I am finally admitting that I need accountability to lose pounds and maintain my goal weight.  Way back, I went to Weight Watchers and lost a ton o' fat from having babies and then I started the yo-yo. Last year I took off significant weight just by working out and eating healthy. Winter came and so came back the weight. Life is rough.

Now, it is time to get life under control AGAIN. We can do this, people! Yes, we can!

And, as life would have it, I was surfing the web tonight and saw the most decadent apples desserts EVAH.

Jen over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam created her Melt in Your Mouth Coffee Cake for Tasty Tuesday and Melissa at Girlymama has a French Toast Apple Bake that looks to die for.

Praise the Lord you can't gain weight just looking. Someday, when I have reached my goal weight, I am so trying these recipes! You heard it here.

BUT, for now, it is time to get out the tracking sheets and hold myself accountable to EVERY bite. You bite it, you write it, or so I've been told. Everyone tells me it works. I know from experience it works. I just have to get to it and do it! Time to feel better about myself and how I look in a summer bathing suit!!

(Letting you in on a secret now: I ate a huge chocolate donut before weighing in on Monday night for the first time. It tasted so good but I want to be a lifetime member so now I have to get serious. No more cream-filled chocolate donuts for awhile.)

What goals are you trying to achieve? Do you have an accountability structure in place helping you? (Finances, weight, etc.?)

(Oohhh, on another note, – I just checked and my second article just posted on Parenting Squad! Yeah!! "What in the World do I do on Earth Day?" Please stop over and say "HI!")

I would love to spend hours poring over old posts and give you the highlights of the last year but time does not allow for it today. Suffice it to say God has blessed us richly in family, friends and experiences that we will remember for a lifetime. 2008 was an incredible year of connecting with new and old.

This is my last official post of 2008. I am sure with NOTHING going on New Year's Day you will hear from me again. Feel free to tweet, e-mail, say "Hi" because my family and I are staying home. It will be the perfect day to read a novel, contemplate resolutions, do more cleaning out and enjoy the peace and quiet of time with family. Maybe we will even drag out a few board games.

I just realized that I have nothing special planned to cook. Oh well, we might be starting off the New Year with leftovers of all the days of entertaining this last week. But, that's okay too because 2009 is going to be the year of "NO" until debts are paid off, weight is lost and we perfect what we said "Yes" to in 2008 (blogging, podcasting, seminars & conferences, writing, etc.).

I do want to wish you ALL a Happy New Year. See you in 2009.

Ephesian 6:10-13 (NIV) "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, stand."

I have a invented the greatest diet invention to hit the market since the tennis shoe. Only, this one doesn't help burn calories, it keeps you from eating them. Imagine a swatter with a built-in calculator which in turn is attached to the hand.

The calculator is a smart one. It knows when you have eaten the appropriate calories for your body weight. Once you have reached your limit for the day it proceeds to instruct the swatter to slap your hand every time you reach for food.

The swatter is also smart. It knows you and how hard it has to hit to register in your brain that your body is more important than the chocolate you crave or the chips at the church picnic or making your friend happy by eating an extra large slice of her fresh apple pie. As a bonus, it slaps a quick reminder when you eat food earlier in the day that doesn't help your body maximize your goals.

By now, you must know I am kidding, BUT imagine if such an item did exist. Would I have a raw hand for a couple of days until the reality of real self control sank in? OR would I become over dependent on it and live for the rest of my life with the silly contraption on my hand?

WHY is dieting soooo hard and why is food soooo good?

With a $10 Amazon card (Thanks Mom Central) burning a hole in my pocket, I invested in Faithfully Fit, a 40 days Devotional Plan to End the Yo-Yo Lifestyle of Chronic Dieting by Claire Cloninger and Laura Barr. WHERE have you been all my life?

Today, I read the first devotional. I am in love already. The prayer at the end says "I surrender." NOT, GET me moving GOD. But, I surrender. I will put all things before the Lord today. I will pause and pray and think before putting a single morsel in my mouth. How about, I will pause and pray and think before speaking a single word? (ohh, this self-control thing might have several applications) OR, I will pause and pray and think before I spend money? (but that's another whole post.)

I am supposed to journal my goals which is scary since I have one more big vacation coming up this next week. We go to an annual "campmeeting" with lots of community dinners and way too many opportunities to blow any diet. My goals are to TRY to fit in at least 5 1/2 hr. walks while I am there, to load up on healthy options in the fridge, eat less than what is served on my plate at the community meals and to pray at the beginning of each day to stick to the LIFESTYLE (not a diet!)

Have you tried Faithfully Fit's 40 days of devotion? I would love to hear about it. Better yet, join me. Let me know so we can hold each other accountable