Our Bodies, God's Temple

Biblical Inspiration: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

2013-02-17T17:19:00.001-06:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,

When I first started this blog a few years ago, I was inspired to name my blog "Our Bodies, God's Temple" for a reason. It came from scripture written in the new testament by the apostle Paul.

^"16Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. - 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (NIV)"

Just to think back, in the old testament, the temple was a building. A place of worship. A beautiful place in which God dwelled. In the new testament, a new covenant was given to God's people. The Holy Spirit was sent to dwell with in us. Our own bodies. This scripture has been commonly used to encourage people to "be healthy." And yes, I am encouraging a lot of that in my blog, but that is not what this scripture is really talking about.

In the context, this scripture is about the new covenant that God made with us. The temple was defiled and the church did not have a place of meeting other than homes of other Christian believers. When Jesus came, He gave us a new promise that He would be with us wherever we are. Because of Christ, the Holy Spirit now dwells within us and is always with us. He is no longer confined to a building.

In this passage, Paul is also warning us about false teachings. Be careful what it is that you hear from your leaders. Growing up, I have heard time and time again that it is ALWAYS good to question the message of your leaders of the church. I don't mean that we need to be chastising them every time that they may preach something that may be contradicted by another passage of the bible that may have been overlooked. Their jobs are really tough and they are, after all, human. But because they are human, that means that sometimes they do make mistakes. While we hope and pray that the messages they preach are inspired by God, it is always good to go back over the scriptures that they preached on and make sure that the message is consistent with what the rest of the bible teaches us. However, there are people out there who intentionally use scripture for their own purposes, and Paul is saying that God will destroy anyone who brings down His temple.

Today, in our highly literate society, we can be thankful that we have the ability to study scriptures for ourselves. In bible times, they did not all have that capability, or the resources, for that matter, to study scriptures for themselves. As the new testament came about, people were becoming more educated. Now, we have bibles written in hundreds of different languages allowing God's children to study the scriptures for themselves. Many of us take that for granted. With that being said, we are more at risk of hearing false teaching, but the advantage is that we can study the scriptures ourselves and not have to depend on someone else who has been educated to interpret it to us.

There are many scriptures that do speak about how we should take care of ourselves. This is not really one of them. However, if we allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, we will see the results by our fruits, will we not? God will be able to change our whole being, making us more fit to serve Him. So much I want control over my body, but this body is not meant for me. It is meant for Him. If we allow Him to have that control, we will have the desire to want to be more healthy, less stressed, develop good relationships, and more knowledgeable of Godly things. As I continue to write in this blog, my hope is that I can encourage you in these areas of your life.

If you would like to study this passage more for yourself, I found some sermon notes that I thought were very insightful and encouraging. Check out: http://carm.org/christianity/sermons/1-corinthians-619-20-your-body-his-temple.

Relationships: Valentine's All Year Round!

2013-02-14T20:39:00.001-06:00

I do love the concept of Valentine's Day. A day meant for LOVE. However, I think there are problems with simply having ONE day devoted to LOVE.

For one, the expectation is that our loved ones will go above and beyond, only to sometimes experience disappointment because they did not meet the expectation.

Two, why should we only celebrate love just one day a year? Or two days, if you count sweetest day? God commands us to love one another. Not just one day a year, but all year round.

What is your LOVE life like? I don't mean just with your significant other. I mean also with your family and friends, even your enemies. After all, didn't Jesus also say that we must LOVE our enemies? Sometimes loving the people in our lives can be draining, but with God we have the capability to love so much more. It just pours out of us. Are you showing the people in your life how much you love them everyday through your actions?

Over the past year, I have had the privilege of working with teenagers. As much as I love it, I can also see how much hate and lack of love there is among them and how destructive it is. If you are heading down a destructive path, you do have a choice to make a change. God promises to be by our side all the time, if we let Him. Even if you don't have a spouse, their are many others who you could love. As mentioned before, God COMMANDS us to LOVE one another and Himself. If you have no one to love, let God be your LOVE.

I would like to mention that there are also health benefits to LOVE.

Helps Improve Immune System - Engaging in positive conflict resolution actually improves your immune system. However, if you tend to stonewall or retreat from conflict without resolving it, you could actually be damaging your immune system. I think of the verse Ephesians 4:26 where it says, "In your anger, do not sing. Do not let the sun go down on your anger."
You may become more physically fit - Couples who workout together tend to workout harder and they tend to stick with it. Walking is a fantastic way to spend time together and get fit and be able to stick with it.
You may live longer - studies have shown that married couples have more longevity. They experience less stress when they are in a committed healthy relationship. Ephesians 5 shows us how to be in a healthy relationship.
Clearer skin - Believe it! If you are in a happy relationship, you have less cortisol which means less acne and clearer skin. That's something new to me.
Improves Heart Health - When you are less stressed, your heart is much healthier. When you are in an unstable relationship or are even widowed, there is a higher risk for heart disease.
Reduce feelings of pain - Both physically and mentally.
It Heals Wounds - There was actually a study done on patients that had blisters. Those who had a good loving relationship in their life actually healed 2 days faster than those who did not. So when you are ill, you want your loved ones nearby to help with your healing. "In sickness and in health. . ." Turning away from them for selfish reasons such as your desire to protect others may actually hurt you as well as your loved ones. Let them be there to comfort and love you in any way they can.
Better Brain Health - All kinds of relationships can help in this area.
There is actually a Cuddle Hormone - It's called oxytocin and it helps lower blood pressure.

Ok, so there is not direct linkage to weight loss, but my experience has been that when you have less stress in your life, it won't be long before you see those pounds start to melt away. This year, challenge yourself to find ways to love someone in your life every single day. Not just on Valentine's Day!

Rest: Don't Worry!

2013-02-13T18:33:00.000-06:00

Worry is defined as a state of anxiety and uncertainty over actual or potential problems. While in many cases, we may have some control over the outcome of situations, that is not the case in everything.

One morning, you may get up and realize that snow was just dumped on by snow while you were asleep in your cozy bed. You do your best to rush through your morning routine so that you can attend to your driveway just enough so that you can get in your car early enough to get on the road and head to work. You have a meeting first thing when you get there and no matter what the circumstances are, this meeting just cannot be cancelled according to your boss. While on your way, you usually make a stop at the local coffee shop to buy a little pick me up latte. Today in your rush, as the server hands you your drink you manage to fumble and drop it right on your lap. Of course, you do have a set of clothes that you do keep with you in case something like this happens, but there is just no time to change. You do your best to wipe yourself off with the napkins and hope that the neutral tones of your clothing will hide the spill enough for people to not notice. You get back on the road and half way there, you come to a train crossing and the arm is down. But there is no train. You sit for a few minutes and still, no train. It turns out that the arm is stuck and you have to wait for repair men to come and fix it and there is no way to turn around. . . . The story goes on.

Now your days may not always look like this but, stuff like this happens. You may be able to avoid the coffee spilling in your lap if you didn't worry so much about arriving to work on time, but the snow dumping on your house or the train crossing arm, you have no control over that. Yet often times we experience that word worry. While it can be beneficial in some cases causing our adrenaline to kick in and put us in to action, like when your child falls out of a tree and breaks there arm, or a giant bear is coming after you, in our everyday lives, it can cause serious damage to our bodies. If you cannot learn to control your worrying, you could experience many mental and physical symptoms such as:

Anxiety Disorder
Panic Disorder
Social Anxiety
Distress
Disability
Difficulty Swallowing
Dizziness
Dry Mouth
Fast Hearbeat
Fatigue
Headaches
Inability to Concentrate
Irritability
Muscle Aches
Muscle Tension
Nausea
Nervous Energy
Rapid Breathing
Shortness of Breath
Sweating
Trembling
Twitching

Some severe consequences could be:

suppression of the immune system
digestive disorders
muscle tension
short-term memory loss
premature coronary artery disease
heart attack

Of course, these are all things that we want to avoid when at all possible. I bring up this topic today because I know for me that it is a huge struggle each day. It is easy for me to want to have control over each thing that happens in my life, but sometimes, there is just nothing I can do. The only one who can help me in those moments is God because He IS in control. I often have to remind myself of His control through scripture. A few verses that come to mind are:

". . . Be still and know that I am God. . ." Psalms 46:10

"Cast all your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken." Psalms 55:22

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

God is in control and He can give you rest. Rest is a very important part of taking care of your body, and if you cannot give your worries to God, you will certainly have a hard time being able to rest. You are also causing your body stress on top of it. Releasing hormones such as cortisol causing your waistline to increase in size therefore making you more susceptible to a number of other symptoms and diseases. Take care of what God has given you and let Him do the worrying when you cannot control something.

Exercise: ZUMBA!!

2013-02-12T18:29:00.002-06:00

Over the summer, I had an opportunity to try a variety of different exercise programs. One of my favorites is Zumba. If you have not tried it, for those of you that love to dance, it is a MUST! Zumba is a high intensity workout containing mostly Latin style dancing, but they throw in a few other styles to add a little fun. If there is any exercise that will burn the fat off of you in just a matter of time it is Zumba. My first few sessions, I burned about 800 calories each time. They were about 50 minutes to an hour long sessions. My body was cooking. What was great about it is that I didn't even realize that I was burning that much. If you are looking for a fun cardio workout, check this one out.

Huffington Post lists 12 Benefits of Zumba that I would like to share:

1. Huge Calorie Burn I mentioned that I burned 800 calories, on HP, one participant mentioned burning more than 1,000 calories

2. Total Body Toning You certainly move parts of your body that you forgot even existed. Good way to give it a workout.

3. It Keeps You Coming Back For someone who certainly enjoys dancing, this is most certainly true. It is well worth it each time you go.

4. Amazing Results One participant claims to have lost 75 lbs just doing Zumba. That's just one!

5. It Works For All Ages Ok . . . maybe you wouldn't want to take your toddler with, but your school age kids are most certainly welcome. They can just skip the weights. :)

6. Get Stress Relief With all the fun you will have and the release of endorphin, how could you feel stressed?

7. Can Be Adapted For Any Fitness Level . . . Or ability level. Ha ha ha. I don't know about you, but sometimes my body is just not as coordinated as dancers who have been professionally trained. You can take it slow, start with your feet and once you get that down you can add in the arms, increasing your intensity as you go. The bigger the movements, the more the intensity. Just be careful not to do the movements out of form and hurt yourself. :)

8. If Goes By Fast When your having fun, time always flies!

9. It's Social You can meet your friends there or bring your family for a bonding experience.

10. Gives You More Awareness of Your Body As mentioned, you'll move parts of your body that you forgot even existed and you will feel it later.

11. You Can Always Find A Class They are everywhere. An old friend of mine is a Zumba instructor near my home. To find out where there is a class near you, check out http://www.zumba.com/

12. It Makes People Happy There are those endorphins again. Gotta love 'em!

If you would like to check out more about this article, you can look it up at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/02/12-healthy-benefits-of-zumba_n_1011261.html#slide=409051

Leaving your home not desirable to you? There are also DVDs and games that you can play. I've tried the Kinect version and enjoyed it. I hope that you have a chance to try it if you haven't.

Food: Oat Bran with Berries & Yogurt for Breakfast

2013-02-11T22:44:00.000-06:00

When you are thinking about your meals, you want to make sure that they are well balanced. A good combination of carbohydrates, fat, and protein. You also want to make sure when you start your day that you have a good source of fiber. The protein helps you to feel satisfied for a longer period of time because of how slow your body processes it. Fiber helps your body to move things along, if you know what I mean. The Oat Bran that I use is Bob's Red Mill Organic High Fiber Oat Bran Hot Cereal. It contains 7g of dietary fiber as well as 7g of protein.

For the berries, I typically use blueberries and strawberries. Both are loaded with antioxidants, which are great for building up your immune system. Not to mention many other vitamins. I have also heard that strawberries burn as many calories as are consumed. Great benefit! I typically will buy these berries frozen, especially during their off season. The beauty of buying frozen fruit is that it contains more nutrients then fruits found in the produce aisle or in a can.

The last ingredient is vanilla yogurt. I'd love to be able to avoid sugar and sweets, but growing up I could not handle eating oatmeal without having a gag reflex. It is something that I have had to learn to eat. I know the health benefits and that has helped. I add vanilla yogurt, not just for the sweetness of it, but also for the probiotics. The probiotics in yogurt help the digestive system to work better. You are welcome to try this recipe with plain yogurt. The less sugar content, the better it will be for you. One of my favorite brands of yogurt is Stoneyfield organic. Be careful, there are many brands of yogurt out there that contain the words "light." They are promoted by some shows that promote health, but don't be fooled. There are healthier options out there for your body. Many of the big or popular names contain chemicals, HFCS, or sweetners which are proving to not be as healthy as companies are claiming them to be. Some of our food companies are starting to realize that their consumers are smart and are trying to make changes. The point is to read the labels. Know what you are putting in your body.

So, after all of that, here's the recipe:

1 cup of water

1/3 cup of oat bran

5-6 strawberries

1/4 cup of blueberries

6 ounces of vanilla or plain yogurt

In a medium pot, add water and berries. Bring to a boil. Add oat bran and reduce heat. Continue to stir as it cooks until it reaches the consistency that you like. Put in a serving bowl. Add the yogurt and stir. Bon appetit!

To some of you, this may look gross at first, but it is worth a try. Hope you enjoy it! If it doesn't suite your taste, you could always add honey or try a different fruit with it. Let me know what you think. :)

Mental: Bob Harper's The Skinny Rules - Post 1

2013-02-10T20:38:00.000-06:00

So I decided this week to read Bob Harper's book about Skinny Rules. These are basic diet rules that any healthy person should already know and if you are not healthy, should learn.

Rule #1: Can you take a wild guess what the first rule topic is? . . . WATER! No surprise here. The rule he gives is that you should drink a full glass of water before all your meals every day. I don't know about you, but in my house, a full glass is about 16 oz if you use a tall one. That is a good start. Bob recommends at least 5 glasses a day. Now depending on which glass you use, that could be 5 - 16 oz glasses or 10 - 8 oz. Not sure if he really meant 5 - 8 oz glasses, but my guess is they are the 16 oz glasses. He also advises that you start your waking moment with a glass of water too. From the various things that I have read, a nice, cold glass of water gets that metabolism burning. Your body needs to warm that water up in your system, and how does it do that? It creates heat. So know this that the best way you could possible drink water is icy cold when it comes to weight loss.

Rule #2: I have said this to a number of people before when it comes to teaching them about weight loss and what they can do better for their bodies. I am sure that I probably heard it said on "The Biggest Loser" a number of times. Don't drink your calories! Part of the obesity epidemic that we have in our nation is the fact that we drink things like juice, soda, monster drinks, Starbucks . . . . the list goes on and on. While juice may not be nearly as bad as what some of the other drinks contain, because you have taken away much of the nutrients that you take in from the actual fruit, most of what it contains is the sugar. It is better for you to eat the fruit then to drink the sugar juice. Less chance of your blood sugar spiking. If you are the type to drink non-calorie drinks. Think to yourself, is this really the kind of liquid that I want to put in my body? Diet sodas are still carbonated, they still contain things that do not benefit your body in anyway. Why spend the money on something that is not going to benefit you? I agree, you shouldn't deprive yourself of everything, but there is a difference between having it at a party and having it on your grocery list every week. Save your sodas for times when you want to treat yourself. If you'd like a little fruit juice, try mixing one serving of fruit in your water for the day. That way you are not over doing the calories and you have a little something sweet in your water. For all those caffeine drinkers out there, it is not your friend. My experience has been that caffeine will wake me up only make me feel more dreary and fatigued once the effects wear off. I have weaned myself off of caffeine, and you know what? I feel better and more awake then I did when I was drinking it nearly every day. If you must have your coffee, just be aware of what you put in it. Black is best, but lower fat milks can be added. I do have some green tea or chai from time to time, but I try not to overdue it. They have many benefits to them, but they can also cause you to dehydrate. For every cup of tea or coffee, you should be drinking an additional cup of water is what I have heard.

Rule #3 Here is one that I find to be very helpful. Eat protein at Every Meal. This includes snacks. In case you are not aware, meat and dairy are not the only sources of protein. There are several grains, nuts, and beans that contain a high percentage of protein. Whether you eat 3 times a day, 5 times, or 7 times, about 25-30% of what you eat should be protein. For a snack, you might choose to have a granola bar with nuts, apple or celery with peanut butter or a cheese stick. Those would be my choices. Whatever you eat, make sure you are ingesting some protein at every meal. The reason for this is that it suppresses that feeling of needing to eat. Fish is Bob's fave! I did not grow up eating fish all that much. But over the years I've learned to like it a little more. Studies have shown that adding fish to your diet increases weight loss. Fish contain fatty acids which essentially help our bodies just to run smoothly. All the plaque that may be in your arteries? Fatty acids help to get rid of that. If you are thinking of going vegetarian, take into consideration that while you may feel much better to start, eventually, it will effect your energy. You don't have to go overboard on meats and cheeses, but you don't want to effect your health in another way as well. I remember not too long ago a picture that was posted of two people. One is a vegetarian, the other is a meat-eater. The vegetarian looked old an wrinkly while the other looked youthful and vibrant. You can be healthy and eat your meat. Especially now that the meat industry is looking for better ways to treat our animals and process them less.

More to come later . . . .

Reminiscing over 2 years of Weight Loss

2013-01-06T14:23:00.000-06:00

As 2012 is coming to a close, I wanted to take sometime to just review all the things that I have accomplished over the last two years and three months. I started my journey at 237 lbs in the summer of 2010. I was wearing a size 18 in pants, 1x in shirts, and not only did I not like how I looked (despite my husbands encouragement), I did not like how I felt. I was tired, almost always struggling with sinus problems, and just constantly feeling sick.

After continuous visits with a doctor regarding a terrible cough that just would not go away even with the medications I was receiving, I decided that there was something that I had to do about it. So I started researching all possible foods that could cause a person to have abnormal amounts of mucus production. I know, gross, right? I pretty much started cutting down on almost every food except fruits and vegetables. I even cut out many of my choice beverages and stuck with drinking water. I also started actually working out because I found that I could breath better when I was consistently working my heart and lungs. Getting rid of what ever impurities I had in my body. Before I knew it, I had dropped nearly 30 lbs in 3 months. Just in time for the wedding of two very good friends. I fit into a size 14 dress and felt better than I had felt in a LONG time.

I decided that my journey was not done yet though. I decided that since I was on a roll, why not keep going? I kept up with my workouts and eating well. I started to reintroduce some of the breads, dairy, and meat that I was avoiding. I continued to read all sorts of books about health and weight loss. I wanted to learn as much as I could about taking care of your body. During 2011, it was apparent to me that I was still losing inches and looking more toned, but actually losing weight was not happening. I was gaining more muscle and the fat was coming off. By the end of 2011, I was at 213 lbs. Gained a few lbs back, but my clothes were fitting better, and I could tell just from my face that I was heading in the right direction.

In January of 2012, I knew I had developed some really good habits, but the reality was that the weight still was not coming off the way that it should. I realized that I needed to make some changes once again. I was eating all the right stuff and exercising, but I realized that I needed to concentrate more on my portions. So I started out the year with Weight Watchers. I had successfully done this program before a couple of times and thought that I would take a chance with it again. I was not surprised when I started to see that scale moving yet again. By Easter, I was down to 200 lbs. Around that time, God blessed me with a couple of friends who decided to join me on this journey of weight loss. They introduced me to free programs like sparkpeople.com and myfitnesspal.com. The greatest benefit of working with weight watchers was the teaching aspect. Since I felt that I already knew a lot of the basics, why not try the free calorie counting programs. So after my weight watchers 3 month membership was up, I switched. I really enjoyed the calorie counting more than weight watchers because I no longer had to calculate points. I just counted the calories. And if I was trying to watch my intake of fat, sugars, salt, proteins, etc, they would just calculate it all for me! Before I knew it, my weight had dropped to 185 lbs by the 4th of July.

Not quite there yet. I still have about 30 lbs left to my goal yet. I continued to work hard and stay on a routine. The hardest part of the summer was that I was staying at home instead of working this year. Between my sister getting married and then my brother, it was going to be a very busy summer. However, because of that, I felt like my routine really wasn't set. I continued to do my best. By October, I dropped another 15 lbs. School had started back up and I was back into a routine. By my brothers wedding I was at 170 lbs and feeling fantastic!! To give you an idea in size, I wear 12 in pants, M/L in shirts, and 10 in dresses. I have not been at this weight in more than 10 years!!

I know some of you reading out there are probably struggling with your health and weight. I share my story as a way to hopefully encourage you. To let you know that it can be done! And you know what, I have hardly spent any money to do it. Majority of my working out has been done at home. If I can do it, so can you! My journey is not yet over. I still have about 15 lbs to reach my final goal, but I know that if my body doesn't allow me to go there, I am much happier and healthier than I have ever been. And if you believe that you need more than simply eating the right foods, right proportions, and exercise, than you will probably wind up right back where you started. Fad diets or cure all weight loss pills may help you to lose weight, but in the long run you a really haven't changed. You still have the same old habits that you used to and will just put you back where you started. Being healthy and losing weight takes work and commitment. (You have read my story. It has taken me at least 2 years to get where I am today.) And when you finally get close to the end or even at the end of your journey, you may look back and say, "that was worth it!" I know that I do!

As we start 2013, my hope is that I will achieve my final goal by my birthday in May. I have 5 months to achieve it. If anyone needs any pointers or has any questions for me, I would love to hear them. I will continue to post as time permits.

Holiday Season ~ Resist temptations or indulge?

2012-11-19T19:39:00.000-06:00

Halloween, where we are loaded up with sweets that could last us more than a year, has already past. Thanksgiving is just around the corner with Christmas following closely behind. This is probably the hardest time for anyone who enjoys nearly any kind of food that exists because the worst of it is brought out. All the fats and the breads. Not to mention the cooler temperatures which I believe make us more inclined to indulge in all the fattening foods.

Since my last post I have not gained any weight. In fact during the month of September I lost an additional 10 lbs! I could not believe it. Since September I dropped another 2 lbs, but I have been going up and down 5 lbs over the last several weeks. In total I have lost almost 70 lbs. Not quite, but I am close. I am confident I can at least reach that much by Christmas if I can make it through all the holiday parties.

The benefit of taking this long with my weight loss is that I have established a lot of healthy habits. Habits that are not easily broken. Okay, so more recently I have not been counting calories or exercising as much. But I still continue to eat the right stuff and I do try to stay active throughout the day if I don't exercise. It is evident to me that I have changed. I don't even feel guilty allowing myself to have a few foods that may not be so healthy to me, but I know my limit. I have come a long ways from the person that I once was over two years ago. I don't beat myself up as much if I am not as strict on my diet and exercise because I know that I can always get back to it the next day. Before, I would beat myself up and then I would abandon what I learned and gain all of my weight back. Then I would beat myself up some more because I allowed myself to gain the weight. This is not how God wants us to be. He did not create us so that we could continuously beat ourselves up every time that we feel that we failed at something. He created us in His image. The last two years I have learned to love myself the way that I am. I know that I am not perfect and there is always room for improvement, but God created me. My body is created to be His temple. His home should be a place of love, not of disgust, pity, self-doubt, or even hatred. With all of these holidays approaching, remind yourself that your body is created by God in His image. Take care of it. Ask for Him to give you strength where it is needed and He will help you to resist that second helping of potatoes, sweet rolls, pumpkin pie, etc. But also know that it is okay to eat those foods that you rarely have a chance to partake of. All you need is a little taste. Don't beat yourself up if you do indulge or fall into temptation, there is always tomorrow to start fresh. Whatever you do, take care of the body that God has given you.

Summer Break Is Over, A New Beginning

2012-08-26T05:32:00.002-05:00

This summer has been amazing! So many things going on. Bought a Groupon for Gold's Gym in which I am able to attend 20 fitness classes before December 21st of this year. My sister graduated from college and married in June. Went to St Louis with friends in July and Door County in August. Over the last few weeks have only begun the celebration of my brother's soon-to-be marriage in October! It has been a rather eventful, exciting summer. However, they say, "all good things must come to an end." Or must they?

While the summer break is ending, a new season is beginning. In one day, I will be back to work at the school and ready to be back into a routine. It has been a long time since I have written anything, and with the change, I am hoping that this will be a fresh start. One thing that I have learned about my weight loss journey is that sometimes along the way, you must start fresh with a clean slate. You have missed so many of your smaller goals that it makes it near impossible to reach your next one, so rather than stressing about it, you start fresh and new, with a new set of goals. You look at your past achievements and know that you didn't come this far doing nothing. You set goals all along the way and made changes to your life to help you get this far. It has almost been exactly 2 years since the very beginning of my weight loss journey this time around and I have lost 57lbs. That is quite an accomplishment to be proud of. I cannot be unhappy with what I have done so far. If my body were to say right now that it just could not do anymore, than I will be happy. But I do not believe that I am done yet. I am still losing weight. Slow and steady. I actually do have a goal to try to reach my ideal weight by Halloween. It is probably pushing it a little bit, but sometimes it is good to take on a challenge and see if you can achieve it. I hope that as I start fresh, some of you reading this might be thinking the same thing. While I still have lost quite a bit of weight over the summer, it was not as much as I had hoped. With the new season and changes happening in my day to day life, my hope is that it will help me to be more consistent.

Challenge yourself with the new season to just start over and start by drinking more water, doing light exercise, and eating more fruits and vegetables and less of everything else. That is a great start! I do want to emphasize that if it has been awhile since you have exercised, please don't try to run a mile or do a 60 minute class/video right away. You have to work up to it or else you could wind up injuring yourself. Over the summer, I read that majority of successful weight loss cases were people who decided just to take up walking everyday. When you are starting your workout regimen, I would recommend first off to listen to your body. If you are feeling a lot of pain during your workout, you are pushing yourself too much. The most you should feel during a workout is maybe a little fatigued, but not pain. I would suggest starting with 20-30 minutes of cardio 3 times a week and 2 sessions of strength training. If your body has not fully recovered by your next workout, then either take a break or do a very low intensity workout, such as walking. Sometimes movement can help the soreness to go away because you are warming up the muscle and helping the lactic acid to exit the area. However, one of the reasons the muscle is sore is because there are little tears all the way through it and they still need to repair. You do not want that muscle to tear all the way through.

It has been awhile since I have done my early morning workouts, and I'll be honest, I'm a bit intimidated at the thought simply because the last time I did a video workout I had a hard time breathing. It is peak allergy season for me. So rather than starting off this new season doing 60 minute workouts, I will be doing 30 minute workouts each morning until I am ready to move up. I feel that I need to take it easy since my body has had a rest from the schedule I held last year. My intent is to get up again at 5am each morning to workout before work. I really found that this schedule worked well for me last year and I'm hoping that it will work well for me again this year. It had me going in the morning and by the time I was done with work, I knew it was already done for the day and all I needed to do was go home, make dinner, and not have to worry about trying to fit working out in with everything else that needed to be done at night.

I do also want to mention that I am currently using www.myfitnesspal.com for keeping track of my calorie counts. While I loved using www.sparkpeople.com, I discovered a large number of my friends use www.myfitnesspal.com and since I am not only looking for a way to keep track of my calories, but also have accountability, I decided to switch over. If you are interested in using this program, you can friend me just like you would on facebook. My username is KaraBeem. One of the features that I like about this program is that you can allow your friends to see your food diary and get some pointers or allow them to see what you are doing to make you so successful with your weight loss. You can also see some of your friends diaries as well to get some ideas for meals. Especially when you can see that they are very successful in their weight loss.

Hoping you all hit the ground running this time around! If you are ever in need of some pointers, let me know. I'd be happy to share what I have learned. :)

Memorial Day Weekend 2012 - Being Active

2012-05-25T21:22:00.000-05:00

On typically nice weekends such as Memorial Day weekend, it's always nice to find ways to be physically active outdoors or in your community. There are all sorts of free activities that you can take part in. Here are some websites containing events locally for North Eastern IL and South Eastern WI this memorial day weekend: http://www.visitlakecounty.org/events.cfm, http://www.markcz.com/events/, http://www.wistravel.com/events_in_wisconsin/. Beware of those unhealthy choices, such as hot dogs and ice cream. It's ok to enjoy a little, but it is easy to binge on these holidays. Be careful of your portion sizes, and if you have the option of having food containing less calories and are just healthier in general, don't be afraid to make the best choice!

If the big crowds are not your thing, try a day at the forest preserves in the area. The nice thing about the area that we live in is that there are many preserves with nice trails. If you do plan to to go a park, be sure to load up on sunscreen, bug spray, and watch out for ticks. Last year about this time, I had the unfortunate event of finding a tick attached to me after a visit to the preserve. It is good to wear long pants and a baseball cap. You won't be able to completely avoid them, but you are less likely to find them on you if you do take some extra precautions. You want to stay away from tall grasses because that is where they like to hide. Staying on the path will help you to avoid that. After your visit, be sure to check under your clothes when you arrive home and have someone check your hair. If you do happen to find a tick on you, there are proper methods for removal. Check out http://firstaid.webmd.com/tc/how-to-remove-a-tick-overview. You will want to keep an eye on the bitten area to make sure that it does not become infected or appear irregular. This may take a couple of days. Be sure to call your doctor if you have any doubts. If the area is red and you can see where the tick was attached, there tends to be more concern then if you cannot see where you were bitten at all.

This weekend, I intend to do some shopping and to also hang out with my hubby and friends at an amusement park. A lot of walking. Great way to burn calories. Much more fun when you have more than one purpose, I think. My exercising regime was also very lax this week, so I also plan to workout a little more this weekend to make up for my lack of working out. I have been experiencing a headache the last two days, so I'm hoping that it will not prevent me from accomplishing things this weekend. I'm greatly looking forward to getting some vitamin D naturally through the sun. I hope you all have a wonderful time this memorial day weekend and take advantage of the many opportunities to be active and healthy.

Another Year Older . . . And Wiser

2012-05-21T15:14:00.000-05:00

Yes, today is my birthday. Thirty-one years ago today, my mother spent 24 hours trying to meet me before I decided to make my appearance. Yesterday, I spent a wonderful time with family celebrating that and look forward to today spending it with my husband, coworkers, students and friends. I truly feel blessed by all the people in my life.

As I look back on the past year or two, I feel that I have gained much knowledge and wisdom on how to take care of my body. While I still feel like there is more for me to learn, I feel like the changes that I have made are not temporary but lasting. When you truly desire to lead a healthier life, you just have to come to a realization that there are some things you have to learn to live without or find ways to make substitutions that will make it easier on you. In my past, I would lose weight, then lose track and gain it all back. I would make excuses as to why I should or should not do something. My biggest one over the past few years has been, I'll wait until the summer, I'll have more time to get healthy then. Of course, summer would come and I was more busy in the summer than I was during the school year. I finally realized this year that I needed to stop making those excuses and make a change. I just had to start making an effort and making my health and well being a priority. I started working out at 5am. I know, CRAZY!!! Right?! Well, it has been the best change I have made this whole school year. Now there are about 2 weeks of school left and I'm about 24lbs down since September of last year. That is an average of 3lbs a month. Ok, so maybe it's not as quick as I would like it to be, but I am down 24lbs and I cannot tell you how many inches. I feel great physically and mentally. That in itself is a huge reward. I have so much more energy than I used to and I can move in ways that I have not moved probably since high school. Like I said, I feel like I have so much more to learn, but this has been one great year! I cannot wait to see what the next one brings. I'm at 189lbs this year. Hopefully by next year I will reach my goal of at least 165lbs. Shooting for 155lbs, but I will be happy with 165lbs if that is as far as my body will go.

Sparkpeople.com, a FREE way to keep track

2012-04-19T21:33:00.001-05:00

So I have been doing WW the last couple of months, which has been great. I have seen some success with my weight loss. However, I am not thrilled about the fact that it does cost to continue to use the online system. Recently, a good friend of mine told me about sparkpeople.com and how you can keep track of your calories in and out for FREE! And there is no secret formula to figuring out numbers and such. It's all just calories and it will also track some of the other nutrients for you. I thought I would test it out and compare with the WW program over my spring break, and when I put the two side by side, there was not much that was different in keeping track of the diets. I reached my limit with sparkpeople.com calories around the same time I would reach the limit of points with WW. So if things are a bit tight for you with money, give sparkpeople.com a try. I plan to make the switch. Oh yes, and if you are just trying to maintain, they have that option as well. Oh yes, and one more thing, are you pregnant? Yes, they also have an option for pregnant woman so that you do not add all those extra pounds during pregnancy, but are making sure that you and your baby are getting what you need. Check out BabyFit.com. How about . . . are you a teenager? Check out sparkteens.com. If you sign up, you can use me as a reference: KaraBeem. Not only do they have trackers, but there is a wealth of knowledge and thousands of new recipes that you could take advantage of. You can even build your own recipes and it will calculate the calories for you. :) Since I started keeping track, I've lost 6 lbs in 3 weeks. If you do decide to join, let me know. I would not mind having a little friendly competition as long as the goals are realistic. I'm down 41lbs and have about 40lbs to go before I reach my ideal weight goal. Although, I would be quite satisfied with just losing 30lbs at this point. :)

I'm in "One"derland!!!

2012-03-30T15:41:00.004-05:00

I know it has been an incredibly long time since I have posted a blog. As you have probably gathered from the title, I am doing great. I mentioned a little over a month ago that I started WW. As well as I felt like I was doing before I started up WW again, I realized that even though I was eating all very healthy foods, I was not tracking how much I was eating and limiting my portions at dinner time. I tell you, my biggest food struggle is dinner time. Since I started tracking food and getting back in the groove of working out, my weight started to move again. This week while on my spring break, I took a little more initiative to get workouts done. The nice thing about having this week off has been that I have been able to de-stress a little bit. It has been a fantastic week aside from the colder whether that I did not expect after last week. I have also taken some time to check out another FREE program that I wanted to share with you. sparkpeople.com This website is fantastic! It helps you to calculate nutrients as well as calories. Very similar to the WW online program, only no points, just calories. The things that I believe gives this program a boost is their calorie burn tracker and if you want, it will give you a meal plan and a strength training routine. That is if that is important to you. I also enjoy the social network, articles, and recipes that they have. If you decide to check it out, look up KaraBeem. That is my SparkPeople name. It is fantastic to see how many calories, carbs, protein, fats, and many other nutrients, if you choose, and be able to track how much you are taking in. They also list many menu items from different restaurants. I'd love to hear your opinion about this website. I have made a commitment to do WW for another 2 months, but I am planning to transfer over to this program once that commitment is up. Thanks for continuing to read

Starting Weight Watchers

2012-02-25T10:01:00.001-06:00

So these last few weeks I have really felt down in the dumps. I have really had no explanation for feeling this way. The only thing I can figure is that I have not been working out and eating right the way I should. I had also seemed to reach a plateau which never seamed to go away. Then I started to reflect on my life and the times in which I was successful in my weight loss. The common denominator was weight watchers. So this week I have decided to start doing weight watchers. However, what I will be doing differently is working out. In the past when I have done weight watchers I have neglected to make exercise as an important part of the weight loss, so in turn I believe that I lost a lot of muscle and not fat. When I was at my lowest weight I remember thinking to myself, "my problem areas are still sticking out." If I had done the workouts with the weight watchers, maybe my problem areas would have diminished more. Anyways, so the good news is that I am back and I am happy to report that I have lost 5 lbs this week due to my efforts in keeping track of what I eat and exercising at least 3 days this week. It is a good week thus far. Hoping for another good week next week. :) I think it may take me awhile to get back to working out more than 3 times a week again. But as long as I'm getting the minimum of 3 in right now, I'm happy.

Battling illness & Finding time

2012-02-06T08:30:00.003-06:00

So part of the reason I have not been blogging more recently has been that I have not been feeling well. I tried working out last week and for a normal workout I nearly passed out, so I decided that until I'm feeling better, I should probably take a break. The other issue has been finding time. I have been working out, but finding the time to blog has been a challenge. I think during the winter months I have been feeling a little more sluggish. Does anyone else ever feel that way during the cold dark months? My body just wants to go into hibernation. I am more tired and with that I just never feel like I am able to accomplish as much as I do either in the spring or fall seasons. If anyone has a remedy for that, I would not mind hearing it.

So I think one of the problems that I have been having with my health is that either I have caught a cold or my acid re-flux is back. Not fun. So, in case it is the latter, I have decided to try eating vegetarian style this month. I may not eliminate meat all together, but I will be reducing it drastically. When I have acid re-flux problems. I start to have coughing fits and they just seem to get worse and worse until I do something about it. Last time I had this problem, I found that eating grains other than processed or wheat tend to be helpful. Avoiding any types of foods that could potentially either increase stomach acids or mucus production has been helpful. Until I have lost the excess weight, I'm afraid that I will have to deal with this issue. Overall, I have found a more vegetable/fruit based diet creates less acids in my stomach. Hense the vegetarian theme for this month. If you find that you might have similar issues to myself, please talk to your doctor about it. Mine recommended that since I also lowered my grain intake that I take a complex vitamin B to help with my energy levels. If you plan to change your diet in anyway it is always good to consult a Dr whether it be your general Dr or a specialist. They know your body and it's specific needs and will be able to tell you if it will work or not.

Catching up & SPoH: Day 32 - How Toxins Effect the Body

2012-01-14T12:08:00.003-06:00

Ok, so there has been a lot of very stressful, off schedule stuff going on over the last two weeks. Just as I was getting excited about doing the 5am workouts again, things were happening at work that threw off my whole daily schedule as well as my focus. However, things are slowly starting to go back to normal. During everything, I did get up and workout when I could. I just recently purchased a couple of workout videos that I am very excited about. Most everyone knows Jillian Michaels who has been branded as America's or TVs toughest trainer. I liked the last video of hers that I did so much, that I decided to purchase a couple more while the "New Year's Resolution" sales have been going on. If you are looking for workout videos to do, January is the month to by them. Many of them go on sale for pretty decent prices. Anyways, so this last week I started Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. Another kick in the rear end workout. I like her concept of working out. She has a formula that she uses: 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs. Really a fantastic idea. It's set up like a circuit. In the 30 Day Shred video, she has 3 different levels. Each level is only 20 minutes long. Well, about that anyways. It is not easy though. Even at the beginning level. Pushups for a minute at a time is not easy for me. However, I can tell I am getting stronger.

Aside from starting this program, I have been doing one other activity: Shoveling Snow! We have finally had our first real snowfall of the season. I have been well aware that you can burn a lot of calories when you shovel snow BY HAND. I did not anticipate that my T-Shirt would be soaked by the time I did a half an hour of shoveling. If you are interested in knowing how many calories you can burn shoveling, use this calculator to get an idea. So instead of doing a workout indoors on Thursday and Friday, I took it outside. It's a great winter exercise because you are also giving your lungs a deep breath of fresh air. If you have a long driveway, this is a great activity that you can do together as a family. Leave the snow blower in the garage for a little while. Do at least a half hour of shoveling by hand, then pull it out. You'll save on the gas for your snow blower and burn some calories in the process! Plus you are teaching your family a number of things doing it together. You can have fun doing chores when you work together. They are learning responsibility of how to take care of the driveway for one day when they might need to know that. Keep in mind that you need to stretch those muscles after spending all that time shoveling. Otherwise, you are going to be awfully sore the next day or even the next several days. Last year, I made the mistake of not stretching out afterwards and I deeply regretted it. This year, I remembered that I needed to stretch out. I'm not nearly as sore. I just feel like I had a good workout yesterday. :)

SPoH: Day 32 - How toxins effect our bodies . . . Body Odor! Research is showing that a lot of odor is a result of eating red meats. How interesting! If you have a lot of body odor, try a meat fast. Specifically Pork and Beef and see what happens. Vegetarians often do not have the body odor problems that people who eat meat have. If you have any vegetarian friends, ask them if they have any problems with it. Colbert said that he met someone who doesn't even use deodorant because she does not have any odors to cover up. Our body odors are mostly due to the toxins we have in our body. Toxins in our body open us up to a plethora of other issues such as: fatigue, Heart disease , Memory loss, Premature aging, Skin disorders, Arthritis, Hormone imbalances, Anxiety, Headaches, Emotional disorders, Cancers, and Autoimmune diseases. What Colbert has to say next totally throws me. How many of you have allergies, food sensitivities, or massive mucus production? It could be because of all the toxins your body has been exposed to has caused your liver to be unable to process them all. Your body may be experiencing a toxic overload! Colbert recommends fasting as a way to detoxify the body which he talks more about in the next few days. However, he has also written a couple of books on them if you are interested in reading more in depth. Fasting Made Easy and Get Healthy Through Detox and Fasting.

Day 44 of 5am & SPoH: Day 31 - Toxins that you would not expect

2012-01-14T11:16:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the delay. I was working on this being posted January 3rd! Keep that in mind when reading this.

So I did it! I woke up at 5am to do my workout. Yay! This is much better than last year. I was doing pretty well with the workouts up until Christmas break and then I pretty much quit or at least wound up not working out nearly as much. Anyways, today I pulled out Jillian Michaels "No More Trouble Zones." Talk about intense! Of course, I'm going to have to rebuild my body back up to where it was about 2 weeks ago because I did not do much working out over the course of the last two weeks. I managed to do about 35 minutes worth of this video. I wanted to do more before I realized that it is a 56 minute workout and not a 40 minute workout like the cover said. Note about workout times on videos. Sometimes I have found that they do not include the warm up and cool down in the actual time. So if you see 40 minutes, plan on it being at least 10 minutes longer. Anyways, great workout though. I have feeling that I am going to feel it tomorrow. Jillian does a great thing with this particular workout and many others I have seen where she combines working two areas at the same time. Lower and upper body. It's nice because it gets your heart rate up a little more and you are maximizing the movement and getting the most out of it as you can. I plan to use this workout DVD for awhile. Looking forward to seeing results. Push ups are getting easier. Still on the knees. Not ready for the feet yet.

SPoH: Day 30 - Toxins that you would not expect. Heavy Metals have been known to cause several unpleasant symptoms. We are exposed to them through our foods and our environments. To help detoxify our bodies from the metal you should have chlorophyll foods, including wheat grass, barley grass, oat grass, healthy algae, and other supplements. Many of our dentists in the past have used silver amalgam fillings for those unwanted cavities. Unfortunately it exposes us to the metal mercury. Most everyone knows that mercury does not do a body good. This metal is slowly released into our bodies from the time we receive the filling until we eventually die. However, you may be exposed to even more if you have them removed improperly. If you decide to have them removed, make sure you find a dentist that is well aware of the effects and knows how to handle it. If you or your children have any cavities, it is safer to go with the porcelain. It is more up front cost, but think of the health that you will be saving! Less problems down the road. Many of us already know that household products we use contain many toxins that are not good for our bodies. If you are going to use chemicals, be sure to read the labels and make sure that your skin is not exposed. Your body has a less chance of being effected by them when you are wearing rubber gloves than if you are washing with bare hands. Also, beware of the toxins they emit in the air. A good inhalation of bleach or ammonia can damage your lungs. If you can switch to natural products for cleaning (such as vinegar & lemon juice) and cosmetics (see www.safecosmetics.org), it is much better for you.

Happy New Year! & SPoH: Day 30 - Where do toxins come from?

2012-01-02T21:20:00.002-06:00

The New Year has commenced and I am so excited for what is to come this year. I am working on learning sign language. I've already begun my bible readings. While I have not started my 5am workouts this year, I am planning to do so starting tomorrow and I am really excited. If you have not tried doing the early morning workouts, I must recommend it. I feel so much better physically and even mentally when I workout in the morning. I am also ready to get back to eating much better. The holidays always seem to be the easiest time to gain weight. Our culture is so inclined to have every favorite food item available at our family/friend parties when our bodies don't need it. Next time you are considering having a family party, look at your food pyramid and limit what you serve. It can be fun to have leftovers, but it has happened to me where sometimes you have leftovers for too long and the food is no longer good enough for you to eat. Anyways, I am ready to feel healthy again.

SPoH: Day 30 - Where do toxins come from? Air, Food, Water, and Skin contact. Essentially through every possible opening we have on our bodies.

The air contains loads of pollutants that if you live in America have most likely learned in an environmental biology or science class. Industrialization, Cars, the Ozone, Pesticides - all of these things effect our air and eventually our bodies. Inside our homes we deal with chemicals and bacteria. If you are a smoker, things will be numerous times worse for you and your family. I am thankful that in the state of Illinois, smoking has been banned from restaurants.

For foods, non-organic produce usually contains pesticides, herbicides, parasites and chemicals. With processed foods you expose yourself to a number of chemicals. Just read the back of a canned or boxed food. If you do not know what a particular ingredient is on the list and it sounds like a chemistry element or compound, most likely it is a chemical meant to help preserve the product or enhance the taste synthetically. Just imagine that going into your body. Oh yes, and there is even a form of bleach found in many foods. The stuff that has the warning label on it to not get it on your skin. Animals imported from out of the country still contain DDT and PCBs which have been banned in the US. Again, better to stick with Organic. Also look for alkalizing foods to raise the pH levels in your bodies. Also remember to drink filtered water.
When choosing your fruit and tea drinks, again, stick with organic. They have the same issues that our foods have. It's always better to stick with water.

Don't forget that your skin is porous. If you are using chemicals of any sort, it is better to wear gloves and keep your skin protected. You want to be mindful of what chemicals can also cause more harm to the air you breath in your home. While I love the clean feel I get from using bleach in my bathroom, the fumes are toxic. I have resorted to using more milder cleaners

New Years Resolutions & SPoH: Day 29 - Detoxification! A great way to start the new year

2011-12-29T19:54:00.001-06:00

I know it has been a really long time since I have posted anything. I apologize for the dead space. Some of you were probably wondering if I was still ALIVE!! J/K. Anyways, this two week break from work has not turned out to be the way I had hoped. As much as I love spending time with family and friends, this time of the year tends to be more stressful than helpful. My schedule is loaded up with so many things to do and very little time to myself or with my husband. No offense to those that I spend time with. I really do love the social gatherings that take place this time of the year.

With Christmas Day now passed in 2011, I am beginning to look at what 2012 will bring. I have a few goals in mind for New Year's resolution that I wanted to share.

1) Read the bible in a year. My church did this together a couple of years ago and I think it was a phenomenal idea. I did not do so well on my part, but maybe this year I can do it. I have not done this since I was in high school. I printed a schedule found on the gideons international website.

2) Continue to work on my health and attain my weight loss goal of 50lbs. While you all know that I have lost inches, losing actual lbs has been more difficult recently. I hope that this year I am able to reach my goal of losing an additional 50lbs. Your continued support and encouragement really helps.

3) Complete the ASL Institute's first and second semester courses. I plan to do this on my own time. The lessons are free and I hope to obtain some practice with a very good friend of mine who is fluent in ASL. I really look forward to it. If anyone is interested in learning or even teaching your kids some basic ASL the website is http://www.lifeprint.com/index.htm.

SPoH: Day 29 - Detoxification! What a great topic just before we begin the new year. Our bodies are exposed to so many different toxins this day in age between the air, water, food supply and even the medications that we take as well as dental procedures. The list goes on and on. Our bodies are exposed to so many different things. God truly gave us amazing bodies to be able to handle all the abuse! However, I don't think that it hurts for us to try to minimize some of those toxins if we can. Here are some tips that Colbert gives to start: 1) Watch the kinds of foods that you eat ( organic, free-range, low-fat, etc.) 2) Drink good water. 3) Breathe clean air. (avoid areas with high content of smog, etc) 4) Wear rubber gloves when handling chemicals. 5) Work with your dr to get off medications as much as possible. (this will give your liver a chance to do it's job)

Day 43 of 5am & SPoH: Day 28 - Succeeding at Exercise!

2011-12-14T14:51:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, I worked out 35 minutes on the stationary bike.

Wednesday I took a break. I was up later on Tuesday watching the Biggest Loser Finale and so I decided to sleep in on Wednesday.

SPoH: Day 28 - How do we succeed at exercising for life?! Not just for the moment.

Colbert gives a list of suggestions or tips on how to do this.
- Build exercise into your schedule. Look at it as like an important doctor's appointment.
- Choose Exercises that you enjoy. Obviously if you have problems with your knees or hips, etc. you want to do an exercise that will not hurt your body. You will enjoy it and you'll stick with it.
- Have an Exercise Partner. This may be a challenge for some, but there are certain exercises that are much more enjoyable with a partner. Plus you have accountability.
- Choose a location that you enjoy. As much as I love working out in a gym with all its fancy equipment, I find that my home is more enjoyable for working out simply because I do not have to leave my house during the winter months just to get my workout in. In the summers, I love being outdoors.
- Change it up! If you are bored with something, what are the chances that you will stick with it? Slim to none. Find new and exciting ways to get your calorie burn in.
- Do Occupational/Transportation Exercises Meaning take every moment you have any opportunity to just move. Park your car in the back of the parking lot, take the stairs instead of the elevator, during your break or lunch take a walk, etc.

Check out this list for ideas of how to get a good calorie burn and keep track. If you don't already have a HR monitor for your workouts, you can use information like this to help figure it out. http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist.htm

On the flip side, beware of over exerting yourself. Colbert mentions that he pushed himself so hard that he caused himself to have a heat stroke and almost died. While exercise is important, be careful not to over exert yourself. Listen to your body. Give it the rest that it needs if it needs it.

Saturday Workout, Day 42 of 5am & SPoH: Day 27 - Alternative Exercises

2011-12-12T14:47:00.001-06:00

Saturday, I did Dancing with the Stars: Cardio Dance. A little different from Zumba. I really liked the workout though. It's a bit longer then the Zumba workouts I have been doing. If you ever try this one, I highly recommend not trying to do this on carpet. I love doing dance as a workout. It gets my heart pumping and the time goes by rather quickly because I am having fun.

Day 42 of 5am, I did the Zumba 20 minute workout again today. I'm finding that the colder it gets, the harder it is to get out of bed. I went to bed at a good time last night, but my body still felt like it needed more sleep. I was very tired. Did you know that our bodies are actually designed to sleep more in the winter months? I wonder what this will do to my workout habits. :( Check out this article to see what I am talking about http://www.fitwatch.com/health/seratonin-why-you-need-more-sleep-in-the-winter-366.html. So if you feel like your dragging a lot during the winter, your body is probably telling you that it indeed needs more sleep. I guess this means I'm going to have to try to go to bed even earlier so that I get the required amount of sleep that my body needs in order to workout.

SPoH: Day 27 - Alternative ways to exercise. Have fun!

Colbert mentions a couple of ways to exercise that for personal, christian convictions I do not agree with. Yoga and Tai Chi are very popular in our country because of some of the benefits that it provides. However, many Christians have not really educated themselves on the origination of these exercises. In 1 Timothy 4:6-8 we are told to train ourselves in Godly ways. Yoga and Tai Chi are heavily rooted in eastern religion. Every move signifies something spiritually. We offer our bodies not to God but to the gods of eastern religion. That is my personal conviction on it. If you have not thought about it or done research yourself, I highly recommend it.

However, Pilates is not rooted in any religion. Pilates is named after it's maker, Joseph Pilates from Germany. It is an exercise using your mind and body. Focusing on breathing and movement. This exercise helps improve strength, endurance, flexibility, and produces long, lean muscles. Many dancers use pilates as a part of their training. This is one form that I do enjoy. It is challenging for the body and kind of fun to see what you can do. Joseph suffered from rheumatic fever, rickets, and asthma which produced many challenges to face through his life. He developed exercises to help him overcome his ailments.

Dancing! . . . is another fun form of exercise. Colbert talks specifically about Ballroom Dancing. But there are many forms of dance out there. Zumba is becoming ever so popular. It is good for balance, developing coordination, and rhythm. As you have read in my blogs recently I have done Zumba and Dancing with the Stars videos. You can also spend a night line dancing at a local dance club or sign up for classes either at the gym or the local colleges. It can also be a great social activity as well.

Day 41 of 5am & SPoH: Day 25 & 26 - Two Types of Exercise

2011-12-09T07:32:00.001-06:00

Day 41!!! I can't believe that I have really stuck with it this long! Thanks to all you out there for your encouragement and support. In the past, it has been easy for me to just give up on my workout routine. The true test will come when Christmas break comes. It is so easy to break the routine when your schedule changes. I have ideas on how to keep it going though.

So today I did the Self: Bikini Ready Fast workout. This was more of a strength training workout. The main focus seemed to be on the upper body. It did incorporate the core and legs as well, but where I felt it the most today was in my arms and shoulders. I think if you are in need of shaping and strengthening the upper body, this is a great workout. There is not much if any cardio in this workout. So I would alternate this one with a higher cardio based workout on alternating days. Since I did Zumba yesterday which is more cardio, this worked out perfectly.

SPoH - Exercise has been broken down into two different types: Aerobic and Anaerobic.

Day 25 - Aerobic exercise is defined as "in the presence of air." This form of exercise forces you to breath in more deeply. Cardio workouts are considered aerobic exercise. Walking is one form of this exercise. You want to walk slow enough that you you can talk, but fast enough that you can't sing. Others include jogging, cycling, rowing, elliptical machine or glider, aerobic dance routines, stair stepping, skating, cross-country skiing, singles tennis, racquetball, basketball, ballroom and other forms of dancing, and swimming. Before you decide to do these kinds of workouts, make sure that you speak with your physician. If he/she has already given you the green light, then don't wait any longer. If you are considered obese, you should avoid running because you could cause injury to your back, hips, ankles and knees. Try the exercises that are easier on your joints. But you also want to sweat. Swimming is a great activity, but it is not conducive for sweating. Adults should be able to eventually do 30 minutes of moderate intensity workouts most days of the week.

Try not to exceed your target heart rate. Your target HR is calculated through 220-your age. Then multiply by .6 for your low target or .9 for your high target. If you are starting out, you want to stay close to your low target rate and work your way up. If you feel during your exercise that you are having a very difficult time breathing and your chest is tightening up, that is a sure sign that your body is not ready to work at that intensity. Take it slow. Don't rush your body or you could wind up in a worse place then you started.

If you are experiencing muscle pain there is a limited amount of things that you can do. First and foremost, make sure you are doing a warm up and cool down for each session of exercising. Go easy on the stretches. Build on your exercise, don't try to do something that is way beyond the intensity that your body is used to. Avoid making sudden changes in the type and the amount of time you exercise. Be patient with your body. The soreness should go away between 3-7 days if you overdid it. Do some low impact aerobic exercise. It will help the blood flow to your muscles helping to diminish the pain. Gently stretch and massage the area.

When exercising, it is best not to do so immediately after eating. Your body needs time to digest the food. If you have a light snack before exercising, that is ok, just not a full meal. Wait at least 2 hours after eating.

Day 26 - Anaerobic is obviously the opposite of aerobic, meaning "without air." Weight lifting and calisthenics (using your own body weight) are considered anaerobic. This type of exercise helps with muscle mass, metabolism, posture, joints and increases levels of dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.

When lifting weights, just as you do with aerobic exercise, gradually increase your level as time goes on. If you are looking to gain muscle mass, you will want to increase the amount of weight you lift with smaller amounts of repetition. But if you are just looking for longer leaner muscles, go with smaller weights and increase the number of repetitions to get the toning you want. As I have mentioned before, if you are trying to get rid of the flabby arms, go with smaller weights and increase the number of repetitions. It will help to tighten up those arms. If you have not done any weight training yourself, it is a good idea to maybe schedule a time to work with a personal trainer to get all of the basics in order. I took weight training in high school and I still remember most of what I learned from that. The rest I have had to refresh myself on. One very important tip for weight lifting is that before you begin your workout, be sure to warm up those muscles. Do some jumping jacks or run a lap. Do something cardio for a few minutes before you start lifting those weights. And don't forget to stretch them out afterwards.

If you don't have weights, or you are not ready to workout with weights, you can use your body weight. That is the beauty of calisthenics. There are tons of exercises that can be done without weights. Try pilates moves. Many of them are great for building strength and muscles. Sit ups, Push ups, pull ups, calf raises, lunges, squats, etc. These are all examples of exercises you can do to build up your strength.

Day 38-40 of 5am & SPoH: Day 22 - 24 EXERCISE!!!

2011-12-05T07:48:00.001-06:00

Day 38 of 5am: Monday was my first attempt at doing the Zumba videos. I did the Basic video which shows you all the different moves and such. I love to dance, but I am not sure how my body is going to do with the 20 minute video of non stop movement. I suppose I will have to try sometime later this week. We will see how it goes. My heart rate went up just from learning the steps. So that is a good sign.

Day 39 of 5am: Tuesday I rode the stationary bike.

Wednesday was Wellness day at school, so I decided to wait until the afternoon. I participated in a Zumba class led by an old friend of mine. If any of you live in the Zion or Winthrop Harbor area, there are classes led by her. Let me know if you want info I can let you know what the schedule is.

Day 40 of 5am: Today I did Zumba at home. I am really liking this way of exercising. I love to dance and this is a great outlet for me. I will probably be doing more Zumba over the next 3 weeks since I have the videos for awhile.

SPoH - Exercise!

Day 22: Colbert likes to look at our bodies like they are water. Essentially they are made up 2/3 of water, so it makes sense. He talks about when you have stagnate water, water that is just sitting in a cup for a very long time, eventually you will see it start to breed bacteria, become slimy, etc. Just think of how your body is. If you are not moving, replacing the water in your system, it can become like that cup of water. Exercise helps move that water through your system. You need to "stir" the waters to rid the toxins in your body.

This is why when you are exercising, you are less susceptible to becoming sick. Even for many of the diseases today, you can fight them with exercise. Cancer being one of them. The ones who I have known to survive cancer have been the ones who have been most active in their lifestyle. In Jesus time they did not need to set time aside to exercise. They were consistently walking everywhere. Today, we have the ability to drive a car from one location to another. Exercise is not as natural for many of us. We are forced into a situation where we must incorporate it into our daily schedule rather than allowing our day to day activities to take care of it.

Day 23: Exercise effects your body in many different ways. It helps prevent cancer, heart disease, heart attacks, and diabetes. (all things most of us have heard) It improves our lymphatic flow and increases perspiration. (basically the garbage removal system in our bodies) It lowers stress, promotes weight loss, and decreases appetite.

When I woke up today, one of my nostrils was completely blocked. As most of you can tell, I have sinus issues from time to time. I've been doing what I can to control it. Anyways, I decided I was not going to let my blocked nostril stop me from doing my workout. So I did my 5am workout and sure enough at the end of my workout it was completely cleared. And whatever stuffiness I had left after the workout vanished after taking a shower. So if you are battling with minor sinus stuff, try exercise and see what it does.

Day 24: There are more ways how exercise benefits our bodies. It helps to slow aging and build strong bones. It helps with digestion and regular bowel movements. ( I know, gross, but it is very important for your body to have them!) It helps with sleep, prevents cold/flu, reduces depression, improves memory, slows Alzheimer's, may prevent Parkinson's, increases lung capacity and energy, and alleviates pain.

Crazy week & Preface to Exercise

2011-12-02T07:46:00.001-06:00

So Wednesday, I woke up with a scratchy throat and since my body seemed to be lacking sleep, I allowed myself to sleep in. Same thing happened on Thursday. But I decided on Thursday that instead of just allowing myself not to workout at all. I rescheduled my workout for after work. I am obviously fighting something and when that happens, I want to allow my body to get the most rest possible. So Thursday afternoon I burned 400 calories on the treadmill. While you do need to allow your body to get adequate rest when you are not feeling top notch, Exercise can also be helpful as long as you don't have a fever or a severe injury of some type. If you are able to be up and move around, exercise can be helpful. It can help you fight off whatever is trying to take over your body. However, it is good to be mindful that some medications you may take might change the effects of exercise. If you are battling a cold, be careful that you don't push yourself too hard because when you take a decongestant it already has increased your heart rate. So be mindful of your body. Read labels of any medications that you might be taking to see how it might effect your exercise. Don't overdue it. Your body needs enough energy to fight what you have got. Maybe cut down on your exercise that week until you get better. I know for me, that my breathing was a little heavier than usual when I was working out because of my congestion. Don't push yourself too hard. Get to a point where you might sweat a little to help release some of the toxins in your body and then back off. If your body just doesn't have the energy, allow it to rest. Eat soup, drink lots of water and tea, take a steamy bath. Today, I do not have a scratchy throat, but I still have congestion.

Ok, so the next several days in Seven Pillars of Health covers exercise. I am very excited to see what he has to say. Exercise is probably the most difficult part of the weight loss and becoming more healthy. . . At least I have found for myself and many other women. Some men struggle with this too, but I have heard that when it comes down to cutting out certain foods versus letting out their aggression in exercise, men tend to choose the latter. I have battled a lot with might weight since high school and in previous occasions when I have tried to lose weight, I found that it was much easier for me to lose weight with food and I would often skip the exercise because I did not like how hard it made me work! However, in the past few years I have discovered that one without the other is actually causing more harm to my body then help. Exercise is extremely important for maintaining a good weight. As I have mentioned in my other blogs, it is important for your metabolism. When you don't exercise or have continuous movement, you are not gaining muscle or burning fat. If you have a desk job, you may find that you have to work a lot harder during your workouts because you are sitting most of the time at work. I know, I have been there. And you know what, most of my back problems came about due to my sedentary lifestyle. Ever since I have been working harder at incorporating exercise in with all of the other important stuff, I find that I feel so much better.

I know that I have not been blogging as much as of recent, but what can I say, it's a busy time of the year. I will try to post at least once a week, if not more. But with how busy life is currently, I want to be able to enjoy it. I will try to at least post once a week to update everyone on what has been going on and continue with info that I am learning from SPoH. And to finish off my blog today, I wanted to post a picture that just shows how much I have progressed in my journey.

This is a picture just to show how much I have progressed in a year and a half. I could not do it without God, my wonderful husband, and all of you who show your support, encouragement, and keep me accountable. I still have a long ways to reach my goal, but I am not giving up. God does not give up on me and He deserves the best from me.

Day 37 of 5am & SPoH: Day 21 - Meal times

2011-11-29T07:41:00.001-06:00

Today I did a little over 6 miles on the stationary bike. That is not much, but it is what I was able to do in the amount of time that I give myself in the morning to workout. I am very tired today because of a restless night. So I do not believe that my workout was as good as it could have been.

SPoH: Day 21 - Colbert talks more about dinner time then any other meal. I was expecting that he would finish off the Food section with how often and when we should be eating. Instead he decides to focus on dinner time. He did mention that breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day and that the following meals get smaller and smaller. Our culture seems to have this backwards today. Even to the point that people will actually skip breakfast. I used to do this, but this is a huge no no! What Colbert talks about though is pretty important. When you are eating your dinner, you really should stay away from watching TV or having a heated conversation. Pleasant conversation during a meal is very important for your digestion. He says that when you are arguing or debating at the table or watching an intense show or movie, your blood rushes to another part of your body effecting how your digestive system works. So when you are eating, try to avoid those heated moments. The other thing that I know we have all heard is that it takes about 20 minutes for your hypothalamus to signal to the rest of your body that you are full. So take your time eating. No need to shovel everything in. Colbert also says that especially with meats and other proteins we should chew, chew, chew! Part of digesting properly for humans is our chewing. When we swallow meat pieces whole it is hard on our bodies system. Making it overwork. So take your time eating. Don't rush the chewing and swallowing process. He also advises that after each bite put your fork down. This reminds you to take your time.

Some other things he talks about are the freshness of our foods and cooking healthy. In these hard times, buying food fresh and organic every couple of days is hard for a lot of people. But if you can do it, you will maximize the nutrients you receive from the foods you eat. Also, avoid frying at all costs and when you can, eat raw or steam. When you boil vegetables in water, a lot of the nutrients are left in the water. Microwaving makes food dead. So when you can, avoid using the microwave.