week 4 slump

It's already been the end of the 4th week and it's just now hitting me that I was in a workout slump. It's Wednesday, a couple of hours before I'm supposed to weight in for the following week, and already I'm feeling pretty lousy when looking at my workout chart. I didn't cheat for the fourth week in a row, but I don't feel very proud of the workouts and the workout times that I've put effort into this week. I had one "final workout" last evening that made me feel really good about myself but for the previous 6 days....things were pretty bad.

Last evening, after working 8 hours at my normal job, and then working 3 more at the library, I came home feeling very sluggish (because I didn't have my 4th meal on time) and because it was just a long day. I didn't want to do a workout video and I really didn't want to run, BUT I knew that if I didn't workout today my total break days were going to end up being a total of 3 when I promised that it would never go over 2. So Matt and I hit the pavement. We've been running 2.3 miles about every other day or so, so I felt particularly challenged to push myself since I slacked off the entire week. We decided to run the 5K path that is mapped out directly in front of our house by the city. (oh how convenient). We hit the stop watch at 9:00 p.m. exactly and started off. It was dark..I mean really dark. Every crossing and curb I was nervous that a car wouldn't see us and smack us right in the knees. We go to Wenger Road....went up the slight hill.....ran down Union on the LOOOONG bike path, by the ice cream /custard parlor that boasted "1 more day till opening season" (thinking ohh...I'd like to stop there right now) and then through the creepy cemetary, down National and onto Wolf. Once we hit Wolf we both sprinted...anything to keep those seconds from clicking. We ran our 5K together, finishing together at 30:50. The first time EVER. I didn't stop, I didn't get frustrated when Matthew ran in front of me way ahead, I didn't get frustrated when he stopped and I ran ahead without him, and I didn't get frustrated when he tried to talk with me. We ran the race together and we finished strong. This is the first time I've ever ran a 5K course, competition or not, without stopping. Plus I shaved 3 minutes off of my time. All I can say is I was mighty proud of myself.

I had a run in at work yesterday that made me think about the past week and my relationship with Christ. Since it's Lenten season and this is the first time I've ever taken this seriously-- my goal has been to learn and glean from Christ what he wants to teach me during this time. Coming up to the end of the week and after having this run in, I realized I hadn't prayed much about any lessons I needed to learn. I think subconsciously I thought God was finished teaching me. But I've realized that He desires for me to be disciplined in EVERY area of my life at all times. A successful life isn't successful unless you are aware at all moments.

I've realized that I need to watch my tongue on many different occasions. I've realized that the things I am choosing to do with my health are my business, and while I want to share in community with others, the workplace isn't the appropriate place to do so, even if they are my friends outside of work. God is teaching me to continually guard my heart, to analyze and look at my surroundings, what people are saying to me, and what I am saying to others. I'm realizing that I need to be intentional with setting up healthy boundaries and walls within the work place and also in my life outside of work. What I may or may not be doing that is working for me, may or may not be working for others. Continually guarding and balancing myself. I don't think I'll ever master this, but God is showing me that this is a skill that I definitely need to work on sharpening. The workplace isn't the best place to share a lot about yourself....I'm here to do a job, and to work at serving Jesus with my whole heart. Community will be found outside of work, maybe with the people I work with, maybe not.....







He is continually creating new life....which my flowers outside popping through the soil keep reminding me....plus Moey and his silly antics and overall cuteness remind me as well.

....now back to the pavement....

keep pressin on

So 2 weeks have passed...and still eatin' Paleo. I've been learning more and more as I take a more closer look at my health, my diet, and the way that I view eating in general.

Wednesdays are the days where we strip down to shorts and a tanktop, (leave the socks on cause the bathroom floors creep me out), hop on that scale and see if any damage has been done from the way you've lived the past 7 days. This past week I lost 2 pounds, 3 pounds from the beginning. But miraculously with a lot of weight training, and cardio through running, my body percentages have steadily dropped.

I asked Chastity if I should mentally prepare for a plateau? I don't want something like that stopping me in mid stride. If this is something that will naturally happen like it does on The Biggest Loser, I want to prepare myself for this. She told me that if I'm continually eating my meals with no cheats (which I'm proud to say my only cheat was communion bread on Sunday, and I think Jesus' is okay with that) , and if I continue weight training with cardio, I shouldn't plateau. I guess only time with tell.

Someone that's really been encouraging me through this whole process is my *new* friend Anna. She isn't doing the Paleo meals, but she's definitely doing some tough stuff. She has made a commitment to not eat sugars until June, and no carbs until Easter. She has helped me to stick through it. I have someone to talk to about this who understands cravings and choosing to live a different lifestyle (if only till Easter) and dealing with the negative and sometime hurtful comments that people just have to say. She's been a great source of encouragement for me and hopefully I've encouraged her a bit through her journey as well. She's also encouraged me through the struggle of Matt trying to find a job. Their struggles are somewhat similar, although different. She has said so many times "we need to focus more on the giver, than the gift." Or another one is "Are you seeking Jesus' face, or just his hand?" I'm not exactly sure how to do one and not the other, but I'm confident that because I'm asking Jesus how to seek his face and not his hand, and to focus on him as the giver instead of the gifts he would like to give us, I know he'll tell me in due time. I just need to keep spending time with him and he'll let me know. I'm confident in this.

My husband has also been encouraging me, although he hasn't changed his eating habits at all. Although sometimes he'll have tator tots, or ice cream right in front of me (and sometimes he teases me about it) he has done nothing but encourage me. Just the other day we hugged in the morning as he was walking out the door and he stopped and said "woah! that was a skinny hug!" Those type of things keep me going and give me joy that lasts throughout the day.

It's also fitting that Lent is during spring time. New things are growing, I'm getting slimmer. New life is sprouting outside, I feel like a new life is sprouting in my spirit. God makes all things new. He creates new life with new circumstances. He promises that....and the little birds on Moey and I's walk each morning reminds me of that. Sometimes I feel like God has written them a special song to sing just for me....

"You have begun to live the new life, in which you are being made new and are becoming like the One who made you. This new life brings you the true knowledge of God." Colossions 3:10

One week down, 5 more to go

I didn't think I would have good results...I was fearing that all of my hard work, the many pounds lifted, the sweat lost and the 100 ounces of water each day, the comfort foods denied--would all be a waste. BUT, I was wrong. Here is my reported scores after week 2. I walked away from that weigh in pretty proud of myself, but also knowing that the next 5 weeks would leave a tough road to be traveled.

I've learned two major things this past week with modifying what I have been eating, and also with denying the use of Facebook that I thought I would share with all of you out there in the blogosphere.

With facebook, I've had many instances where I have had such a strong craving to get online. I started to analyze those situations and try to get at the root of why I wanted to get online so badly. My studying revealed that the only reason why I wanted to get on facebook was because I wanted to see what others were doing. At first I didn't think this was so bad---I wanted to catch up with my friends, see how their lives were going and some of the things they were doing on the weekends. I asked myself--why do I care? Sure, I feel out of the loop with their events....but seriously why do I care what they are doing? And I quickly realized that the reason I care so much is--I wanted to compare what they were doing with what Matt and I were doing. How absurd!!! My time on facebook has boiled down to comparisons, comparisons that usually left me feeling pretty deflated and pretty boring. Definitely not something that God has for me and wants me to focus my heart upon day in and day out.

With eating I've noticed that I'm going back to the basics. Why do I eat in the first place? What is the point of eating certain foods and omitting others? Ultimately do I eat foods for pleasure or for nourishment? This is such a positive thing to think about as I am craving certain foods and learning to modify what I allow to be put into my body.

With this season of Lent, I've noticed as well the different changes that are occuring in my surroundings. With the season of spring approaching, I've tried to slow down a bit and notice what is happening in nature. Just walking in the backyard with Moey as he does his business, has allowed me to see the new life that is springing up all around me. Soon winter will be over, life will be sprouting, and I'll be a little bit lighter. YES!

Lent: replacing Jesus with your weak spots

Wednesday, February 17, 2010: The beginning season of Lent.

I've never practiced the sacrifice of Lent before. In some ways I never understood the concept of giving up something. I'll be completely honest: I'm selfish. Why should I give anything up? And really what's the point--I'll just start again after 40 days is up? Last year I remember trying to give up soda, but in one particular situation I had sat down to eat a meal with my family and halfway through dinner, and halfway through my can of pop being empty I realized I had made a commitment to not drink pop till Easter. Well, that promise obviously wasn't taken seriously. So I was pretty leery of trying anything this year.

BUT....

A nutrition plan was presented to the Ginghamsburg staff and also anyone that wanted to join for the Lenten season. I listened intently....pondered it for about a week, and then I thought: "I don't really like what I see in the mirror, I don't like the extra weight that I carry around my midsection" "I don't feel very energetic throughout the day and into the evening, why not give it a try." The new nutrition plan is called "The Paleo Diet". I particularly don't like calling it a diet, it's more of a change of eating patterns.

Basically the gist of Paleo is:
Meat, Nuts, Seeds, Green Vegetables, little fruit, No Starch, Sugar or Dairy.

One of my goals is to strive to eat in complete meals: protein, fat and green with a 20 oz bottle of water and one fish oil supplement. I should eat no less than 5 times per day, and not go longer than 3 hours in between meals. I also get a variety day, which will be for me MONDAYS, where I can eat the thing that I've been craving all week. For me, this will be a Boston Stoker ghirardelli caramel mocha...for Grounds for Pleasure this will be a chocolate monkey (banana and chocolate steamed with milk into pure loveliness!--only place in town that has it, besides Grounds for Thought in good ole' Bowling Green). I'm also going to add weight training to my normal routine. For me, my week will hopefully look like this--

Monday-fitness bootcamp at the Avenue for 60 minutes, then 10 minutes on the treadmill.
Tuesday--weight training on gym floor, 10 minutes treadmill
Wednesday--fitness bootcamp for 60 minutes, then in the afternoon during my long work day, hit the tennis ball around for 30 minutes.
Thursday--weight training on gym floor, 10 minutes treadmill
Friday--day off
Saturday--elliptical in basement and light weights in living room, unless over by Avenue
Sunday--day off

Each week Chastity, our fitness coordinator for this Ginghamsburg plan, will take all of our measurements, record them and then also take our individual picture. I'm just going to throw my measurements out there--I'm not going to be ashamed like I usually would be. I want to achieve weight loss and body fat loss, and this is who I am now. Hopefully by the end I'll have some different results. (but I'm not posting my pictures online! gasp!) And yes, you are reading those last few numbers correctly. I do weight 129 lbs and 37.5 % of my body is fat. (healthy for women is about 22%) I felt like having a barfing contest right then and there.

Yesterday evening, I had to run to Kroger to pick up a few items and unintentionally went down the candy aisle (I was trying to pick out a new flavored drink powder! I Swear!) Right when I got to the candy I LOVE, any gummy item with sugar ALL OVER IT, I wanted some so badly. I even hunted for some bags that said "sugar free". I found some....picked then up, flipped them over and read the contents: all I can say about that is BOLONEY! it contains sugar alcohol -still a form of sugar but handled in the body of a diabetic easier, and it contains Milk. ??? Not even going to go there on that one. But I wanted to purchase that candy so bad it hurt, but then I resorted back to why I was doing this in the first place. So I kept repeating " Jesus---I really want this one little piece of candy right now, but I need you MORE." .....and I walked away.

The other commitment I'm making for this Lenten season is to not log into facebook for a full 46 days. For the week before Ash Wednesday, I tried to count up in my head how many times I would get online to log into facebook. The one night alone I logged in 3 different times from the couch just looking at other people's pages. I realized that I was becoming disconnected to my husband and my little guy Moey. I wasn't paying any attention to them, during the time that I could. What was I doing? What kind of use is this with my time? So I've made the decision....soo long facebook. I'll catch back up with you in 46 days. I believe this will make a big change in my life. I'm going to trust Jesus that it will.

see ya'll back in a week with hopefully lighter calculations!

Jesus for President

So I've been reading this new book called "Jesus for President" by Shaine Claiborne and Chris Haw. I've been trying to take the book slow, reading only a couple of pages at a time. Some things are just worth sharing.....if you're interested check it out at your local library.....

"Remember when old John the Baptizer sent his disciples to ask Jesus whether he was the one they were expecting and he didn't answer with a simple yes? Jesus instead told them to go tell John what they saw him doing. He knew that John could read the trail of crumbs. John knew that when lepers were healed, the blind saw, the dead rose, and the good news was preached to the poor, the one they were awaiting was indeed here.

What does our trail of crumbs look like? If someone asks if we are Christ followers, can we say, 'Tell me what you see'? Is there enough evidence to prove that we are taking after the slaughtered Lamb? What if they ask the poor around us? What if they ask our enemies? Would they say that we love them? Christians haven't always looked like Jesus. Perhaps the greatest barrier to Christ has been Christians who pronounce Jesus so loudly with their lips and deny him so loudly with their lives. ---(A recent survey of young adults who are 'familiar outsiders' to Christianity showed that the three most common perceptions of Christians by onlookers are that we are anti-homosexual (an image held by 91% of the folks surveyed), judgements (87 percent), and hypocritical (85) percent. How sad that the very things that Jesus scolded the religious elites around him for are the very things for which Christians are now know. We have a major image problem. To hear more about this study by the Barna research team, check out the book Unchurched (Baker, 2007) by our friends David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons.)

In the South, we have a saying: 'You are the spittin' image' of someone. Folks still speculate over how exactly the phrase originated, but I've heard it put like this. It's shorthand for "spirit and image." Spittin' image. (Go ahead and try it out: it won't hurt.) For us, it meant more than just that you look like that person. It goes beyond just appearance to include character and temperament. It means that you remind people of that person. You have their charisma. You do the same things they did. In the truest sense, Christians are to be the spittin' image of Jesus in the world. We are to be the things he was. We are to preach the things he preached and live the way he lived. We are to follow in the footsteps of our rabbi so closely that we get his dust on us. We are to remind the world of Jesus. The criterion for whether something is a manifestation of the kingdom of God is the person of Jesus. Does it look like him? "Be imitators of God" (Eph 5:1)--that word imitate derives from the same word as mimic, like a mime. "
pages 230-231

on page 232 is a quote by Aristides and the Emperor Julian--very contrasting!

"It is the Christians, O Emperor, who have sought and found the truth, for they acknowledge God. They do not keep for themselves the goods entrusted to them. They do not covet what belongs to others. They show love to their neighbors. They do not do to another what they would not wish to have done to themselves. They speak gently to those who oppress them, and in this way they make them their friends. It has become their passion to do good to their enemies. They live in the awareness of their smallness. Every one of them who has anything gives ungrudgingly to the one who has nothing. If they see a traveling stranger, they bring him under their roof. They rejoice over him as over a real brother, for they do not call one another brothers after the flesh, but they know they are brothers in the Spirit and in God. If they hear that one of them is imprisoned or oppressed for the sake of Christ, they take care of all his needs. If possible they set him free. If anyone among them is poor or comes into want while they themselves have nothing to spare, they fast two or three days for him. In this way they can supply any poor man with the food he needs. This, O Emperor, is the rule of life of the Christians, and this is their manner of life."
--Aristides 137 AD

"Those godless Galileans feed our poor in addition to their own."
--Emperor Julian