that was faithful. In Barkley's case a host of people got hurt which include his mother, siblings, children, coworkers, friends, fans, Bennett's children, and the many other people in Jamaica who depended on him for financial support and encouraging words. People are usually hurt emotionally and physically: name calling, spreading derogatory information, beatings, fights, and death. People are also hurt socially in that the cheating spouse tend to spend more time with his/her new love and dates with the spouse at home are few or  non-existence. This type of behavior also hurt the neglected spouse emotionally.


In the end it does not worth it to be involved in three-way affairs. If the cost of having an affair is hurting others or losing your life, the cost is far too high. If you are in an affair I would encourage you to end it. It may not be easy for you to end this relationship; however, it is the right thing to do and humans are  usually capable of doing whatever they made up their minds to do. If you are thinking about having an affair I pray that you will make a decision not to begin it. Try using some of the information from this post to help you resist the temptation of beginning an affair. May God give you strength as you make good choices.


Be blessed,

Joy

How to Overcome the Venon of Gossipers

Throughout the ages there are people who find pleasure in gossiping about other people. Some of these people try to spread negative statements about others with the intention of making other people look bad and at the same time make themselves look better than the people they are gossiping about. Sometimes people will gossip about others out of jealousy: At times they want what others have but they are not willing to pay the price for the success that they see in other people. So, they go around trying to undermine others to make themselves look good. Many times these people go around and spread false statements about other people. These people can deeply hurt others especially, if their motive is jealousy. I have seen people who want what others have but they are not willing to work hard for it. They are unwilling to give up the comfort of their lives to stay up all night studying, meeting numerous deadlines, working and attending college, denying themselves vacations in order to accomplish a goal, and yet they want what others have sacrificed for. In my mind these people are no better than highway robbers who hold up people and rob them. Some of these people hope that they can cause the people who they spread negative statements about to become frustrated and give up on their goals and others hope that they can cause people to lose their jobs.

How can we Protect Ourselves from the Destructive Nature of These People?

You should have a strong sense of self. You must know who you are and if you do not know who you are you need to determine that in order to stand the attack of people who spread negative statements about you. You cannot afford to let others define you. You must define yourself. For those of us that are Christian the Bible is a good resource for helping us to define ourselves. Knowing who you are helps to enhance your confidence so that when people attack you and spread negative statements about you, you can choose not to believe the negative statements. I am not talking about constructive criticism. I am talking about people who are trying to undermine all your best efforts because they want to be in your position or they just want what you have. When these people attack you you have to be strong and determined that you have worked too hard for all that you have achieved and you will not let their venous statements prevent you from being your best self in whatever you do. You will have to encourage yourself and remind yourself of who you are and whose you are: Examples: I am a honest Christian woman, wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, friend and I am a child of God. God is my heavenly Father and He loves me unconditionally. I am confident and have the necessary training for whatever I am doing. Sending positive statements to yourself will help you to withstand the evil statements that people spread about you. Also, try not to hate the people that spread false/negative statements about you, instead pray for them and forgive them. Because in forgiving them you free yourself of the burden of unforgiveness and you are free to live your life and to experience great joy.

In some cases you will need to confront those who are trying to hurt you by spreading false statements about you. Be assertive and use "I statements." Example: I do not like the way you are talking about me to my friends/co-workers. I am hurt by the statements you made about me and I am asking you to stop making them. If being assertive does not work them you may need to get help from someone in authority such as your pastor or manager. In other instances you can live above what others are saying about you by knowing who you are and not believing the lies you hear about youself.

May you experience peace and joy as you rise above the negative/false statements that people spread about you. Remember that hurting people tend to hurt others. Pray for those who hurt you and forgive them. May you prosper in everything that you do. May you receive favor everywhere you go. May God bless you richly.

Be blessed,

Joy