When is too much of a good thing bad?

Today I am sitting with my foot propped up because I am quite sure that I am suffering from, Plantar fasciitis, in layman's terms, my left heel is not happy with my newly found exercise routines. So, I am forced to take a few days of recuperation time, and will be doing exercises on the floor or my Swiss ball. Not giving up on exercise, but limiting it a little.

I have to remind myself that I am a compulsive person. That is why I struggle to eat just one slice of pie instead of the WHOLE PIE. It is also why I struggle with exercise regiments. I determine in my head that I will workout and that means a workout like I would perform in high school as a basketball player. I am not in the 9th grade anymore, I am a FEW pounds heavier, and I  am very much out of shape. So I need to wrap my brain around exercising in a smart way that will lead to lasting results.

As for feeding the soul, there are some things that get me there too. Sometimes I overload my brain with too much factual information. I am a lover of books. I will read just about anything. Yet, the technical books...books I put in this category can be science, history, the Bible, exercise, diet/nutrition, etc., can bog my mind down if I study them too long. Why? Because the challenge is to remember, understand, and really learn what I am reading. It is totally different from Fluff reading.

Fluff reading is any reading done to relax or for entertainment. I have to be careful here. I was very guilty in the past of reading very indecent fluff books. Now, I am doing my best to make conscience decisions about what I read. If it gets racy, to many cuss words (including sissy cuss words and taking the Lord's name in vain), or makes me get that squirmy feeling in my soul, I stop reading it. This category sometimes includes blogs I read, magazines, Christian fiction, and even the Bible at times. (How can the Bible be considered fluff reading? When I am tired, but need to read before I sleep I usually don't recall a lot of what I read, so this time of Bible reading is just fluff time. I am not trying to break it down, digest it spiritually, I am just using the words on paper to slow down my mind. Sometimes it sticks, but this is NOT my study time.) I also have to use caution here, because I tend to focus too much on fluff. I limit fluff reading now to bathroom time only, and only one chapter at a time. That is way to much information I know, but I am trying to be real about addictive behaviors. I have literally read 4 books in one day because they were a series and I read them cover to cover. ALL DAY READING FLUFF! I have to set LIMITS for myself, or I get out of control with fluff reading.

So today the challenge is to BALANCE things out in life. Many of us wear different hats all throughout the day. Do your best, but remember you can't do it all. And if you go about the day, leaving God out, then you are destined to fail. Sometimes, if I know I will be on the road driving most of the day I plan ahead. I make sure my Zune is charged. It has the Bible, Christian music, and many great sermons and seminars to help me grow spiritually. I have found the radio, country included, is a very hazardous place to entrust my soul. I also find little ways to exercise in my seat. It may be contracting certain muscle groups and counting to eight, but it helps with the sedentary day. AND, if you struggle with food issues on the road, pack smart choices for a snack. The other day my smart choice included 14 almonds, 1/4 cup of raisins, and 3 Tbsp. of Sunflower seeds. That was my snacks so I knew to stretch it and that it was sufficient for between meals. Finding the balance is the keep to not finding yourself laid up with an injury because you particiated in too much of a good thing, or finding extra pounds because you failed to use self control with the cheese cake. Balance, you can do it, God will help, just ask Him!

I again thank you for your encouragement. I pray for the people reading my blog. I figure the Lord knows who you are! May you stay focused on your goals, and may we all be successful on the journey home. Heaven bound, no better way to be.

Stay focused, don't over do it, and keep on trying! Leah

Lemons!

There are many uses for this sour little fruit. I have heard of many of them. They run the gauntlet from weight loss to acne control. Yet, this sour little fruit could have easily been over looked if people had only relied on their taste buds. I personally love to eat lemons, but most folks don’t go around sucking on lemons or eating lemon wedges that I know. Someone went past that first sour taste and found a wealth of goodies!

Let’s look at the lemon.

It can help with acne problems. Put a little fresh lemon juice on affected areas and go to sleep. Wash your face in the morning. You are letting the low pH of the lemon that makes it antiseptic work on your face naturally.

If you need a pick me up because you are tired, cut open a lemon and take a smell. It also helps to relieve anxiety in this manner too. I saw a picture of a hiker with a lemon cut open, a straw inserted, and he was sipping away because it was providing him with hydration and an energy boost!

If you get sores in your mouth, then rinsing with lemon juice diluted in water will help them heal.

It really helps with colds and fevers to mix lemon, honey and hot water into a nice cup of lemon tea to sip on every couple of hours too. To help relieve your sore throat and help with tonsillitis you should dilute lemon juice, water and salt to gargle every hour or so. And you don’t have to worry about swallowing the gargle like you do Listerine!

It even helps with halitosis. In other words bad breath - even smokers breath!

It can act as a pain reliever too. Just drink the juice of one lemon in water once per day.

And of course, those of us who are looking to lose some weight should jump start our day with a cup of hot water and the juice of one lemon. You can keep your metabolism boosted throughout the day with a cup of water, the juice of a lemon and a dash or two of cayenne pepper.

Lemons, they are truly one of God’s powerhouse plants that we can use to help feed our families and to keep us well. Yet, they teach us another lesson too. Sometimes things that are good for us don’t always taste good, or it takes an acquired taste to handle and appreciate.

Sometimes, I feel that way about some of the things in the Bible. When a new movie comes out that I think would be so funny, sometimes I want to justify it to myself and go see it even though I know that the content will not be holy. Yet, I know if I go to that movie theater or Netflix or the TV and watch a movie filled with cursing, or fornication or (name your poison), then I have used my time and my money to glorify sin.

Movies are just one source of things that make being a Christian hard sometimes. I have to choose to pick God and His ways over things that sometimes everyone else is doing and I just don’t want too. I would rather go along with the crowd, and sometimes unfortunately I do and it always brings me guilt. When I am watching something in mixed company especially that is racy, I can feel my cheeks heating up, and I get squirmy in my seat wishing I was somewhere else, yet it was I that chose to be there.

As I focus on getting spiritually and physically healthy I have had to suck on some lemons lately. I have had to dig deep into my mental basket of craziness and take a look at some things that make me tick. Some of those things have been buried deep and have been ignored for way too long, but now that I am dealing with them, I am coming to see that purging the brain of ugliness is so wonderful, especially when you are trying to fill your mind with good things.

Just like lemons at first seem to bitter and sour for good use I can take some of those bad memories and turn them into good use too. How? I can relate to folks going through things I have already been through, and if I learn to deal with those problems in a godly way then I can help them learn to do the same.

Galatians 6:2 - Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

God wants us to help one another. I can tell you that every time I have attempted weight loss it was very frustrating to get guidance from a bean pole that had never had to lose a massive amount of weight. I was grateful and I was thankful for their help, but I never felt like they understood where I was coming from.

My aunt Jean had breast cancer. She fought it for many years before it claimed her life. One day I was visiting with her and as we chatted she made this comment.

“I have really valued Heather. She talks to me and tells me about things she experienced in her fight against cancer, and she knows how I feel.” I will never forget that look on her face or the sound of love and appreciation for that link she had with my cousin. Heather fought cancer as a teen in high school and thankfully continues to be in remission today.

I learned from that conversation that you can truly help ease someone’s burdens by sharing like experiences. It bears out in the trials of life whether they be illness, death or weight loss. It is very true concerning being a Christian. God knew this and encouraged/commanded us to fellowship with Christians on a very regular basis.

You can become one of God’s powerhouse Christian encouragers by sharing your experiences with others and trying to help them. Get busy studying God’s Word so that you can teach it! Look for folks struggling with things you have experienced and reach out to them with the love of the Lord! You’ll benefit just as much as they will!

So today, don’t walk around looking like you have been sucking on lemons. Dwelling on your failures won’t change them. Ignoring problems will not make them disappear. But if you look at them with a heart seeking God’s ways in dealing with them then you will be able to make those sour lumps in your life into sweet lemonade! Then you can share it with the world around you!

Thank you all for the encouragement on my journey to a Healthier Me. I hope your day is filled with goal accomplishing steps. I hope you fill you mind with the wonderful words of God. I look forward to hearing from you about your successes! They keep me going and I thank you for sharing!

 or

Encouragement, Accountability, and a Challenge!

As I made my way to the check-out line yesterday I bumped into a friend that goes back to the childhood years. She encouraged me by simply saying one phrase, “I’ve been reading your blog.” We then discussed the costs of eating healthy, and some of the things we were doing individually to be healthy. I was encouraged because I did not feel alone, and I was super glad to know that the food I was putting on that conveyor belt were healthy choices. After all, I am blogging about living a healthier lifestyle!

As I continued on my way I had several things going on inside. I was happy. I had just seen someone that is a friend. I was motivated because something I am doing to help myself, and hopefully help others, showed fruit. I was thankful that I was living up to challenges I had set for myself. I was also already spinning my wheels on another blog topic, and since I was soon to be leaving Florence, AL to head to Jackson’s Gap, AL, I had a lot of time to think about some things I wanted to learn about encouragement and accountability.

Encouragement is something we all need. It is something that we all need to give too. I have a wonderful nephew who at age 11 is an awesome young man.  (Actually I have several wonderful nephews. I am so blessed!) Hank, is a hard worker, and is usually very willing to be a helper. Together we have tackled some pretty big projects around the house and one thing I have noticed when it comes to this young man is that he blooms with encouragement. You can see the effects encouragement has on him as you work with him. It is amazing. His facial expressions change to a sweet little grin I love. His young shoulders go back, he stands a little straighter, and he just puts more effort into his work! It makes me want to be a better encourager to him when we are working together.

I think this principle applies to anyone at any age attempting any worthwhile thing. If you want healthy habits both spiritually and physically in your homes, which influence everything outside of the home, be an encourager.

I have gained and lost I would say at least 1000 pounds in my life. My greatest times of success for weight loss involved making myself accountable. When I was paying money to go to the gym and meet with a personal trainer I wanted to utilize the gym and make progress the trainer could see. When I was using a medical weight loss program I kept a daily food diary and exercise diary. When I was going it alone, the only time I had great success was when I used a daily journal. Today, I find myself very much aware of things in the Healthier Me journey because I have made myself accountable to God in a very serious way personally, and I am being accountable to the readers of my blog.

Being an encourager is a Biblical concept. Acts 9:26, 27 is an example of the great encourager Barnabas. Could you imagine the task of encouraging your friends to accept someone that had been a former murder? Yet, Barnabas did just that, and just look at the work Paul went on to do in the Lord’s kingdom!

Accountability too is a Biblical concept. Galatians 6:1-2, tells us to carry each other’s burdens. If we shine a light on a problem, which is what confessing the problem to someone else will do, it is much harder to ignore it. Yet, you need to choose your accountability partners carefully. If you struggle with sweets then your accountability partner should probably not be a pastry baker that you visit in their shop!

We all need encouragement, and we all need to be encouragers. We all must be accountable for our actions. Ultimately, we will all be held accountable for the way we live our lives on that final judgment day. However, in this life we need to practice being accountable for our actions. So find an accountability partner. You may choose to confess your goals to God, you may need to write them down and continually check your progress, and you may need another individual to keep you accountable too.

I have been blessed with two great sisters. They are both smart, and they are both great listeners! I can tell you this too, they are two of my greatest sources of encouragement. Yet, they don’t pull punches when I need it either. They don’t beat me over the head with failures, but they don’t let me fall into a trap of making excuses and avoiding recognizing my faulty thinking/actions in different scenarios of life either. In other words, they sometimes force me to be accountable when I am in denial!

So here is the challenge part of today’s blog. On Friday of this week I will put a $10 gift card to Wal-Mart in the mail to the winner. To be a winner you have to do a few things. Your word is good enough for me!

1.       Encourage someone today, for any reason.

2.       Check yourself for accountability. Do you have a person, friend, or God that you confess things to in order to help yourself stay accountable for the things you struggle with or goals you have? If yes, great. If no, please prayerfully consider the need to do so.

3.       Send an email to me at stepstoahealthierme@gmail.com that includes the following statements. “I encouraged someone today!” and “I have an accountability partner!”

4.       I will put your name in the pot twice if you share this blog link on your FB page! Include the statement, “I shared your blog on my FB page!” in your email.

I will put your names in a pot and have someone draw out the winner! I hope the $10 gift card helps put some healthy habits into motion for the winner!

Thank you again for encouraging me on the journey. May your own Steps to a Healthier Me be successful both spiritually and physically! Leah.