Moving Mountains

". . .I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."~Matthew 17:20

Last night after Bible study I was talking to one of my Fit Club members and a couple other ladies. They were talking about working in a call center and how they sit so much and how hard it is to get their walks in since it's cold. And if you know me then you already know that I immediately offered some un-excuses for their "reasons." I quoted them the scripture about speaking to the mountain and telling it to move. We can move mountains if we believe we can.

I don't know that God meant that the mountain would literally move, but I believe that it's more about your faith and belief being so big that you no longer see the obstacle as a mountain. You no longer see it as this big, huge, insurmountable thing. Too often we encounter "mountains" and surrender all too soon. We see it looming in the distance and accept defeat. We decide that victory just isn't on the agenda for today and go back to merely existing.

Instead of seeing the mountain, I challenge you to see what is beyond it. I challenge you to come up with an un-excuse for every excuse that comes to mind for why you aren't practicing healthy habits. If you are honest with yourself, you may come to realize that you just don't care to remove the mountain; you want the results without the climb. Your faith has to be so strong that you believe nothing less than victory is acceptable. Your faith has to be so strong that you keep pushing even when the scale isn't showing you the numbers you think you want. Faith? Yes, faith.

While on an a hellacious 15k I learned a lesson in faith--I was literally on a mountain!! There were points during the race when I was praying for a bike or van or go cart to pick me up. There were times when I didn't think my legs could take me any further. Once I stopped crying and praying for an easy way off the mountain, I put my shoulders back, turned up my music, pumped my arms and step by step moved forward along the course towards victory.

Victory requires that you be courageous. Courage requires faith. Faith requires action.

Undigested Knowledge

"The great end of life is not knowledge, but action. What men need is as much knowledge as they can assimilate and organize into a basis for action. . ." ~Thomas Henry Huxley

Losing weight is not rocket science. I've lost weight by taking diet pills, following diet fads, attempting to starve myself, wearing contraptions and devices, even weight loss surgery. All these methods can work to lose weight, but once you get back to real life you tend to find all that weight you lost. The problem then, is not losing the weight (I actually prefer the term "shedding" instead of "losing" because when you shed something you don't get it back). The problem is maintaining a lifestyle to never get it back.

I remember back in the fall of 2009 I had to make the hard choice to give up my YMCA membership because I just couldn't afford it anymore.  At that time I was about six or seven months post surgery and was probably around 280 lbs and I was scared of gaining back whatever weight I had lost. I was also scared of not losing anymore weight. It seemed like everytime I got into a stride with the whole fitness thing life would throw me a curveball and I'd end up back in the dugout (I know nothing about baseball so that's the end of that metaphor!). I thought about how I could be active without depending on a gym, an instructor, any eqiupment, etc. The answer: running.

My first attempt at running was based on an article in Muscle&Fitness Hers that talked about interval training. I made up my own version of interval training and would hit the pavement in the evenings after putting the boys to sleep. . .then it got cold. It would be another six months or so before I ventured back into the world of running. I didn't know much about running so I read a few articles on Runner's World website and put together a training plan based on Hal Higdon and Jeff Galloway's plans. With my goal in mind and a little bit of knowledge I set off to make it happen.  Along the way I have picked up nuggets of knowledge and put them to use.

Why am I telling you this? I'm telling you this because the lesson I learned is that knowledge is useless without the application. I also learned that you don't have to every detail in order to DO something. So, again, why am I telling you this? Because too often we start our journey at a breakneck pace and get all this information on exercise, dieting, superfoods, supplements, etc and we go hard for a week. What is the use of all that knowledge if you're not doing anything with it?

The most effective thing you can do to get on the right track to fitness is to GET ON THE TRACK. Once you're on it you will pick up nuggets along the way to help you move more efficiently. So what that your sister is all into eating clean. For now, you just need to focus on eating better and clean it up as you go along. Mature in your journey before you start getting fancy. So what that your cousin does Crossfit five days a week. For now, you just need to focus on being ACTIVE on a consistent basis before you drop the deniro for something like that.



(No, this is not my foot.)



Do what you can with what you have, right where you are. My first jogs were in shoes that I bought from Goodwill that were about a half-size too small for running; my toenail turned black and fell off. Freaked me out! But from that I learned the importance of proper fitting running shoes. My first forays into preparing healthy meals for my family included a lot of processed foods. But along the way I've learned how to make better choices and how to eat healthier on a budget.

Your actions will net you results. If you stay on the track you will get better at it. I have people asking me for help all the time and my first suggestion for them is to exercise 3-4 times a week for 30-45 minutes a day for three weeks and track what they are eating (with adjustments made accordingly). Why? Because I want to see if they line up their actions with their words. I want to see if they are willing to invest the time in themselves. Are you ready to do something different to BE something different? It's not rocket science. . .it's applied science.