<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472873590091089256</id><updated>2011-04-21T20:01:43.280-07:00</updated><title type='text'>I Must Become Less</title><subtitle type='html'>This is a journal about my journey to better physical and spiritual health by allowing God full control over ALL aspects of my life.
"He must become greater; I must become less." John 3:33</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://imustbecomeless-christena.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3472873590091089256/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://imustbecomeless-christena.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Christena</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04420656378238023794</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>1</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472873590091089256.post-751729774768986196</id><published>2008-05-25T15:50:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-05-25T16:05:12.601-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Introduction</title><content type='html'>Okay, so here goes.  This is my blog.  I have never blogged before, but I thought about trying this thing out to see how it works. I usually don't share personal details with random strangers, so this is going to be pretty different for me. My main motivation for starting this blog is to document my journey with Thin Within (&lt;a href="http://www.thinwithin.org/"&gt;www.thinwithin.org&lt;/a&gt;), a grace-based Christian weight-loss program.  I have grown so much in my relationship with God and have made major progress in this area of eliminating the stronghold of food/dieting/body image, but I still have a long way to go.  I journal daily, but I think it would help to be more transparent.  I am hoping to connect with some other bloggers as well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, for background information purposes, I have struggled with my weight since I became a teenager.  I'm 5'3 and had fluctuated between 125-140 my whole life, until last year, when I shot up to 170 lbs.  I began Thin Within in Jan (and sought outside help) and have been losing consistently since.  I have lost approximately 15 pounds so far.  In the past I have tried several weight loss programs and have read numerous weight-loss books.  None of my approaches to fitness and weight loss prior to Thin Witin have really "stuck."  I believe it was because they were all about ME and my appearance and basically trying to glorify ME.  This time, the focus is on glorifying God with every choice that I make, including my food and my attitude and thoughts towards my body.  I have named my blog after my favorite Bible verse, John 3:33: "He must become greater, I must become less."  I truly want my life to become more about Him and less about me. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So that is that. Really the toughest thing for me so far on Thin Within is giving myself too much freedom.  It is much, much better than the binge/diet cycle that I used to be on, but I know in my heart that I am still eating more food than I really need.  Plus I have become lazy in exercise, which I believe should be a daily activity for me, for optimum physical and mental health.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So I am going to run and finish up some things for today.  Will update later.  Thank those of you who took the time to stop by and read.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3472873590091089256-751729774768986196?l=imustbecomeless-christena.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://imustbecomeless-christena.blogspot.com/feeds/751729774768986196/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3472873590091089256&amp;postID=751729774768986196' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3472873590091089256/posts/default/751729774768986196'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3472873590091089256/posts/default/751729774768986196'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://imustbecomeless-christena.blogspot.com/2008/05/introduction.html' title='Introduction'/><author><name>Christena</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04420656378238023794</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry></feed>
