New attitude

I have been so blessed to be in a bible study for the last 6 months or so, studying a Beth Moore study "A woman's heart, God's dwelling place." And may I be so bold as to say that it was life-changing? That Beth Moore, she is so blessed and gifted with sharing God's Word. Oh how I am just so thankful for her!

So at the end of our study on Tuesday, 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 was a culminating verse and point that stood out to me like never before. "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; ²⁰you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." It doesn't say "Try your best to honor God with your body" the Bible says HONOR GOD with your body.

I realized that his body of mine really is just on loan. The passage tells us that we 'are not our own. We were bought at a price,' so my thoughts of being able to do whatever I want and eat whatever (either good or bad) I choose are really false thoughts, because this body I have is just on loan to me from God. He fully expects me to take care of it and to honor Him with it at all times. What a privilege! I am so thankful he trusts me so much to care for something that HE, the God of the Universe has made.

So now, more than ever, I am committed to taking care of this body, this outer shell that He has loaned to me. And when I say 'take care of it' I don't mean get it to look the way the world thinks it should look, I mean nurturing it, giving it the food, water and REST it deserves and showering it with love as God would do. It is His anyways, the least I can do is care for it like He would. That's what borrowing means right?, taking care of something that isn't yours and giving it back to the rightful owner in its original shape. Not borrowing something then giving it back all broken and bruised, what kind of respect does that show?

I am thankful for the reminder that this shell of mine is valued and was painstakingly created just for me, as yours was for you. Psalm 139:13 tells us "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

I have seen over the last 6 months of this Beth Moore study how beautiful each of us really are and that God wants nothing more than for us to appreciate the body He has loaned to us. Let us respond by nurturing our bodies, not wishing they were different. We are in fact, wonderfully and fearfully made!

Your choice

Oh my, has it been a long time since I posted to my blog- sorry for the delay. My life has changed significantly in the last 4 months, with the biggest change coming from my left ankle that is now in a pretty pink cast. I found out in September that I have a stress fracture in my talus bone along with 2 cysts. (Look for another post on this later!) So, three casts later, I am still on crutches and waiting for my next CT scan on December 1. So needless to say, I haven't been training much because I am not supposed to be putting any weight on my foot at all, to allow it to rest. This is week #10 on crutches and week #8 in a cast.

So I MISS MY CLIENTS! I miss taking people through workouts that show them they are strong and tough inside. I miss catching up on my client's daily life and being apart of their journey. I miss pushing them to their limits just to see them succeed and begin to believe in themselves a little more. I miss being a personal trainer.

But I am just that, a personal trainer. Through this time off, that thought has become even more apparent to me, that I am only a piece of the equation. I can't do the hard work behind the scenes of getting someone healthier. I am just a coach who equips people with the tools to succeed, it is ultimately up to them to change their life. So although at times I try to take over and WILL a better life for my clients, I know that it is ultimately not my choice, it is theirs. So even though I am not in a position to physically coach them to a healthier life right now, they can still make the choice to live healthy and energetically without me, because it is their choice, not mine.

So may I encourage you today to live a life that is full, healthy and filled with good choices all day long. Be blessed in this day, be blessed.

WORLD Conference

I am off to IDEA WORLD Conference for five days! Lots if new choreography, exciting business possibilities, and new torture... I mean training ideas! Be back in a week... California here I come!

Variety

Variety spices up your diet, your workouts, and your life... it is KEY to staying motivated and interested in your pursuits of a healthy body and mind. Here are a few ways to spice up your diet and your workouts...

DIET:
** Eat breakfast foods for dinner and dinner foods for breakfast. Who says you can't have eggs and toast at dinner and a chicken wrap for breakfast? It will help change the way your body processes carbs and proteins and rev up that metabolism!

** Buy one new fruit and one new vegetable at the grocery store (or farmer's market) and find a new recipe to use it in. Websites like www.allrecipes.com and www.recipezaar.com are wonderful resources. Maybe try a papaya, star fruit, or ugli fruit today. Or perhaps kohlrabi, radishes, or swiss chard for dinner tonight?

** Challenge yourself to use only what's in your refrigerator and pantry to create new flavors and foods. Include a new flavor or two from that rarely used spice rack to spice it up!

WORKOUT:

** Try a new machine at the gym like the rowing machines or the Versa-climber. Using new muscles will expose your body to new planes of movement and burn more calories because it always works harder at a new exercise.

** Try a 10-10-10 workout... 10 minutes on the treadmill (with a 2% incline walking or running), 10 minutes on the bike (increase resistance to at least 4) and 10 minutes on the stair stepper or Elliptical (using your core strength to hold you up... no leaning on the railings!!)

** Add in a jump rope to your strength workout to kick up the intensity! 100 jumps between sets will increase cardiovascular endurance and a get a good sweat on!

Stay on track and keep spicing it up...

Playground workout

Have you ever been at a park with your kids and wanted to make the most of your time outside? Why not work out while they play?

Depending on the play structure, there are LOTS of exercises you can incorporate into your routine. Plan on breaking it into 10 minute sections and try to repeat 3-4 times. Pick any of the exercises listed in both the cardio and strength sections and mix and match as you please (10 minutes combines both strength and cardio exercises).

Cardio: Run around the play structure alternating jogging and sprinting
Invite your kids to play tag and run as much as possible
Quick taps on a step/ tire/ slide
Run up and down the stairs (or run up the steps and slide down :)
Squat down low and jump up

Strength: Cross the monkey bars as many times as you can (it's harder than I remember!)
Using the end of a slide, do as many tricep dips until fatigue
Using the end of the slide still, do as many push-ups until fatigue
Using the end of the monkey bars, turn your palms towards your body and 'pull-up'
Using two parallel bars, hold yourself up and draw the knees in using the abs
Lunge around the perimeter of the play structure/ park
Using the end of the slide, place one foot on the slide, the other on the ground and
quickly squat down three times then jump and switch sides

Enjoy playing like a kid... it's a great workout and a lot of fun!

Hiatus

It's been a while since i last posted, sorry for the break. It's been busy yes, but it's been my lack of discipline to sit down and write a post that caused that lapse in posts. I promise to do better and to be more disciplined.

For my re-entry into the blog world, enjoy this new workout!

Repeat the whole sequence 3 times: (You'll need 5 or 8lb. weights and a chair)
15 push-ups (on toes)
20 jumping jacks
15 tricep dips on edge of bench/ chair
20 jump squats
15 bicep curls
20 skis
15 rear fly
20 lateral jumps
20 lateral raises
50 jump rope jumps

Let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy and keep working hard!

Did you know?

We all know that fast food options are less than nutritious, but did you know that McDonald's hamburgers have 62 ingredients!? A recent report on Yahoo released the top 10 ingredients in Fast Food, which included citric acid, monosodium glutamate, caramel color and monoglycerides. Hmmm... not very appealing! So next time you need to grab a bite at McDonald's opt for the grilled chicken snack wrap (without cheese) and a fruit and yogurt parfait instead of a burger and fries. It will taste better and save you about 275 calories! Make good choices today!