Nutrition and Fitness

So when I started this blog it was going to be helpful, real life tips to help you be at your optimum health! Because my computer "savvy" is from 1999, I have failed in my attemps to link this blog to another which addresses those helpful tips! So, today they will begin right here!!


So, you have made a decision to get healthy and fit - forever!!

What' sthe first step??

1. Goals - you must define them, write them down and make it plain. Get Specific! Is it lose weight? Drop pant sizes? then how much, and how fast? Get healthier? Then state exactly what that means. Stronger? what do you want to acheive?

2. Determine the process; How are you going to make this happen?
What is your current schedule? What time do you have available now? What can you switch around?
Making fitness your #1 priority to get your habits established will be your goal for the next few weeks. A few weeks of forcing the issue will pay big dividends later! Remember - it takes 21 days to form a new habit. Forming the habit of exercise and healthy eating are 2 of the best habits worth making the effort and time to acheive. Your body will thank you and all your family and friends will thank you.

3. Get prepared! a. Research what you will physically need. Do you have a gym? If not, join one, or invest in a few inexpensive pieces of equipment for home, or a CD to get you started. (I can help you with that!)
b. Chose a meal plan. (I'll have some for you here, or some other websites) Toss all the "trigger" foods and things you already KNOW are on the NONO list (dump all things with over 5 grams of sugar, and anything with white flour, or white anything) ...and then go shopping! Get yourself stocked up what will help you acheive your goals, and is on your meal plan. If it's not on the plan...do NOT buy it!!
Remember: it's totally worth the goal ahead to be a little uncomfortable for a few weeks.
Once you work through the first few weeks, you will have established habit patterns that will stay with you (and your family) for life!

4. Mindset Lock in on your target! Where can you find encouragement and motivation?? Who inspires you? Sign up for their newsletters online, fill your bedside and other places with magazines such as Fitness, Oxygen, and Health.
Not only do they have good, helpful suggestions, but just the pictures alone will inspire and remind you of your goals.

5. Journal Get it ready! You will need 2 journals, or a 2 subject notebook. You can use this journal to not only record what you are eating, but be specific about it all. Record time of day, what was going on..(i.e. were you at work, shopping, at a party, in a hurry) and how were you feeling? (rushed, hurried, sad, excited, sleepy). You will begin to discover eating patterns and habits, and what is motivating those eating patterns.

6. GET SOME SLEEP!!! Any Doctor, Nutritionist, or other health professional will tell you: It is almost impossible to acheive any health goal without enough sleep. We all tend to NOT get enough rest, then try to eat better and exercise more. That will only prove to be a lesson in frustration and futility. Want to get more sleep? Get up earlier. I guarantee, in a few days, you will get to bed on time!

Now, the number one mainstay in this new routine; the most important, encouraging, life sustaining tip I have:
Taking it all to God before you do anything else. Every morning, ask for Divine guidance, help, strength, and comfort. Very soon you will find yourself turning to Him for it all. No health professional or fitness model, or chocolate decadence can inspire you more than our Creator. Take this to Him, He is right there, waiting and willing. Remember: "You can do all things through Christ Jesus who strenghtens you"

Be encouraged, be of good cheer, this is going to be an awesome journey!!!! Check back here for more help and ideas on this new plan!!!

Questions?? Please send them - I would LOVE to help!! Comments? They will help all of us - so go ahead and write me back. Be the blessing!

Blessings on your day....and it's an honor to be of service!

God's Love

Do you hear Him??


God's love comes skipping across our hearts, daring to land on a tender spot. A spot that you may not even know still needs healing, touching. A spot that is so tender, you have managed to dance around it; to shape your life in such a way that it is never disturbed. Over the years, people and circumstances have managed to poke at it, to pick a bit at the callous that has formed across that open sore spot on your heart. Take heart! This is no ordinary scab...when you pick at it with God's Word - it will not bleed...it will heal. this part of your heart that has remained sick, damaged, not at all the smooth, strong, beautiful area as the rest; this part needs to heal. And with God's Word, and His carefully chosen people, it will. It will "pink up" as the doctor would say. It is dying from lack of attention - not going away as you would have hoped. It still lives, but does not thrive. it still has a bit of breath...but just a bit. There has been a missing part of who you are because this area of your heart you have not been willing to expose. The only one who needs to take a peek at this area is the Living God. he will breathe life back in to this heart - he will heal it not just like new - but better. Better, because now your experiences you can pass on to heal another. (remember the old commercial..."and so on, and so on..." ) You long to hear from God, to serve Him in a more excellent way, but He has been calling to you....let me heal that part of you, I can use it in My kingdom. "You are a valuable resource" God is saying. But we must be willing, and willing to trust. The old song "Trust and Obey, cause there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus..but to trust and obey"
the song says it all.
We can trust Him, for anything, everything....He is the MOST trustworthy. It is mankind who hurts us, the devil who rubs it in, and we who allow it. Take up your sword and follow Him!!!

Into the depths - onward to the war!!!
Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world"!!!!

Take up your sword, gird yourselves for battle. In His Word we have learned that "...with His help I can scale a wall, I can leap the turrents.." Because of Him we can do this - we can live, we can thrive!!
NOTHING is impossible with God!!!!

Go to it - plunge the depths of the Word, and then let it flow through the deep places in your heart. Your battle belongs to the Lord....even if it's a battle within!!

be blessed and not stressed!! He is in control!!!

Pray with me:

"Dear God, thank you thank you for your gentle whispers and nudging that shores me up and restores my soul. Thank you for pouring your love into my broken places, for pulling the "dross" out of my heart, and cleansing me from the inside out. Help me to turn it ALL over to You, and to allow Your perfect healing in my life. Help me to let go of the things I have no business holding on to!! In Jesus Name! Amen!

Are you a general?

So, are you like me? Think you can "fix" it ALL? If you could just discover the answer to this question, and that question, and the "why" of everything that comes across your path?? Will you then be peaceful and able to solve every issue that presents itself??
Yup, that's me! A self-proclaiming General in God's Army! Tough, able to handle whatever comes my way...just armed with a pocket knife and a pipe cleaner...stand aside MacGuyver!!!

But what is God asking us to do? Trust, Obey, follow...does that sounds like we need to be always on the defensive, ready to slice and dice any and everything in our path? Yes, He wants us to armor up - stand ready, stand firm...in HIM!! Not in US! and don't get me wrong - we CAN do all things...THROUGH CHRIST! Not through US!

Okay, so why is it so hard for so many of us to simply do as He commands? Trust, obey, follow....wow! For those of us "in charge" that actually sounds like a relaxing day! What's up? Why can't we turn it all over?

Society has made submission a dirty word. I am discovering that it can be quite freeing. Not everything depends on ME making the exact right decision at the exact right time! It depends on me making only ONE right decision: the decsion to follow Christ. With that we pray for guidance, and trust that He has spoken, I have heard, and just follow through with what I have heard! Now that is trust!

If you have made your decision to follow Christ - then trust that you hear Him, obey what He has spoken to you, and follow His Word!

I, for one, am ready and willing to take my family forward into the deepest parts of living for God by submitting my "war medals" over to Him - the One who actually fought the battles. He deserves ALL honor and glory! I will happily submit to His authority with no question...

A general only for my family in the ranks of God's Army.

pray with me:

"Father, God, please forgive me if I have put my ways above Your ways. I submit myself fully to You, for guidance, strength, and comfort and reassurance that I hear You, and follow your commands. Thank You for speaking to Me through Your Word, and in my heart. From this day forward, Lord, I will trust and obey"

Let me know if that prayer was helpful to you....I know I needed it!!! and I just might need it again....Day by day....

Honor and Worship...

How do we honor and worship God? How do we give Him "all honor and glory due His name"? There are countless ways to honor and even more to worship our Creator.



We worship and honor Him through music, song, prayer, spending time with Him. We also honor and worship Him in all we do and say. This category is vast.



We honor Him with our words, our actions, attitudes, and thoughts. We honor Him in how we act: are we encouraging others to follow Christ? Or are we encouraging others to follow us, so that we are not the only ones that are going a particular direction?



And you know where this is going: we honor Him in our bodies, and in our choices. We have been bought with a price, spirit, soul, and body. We control what we do, say, believe, allow to go through our minds, and what our bodies do.



We honor Him by our eating choices: What did you chose today? Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks...how is your water intake? What did you do with your body today? Exercise? rest? Exercise gives us strength and energy. We do this so that we are able to carry out what God is asking us to do. Rest is what our bodies need in-between "task modes". We are to be examples, to be looked toward as examples to lead others to Christ. If we are run down and dragging we will not attract masses to Christ.



We worship God through our eating, and what we put into our bodies just as much as anything else! What we put into our bodies has a direct correlation to what we think, how we control our thoughts, what we do (how we act) and the things we allow out of our mouths!! How do we act when we are exhausted? Can you control yourself in any area when you are tired? How's your thinking? Can you hear God through the cobwebs that seem to implant in your brain? I know I definitely lack wisdom when I'm tired. And to top it off, all of us are more likely to make mistakes we wish we could take back when we are not at our best. We react poorly, eat poorly, stay up too late, and then the cycle begins again; one poor choice can beget another - HOWEVER!!! You can break it - right now, right here, by asking God to intervene in your decisions - ALL your decisions, from what you think to what you eat, how you treat your body to honor Him. He is there, waiting, wanting to hear you turn over every little detail of your life. He cares what goes into His miraculous creation. He made your body, of course He cares!
And your body was created with the ability to heal itself. But for the body to work as He planned, we must treat it right! We do not become worshippers of the body - but we treat our bodies well in order to worship the One who created them.

I have a dear friend who went through an eating disorder, brought it to God, and was healed over time, just she and God! Her love for the Lord led her to healing, and now she stands before God clean and restored, giving her whole heart and life to Him daily, without that cavernous gulf between them. She loves God with such strong, everlasting, abandonment.... it is inspiring to just be near her!!! She is overjoyed and incredulous to make the right choices, including eating choices as an act of worship, daily, all day long. There is no stress, no question, just obedience.

Sound refreshing? To truly be free from care and struggle of any kind, to have truly "cast your care" once and for all...now that is real Freedom!!!

To have abandon your life and all the tiny "foxes" that go with it is freeing for us, and the greatest act of worship you can give to God!

So how does this apply to you? What are your issues? Do you consistently choose to live in a way that pleases God? Are your everyday actions helping you to get closer to Him, or are they clouding your relationship? It may seem like small potatoes (pun intended) but each thing we chose brings us closer or drives us further from our Creator. He does not want us to live in condemnation or "religiosity" of any kind. Nor does he want us to make idols of our choices, or have a prideful attitude because we believe we choose better than our neighbor. What He does want is for you to have a "zoe" kind of life. The abundant, shaken down, pressed together, overflowing life that Jesus died to give us!


So these small things like choosing the right things to eat, exercise, time to sleep, rest, can put us in the right frame of mind to make the right choices in all areas of life!

Want to be free? Stop right now and hand it over to God! Pray with me:

"Father God, I want to be in full agreement and concert with you. I want to be closer to you than ever before. If there are any choices I have make or have made that I need to change, any thought patterns that are not of You, i ask you now, Lord, to reveal them to me. Show me in your Word, Lord, how to overcome these issues. Take away all that is not of You, so that we may be closer. Relationship with You is the most important thing in life. I want that more than anything else I could possibly crave. Thank You for loving me, Lord, and thank You for showing me what might be standing in the way of a deeper relationship with You, and a richer, fuller life. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Now, search your heart for what you feel God is speaking. Go to His Word; He will confirm it. He is there, always, for everything. "He will never leave you, nor forsake you"

Let me know how you're doing....need any help? Suggestions? I'm here. A nutritionist with God's heart, wanting you to live a Zoe life, fully abandoned to God, and fully healthy!! Let me hear from you!

Today...Praise Him in the Sanctuary

Today is a day of praise!!!

Praise Him in the Sanctuary, praise Him in the street....

Where is your sanctuary? Church? Bible Study Class? What have you turned into your Sanctuary?
Could I ask you to please step outside any box you may have created for the Almighty and recreate more "space" for Him?

For all of us, the world crowds in...and it's all great stuff; the stuff of living. The kids need help, then lunch, then dinner, then special projects for school. The family has birthdays, holidays, and celebrations of all kinds. These are all great things to be involved in, and keeping family and friends close, showing them just how much you care is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

However, I am reaching for Superlative living. The kind of iiving that you dream about, and wonder how to get there. The kind of living that keeps you in that amazing "Holy Spirit Bubble Wrap". Is that truly attainable??

Don't just dare to dream it...do it! This is not something you can do on your own. It is something you have to be invited to do. All you have to do is answer "yes". Doesn't that sound just soooo simple and easy? How can one question be so easy to answer, and yet so hard to follow through??

The God of the Universe and His Son have asked yo to answer "yes" to allowing them to live in your heart. We all want to answer yes, we all want to follow through, so how come we aren't all living that superlative life?

As with all things - it comes with a price. It's up to you of how high a price that is. What's more important to you? Pride in your personal acheivements, or giving glory to God? Getting that extra batch of cookies made, the house sanitized, or spending that extra few minutes with God?

These don't seem to be such hard choices when we seem them typed or on paper...but when confronted with choices in life, it seems to boggle us. The things that make the most noise seem to get more of our attention.

And yet, the one thing that will give us the most peace, joy, power, and love stands waiting quietly to bless us. Spend time with Him, revel in Him. Spend time with Him in "Sanctuary". this is where we find peace, joy, and the strength that enables us to live that superlative life! That "God kind of life", or Zoe, as it is in the Greek. this is the life that we all yearn for, in whatever form, there is a deep yearning within each of us to serve, love, and live with a life that can only be described as a "God kind of life" And we only attain such living through the constant contact and building of a relationship with our Almighty God.



Try it! We need to do so little to receive so much!!! Have you had that experience of putting God first in your morning, spending time with Him, and suddenly, you accomplished far more than you ever imagined that day?? And how peaceful were you? Did you have a hard time making decisions?



Yes, there may be battles, even knock down drag out fights....but keep in mind - "the battle belongs to the Lord" and wow does He have firepower!!! He is in it to win it....for us!!!

Now THAT is superlative living!!!

So, where is your sanctuary? Go there often, and just love on God, that's all we have to do!!! He has taken away the stress, anxiety, and worry of how "to get ahead" Just love Him, and spend time with Him.....boy will He love you back; and does HE ever know how to love!!!

later: "How are you keeping your sanctuary? Are you trashing God's Temple?"

Seriously...now what?

You may be thinking at this point...."encouragement is great and inspiring, but seriously, when I am confronted with the loves of this world - what do I do at the pressure point???" Times like: it's late at night...the kids didn't finish off the birthday cake...the leftover frosting is calling my name! or it could be Monday morning, you're tired, stressed, overwhelmed that it's already Monday, and someone brought fresh doughnuts!!! What do you do now?

Here is where "hiding God's Word in your heart" comes in handy! You remember the Word, the inspiration, the encouragement, and let it elevate you to the choices you WANT to make. What's the BEST encouragement? God's Word. His armor. He has given you all the weapons, tools, and ferociousness you need to fight any and all battles that come your way. Can't pull anything up in the moment? Pray!!! He will hear you, and honor your choice to give it to Him; loving you for bringing this to Him. He will love you for trusting Him, and for allowing Him to work in this area of your life. The more you give yourself to Him, the more of Him you have!

What is your battle today? Fuzzy thinking? He gives you the mind of Christ and the helment of salvation! Co-workers, kids, and famliy pressuring you to consume serious amounts of brownies, doughnuts, ice cream, or just anything that you know is not right for you??? You have your armor!!! Put this on EVERY day! Wake up in the morning, and while "getting yourself together" put on every piece of armor found in scripture! Call your mind into submission - "taking all thoughts captive unto the obedience of Christ"

Then, once you have your armor securely engulfing you, give it all to God! Ask Him to help you - guide you, protect you. The Word says that He "puts good things in your mouth" This is not only good words, but good food.

God has given us control over our mind, our thinking, our body....use that authority, take control of it - or it will take control of you!! How many times have we let this happen??? Ever look down, and suddenly you are holding an empty tub of Blue Bell?? Or a brownie pan that is spotless, when just a moment earlier it held 6 or 7 brownies?? You think - what just happened?? Our mind and body has not been disciplined to recognize when to say when! It's so easy - and it happens to just about everyone.(notice I used the term "we"!!) Remember, "there is now, thereore, NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"

And also remember: that enemy out there wants to condemn you, to make you so ill you cannot show or spread the goodness of God. If you are always under the weather, stressed out, "fuzzy brained", or drained, then the enemy has you right where he wants you. He is doing his job: "to steal, kill, and destroy"! If we are not at our best, it is hard to represent or be used of God.

And that's why we are to be diligent in taking such good care of what our God has created! He has created you for a purpose!! He believes that you were a great idea, and He wants what's extraordinary for you...and that includes excellent health!!!

So go forward, be armored up, and conquer!!! You are Fit for Service!!!

Ephesians 3:17b-19, "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (NIV)

Ephesians 3:16-17a, "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you w ith power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." (NIV)

So What do We Deserve - Really?

I distinctly remember it...the day that God truly got my attention regarding choices; His and mine.

On my way back to work, I had just enough time to hit a drive-thru and get some frozen yogurt. I remember thinking "I deserve this, it's been a long day, I'm tired, it's hot, I deserve this!" (sound familiar??) The next thought that came through my mind was very definitely not me. That thought said " Really? you deserve this? You deserve to eat this, feel bloated, fuzzy brained, and drained...you deserve this?" I suddenly felt very sheepish, and regretful of making such rotten choices for myself. I realized a lot of things that day. How the choices I was making were sometimes wrapped up in the guise of "deserving" or celebrating.

Jesus made the choice to die for me; to cover my sin with His precious blood, but Jesus did not die for my freedom to destroy my body on a daily basis. I felt as if I had wasted gallons of that precious blood! I was not condemned as if the enemy had taken over my thoughts. Just convicted of how very much God and His Son loved me. Enough to die for me, enough to tell me now that it was time to make better choices and have an extraordinary existence here on earth.

I was so very thankful for this new outlook! With this new perspective, I have been set free from feeling guilty of NOT embibing in things I know "I shouldn't" I had been set free to not adhere to the pressure of those around me, as they chose their path. I was living in the knowledge of what God has called me specifically to do, to be, and how to live my life the way He intended!

There is a really tough scripture in Proverbs 23. It reads:

Proverbs 23:1-3 " When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you; and put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food." NKJV

I know this is for me, and what God has called me to. I know that if I stick to His Word, His ways, and follow His Son, I will live a life of freedom and abundance!

How about you? How is God calling you to live? Do you have any habits you need to lay down? Any issues that need facing? Any bondage that needs breaking??? He can do it - just ask Him!

Join me as I pray: Dear Lord, Thank you for supplying ALL my needs. Thank you for satisfying all that is in me. There is nothing too difficult for You, Lord. Neither is there anything that we cannot ask. Please help me to be satisfied where I am on the way to where You are taking me. Lord, let me hear Your voice louder than any other, that I will make the choice that puts me that much closer to You and all You would have me do here on this earth as I journey toward You. If there are things that need to be gone from my life, please reveal them. Wrong habits, harmful thoughts and emotions. I turn them all over to you now Father, God. Thank You for setting me free!

Today is a day to Celebrate!!

Today is the day we begin celebrating all our forefathers have done for us...and not just our Founding Fathers, our Vets, or our current soldiers. Today we celebrate all that God has done…celebrate all that you have, all that you have NOT gone through….celebrate God’s goodness, His mercy….His great love!!!

How will you celebrate?

Start by telling Him of your love for Him. Then find ways to spread that love to all that cross your path…not your favorite person? Love them anyway!!!
Ask God to bless them, or show you how you can bless them.

This is how the whole earth is filled with His glory!!!

Bless those that bog you down – they are in need of His love and yours more than you know! Someone rub you the wrong way? Praise God for them in your life. It shows you what you still need to work on and how you can improve!

This is Memorial Day weekend, so today you will celebrate by praising…not by eating things that destroy and breakdown the body….but by things that lift you up and give you energy.
The more energy you have, the more you can Praise God and spread His love to all those around you!!!

So jump for joy, "all you who are heavy with burdens"..."lift up the arms that hang down, and you will be blessed."

"Shout to God with a voice of triumph" Can anyone use a victory today? Then praise God - lift Him high, and the victory is yours!!!

Energy begets energy….so how much do you want? How much are you willing to share? Are you "begetting" positive energy?? Afraid you’ll get too much? Give it a try!

How does this tie into physical health?? Read on, my friend!

When we jump - we create plyometric pressure and strengthen our bones. When we shout we create the extra oxygen we need to have clearer thinking. When we praise it lifts our mind, will, and emotions upward. And all of these things create the rush of endorphins in our bodies that bring energy, and joy, deep joy that resonates throughout our bodies, which were created to worship the one, true God!!!

"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones" Proverbs 17:22

The heart is a fickle thing, but treat it right, and it will go right on blessing you with stamina, endurance, and strength. With this we can “run the race” that we are called to run. Without health, there is no strength; life becomes a struggle, hard to handle, and much more stressful. This leads to more bad choices.

Get on that “good choice rollercoaster” and take a ride on the Extreme Health side!!!

God will honor it. You will bless Him. The maker of Heaven and earth…now THAT is something worth living for!

Today...

Today is the day of blessing...of praises....what can you bless others with? What can you praise Him for??