Fitness Fridays: It's On--Again!!

Just a wee shout out to my girrrls:

Fitness Friday, hosted by Brenda of The Family Revised, is picking up the pieces from its bloggy break, and donning the proverbial tenny shoes once again.

If you want to find encouragement for your own quest for physical fitness, or you're looking to meet some really fun and funny gals who will spur you on to good work-outs, then join us this Friday for Challenge #1.

This Friday, I'll post my own introduction as well as share with y'all some new things happening with me and my own battle against the stretching seams, or not.

Welcome back, or just plain welcome!

Fitness Friday: Sum-Sum-Summertime

Ahhhh....summer. Well, maybe summer is rather far away when most still have some snow upon the ground and even spring doesn't yet bring a swell to the breast, but thoughts of summer are never very far from my mind.

Summer is my very most fave season.  I love everything about it, even the sweltering heat we suffer here in dry and oft burning northern California.  And since our move closer to the bay area of San Francisco, I've been itching to get over to the shore for a walk and look-see.

But, what has this to do with my fitness goals?

Everything.

My entire goal for fitness can be wrapped up in one little summer dress.  I once loved wearing cute dresses in summer with a sweet sandal or flip on my brazenly painted toes.  For me, there is nothing better, nothing more feminine, than a breezy summer dress ((or brazenly painted toes)).

And rigorous and consistent exercise is what will make this dress a reality for me again this summer.  Dieting alone never affects my stubborn and previously abused dormant metabolism, which still to this day wonders, "Is she bingeing or starving us this time?"  I mean, who else can quit her daily heavy creamed and sugared coffees ((yes, two full mugs of it)) and not lose an extra ounce after a month of green tea?!

Nobody else, I'm sure.

Just lucky me.

This week was a good week, as far as rigorous and consistent exercise goes.  And, the more I exercised, the more I realized I really needed to exercise!  We've had a bit of a rainy season here, and I've lately found myself much more melancholy than usual, if that's even possible.  But after the very first workout of the week, I was filled with vigor and energy and such a positive attitude.  Nothing could bring me down!  And by the end of the week I was running thirty full minutes with fifteen minutes of warm-up and cool-down walking!

Loving that.

And I'm sure my metabolism doesn't know what's hit it.

Loving that, too.

Next week, I'm going to add in some push-ups and free weights to get my upper body with the program, too.

As for swimsuits, which is part and parcel of summertime, I take my cue from my children who are wiser than the wisest sages most days: my eldest daughter wears a tank suit with board shorts and my boys wear rash guard tops with their swim shorts.  For them, it's a modesty thing that just feels right.  

Although I would never choose a bikini for my daughters, I don't force any of their additional cover-up choices upon them at all, which makes me that much more pleased when they lean toward showing less flesh in public.  

However, my youngest, the brazen Sassafras that she is, loves a bright and loud leopard-print tankini sans board shorts, which just get in the way of her rambunctious summertime fun, and I search high and low every year to replace the old with the new.  Loyal to that leopard print she is.  

As for me, I'd like to get into something like this: a wildly printed tank suit with a skirt, if I feel more inclined to cover-up.  Isn't that just lovely?

Now jog your tail over to The Family Revised for more summertime musing and inspiration.  I've polish to choose and some miles to run.

Fitness Friday: Do Something New!

No, I did not pick up a new drinking problem.  I already have one: I don't drink nearly enough water.  It's not that I don't like water--I love it!  In summer, when my body relentlessly cries out for it, I drink loads and happily.  But in winter, when my body goes dormant like a dead bear, I drink more tea--more warming, contentment-producing tea--while snuggled under a cozy wrap and near a blazing fire (if I can get husb'd to hook me up before he leaves for work), and much less water.  And I suffer for it: my skin is drier and dehydration begs me to sleep longer and longer.  

So, this week, I'm drinking water before every meal and one before bedtime.  I don't know exactly how many ounces each goblet contains, but they're pretty big.  I would guess 16 oz., or more, which means I'm drinking at least a half-gallon of water each day!!  Huge for me indeed, especially in winter.

Oh! and I did faithfully rise earlier than usual all week long, at 7AM nonetheless!  

I know: I'm such a slacker.  

But, I've lived my whole life at  night thus far, and this is a huge change for me.  I'm even working toward a goal of 5:30AM: lo and behold, the day before yesterday I pushed myself to the limits of my human flesh and woke at 6:45AM!   My husb'd nearly hit the floor with astonishment!  I loved that.  Wait until I tell him I woke this morning at 6:30AM, started laundry, showered, and put on make-up before the kids even saw me!  Maybe he'll faint and I'll have a fab blog post tomorrow (enter: diabolical laughter)!

Oh! and I started taking a multivitamin each morning, too!

I liked this challenge of adding something new to my week, something that will encourage me to yield more of my time and fitness efforts to the Creator--thanks Brenda!  Anyway, I've decided to keep moving along this thread by adding something new to next week.  Not only will I get out of bed by 6AM, or earlier (glory be!), and start a load of laundry, but I will get on my treadmill for a dose of good-day-producing endorphins before heading into the shower--all before waking the kids!  

So, is there something new you did this week to make your life that much richer?  Is there something that God's been putting on your heart and you're ready to start yielding?  What was the last thing you had to drink?

For more inspiration to try new things, head over to The Family Revised!

Fitness Friday: Don't Tempt Me!

This week for Fitness Friday, hosted by Brenda of The Family Revised: Fitness Friday: The Temptation Edition, I am to share with you what tempts me in the area of my Fitness goals.  

How long do you have?!

Seriously.

But first, let me give the weekly goal update.  In short, I failed miserably.  Now, I didn't eat a whole bunch of empty carbs, but I also did not cut the yummy brown sugar from my nutrient-rich grain breakfasts nor the melty butter from my whole-grain steaming-hot bread slices.  I also consistently overslept and, therefore, consistently did not exercise this week--at all.  Do I even need to confess that I got zero alone time in my prayer closet?!  

But, I did finally get my exercise ball out of the garage, where it's been since we moved--nearly five months ago--and I've been using it at the table when I'm caught in the home-school-mom-of-four cycle of grammar-mathematics-narration-dictation-correction.  

I may not be a secretary, but that doesn't mean it won't spread, right?!  

The ball forces me to use muscles that would otherwise lay dormant, like a dead bear in winter, for longer than I care to ponder, while lost in said dizzying cycle of grammar-mathematics-narration-dictation-correction.

Okay--getting on with it--since what doesn't tempt me is part and parcel of the assignment, I'll start here:

As much as I like to bake, sweets no longer tempt me.  It's funny, but my tastes have changed over the many years.  Today, I much prefer a rich, melty cheese on a baguette slice than a piece of cake or a nugget of chocolate.  Call it what you may, but I'm calling it maturity, which sounds loads better than old buds.

Processed- and fast-foods never tempt me; I'm so used to eating whole foods-even if I eat too many of them-that these "foods" make me really and swiftly sick.  This old mature dog has learned that it's just. not. worth. it.

Now, on to what does tempt me:

Sleep tempts me.  I have always loved sleep.  I mean, ever since I was a babe, I have had the ability to sleep for-ev-ah, especially during winter.  

But, without an alarm clock to wake me, I am often running behind in my day's routine, and exercise is the first thing to get chucked out the window.  No bueno (which means "no good," for you gringos).  Terry, at Breathing Grace, recently wrote about the goodly and, perhaps, godly habit of rising early.  This was music to my ears, or, dare I say, a confirmation of the conviction under which I've been recently.  So, let's just add "rising early" to my personal goals, which will, in its turn, greatly affect my exercise goals.  Oh! and maybe that solitary prayer goal, too!

Freshly baked bread with freshly salted butter tempts me-BIG TIME (don't you just love the 80's?!)!  I have no idea how to avoid this partic temptation since I bake it up like Wonder-Bread-Woman every Saturday, and my fam will never hear of living without it.  I suppose I could limit my consumption to just one buttery slice once each week..............?

Freshly popped corn and peanut M&M's tempt me on Family Movie Nights.  Oh, why are they such the perfect couple?!  I blame my lovely Papa for spoiling me as a tot--love that man.  I'm keeping it.

My li'l brother's nachos tempt me.  Actually, anything my li'l brother makes is guaranteed to be fan-tabulous!  That boy can cook, y'all!  And yes, making nachos is considered cooking, as well as whipping up some rockin' guacamole.  Oooooh-weee!  Luckily for me ((did I say that??)), I don't see my brother nor eat his fab food much anymore.  And obviously, he doesn't eat it much anymore either: he's lost thirty pounds over the last six months!!  Don't you just hate love how men can do that sooo easily?

Most of all, becoming fit for vanity's sake tempts me.  I do want to be attractive in my husband's eyes, and I do want to be a healthy servant, fit for God's work before me, but I struggle more with wanting to be attractive in my own eyes.  Long struggling with sinful pride, which was passed down generation upon generation like old Irish lace made by nuns (my grandmother and mother both being bulimic), the triggers for disordered eating and self-image continue to haunt me.  I'm harder on myself than anyone could ever be--merciless.  God forgive me and continue to change me!

So, how are you tempted by the wiles of this world?  Is there something that just never leads you astray from your fitness goals? something that always threatens to derail you?  When was the last time you busted out with the Running Man dance move?

Thanks again, to Brenda, who never fails to bring out my best and worst with her Fitness Friday challenges.  She is truly a sharpening rod in my life.  God bless her!  And may God bless you as you shimmy on over to The Family Revised for more temptation!  That just doesn't sound right...

Fitness Friday: Setting Goals

I totally dropped the ball last week.  I did not participate in the challenge proposed by Brenda of The Family Revised.  For one, I have few articles of clothing with which I'm able to part, even if completely despised or tattered.  Secondly, I am in no way ready to post photographs of myself in said ugly and worn-out clothes.  I am so happy to see y'all wearing your old and new duds, but I'm just. not. there.  And, finally, I have no room in my budget for anything new, or even new-for-you.  

But, this week...this week I can handle.  It's about setting goals, which, as the planner of all planners, I can do.  

Food Goals:  I am trying to eat fewer simple carbs, and, let me tell you, it is not easy.  My kids are learning to bake, and I'm an over-achieving teacher, who recommends baking only with 100% real butter for real down-home-to-goodness flav-ah.  But, unfortunately, I know my body and the effect long-term binging-and-purging has had upon it, namely, a very slow metabolism.  Basically, I can look at something de-lish and gain a couple of pounds.  Worse yet, it takes me several discouraging weeks of consistent exercise to shed those undeserved pounds.  Note to body: Let me at least taste the food!

Exercise Goals:  Consistency.  Period ((or comma, since I'll probably say something else about it)).  My biggest problem is consistency.  I might work out every day in one week, and then perhaps once during the following.  My goal this coming week is to get on my treadmill four times in the wee hours of the morning and pump the iron thrice.  Leaving exercise to the end of my day just doesn't work anymore.  Now, I have a hubby who wants my attention when he gets home from work; now, the kids' bedtime no longer means my free-time; now, my time is not my own.  

Spiritual Goals:  I need to carve out time in my day to get snuggly into my prayer close ALONE.  During the course of my day, I pray with the kids in the morning, we pray as a family in the evening, and my husband prays over the two of us at night.  I miss my Me-and-Abba time, and need to figure out how to get it back.

There are many wonderful things about the reconciliation of a family and the rebirth of a heart for God, but I really miss being the Master of My Minutes: I read fewer books, watch fewer movies, pray less, and get less done when I share my life and time with another adult.  Just something I'm struggling with right now...

So, what goals can you set for the week, month, year?  Could you eat differently to His glory?  Could you exercise differently the only body you have for His work?  Are there spiritual goals you would like to add?  Are you as selfish as I with your time and feel convicted about it, too?  What color are your eyes?

Fitness Friday: Feelin' Good Edition

So, after my first fully faithful week of really watching the sugars and simple starches I put into my body, all I can really say is....I'm HUNGRY!!!!

I haven't been this hungry in YEARS!!!!

When I was younger, I struggled with an eating disorder.  Actually, I thought that disorder was my very best friend, so, at the time, I never considered it a struggle.  I foolishly considered myself successfully self-controlled.  There were many things I deceived myself into believing and spreading to others that kept me from eating a healthy diet in my home or as a guest, like, "Does this have cheese?  I'm allergic.  No, no; it's not a problem, I'll just eat the onions, as long as they were prepared without oil.  Oil makes my eyes bleed." 

Although I appeared to be quite healthy, by the world's twisted standards, my heart was terribly sick and in desperate need of the Great Physician.  Providentially, for me, He makes house calls--for FREE.

But, this hunger I feel today reminds me of the hunger I once loved, the hunger that once made me "feel good"--now, not so much.  Now, I just reeaaallllyyyyy want that cheeseburger I saw on Carrie's blog.  How yummy did that look??

But, I'm not gonna do it.  No, I know I got here by allowing myself the freedom to stop being a psycho-booger and chuck the calorie-radar.  Perhaps it was good for me, although a tad extreme, but when you boil it down, I "feel good" when I like how I look.  I know, but they are my issues ((even if I still blame Grams and Momma)).

I feel good when my fingers and toes are all painted and greased-up.  I have Flintstone feet.  Without some work, they frighten even me in the middle of the night.

I feel good when I start or finish ((or are in the middle of)) a great book.

I feel good when I'm hanging out with girlfriends SANS KIDS!!  That's when you can really get down to the nitty-gritty of sisterhood without wondering if Superman is eating the nuggets from the sandbox he recently discovered in the laundry room.

I feel good when I'm dancing. 

I feel good when the house smells like lemony Lysol ((this too I owe to Grams and Momma)). 

I feel good after a good eyebrow waxing.

And, I feel good when embraced in a big hug.  Whether from lil' ones or big'uns, hugs just rock.  ((Yes, Tash, I just said that.))

And, finally, I feel good when I sweat.  Like a pig.

Yeah.

Thanks to Brenda for making me remember what feels good.  I think I'll go right now and get the hair ripped from my face, sweat on the treadmill and then hug someone--hard.  But you, you should visit Family Revised and read a few more things that make folks feel good.  They just might inspire you, too!

Fitness Friday: Mathematics Edition

So, this week's Fitness Friday is all arithmetic, baby!  Easy-peasy, right? 

Although I indulged in too many of my yummy cookies ((thanking God I never had the time to bake all I wanted)) and never even allowed my eyes to rest upon the sight of my treadmill, much less turn it on, I don't feel the worse for wear.  And I'm not going near the scale to prove it for fear of learning that I am quite worse for wearing all those cookie crumbs.  It would devastate me today, and I'm just not having it.  

Today is my hubby's birthday, our first birthday of the year, and we intend to make a big deal of it.  Our family has missed three years of birthdays together, and we have plans--big, big plans!  And these plans don't include counting points, calories, or fat grams.  These plans include BEEF and cheesecake and just plain ol' family fun.

So, AFTER TODAY, I'll do the arithmetic below.

I plan to ADD water to my day.  Except when pregnant and then nursing, I never drink enough water.  It's not as though I don't like it--I know there are some folks who don't.  No, I really LOVE it, but I need to make it more convenient or something.  I just don't get enough, and it shows all over: my skin, my sunken eyes, carb cravings, irritability ((that could just be me, but I'm blaming the water and then the devil)), and difficulty sleeping.  I need the H2O so I can flow.

I hope to SUBTRACT seconds, as in, "I love this food so much that I gotta eat one more plate-full or I will just d-i-e, DIE!"  I won't--die, that is.  I will eat again in, like, four more hours, and there is nothing that tastes as good as sweet success.  I will remind myself that staying where I am today leaves a bitter aftertaste, even if the meal is sticky sweet ((or savory)).  My new mantra: Eat small, be smaller.

I'm on a roll, so I'm totally going there:

And, like Brenda, I would really love to MULTIPLY the number of dresses I wear by spring.  I know I won't give myself leave to wear 'em until I hit my halfway goal, when they look less like circus tents and more like the pure feminine bliss they were designed to be.

Finally, when I DIVIDE my time each week between my husband and kids, I hope to leave some time for just me: time to reflect, time to plan, time to hope--who am I kidding??!  Time to get my nails done!  Time to shop ALONE!  Time to sip, not chug, a SMALL, albeit steaming hot, almond latte.  Time to recharge.

Whew!  Although I love math, I'm glad this one is ov-ah.

Have a great weekend surrounded by God's grace and steeped in His love!

I'm thinking Midnight in Moscow...

Fitness Friday: Christmas Edition

Yea!  It's Friday!  Not only is it the end of the term's lessons for us, but it is the start of a long and much longed for break!

(((((((huge lung-deflating sigh))))))))

After baking and hand-making some great gifts for recipients unawares and stealthily delivering said gifts under the cover of darkness and SF-bay evening fog, I plan to hunker down with my best beloveds and hibernate like a true momma-bear: It's a Wonderful Life,  long jammies, and all.

Here's this week's Fitness Friday Challenge:

1.  This Christmas I'm going to indulge in toes, yummy baby toes.  I plan to count them and tickle them and kiss them and paint twenty of 'em.  I also plan to eat my own cookies.  Moms can bake, y'all.

2.  It is my goal to stay away from the computer.  When I say break, I mean break!  As much as I love y'all, I won't need the filler-between-lessons that is this notebook.  I'll have their four lovely faces one-on-one and all day long for two weeks plus two days!  That's 384 hours of baby-love, if I can keep 'em up.

3.  Over the holiday, I am changing my exercise goals to burn off my own cookies.  I gotta step it up or I'll cross over into the new year with farther to go, and Moms won't like that.

4.  The way I'll remind myself to make good choices over the holiday is to apply the old and anorexia-begetting Kellogg's Special K test and "pinch-an-inch" (or three).  And, then I'll pray the Lord keep me outta my cookie jars, which my trusty and handy husband will booby-trap. just. in. case.

5.  My favorite ornament on my tree is....wait! I didn't buy a tree!  But my daughter bought an ornament yesterday that encompasses the love and hope she has in her heart (and I in my own): ballet toe shoes.  They're hanging over the hearth and they surely prompt me to cry out to Abba that her hope might be realized next year.

6.  Of the progress I've made so far, my favorite thing is knowing my heart loves me for it.  I dream of spring dresses with heels, too.  My kids laugh when I put on heels.  They don't know Moms used to rock-n-roll when she was a tot.  (((Shhhhhh))

A very blessed Christmas to all, and a new year yielded to His will and filled with love, joy, and peace!  

And that's not trite, that's for reals.

Fitness Friday: A Matter of the Throne

So, my Fitness Friday is more like an early morning Monday.  I'm okay with this, and I hope you are, too.  This open-ended spiritual bend was more challenging to me than the more practical and pointed assignments.  I can tell you how I cut the fat from faves, how I get more exercise in my day, and such, but sharing the spiritual side of my battle with my fat cuts to the core.  

Overeating is idolatry.  It is a worship of creation in lieu of the Creator.  My [over]weight is only an outward sign of the idolatrous sin within, and it pains me deeply to see my wretched sin in the light.  

My prayer is that my heart would long only to be filled with the Spirit instead of to be made often drunk with all the butter and eggs and sugar this world has to offer--I do love me some sweets, y'all.  But, I want to yield all of my self--mind, body and spirit--to Him.  I desire to take my thoughts captive, to feed my brain cells with goodly and godly books, and to think on His righteousness and holiness.  I desire to present my body, a temple of the only living God, as a right and ready sacrifice, unstained by the world and fit for every good work.  And, I desire to yield my spirit to His and live within His will for my life.  

But, it's when I look in the mirror that I see how especially far I have to go.  I love my Lord, but I am not fit to go wherever He may will to send me, even if His will is my very own home and my ministry my very own children and husband ((and I am convinced it is)).  I am not fit for it when my own lack of faith and self-government is worn upon my sleeve, slack, and belt.  I do have so very far to go.  But, I am right where I need to be: on my face before His throne.  I am weak in everything.  I measure up in nothing.  I need a Savior ((and that cake is no savior no matter how you might dress it up)).  I need only Jesus.

Something I tried this week: giving thanks to Him before putting anything in my mouth.  Yep, not just dinners and such but even the petit fours that came by mail.  "Thank you, Lord, for this chocolate covered and fruit-filled teeny-tiny cake.  May I eat it to your glory alone."  

Funny thing, I only needed one, and that's never happened before. 

I suppose it's harder for me to be a glutton when worshipping the rightful king.

Okay, I'm [All] In

Okay, I confess.  I just spent the first hour of my morning reading and linking, and reading some more, from the blogs of ladies who've joined this phenomenon called, "Fitness Fridays."  What I love about this group of gals is the utter humble and transparent way in which they share their commitment with each other and those, like me, who lurk.  

They mean business.  But, not in the way you might think.  It's not the secular agenda, for which I too often fall, that I'm gonna take charge of my life and get my groove back, but the yielding of their hearts to a gracious God, who changes us and upholds us and desires everything good for each one of us.  Even fitness, you say?  Isn't that a selfish flesh-centered

 [pun totally intended] idea?

I don't think so.  I believe that God desires that we yield all of our selves: our wills, our minds, and our bodies.  Are we not commanded time and time again not to give ourselves over to unrighteousness, to sins of the flesh, to immorality committed in the flesh?  Hey, if you don't buy it, just go here and do a simple search for flesh ((no worries, it's an ESV Bible, not some crazy random website)).  God often uses the word flesh to describe our sinful nature, that disgusting part of us we can't weed out no matter how hard we might try.  And sadly, many of us, myself included, are just way too fleshy--flesh here, flesh there, flesh, flesh everywhere.  But, search again, once you can pull yourself from a prostrate place before His throne,...

I can wait.

I know it might be awhile.

Let it all hang out.

He already knows.

...for "body" and find encouragement.  We are to glorify God in our bodies; they are temples to the Living God; our bodies were bought at a [dear] price; our bodies no longer belong to us.  We are His.

Okay, pull out the tambourines and let's now dance before His throne.

We are His!

What a freeing and glorious thing to belong to the only Living God, the Beginning and the End, the Creator, the Sustainer, the SAVIOR!

And what a freeing and glorious thing to house His Spirit, who will empower us to work out our salvation, persevere in His teaching, and bring glory, coupled with the sweet aroma of our worship, to our heavenly Father...in all things.

We take our thoughts captive.

We yield our wills.

And we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.

For HIM.

Let's no longer covet the things of this world, whether it be for or against the body.   But, instead, let's together pursue Christ, by the power of His grace, and lay all things at His alter.

As for me, I'm putting this big pile of messy flesh and bone right here, before the One who loves me.  This is very hard for me--I have huge issues with my body--which is exactly why I need to do this.