Beginning Now

A habit not pursued is easily forgotten, replaced by what’s reasonable, what’s comfortable. All too often, what’s reasonable and comfortable is a formula for complacency – a last-luster, dulled approach to connecting with life … to connecting with Jesus.   (Elaine, here)

Isn't this a profound statement?  Elaine was writing about a prayer posture that she had practiced for awhile and then let slip.  I find the observation applicable for so many other areas of my life--particularly when it comes to healthy practices of diet and exercise.  

Another line in her post --  Old habits remembered (especially the ones that are sweet) are ones willingly reinstated -- is a hope-filled one!  

There are a few sweet old habits to which I shall return.  Beginning NOW.

 

Little Foxes

Oh, how I HOPE you can read this!
Especially the paragraph that starts with "Compromise....")
 It's those darned "little foxes"!

I know what some of mine are,

and I'm "on" them today!

(This is a page from More Precious than Silver: 366 Daily Devotional Readings,

by Joni Eareekson Tada.)

My State-of-Heart

If you aren't a regular reader of my Life and Godliness blog,
I invite you to today's post.

In it you will find my current State-of-Heart.
Wishing everyone on the journey to health
and a Happy New Year (a few days late).
I've been spending a lot of time getting acquainted
with my new "SmartPhone"!

Trending

"Giving in eventually leads to giving up. (With temptation, addiction, parenting kids, 

and many other areas)" ~Rick Warren

I'm really glad I did NOT give in the past few weeks.  The scale seemed like it would never budge.  I just kept on keeping on!  This morning, I was down a pound or two.  I have an old scale, so it's a little difficult to be 100% accurate.  I just go for the general trend...and I'm trending in the right direction.

Up the Down Escalator

A friend of a  facebook friend of mine

 posted these two sentences from her reading (no attribution included):  

"Recovery from emotional and compulsive eating is like trying to go up the down escalator. 

If we stand still and don't take daily steps to grow spiritually we can slowly slip backwards."

How TRUE that is!

I would add that (for me, at least) 

it isn't always a SLOW slip backwards.

Sometimes it's a very violent fall.

I believe the mental image of trying to go up a down escalator

will be helpful to me to stay deliberate in my "daily steps" 

toward health and wellness today.

Holding Patterns

At least SOME of our iris are blooming

while others appear to be in a "holding pattern...

Weight-wise, I feel like the latter.

It's hard not to be impatient.

I forget that I can't register a loss on the scale EVERYday!

Fortunately, here are other measures of health to "weigh".

That's what I'm doing today--

and counting my blessings.

My Current State

Yoda said, "There is only do or do not, there is no try".

(You need to read Myra's WHOLE post in which she quoted Yoda...

it's a good one!) 

Her thoughts stimulated this comment from me:

"I HAVE been "DO-ing" since February 6.

 I'm determined not to give up 

 though the immediate result (weight loss) is not being realized as fast as I want.

 DO-ing is its own reward. The result is on its way!"

That pretty well sums up My Current State.

More about the Clean Slate

On February 7th, I referred to my "clean slate"--the one handed to me after a brief bout with stomach flu.  Oddly enough, flu was the "eraser" that cleaned my "slate".  And I'm happy that (so far) I've not cluttered the slate.

If it takes 21 days to establish a habit, I'm very VERY close to establishing two good habits.  The first involves my eating habits; the second is keeping my kitchen counters cleared and dishes out of the sinks.  I know.  I know.  Elementary for most people.  MAJOR accomplishments for me.

And I'm not sure
which I'm prouder of!

What new habits are YOU
establishing?

Wipe Out!

That's what I did.

That's what I'd LIKE to do to yesterday.

That's what Jesus did to my past.

Today is another day.

What I did right:  Vitamin.  Posted.  (Not much else.)

Every time you desire to do and choose to do what is right in God's eyes, 

you celebrate the grace that is yours in Christ Jesus.  (A tweet by Paul Tripp)

First Five

Progress!  The first five pounds are gone. 

History!

I fulfilled my intention to walk this week,

never letting two days in a row that I didn't walk 30 minutes.

At first, five pounds doesn't seem like much to lose

considering my diligence and efforts these past two weeks.

But then I think about THIS...

...and I'm quite encouraged!

What I did right: Weighed & recorded progress, ate healthy foods, walked 30 minutes, vitamin, posted, drank water.

RETORK

RETORK was my verification word when I commented on Valerie's post this morning.  That's what I'll be doing today, and tomorrow, and the next day....

Fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, 6-8 glasses of water, and a 30 minute walk are my minimum RETORKING tools.  What are yours?

Dedication!

RUN when you can,
WALK when you have to,
CRAWL if you must,
Just NEVER GIVE UP!

I didn't increase my 2010 exercise "time" goal  (30 minutes 4-5 days a week).  However, I am slowly increasing the time that I jog on my rebounder!  Currently I'm running about 10 of the 30 minutes.  I think I should be able to be running 16 by summer time.  (I jog 2 minutes at a time; then return to walking in place and doing some of Leslie Sansone's other moves....)

Healthy Holiday Tip #22

NEVER GIVE UP is my tip for today.  And I need it!

No matter how many home-made caramels you ate.  No matter that you ate 12 dark chocolate truffles from the bag. In the car. Before you got home from the gift exchange.  No matter that the day went by and you didn't get your 30 minute walk in. No matter that the scale shows you gained 2 pounds for the first time in six months of consistent loss or maintenance. No matter WHAT.  Never give up.  Begin where you left off and keep going strong!

I'm Like an Autumn Rose....

In the late autumn of my life, I want to be like this rose that (along with a few others) persists in  blooming in late November.  Some of the foliage has given up, but not this flower!

To be sure, some of my "foliage" has given up!  Youthful energy, skin tone, natural hair color, and memory are a few things that have gone...but NONE of those keep me from blooming beautifully.

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.  They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "the Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."  (Psalm 92:12-15).

Physically, I will "bloom" using the strength God gives me to exercise - walking as energetically as I can; using the rebounder as often as I can.  I will remind myself that I eat to live and not live to eat!  I will limit the quantity of healthy food I eat.  These are such basic, simple things for an autumn rose such as I.

Spiritually and mentally, I will flourish also.  I will read, listen, and learn.  I will attempt new things. I will seek out the company of like-minded Christians.  I will steadily increase my communication with the Heavenly Father (prayer). I will read and meditate on God's Word.   By His grace and planted firmly in Him, I will proclaim:  "He IS my Rock!  I am his Autumn Rose."

WILL POWER - STICKING WITH IT!

You aren't the only one to be distracted from the presence of God:  I understand completely.  Our minds are so flighty.  But remember that our God-given will governs all of our strength.  It must recall the mind to God.  Otherwise, our spirit may wander, dragging us down to the things of this earth.

Brother Lawrence, "Eighth Letter" in The Practice of the Presence of God

Although a humble cook, Brother Lawrence learned the greatest secret of living in the Kingdom of God here on earth: communing with the Lord throughout our daily tasks. He mastered the art of living in the presence of God throughout the day. As he exclaimed, "I am doing now what I will do for all eternity. I am blessing God, praising Him, adoring him, and loving Him with all my heart."

Beware those Half-Centimeter Rocks!

I’m very proud of my nephew, a Captain in the U.S. Air Force.  He is a doctor assigned as Team Chief in the Intermediate Care Ward at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. In recent communication he described an evening tour of the flight line on the base. He was invited to the runway by one of the F-16 pilots in one of the two F-16 squadrons left in Iraq. My nephew wrote:

“We meet him outside the hospital after dark at 8pm. We in the macho minivan and he in the heavy-duty pick-up truck.  We follow him toward the runway.  There is a secure perimeter around the runway, of course, with a gate guard.  We have to ditch the pick-up truck and he vouches for all of us with a wink to the young female guard and takes the wheel of the minivan.  Just inside the check-point he stops and goes around the vehicle inspecting each tire.  You're to make sure you're not bringing any pebbles or nails onto the flight line, he explains. A half-centimeter rock can deflate the tire of a speeding fighter jet.  With that it's back into the van and we drive slowly along one of the side runways to the end where the F-16's are kept.”

I read the rest of the interesting letter and then returned to the words: "A half-centimeter rock can deflate the tire of a speeding fighter jet."  That's less than 1/4 "!  One fourth inch of debris can sideline a powerful F-16 fighter jet!

In weight-loss and the establishment of healthy habits, it is equally important to “stop and go around the vehicle inspecting each tire.” Tiny habits and small lapses CAN deflate one’s motivation and progress! So don’t become careless. Stay vigilant and diligent. Keep your eye out for those “half-centimeter rocks” that can deflate the tire of a speeding fighter jet!

I think we can also see the seriousness of allowing sin - however "small" it may seem to us - to hinder our spiritual progress and deflate the joy of fellowship with our Heavenly Father. But that's another post....

Hallelujah! Goal Met!

I "released" that last stubborn pound somewhere in the lake yesterday! Maybe it was all the exercise using feet and legs to dig the stones out of the muck, raise them to the water's surface, and carry them into shore! I'll use them as a border around the flowerbed from which I removed the bottles for the bottle tree.

"Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him" (II Corinthians 2:14).

Keep On Going!

I capped off my morning walk by planting two new perennials I bought on sale yesterday. This Russian sage is a personal favorite of mine. I love its color and its scent.

My husband and I are reading a few pages each morning from the book, The Joys of Successful Aging by George Sweeting. Dr. Sweeting was President of Moody Bible Institute when I attended there in the late 60s. This statement stood out to me this morning:

"Continual involvement with life is a major requirement for successful aging. It has been said that getting older is like waterskiing: When you slow down, you go down. So...keep on going!"

"E" is for Effort (See Previous Post)

E xercise
F resh foods
F riendship
O pportunity
R eward
T raining

It would be SO much easier to lose weight if someone else could do it for me! If I could figure out a way for that to happen, I would FRANCHISE it, and we would retire to the lake cottage I dream about. Until then, I'll need to follow the first three words of II Peter 1:5 -- "Make every effort..."

For me, that will mean consistent exercise again this week. My plan? Five days of walking 30 minutes each. I will choose fresh foods to comprise the bulk of my meals. Vegetables and fruits are so plentiful and tasty this time of year. We are blessed to have such abundance and variety at our fingertips. Friendships are important to me when embarking on such a challenge as this. I look forward to a couple of days at the end of the week to hang out with friends at a lake cottage. I will look at this as a reward for diligence and determination to be consistent in practicing healthy habits this week. I will look for and take advantage of opportunities to learn, to work, and to apply myself to healthy pursuits. All this is part of my training.

Habits acquired in THIS pursuit correlate to habits of the soul and spirit that have value not only for THIS life, but in the life to come. I'm excited about that! It WILL be worth the effort.

Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way,
as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. I Timothy 4:7-8

"P" is for Progress

Make every effort to add to your faith....For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ...Be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (selected from 2 Peter 1).

"Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen" (2 Peter 3:17-18).
THANK YOU, LORD, FOR PROGRESS!