Chessie, absolutely loves the outdoors ~ she loves to run! She got to do alot of her favorite things today: wrestle with "her kitty", Jake, and the two of them enjoyed the sunshine and their games of chase, while I moved a pile of wood and cleaned up the yard and deck.
Our mail lady, Kathy, dearly loves Chessie and always brings her a bone. Sometimes she leaves it in the box, but today Chessie got to go out and greet her herself. Kathy makes Chessie come to the car to get the bone herself, trying to help her with her shyness. Now, Chessie sees Kathy's car, waits for it to stop and runs to her. Chessie will take the bone, but puts it down and returns to the car for Kathy to pet her. She's learning not to be afraid of others! Chessie's making progress!
This evening, Chessie enjoyed a good run beside me, while I rode the recumbent trike to get some much needed exercise. We both need to get outdoors again ~ with the winter and all the endless paperwork (that I didn't realize went along with this estate stuff) we've been inside more and we have both gained some weight. We had been use to walking an hour a day before Jim got so sick and we need to get back to it! I've walked when I can, but Chessie has been a little depressed at times. She needs to run and play and be outdoors! She's not the only one! It helps us both!
It's amazing the impact, that exercise itself and the fresh air has on us both, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally. Did you know that they've proved that exercise is better for depression than the pills they offer us. Thirty minutes to an hour of walking will change our outlook on life! Exercise is better than prozac!
God has done an amazing thing, for me, in the past 2 years ~ He's done what I couldn't! He's answered my plea for health, nutrition and fitness. I had cried out to the Lord for help for over a year ~ I was working long and crazy hours and couldn't eat regular meals, I had no time to exercise, and often, did not get enough sleep. So, I prayed and prayed and prayed some more!
God answered my cry! You don't expect God to answer a request for health, nutrition and fitness, through a frozen shoulder, but He did! I injured it pulling a cart of wood that weighed about 200-250 lbs., according to Jim. My foot slipped on the snow, the cart tipped and pulled my shoulder back with it and injured my chest wall. I couldn't work, so it took me out of the crazy work schedule. God lead me to a physical therapist, that's extremely knowledgable and provided the money needed to get the help I required.
The shoulder became movable again, through pool therapy, ultrasound treatment and exercises in 3 weeks, but still needed strengthening to prevent further injury. My physical therapist had seen my heart for health, fitness and nutrition and offered to help me strengthen the shoulder and to make some life changes.
Judy knew I had already gone off of processed foods and was walking on a treadmill. She had been a gym teacher before she got her masters degree in physical therapy and she knew I was serious and was willing to help me. I knew I'd been praying for God's help and I knew this was Him providing for me, so I stepped out in faith and I trusted Him to provide the money needed and He did! Jim saw that God was, specifically, answering my prayers and he was excited and encouraged me to keep at it.
As I ate variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, lean meats and good fats (olive oil, avocados, coconut), (staying away from sugar, sweetners, breads & complex carbs) eating every 2-3 hours and drinking 64 oz. of water a day, I began to notice a difference in the way I felt, my body was getting what it needed. I was, now, exercising 3 days a week in the gym for 2 hours and an hour the rest of the days of the week at home, walking, biking and weights ~ it was amazing the amount of energy I felt, I couldn't sit still! We changed out exercises, to trick my body into continuing to lose and to continue to raise my metabolism. Sometimes we, actually, raised my calories to trick my body to burn more. My metabolism was a roaring fire! I kept a journal of my progress and everything I ate, my calories, exercises and amount of time. I used a heart monitor for the aerobic exercises, to burn safely and to keep me burning fat.
Seeing the changes made the goals God gave me seem reachable! Here's a list I made at the end of my first journal, only about 6 months after God provided Judy to help me with nutrition and fitness:
"God's brought me a long way!"
1. My knees no longer hurt when I climb the stairs.
2. The bursitis is gone in my shoulders (with the frozen shoulder, I was lifting 1-2 lbs and am now up to three.) Lateral pull down is now at 40 lbs.
3. The hip bursitis on the left hip and lower back is gone (my hips feel stronger, not as if they are moving and won't hold me up).
4. With hips and plantar fascitis in my feet: I don't have to stand for a minute before I can walk.
5. I've got alot more energy, I can't sit still!
6. I'm much stronger and more agile.
7. I'm sleeping again (deep sleep).
8. I'm hydrated (I hated water, anything but water and now it's all I want.)
9. I no longer crave the foods I shouldn't eat ~ I don't even want a bite. Not only is it not worth it, it sounds crazy, but it's become repulsive to me.
10. I don't crave sweets or breads. I have likes, but no addictions. (There's nothing I have to have.)
11. The flames of inflammation are being put out.
12. I've burned off alot of toxic fat ~ but doing it safely, for right reasons ~ for health and fitness.
13. I'm learning what my body needs and what it requires to run at it's best ~ I'm making life changes.
14. I've identified alot of food allergies ~ I've eliminated them completely. (No dairy, some mushrooms and some night shade vegetables.)
15. I've gone from not being able to walk, without pain, to exercising 3 days a week in the gym for 2 hours.
16. I couldn't ride a bike for 5 minutes when I started; I can ride it at level 3-4. Treadmill: I started at 7 minutes at 1.5, now I can do it an hour and 15 minutes with incline 2.6 to 2.7.
"I've got alot to celebrate! I'm making life changes (with God's help)! I'm 54 years old and have felt like I was 80, but now I'm dialing the clock back!"
God heard my prayers and was leading me to victory one day at a time! In the year and a month I spent with Judy, with God's leading, seeking health, fitness and nutrition brought an added benefit ~ God blessed and my body dropped off 90 lbs. of toxic fat and with the new energy levels, I felt like I was a teen again and the fitness more like I was 40 again.
God created us for work and exercise and the outdoors (fresh air and sunshine) we aren't getting the vitamin D our body requires being inside all the time. For many, our technology has moved us from more physical labor, to sitting behind desks all day. Our body is not getting what it needs in front of the TV! God did not create process foods, man did ~ they are empty calories and we are fooling ourselves if we think they are okay to eat, just because they are FDA approved or they are sold at the grocery store. We can not eat anything we want and all we want and stay healthy! We can grow weary of the failure! If you're like me, stress makes me want to eat. Believe it or not exercise relieves stress. Hang in here with me, just a little longer ~ I want to encourage your heart!
Stop trying to do this yourself, where we are weak, God is strong! A life change doesn't begin with a treadmill and a carrot ~ for God's children, it begins on our knees, looking to Him for what we can not do ourselves! Continually, making little changes makes for good progress! God can bring the victory, when we look to Him for it, one day at a time, one step at a time!
We begin by asking for forgiveness and asking God to help us turn from our sin and walk in victory! We look to Him for strength, wisdom and insight! We can ASK Him to show us, specifically, what our body needs ~ not what our husband or wife needs, but what WE need! We can ask God to funnel us, to guide and to provide all the help we need for health and fitness and then we take a step of faith, starting by eating the foods God meant for us to eat ~ the ones He created! They were created, with all our body needs, the vitamins and the nutrients. Then we move! We were created to work physically! If our work doesn't provide what our body needs, then we need to provide it another way. We begin with what we can do (walking, biking, etc.) but we need to move. We continue praying and asking every day for God's will ~ the discipline, the wisdom, the insight and the help needed to know all that OUR body needs. Each one of us are unique! Victory begins on our knees, one step at a time, one day at a time ~ continual, little changes, will bring success and life long change! Don't have desire? Ask for it!
Well, Chessie has been in the sunshine today as I worked outside and she is asleep on the couch upside down, feet in the air and snoring ~ she is one content pup! She got what she needed today, some fresh air, sunshine, exercise and play and now she is content and happy!
I need to complete the journey that God and I began! There's no hurry when it's a life style change. It's okay that life happened and the stress and loss, impacted my journey. The paperwork and all estate stuff has broken my pace and taken my focus and I've gained some weight. But it's time to move from the distractions and the focus of so many things that have drowned out the journey and to turn to the God I love and ask Him for His help! A life change ~ health, nutrition and fitness, begins on our knees!
Remember to take care of you! My mom use to say, "Everything with balance." I encourage you to ASK God for His help, let Him give you HIS passion for health, nutrition and fitness, ASK Him for it and let HIM direct your steps! He created you, will He not show you what you need, just as He will reveal what He created you for ~ if you ask? I'm praying for you! May God bless you and show you Himself as you seek to follow and obey, one day at a time!
James 1:5-6 says,
"If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
1 Timothy 4:7b and 8 says,
"Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."
No comments:
Post a Comment