Celebrate Every Victory

 

The New Year is almost here! For some that brings a lot of excitement and for others the yearly dread. Will you make a resolution this year?

I thought it would be fun to review a few our favorite things from 2012. Please join in the fun and leave me a comment with your favorite thing that helped you stay health conscience throughout this year.

My #1 favorite was a 20 oz tumbler [similar to this one] that helped me keep track of my water intake. If there is one thing I continually teach people about it is hydration.  A large percentage of our population stays marginally dehydrated most of the time. The average water intake is less than 20 oz. a day! That is outrageous! The general rule of thumb is to drink half of your body weight in ounces. Don’t let that scare you. If that seems like a lot, start with 65-80 oz a day. This is where my 20 oz. tumbler comes in handy! I know that if I fill it four times a day [breakfast, lunch, and dinner and post workout] than I will have my 80 oz. finished.

So, what has helped you stay on track this year? Even if you haven’t been on track in every area, celebrate the one area you did stay on track. Maybe you read your Bible every day, went for a walk, ate at least one healthy meal a day, etc. Let’s celebrate every victory!

 

 

I Hate Exercise!

I hate exercise.

 I seriously hate to exercise…until I start exercising. Then I feel great! Did I just describe you?  I have female clients who can hit the gym [with gusto] for 2 hours at a time. Other women I work with are yoga instructors, [not just plain yoga, but the 90 minute, intense hot yoga!] or runners. Then of course there are the women who come to see me because they just can’t get a handle on their cravings. Some cannot will themselves to go for a walk or drink 60 oz. of water a day.  Can I tell you the difference between those two groups of women? Not much.

Honestly.

 Both groups have self-esteem issues and insecurities they struggle with. Yes, even the women who have 18% body fat and wear a size 2. Want to know why? This is a secret I have learned from hours in the office listening to women pour their hearts out, plus through my own struggle with acceptance and confidence.

We have all allowed the wrong messages take root in our being.

You’re only pretty when you’re thin

You’re too big to be sexy

If you have arm flab you look old

Buns of steel are healthier

If you can’t lose weight you’re a failure!

You’re lazy if you're not active like the other girls your age

I’m sure you can fill in a lot more of those wrong messages from the recesses of your memory.  Where did these come from and how in the world did they get stuck in our head?

Well, some of them came from a parent [are you happy with your weight? Remember that one?]. Others may have come from entertainment media, weight loss programs, magazines, even friends or God forbid a spouse!

How did they get stuck in our head?

They struck us at that moment when our eyes were on the water and not on Jesus.

Remember Peter when he was going to join Jesus walking on the water? As long as he has his eyes fixed on Jesus he did just fine—walking tall across that water, full of confidence. But when he looked around at the storm he became insecure and afraid. What happened? He started to sink.

We do that.

Oh, our confidence is strong and we are finding our beauty in the acceptance of our Savior but then we start to look around at the other women. Maybe our friend grabs a size 2 when we are struggling into a 10. Our sister brags about her latest weight loss and we just want to hide and eat a bag of Oreos. We start to sink.  We can’t hear the Spirit’s voice whispering His approval and acceptance. We just hear the dressing room attendant’s recommendation that we try on a bigger size.

How can we get unstuck?

Remember what Peter did?  He cried out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!”

My favorite part of that story is in verse 31 [Matthew 14]. It says, “And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him…”

Can I hear an Amen? Yes and Amen!

Developing a healthy body takes discipline. Not just discipline to exercise and eat right but discipline to constantly keep our eyes on Jesus. Remember, when you start to sink it’s because you’ve taken your eyes off Him. Cry out and immediately He will catch you!

 

 I bless you my friend with knowing at the very core of your essence that you are a beautiful branch of the TRUE VINE. You are blessed because of the word He has spoken to you. You are blessed with abiding in Him as He abides in you. With Him all things are possible and when you abide in Him the Father is glorified. [John 15:1-6]

 

 

I Need a Favor

I need to ask a favor.

Will you take care of my child for a while?

She is very healthy, but it is important to keep her healthy. Feed her wholesome food and make sure she gets plenty of clean water to drink, at least 8 hours of sleep a night and plenty of exercise. Can I entrust her to you?

I imagine that if I actually asked you for that favor you would do your best to fill my requirements, right? I thought so.

The Bible says that you have been bought with a price and that you are a steward, not an owner {“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”—I Cor. 6:19-20}. God created us to fulfill His purpose for our lives. He equipped us with the necessary tools and gives us access to any additional resources we will need.

Let me jump back to my child I asked you to care for. Would you start feeding her junk food and let her drink soda as soon as I left your house? Would you let her stay up staring at the TV or computer screen all night? Would you let her just lay on the couch all day?  I’m guessing you’re shaking your head NO; maybe you even uttered a verbal No with a huff of disbelief at my questions.

All of us would do our best to follow the directions given us.

We are God’s children—stewards of this body—and yet we disregard His directions for keeping our bodies healthy.

What is His design?

“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

Would you say joy, peace, and self-control are included in the abundant life?

Are you happy?

Peaceful?

Do you exercise self-control?

Recently I decided to exercise self-control over one particular food in my diet.

Bread.

I wasn’t abusing the use of bread but I found myself craving it more than I craved spending time with Jesus. My focus was on pleasing my flesh {“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” –Gal. 5:16}, and not on pleasing the owner of my body.

Have you buried the instruction list He gave you under a pile of take-out receipts?  He gave you liberty to consume a wide variety of foods and to enjoy many things. But without exercising self-control our liberty becomes bondage {“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”Gal. 5:1}.  When food becomes bondage it is sin.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9

You have been entrusted with the care of your body. What kind of steward are you?

Are you feeding that child junk food, soda and filling her head with garbage? 

 Your physical body should allow you to serve without self-inflicted hindrance {notice I wrote "self-inflicted"}. There are times when God allows us to carry a thorn in our flesh to keep us humble and glorify Him in a special way. But a lack of self-control that leads to an unhealthy body cannot be called a 'thorn in the flesh'. It is simply called sin. 

It has been my sin many times. Is it yours?

We are conquerors in Christ! 

"who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,"--2 Timothy 1:9

It's time to pull out those instruction sheets and start caring for this child of God!

 

{resources for helping you find balance again: 

Made to Crave ~ Lysa TerKurest

Love Hunger ~ Dr's. Minirth, Meier, Hemfelt, Sneed, Hawkins

First Place for Health ~ Carol Lewis and Marcus Brotherton}

Oh Wretched French Fry!

Have you ever tried to justify an action? Something that you knew in your heart was just not right... and yet you try to come up with reasons why it really isn't all that bad...

Been there. Done that.

Here is a palpable example. I love french fries. I know that in general french fries should not make a regular appearance in my diet. But every once in a while, I convince myself that I need them. so I begin to come up with reasons why it is okay to indulge. #1) potatoes aren't that bad for me, as long as they are cooked in a healthy way it's okay. #2) I have been eating so healthy I deserve these french fries. #3) cheating once isn't going to hurt me.... but you see, the thing is that the french fries aren't always cooked healthily, I indulge more often than I would like to admit, and I probably "cheated" a day ago... but of course, I never take any of that into account and eat the fries... only to be disappointed and feel guilty shortly thereafter.

I think this is a lot like sin. Too many times we try to ease our consciences by dulling the Holy Spirit's piercings with reason. we justify actions with statements like "well there is technically nothing wrong with it" or "no where in the Bible does it say 'thou shalt not do such-and-such'" or "I’m not breaking any laws" or "I’m not affected and this isn't affecting anyone else"... I’m sure you could think of more. but we often fail to ask ourselves for reasons why it is good or helpful or, best of all, wise.

I read this quote in a book this week. "you don't sit around looking for reasons to do the right thing; it's the bad decisions that require creative reasoning." (The Best Question Ever) this statement is so true! I have heard people spend hours debating why something questionable should be okay. But wouldn't time be better spent just doing what you know is right? What the Bible instructs us to do?

As Christians, I believe when we truly desire Holy Spirit guidance over selfish desire, God will grant us wisdom to make the right choices. So when faced with an equivocal choice, instead of asking what's wrong with it? Ask yourself what's right with it?

~Kristina

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Kristina Premo is a beautiful and talented writer who also happens to be a very good friend of mine. She is a prolific teacher of the English language. One of the things I love about Kristina is, she follows hard after God and desires to please Him above all. I also love the fact that we both love Starbucks, running, shopping, reading and writing. *SMILE* Plan on hearing a lot more for this lovely lady.

Cut Down to Size

“The eyes of your understanding, being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.”—Ephesians 1:18-19

Do you know the exceeding greatness of His power?

Can you comprehend the working of His mighty power in your life?

You have the power to participate in your own transformation from the inside out. Notice I said, participate. It will not take place with you at the lead—your part is important—the first step is to step back. There are many transformations that can, and sometimes need to, take place. But the transformation I am writing about is the transformation that involves your spiritual-emotional-physical body, in that order.

Recently I was confined to running on my treadmill. If given the choice I will run outside but this particular day I had to run indoors. I decided to watch a video about obesity in America. Maybe it was my own way of pushing through my goal. Anyway, I watched how so many people were having gastric bypass surgery done. Probably 8 out of 10 surgeries ended with the patient gaining their weight back or dying. My heart broke! I know that a psychological evaluation is done before these surgeries but the video didn’t talk about any ongoing support. There are always emotional issues at the heart of obesity. Weight loss programs are missing the mark when it comes to the emotional/spiritual aspect. Yes, you can learn how to control your portions and you can be taught to count your points. But if you do not transform your spiritual and emotional life you will be on an endless loop of loss and gain.

How can you change your spiritual and emotional life?

Psalm 81: 10 says, “I am the Lord your God,”

Step 1: Is HE your LORD? Making God the LORD over your life means that you submit to His will and direction. This requires 100% obedience—partial obedience is still disobedience. Maybe there is a spirit of rebellion that makes you bristle at the thought of submitting to anyone—that might be your core issue. Isaiah 1:19 says that, “if you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;” Another aspect to our rebellion against God can be that we have a rebellious nature toward the authority in our life. When we pass judgment on our earthly authority, we pass the same judgment on God without realizing it. Maybe it’s time you ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any rebellion in your life.

Step 2: Get to know God—read and study the Bible. Many times we don’t feel safe surrendering our emotions to the God of Heaven because we don’t know Him. I’m not talking about being a child of God; I’m talking about knowing who God is. When you grasp the fact that God is crazy in love with you and that nothing you do can change that, well you might find it a little easier to ‘give up’ and become the person God designed you to be.

God put a calling on your life. Nothing you do will change that calling—He has a plan for you.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”—Jeremiah 29:11

It is your choice to participate in the calling. Your choice is to allow Him to work in every area of you, or to continue counting points and running on the loop.

Fill in the blanks with your name:

“The Lord your God is with you_______, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you________, he will quiet you__________with his love, he will rejoice over you____________with singing.” –Zephaniah 3:17

Believe that today! Don’t get caught up in thinking you are “good” or “bad” based on what or how much you eat. Food doesn’t cleanse your heart no matter how much fiber it has. When you are liberated from that thought pattern, you can allow God to cut you down to size by submitting yourself to Him. Submission means that food will be consumed in proper portion for the size He designed you to be. Your health will spring forth and joy will radiate from the deepest part of your being. Today is the day!

“The power to change is in the present moment—this very moment.”