Category: Spiritual Health

Categories
Spiritual Health

The Art of SURREND’her & Your Health

Water Rapics_Final

“I am just so frustrated because I am doing everything right, but I’m not really seeing any changes to my body.”

This is a common quote from any one of my health coaching clients, or frankly, from my own mind from time to time.   I usually hear this type of remark about 2 weeks into developing new habits and rituals into the daily life of a woman attempting to get the body and level of fit that she desires. 

We think that getting the body we want, we will get the life we want.

We think by achieving optimal health, we will live comfortably.

We think that if we are uncomfortable or struggling in some way with our health, we’re doing something wrong.  That we must just need to try harder.

We grow impatient quickly.  We grow weary.

Some of us at this stage will just give up and say, “Well, it’s just not meant to be.  I’m just not meant to be fit.”

Others will start to take things into their own hands by beginning to “micromanage” their health.  Assuming the more control they have, the more they’ll see results and the less risk of getting to an “uncomfortable” place again.  They will start to rely on just themselves again.

For some reason, so many of us take God out of our goals for health.  We put God in the “Spirit” category of life.  He can come to church with me; He can help me find a new job and career; He can help me find a mate; He can help me repair my relationship with my (mom, grandpa, coworker etc.).

But our weight loss and eating habits?  “No, no, we need to do this on our own.  We can’t bother God with something so trivial!”

This is especially the case for those who don’t have much of a problem with their weight, but still have fitness goals.   They’re not fighting anything like obesity, diabetes, or cancer that would require more prayer.  But those who live in a pretty normal or healthy weight range but would still like to lose those few extra pounds will often leave God completely out of such category as fitness. 

What if I told you that your HEALTH, no matter how big or how small your health goal is ABSOLUTELY dependent on your relationship with God. 

In fact, your health, just like every other aspect of your life is a process to be SURRENDERED to God if it’s going to be a blessing to your life.

To Surrend’her means that you don’t give up, but you give UP.  You stop trying to steer the boat yourself, but you don’t abandon your boat either.  You stay in and you flow with God. 

My sister-in-law, Laura, and I were talking the other day about some visions that God had given her.  She said she kept picturing white water rafting, which is something she has never done before.

She said, “The beautiful thing about white water rafting is that in order to stay in the raft and handle the waves and rapids, you actually have to sit in the middle of the raft and not hold on to the sides or anything.  You just have to trust and relax your body as much as possible and let your body bounce with the raft as it hits the rocks and waves.  You have to surrender to it, just like we have to surrender to God.”

It was a beautiful analogy and I believe God was sending her a clear message that I was rewarded with too (as are all of you!). 

I see God as not only the raft that is taking you down your “river of life”, but I see God as the water itself, the rocks you hit, and the other underlying creatures below the surface causing your life to be quite the ride!  God is ALL of it and it all has purpose!

The key is, the more you surrender to the raft, the higher the rapids you can handle and the faster you can go.

Our bodies are so complex and our health goes so much deeper than what we can see in the mirror.    Our metabolic systems run just like the rushing white water rapids down a river.  They are constantly changing direction and moving according to the various hormone responses, food intake, weight, muscle mass, exercise exertion, water, vitamins and minerals and many more factors than that! 

There is NO WAY that you can completely control and manipulate your metabolism, just like there is NO WAY you can control a raging river.

In your health, there comes a point that you just have to sit in the middle of the raft and surrend’her to it all.   It takes an incredible amount of trust and faith to do this every day.

But, trusting the process of health IS trusting God.

Sarah Young in her book, Nearer to Jesus, reminds us “You can achieve the victorious life through living in deep dependence on (Jesus).”

Victorious life. Not “safe” life.  Not “always comfortable” life. Not even “successful” life. 

Victory in God means you have won the battle by giving up the sword.  You put your hope in the Lord and you trust the process he has put before you.  There is a process of nurturing and taking care of your health and your metabolism.  There are choices you can make at every meal of every day that will help keep all systems running as efficiently as possible.   

If you are struggling, seek the information you will need to learn about your body.  Once you have the information, start making the changes in your life and trust that it will all be for Good.  God can provide you resources for all. 

As you start to make changes to your health, you accept every stumble, every fall, every wave, and every rock as signs that you are indeed doing something right.  Because each stumble requires more and more dependence on God. 

This is what He wants from you.  He wants a relationship with you.  For you to bring ALL things to Him, even something as trivial as weight loss. 

For even in your discomfort, even in your failings and even in your shortcomings, you still have the Joy of the Lord when you keep Him by your side. 

You do not give up. 

But you sure do Surrend’her. 

Categories
Food & Nutrition Health Coaching Spiritual Health

Finding Harmony Among Chaos | 3 SIMPLE HEALTH INTENTIONS DURING STRESSFUL TIMES

Wild flowers growing in a crack in a rock

My life tends to turn into “whirl wind” status within a blink of an eye! I’m sure you can relate in some way in your life too!

Over the last 3-weeks my life has be thwarted and thrusted into the chaos of big changes, including:

1.) I started this very blog, new website and new business LLC all requiring patience and drive to overcome my technology learning curve. In the end, I decided to use a godaddy website builder to try and make the whole process a bit easier for me. I’m not the best when it comes to technology and I have very little knowledge when it comes to building a website. The business was the most stressful part of these past few weeks. I have worked so hard to get it started and I wanted everything to be perfect. I quickly learnt that it probably wouldn’t be!

2.) My husband and I packed up most of our life to move into a new home in a brand new city also requiring big-time patience (as I am currently on day no. 3 of trying to get the darn internet, not to mention the endless shopping for beds, plates, and the essential nick-knacks and doodads.) After one of our friends told us about secured loans, we realized moving house could be easier than we first expected. We managed to sell our old house pretty quickly and then used the loan as our deposit. I’m so in love with our new home. It’s fabulous! Once we’ve finally settled in and have some spare time on our hands, we’re thinking about making it our mission to look for wireless alarms, as moving into a new house in a completely new city comes with the unknown. How safe is it? Do we have a possibility of getting burgled? These are all things that we don’t know, but if we have an alarm, a huge portion of that worry will be reduced. So, once everything else has been sorted, (whenever that will be), this should become our main focus.

3.) Smack dab in the middle of all these changes, we did whisk away to Hawaii, not just for the purpose of relaxation (although we did some of that) but so see my husbands 2.5 year old daughter, Eden, (who lives in Japan with her mom and stepdad most of the year). So, for 10 wonderful days we were thrust into the spinning vortex of toddler-life that, while exhilarating and drenched in deep love for her….. is also exhausting because she’s 2 1/2 and quite boisterous!

I am the first to admit, I am eternally blessed to get to experience such a roller coaster ride of life! You are eternally blessed (even when you don’t feel it!) for those crazy, manic experiences of your life too.

THE QUESTION IS:

How do we best handle our HEALTH when we are in chaotic times?

I gotta admit, even as a health coach, just 1-year ago, my health habits in stressful times were anything but healthy. In fact, my most common stressful habits included: excessively eating and drinking (alcohol) and overindulging, surviving on simple carbs alone, thinking I had to do everything myself and perfectly, not getting much sleep or rest and/or hardly taking a pause at all!

Might sound familiar?!

You see, at this time of my life, I was weighing all of my food, I was counting my macronutrients, and I was really focused on the details of my eating and working out (ie. Micromanaging my health). I was hyper focused on being “perfect” in my body’s health and severely relied on my routine!

While there is a time a place for some of us to really get down to the nitty gritty of what we are putting into our bodies (especially for the last few body fat percentages to your goal weight), the real win is if we can just stay CONSISTENT with our health and avoid the yo-yo of the scale!

But, for years at this “micromanagement stage,” when life got too chaotic for me to handle and I didn’t have my go-to daily routines in place, my whole health plan would fall apart at the mere mention on “away from home” or “vacation”. I then resorted to old habits and binge eating tendencies!

What resulted was massive swings of my weight AND mood. I could gain 5-10lbs EASILY in just 1 week. As I began to see and feel the weight gain, I would get a lot more stressed and more irritable and anxious too, affecting my mindset! At one point, I was that overwhelmed with my emotions and my negative thought-process, that I considered doing something about it. My friend, who has suffered from anxiety and stress in the past, said that CBD oil made a significant impact to her mindset, and improved how she looked at the world and the goals that she had. It sounded like a good idea, but I wanted to try and do this by myself.

This usually lead me to drastic cuts in calories and more stress to begin micromanaging my diet again. Usually cutting way back on my calories or carbohydrates, which lead to a major metabolic slow down! I found that every time I gained those 5-10 lbs, it got harder and harder to lose them again once the chaos slowed! It was frustrating, to say the least!

Not to mention, by making such drastic cuts in food, I was also cutting back my energy and ability to focus throughout the day. Which caused….you guessed it… even more stress!

A vicious cycle! (Blink if you can relate :-))

Alas, I’m happy to report that since I’ve refocused my health to what I call True Health (meaning it focuses on the body, mind AND soul altogether), I have just proven to myself that my new ways are having the EXACT OPPOSITE result as those old overindulging, micromanaging tendencies!

Not only did I NOT gain weight during these 3 weeks (I actually lost a few lbs), but I feel really energized still! I didn’t need a vacation after my vacation. And, I don’t need a vacation now that I’ve moved in! I still have energy to keep going! Which is KEY to sustaining this state of stress and change I am still enduring.

The best part is, it has been SO SIMPLE and just required me to focus on 3 SIMPLE HEALTH INTENTIONS DURING STRESSFUL TIMES to have such a wondrous affect.

God Bless It! I have found harmony among the chaos!

By just sticking to these 3 SIMPLE HEALTH INTENTIONS DURING STRESSFUL TIMES, I have never handled such stress so well! They are:

Intention #1– Stay STRONG’her– I chose just 1 habit to focus on for my body!

Intention #2– Stay WISE’her– I chose just 1 habit to refocus on mindset re: my body!

Intention #3– Stay SURREND’her(ed)– I chose just 1 habit to focus on my spiritual strength (and got some bonus love from God too!)

#1. STRONG’her Intention: I FOLLOWED MY 5-STEPS TO NUTRIENT BASED DIET

(If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, check out my Infographic HERE from my recent blog introducing my approach to the best way to start looking better AND feeling better).

The beautiful thing about following these simple 5-Steps to a Nutrient Based Diet is that it can be done ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE. I did it at the airport. I did it in the hotel. I did it at every restaurant. I did it in the midst of a move. IT CAN BE DONE! It requires NO food scale, NO calorie counting, and NO micromanaging!

In fact, check out some of the delicious AND nutrient-based meals I had in Hawaii!

(*BONUS- If you would like to see more of the nutrient-based meals I eat, follow me on twitter (@wrightfitinc) or Instagram (@a.wrightfit) where I will be posting them often with the hashtag #nutrientbaseddiet. Feel free to post your #nutrientbaseddiet meals too, tag me in your photos and I’ll re-tweet and re-gram you!)

As you can see, being on vacation or eating a nice meal out to eat does NOT mean I don’t equally focus on nutrient inclusion and diversity. Quite the contrary!

However, I DO still indulge some, because well….I’m on vacation! BUT my indulgences still fit into those 5-steps for a Nutrient Based Meal, which means, I indulge in moderation.

For example, if I wanted a glass of wine with dinner, I counted that as my carbohydrate source for that meal. If I wanted to try the house specialty of Coconut Crusted Shrimp, I sure did! But I only had 1-2 of them (for a good taste) and counted the fried part as my fat content for that meal. I would then have my vegetables steamed or salad with extra lite dressing to better balance the meal and not overdo the fat.

Also, if I knew that I was going to have a nice dinner at night, I might reserve a couple of my carbohydrate and fat servings from the meals earlier in the day so I could better enjoy the special meal at dinner!

The key was, even if I was treating myself in some way or enduring some stressful moments of chaos, I just made sure…

……. I still got my water

……..I still got my servings of green and colored vegetables &

……..I still got my protein

Keeping those core nutrient essentials helped fill up my stomach so I didn’t have room to overindulge on only the bad stuff!

2. WISE’her Intention: I FOCUSED ON MOVEMENT MORE THAN WORKOUTS

When I was feeling so stressed, the last thing I wanted to do was stress even more about working out (or not working out)! So, I let the workout opportunity come more organically than forced. There were a couple mornings that I felt like really getting in the gym and intentionally inducing some body stress for the sake of getting the endorphin rush and extra blood flow. It can definitely help with stress management!

But, on the days that a workout just couldn’t easily fit into my schedule, I didn’t sweat it (literally)! I was just more mindful of moving more on those days! With Eden, I was in the water much more with her and being silly playing (something all parents can do)! More recently as we’ve been moving, I was certainly getting a better workout by mindfully lifting the boxes, going up and down stairs with speed and “running the marathon of shopping” to find beds, plates, chairs, and all those other doodads needed to fill-up a home!

Stressing about working out does not serve your body nor does it create a healthy mindset! This happened to be something that would mentally disturb me previously, so it dramatically helped my mindset to intentionally step back from this self-pressure.

If you are similar, during tumultuous times, I encourage you to refocus your energy on movement! Then, when you have more time, get back in the gym. But when you don’t, just focus on the movement opportunities in front of you! There is an abundance!

3. SURREND’her Intention: I “CHECKED-IN” WITH MY SOUL DAILY

Sunday is not the only day to engage your spirit! I have learned that creating a daily habit of spiritually checking-in will infinitely increase my ability to handle whatever situation and stress I face that day!

For the last several months, I have created a daily habit of waking up in prayer (starting a morning prayer even before I open my eyes) even if it just acknowledging that God is God and that I have woken-up because He has allowed me to. Waking-up to Prayer first is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. It sets the perspective of the entire day ahead of you!

I also have found great spiritual strength by the brief moments checking-in with my soul and God’s presence throughout the day. I do it intentionally when I read my daily devotional (via ebook for convenience of course) or get my daily Bible Verse pop-up reminder from the YouVersion bible app (even more convenient!). These things take just minutes of my day and can easily be done on the busiest of days!

To my delight, by doing the intentional habits, I find that these “check-ins” also happen unintentionally throughout the day too!. I start to see and recognize God in the places and faces of people around me. I saw Him in the eyes of my step daughter, Eden, when she would laugh. In the face of my husband, Howard, as he held her and again as we wept when we had to leave her. I felt God when I felt the warm sun on my face or saw the dozen beautiful sunsets in front of me. I saw God in my mom’s eternal patience as she was here helping us move in. I saw God daily when I looked in the mirror and didn’t hate the image staring back at me. God’s grace. It is ALL around us, it’s all about recognizing it!

My friends, if you are among the many who are STRESSED or going through some transition or changes in your life, you don’t have to give up on your health!

Find just 3 simple habits that you can focus on-one for your Body, one for your Mind, and one for your Soul and stick with those! You will find the balanced approach to your health, even in the midst of stress, will allow your body to maintain your true health in such wonderful ways.

Focusing on nutrients at every meal, movement and a daily spiritual “check-in” like I did, will work WONDERS on your ability to manage anything that is happening!

Should you fall off for one meal, one day, or several days, don’t panic! Let this email remind you of what you CAN do to empower yourself to handle things better at the next meal, the next day and the next several days to get you back to true health!

AND, with all of this, it bears a reminder. God loves you just as you are, flaws and all. Allow these stressful times to draw you nearer to Him and He will use it to help build more character within you and guide you closer to your Greater Purpose!

Categories
Health Coaching Spiritual Health

THE Miracle Moment | My Road to Becoming WISE’her

2015-02-21 17.52.58

Sitting here, steeped in the richness of beauty that is Maui, I cannot help but be in awe of what God has done, is doing, and will do for this us and this great earth. You see tiny slices of heaven in the way He decorated this Island and majesty in the volcanoes, rainforest and gorgeous turquoise waters. A true wonder.

For all that God has done for this earth, He has done much much more within us-within me. The way he can decorate your soul is of far greater beauty than anything we can see.

I see it now so clearly. The color of Love within me is bright and beaming and shines through my every pore. Reminds me of the passage:

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness.” Matthew 6:22-23

My eyes have been shown a new light and it can’t be hidden nor forgotten. It came at a brilliant moment of clarity that after a week of relaxation, I feel I am ready share openly.

Here it goes…..

***************************************************************************************

“What are you so afraid of?” he asked.

The question caught me blindsided. Almost immediately, the tears started flowing down my cheeks.

“He” was Pastor Miles McPherson from The Rock Church in San Diego, CA. I was with my husband and the Pastor meeting in his office in a brief introduction for the first time. After 15-minutes of chit-chatting between he and my husband (who had known each other from years ago as young athletes in San Diego) we were heading out to let him get to his second of five sermons he would give that day.

As we were heading toward the door, he asked what I did for a living? I told him briefly about my virtual health coaching and the blog I was intending to start (i.e. this one) that would include not just the body (i.e. exercise and nutrition), but having a strong mind and also creating a stronger spirit with God at the center. I said something like “I’m really scared about it if you would pray for me.”

Hence, his question.

I was immediately overwhelmed because the question was more accurately “What am I NOT afraid of?”

I was afraid that I was a fraud. Afraid that I still didn’t look the part that people would respect. Afraid that I wouldn’t be good at writing. Afraid that I would put my faith out there and offend people…. or get made fun of…. or not taken seriously. I was afraid of failing. Afraid of disappointing God. Afraid that God had chosen the wrong person for this calling of writing. Afraid that I was still too heavy and I need to just keep focusing on losing weight first.

This place of fear and insecurity was not new for me, oh no! But with the tears came such disappointment and shame that this fear bubbling up yet again, in front of my Pastor and husband no less! Especially since I had been working SO hard trying to change my mindset about my body and really thought I was making some headway!

The other week on the blog, I shared what I would call a pivotal moment of my career in health. What Malcolm Gladwell would call a “Tipping Point.” After mentally torturing myself and my body to compete in a body building Bikini Contest for the purpose of finally feeling “accomplished” and “good enough” to be in the fitness industry, I was met with the most empty and sad feelings I had ever felt about my body. What I had expected to happen by getting the “perfect body” was almost the polar opposite of the feelings that I actually had when it was accomplished. (If you missed it, check out my last blog HERE)

This was what I know for sure as an experience in the wonder of God’s grace in life lessons. Love so richly poured out in the form of tough consequences when we don’t listen to His guidance. Consequences that certainly get our attention because they’ve just smacked us right in the face, and consequences we need in order to learn the lesson He wants us to.

As they say, “When you know better, you do better” and I decided that this experience of the competition was going to propel me to “do better” things for my body and in my practice of teaching others about health.

I knew I needed to change the way I thought about my body. I knew there was something not healthy about my thoughts and something overwhelmingly negative about how I saw myself. This was an epiphany for me because I have largely felt as though I was a very positive and kind person. But as is often the case, especially in women, where I am positive, kind and uplifting for others, I was begrudging, judgmental, and harsh on myself.

Being that I have always been a good student, I naturally set out to learn more about how I can improve my way of thinking. I began to devour blogs, online articles, magazines and books in search of some wisdom.

I learned a tremendous amount of information from fellow bloggers, notably Jen Comas Keck, Jill Coleman and the rest of the Girls Gone Strong group of women who all had very similar stories to mine of trying for years to “look the part” of something they thought they should be in the fitness industry, only to come out on the other side realizing there is so much more to life and fitness than that.

I also read countless books by authors with incredible insight and acumen. One very noteworthy example is the book Playing Big by the incredibly smart and talented Tara Mohr. Tara was the first to introduce me to the concept that we all have what she calls an “Inner Critic” which is the is the voice in our head that is critical, discouraging and keeps us “playing small”. I took it to mean that there was this natural negative side to all of us! It was a powerful book for me because I realized I clearly was not the only one that had this voice in my head that would discourage me from taking risks in life. Her booked helped me tremendously in taking more steps to writing this blog, even before I felt completely “prepared enough” to do it. Now, I feel like I could even be ready on starting to look at how to publish a book… Although I very well might need to get writing some more for that!

These great resources and clear knowledge I was learning from all of these women, I felt were slowly helping me finally learn to love my body and manage my insecurities. I thought I was making some great headway!

But, it was clear that just by one simple, yet profound question by Pastor Miles that day, I still was dealing daily with my battles of fear, insecurity, body image and some self loathing.

“What are you so afraid of?”

Although I mentally had a list a mile long, I of course didn’t say any of those things to Pastor Miles, but did stammer out something about “not knowing if I was going to be good enough or capable enough.”

Miles, with a strong sense of divine intuition, sat us both back down and started trying to get to the bottom of where all these fears had come from. He gave me a few rounds of questions trying to figure it out:

“Did your parents ever make you feel you were not good enough?”

Oh no, my parents are perhaps the most supportive and loving people I know.

“Do you have a learning disability or anything that really holds you back?”

Oh no, I’ve always been a good student, actually.

“Do you not like the way you look or something?”

Well no, not most of the time.

“When did you first start feeling this way?”

(Without much pause) Since second grade.

“Second grade??”

Yes, second grade.

I still remember it vividly. At eight years old, I was on the playground with two of my best friends. As a tall girl, I was always a head taller than everyone but I was also pretty curvy, with this bubble booty I have always had! One of my friends brought up my weight and the fact that she weighed 45 lbs-I weighed 60 lbs. And.That.Was.It.

That was the first time I felt huge and the first time I didn’t like that I was so much “bigger” than everyone else. In a funny way, it was not about my height as I didn’t mind being taller. It was always about my weight and being heavier, curvier and more noticeable for it all too. I got teased some, sure, but never really bullied severely. I became my own bully. I began desiring to “lose weight” starting in elementary school.

Pastor Miles looked at me and said, “You realize that this is how the devil works right? He gets inside our heads so early in life that you didn’t even know he was there. Since then, you have been living under this LIE in your head that was planted so very long ago. A lie you have been passively accepting as your truth because the devil is that good that he preys on the things that will get us the most.”

Wow, I had never thought about it that way.

This specific LIE of being “too big” and “not good enough” was not just not just any kind of insecurity- it was THE insecurity from which all others have stemmed. Was he saying that this lie was not from me or something that I created in my head, but it has been implanted by the enemy? It was not my fault?

Pastor Miles went on to explain that we actually have the power over the evil one in our thoughts. It is a power that God gave us but a power we must choose to engage. To cast out any lies or ways of thinking that is not from God. To put the evil back where it belongs.

He said what I was enduring my entire life was not a mental battle, but a SPIRITUAL battle!

Then, he and my husband took the time to stand and pray over me and pray out any thoughts of evil, pray out any more lies that I had been passively believing and that my soul might be restored to it’s rightful owner, God.

As they prayed over me, I was able to truly surrender my body and spirit to this new awareness and accept the prayer over me.

All of a sudden, I could feel the physical presence of God within me. It surfaced as small twitches in my eye. This physical sensation I have felt several times since, usually while praying, and a gift I am humbled to receive from God.

[Reflection: I feel that whenever I pray and I feel these eye twitches, God’s presence is doing this to “open the eyes of my heart” so I can see Him and see life through His gracious lens. It is a miracle and truly extraordinary, if not shocking, to experience. ]

Later that day, I thought back to all the roads that this LIE of being “too big” had led me down.

I remembered feeling big in my volleyball outfit and it affecting my play. Choosing friends growing up that I thought were better than me so I could feel more confident around them. Choosing bad guy after bad guy to date and expecting them to magically cure my low self-esteem. To periods of depression, eating disorders, and emotional bursts. To obsessing about food and thinking about my body literally all-day, every-day for as long as I can remember.

But on this day, for the first time in a long-time, I felt whole, complete and at peace. It dawned on me that this “inner critic” or negative voice of lies is not actually ME at all. There was no battle between the “bad” version of me and the “good” version of me.

I am good. In fact, I am “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139)

Embracing that love and embracing that fact turned on a light inside of me that had never felt so pure and so bright. This warming love spread through each capillary and nerve.

What was remarkable, was that it all mades sense now-intellectually speaking.

I “got it”. More than just an “aha” moment,

I had wisdom.

Each lie in my head had been acting as a brick building up a tall wall that was preventing my mind from fully understanding the depth of love God had for me and thus my ability to embrace the depth of love I have for myself.

Again, “But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Words of Jesus, Matthew 6:23)

The best part is that this battle was not mine to win. It is a battle that is Gods. It can all be changed in a moment–with a simple prayer. God has given me the strength all this time, but I just needed awareness and prayer to be able to do something about it. The same goes for you.

It is not quick fix. As pervasive as the enemy is, often times I revert back to my old ways of thinking without a blink of an eye. But that WISDOM I gained that day does not leave me and I am able to choose Faith again.

It is my choice to either believe the lies and go on living them, or to choose to live by Faith the way God truly made me. I pray daily that I might see myself clearly the way that God sees me. I pray that “Thy Word will be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105)

For those that might be reading this and don’t quite get it, or quite see why it was such a big deal to me, I completely understand your skepticism. I had been where you might be for over 30 years. There was even a time that I didn’t really believe in evil or the “devil” because I thought we are all responsible for our own sin and it was just our own ‘human nature’. But that’s exactly what the enemy wanted me to think. That it was just another thing that I did that wasn’t “good enough.” He might be smarter and trickier than me, but the Bible says that he doesn’t have more power than me.

” I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:19)

On this day, I seized that power. A true miracle.

But there’s more……..

A week later or so, Pastor Miles went to a big church in Dallas, Texas and delivered a sermon on this exact topic. If you would like to watch this funny and incredibly gifted pastor give this message, I have attached the link. (Fast forward to 37:18 for those that don’t want to watch the music)

http://www.daystar.com/ondemand/video/?video=3979777751001#.VMZT-dPDXjc.gmail

You’ll notice toward the end that he actually makes mention of a girl who had been “believing lies since 2nd grade.” He was talking about me.

See this was another miracle that God gave me. He was already using my story through Pastor Miles to help others. I was humbled by this mention but it made it even more clear that God was calling me to continue expand and tell my story. That where my mind exists so does countless of others out there. So I officially stated this blog and had some true Wisdom to share.

I surrendered my soul, gained wisdom and now understand my true strength in LOVE I have for my body.

STRONG’her | WISE’her | SURREND’her

YOUR TURN | JOURNAL

I would like to challenge you take the time to think about your biggest insecurities and go back in time when those thoughts might have originated.

Some of you may find that the lies just popped-up one day in your innocent little mind. Others might have a voice or person attached to the lie from a parent, bully, or other real life critic. Even if the lie has a face and a name doesn’t mean that the lie didn’t come from the enemy.

I encourage you to think deeply through your life and begin to question–WHAT IF ALL THIS TIME I’VE BEEN BELIEVING A LIE?

If you realize you have been believing 1 or 100, you can pray a simple prayer to take your power back.

“Dear God,

I command that these thoughts of evil be cast out of my mind in the name of Jesus. I release my burden of these thoughts to your love and power you, God. I accept the love You have for me in exchange for this lie I have believed for so long. I believe that you have given me the power over these lies in my head and that I can exercise this power over them every time I pray in Love and acceptance of your love. Protect me God and renew me in your strength of love. Give me a stronger body, mind and soul so I may live our the Greater Purpose you have planned for me.”

I would love to hear from anyone or pray for any one of you that could use some extra prayer!! Please reply to this email with any prayer requests you have, regarding this topic or otherwise!

In Good Faith,

~Mandi

Categories
Health Coaching Spiritual Health

Purging My Past | Moving Beyond The Person I Thought I “Should” Be

Purging My Past

I don’t think I’ve ever felt my body shake as much as it was at that very moment. I was having an ‘out-of-body’ experience to it’s highest degree. I was up on a stage, in front of hundreds of people including my closest friends and family wearing…….gulp…..a bikini about the size of a slice of bread.

How many of you have ever thought you needed to lose weight before you could be happy? How many thought you needed to lose weight before you would find a man to love you? How many have ever thought you needed to be a certain size to represent the woman you think you should be? Have bought certain clothes, styled your hair, and wore certain make-up to fit into that role? Have changed anything about your appearance in order to “dress the part” of the person you thought you should be?

Well, me, up on a stage, in some stripper high heals, wearing a bikini the size of a thumb nail, loaded with tons of make-up and shaking like a leaf in a hurricane is the ultimate version of me trying to “dress the part” of the person I thought I was supposed to be.

To literally set the stage, we need to back-up in time just a bit.

It was about 6-months prior to this moment, I was beginning to experience a significant shift in my life. I decided I was going to pursue my passion of being a nutritionist and personal trainer in addition to my regular full-time job. The opportunity had presented itself at my favorite gym (Bodies by Perseverance in Denver, CO) and it was all clicking into place, the way all good things tend to do. I felt God had led me to that very point and I was nervously anticipating the fun I was going to have seeking a vocation from this passion. I felt strongly that there was a purpose behind this passion.

Along with that feeling of purpose, however, it also evoked a lot of the long held fears of mine including body image issues, insecurities, feeling good enough, smart enough, likable enough…..I mean, enough!

We all deal with body image issues at some point. But it is important to remember that if there is something about your appearance that you would like to change, there are solutions out there to give your confidence a boost.

One of my friends who lives in chicago recently had a mommy makeover after visiting a plastic surgeon and has never felt better. Another friend of mine has recently had a breast augmentation procedure.

Just remember that if you do decide to get plastic surgery, then it is fundamental that you do your research to find a reputable surgeon that you know that you can trust. Not sure where to begin? Why not try doing some research into the best plastic surgeon denver has to offer? Life is all about finding what makes you happy after all.

There are a lot of plastic surgeons out there available for those who are interested in changing their bodies from New York City, NY to Louisville, KY. No matter where you decide to go or what you decide to do remember it’s up to you.

However, as for me, those fears I felt weren’t about IF I was going to move forward (I was committed!), it was more about HOW I was supposed to move forward. Unsure of what path I should take to be “successful.”

Should. It’s just a bad word.

But, instead of waiting and listening, I was off and running! Naturally I am a “DO-er” in life. If I commit to something, I’m ALL-IN and I follow through! Both a great character strength and flaw and you’ll see why.

After seeing dozens of fellow gym-mates, mentors and friends compete in body building competitions I decided that the best way to dive head first into the nutrition field would be to “test my body” on the diets necessary to get ultra lean.

However, not long after I had made my grand announcement and already had my plan in place, I had this nagging in my head. Something, or more accurately, someone, was telling me that I didn’t have to do this show to prove anything. I can still picture exactly where I was when I felt this voice from within. I know now this was the voice of God or what some may call my divine intuition.

The problem was that the FEAR in me shouted louder. As I said, since I’m a person who follows-through, I quite naturally was not about to quit, especially once I made the grand announcement.

Also, I felt enormous self-pressure to look the part of a trainer and nutritionist if I expected anyone to pay for my services. The health and fitness industry very clearly has a “look.” After all, as many clients will remind me, if you don’t look in shape yourself, how are you expected to sell your services? What does that say about your technique? I don’t disagree there.

But that pressure to “look the part” intensifies when you combine it with an already competitive personality and the repetitive FEAR in my head. I didn’t just want to look fit, I wanted to look the fittest. I was determining what “fit” meant by comparing myself to all the other trainers and health enthusiasts out there, which there are thousands of course.

Alas, I entered a bikini competition as a way to really push me to get to where I thought I should to go. It is no small undertaking. In addition to my full-time job, my gym teaching schedule, and my somewhat sad dating and social life, I was working out 2-3 hours per day, 6 days a week. Since my body does not naturally get very lean or lose weight, I had to take some more drastic cuts to certain food groups (ie. carbs) and spent over 5 months in training before I was ready. Going five-months on a strict diet without cheating one time is HARD.

But, I was very driven. I was fueled by this need to prove that I could do it. I was consumed thinking not about the present tense, but about the day of the show and how great I was going to feel in my new body. All the respect and business it would give me!

But that’s ALL I could think about. Forget hearing my intuition at that point. Forget being there for anyone else. I was completely submerged into myself and the show. That was it.

The day of the show, as the other 20 contestants and I all walked off the stage, all of the girls where exhaling and smiling from the nerves and the obvious “rush” of excitement they were feeling.

I was not feeling a rush of excitement. I was feeling morose, sad, lonely, and beyond uncomfortable in my own skin. It wasn’t just because I was literally starving, although that would clearly cause a whole host of negative emotions. No, it was because I thought that this was going to be that peak of greatness, accomplishment and success I had set out to achieve. I finally looked the part!

Instead, I realized that the hill I thought I was climbing was more aptly a hole I was digging. Instead of going higher and higher to my Greater Purpose, I was actually going deeper and deeper away from it.

That is the thing about our Greater Purpose. It is not defined in the ways we think it is defined. We think of ourselves as these soldiers that have to go out and fight for what God wants us to do, but that is not necessarily right. I believe so often, the Good path means that we actually slow down. Listen to Him and check-in with Him. What He might be saying is to do nothing at all. Just BE.

The severe disappointment I felt was not because I didn’t “win” (I was thrilled with 5th place) or because I wasn’t proud of all the work I had done and the courage it took to get up on that stage. I felt all of those things.

No, the disappointment was because I had heard the voice beforehand and I knew better. I knew better than to think this was going to magically prove anything by getting up on that stage. I knew better than to think that by being “skinny” I would be happy! I certainly did not feel skinny at all and I certainly was NOT happy. Let me tell you, backstage at that show, I did not feel skinny. Even at 12% body fat, I felt huge compared to all the other girls there. That was a severe sign that I was not mentally healthy at all!

That was just it. I put so much attention on my outward appearance and “looking healthy” I endured an incredibly unhealthy mind and spirit. I felt horrible about myself and frankly embarrassed. Such that to be completely honest, I have struggled immensely with how to share this story. It causes some significant tinges of guilt for me.

But it must be shared because it is a very valuable part of my story. The lessons I learned from going so far in the WRONG direction were absolutely what I needed at this time.

Let me be very clear, the problem was not that I chose to do a bikini competition. I’m not knocking anyone who has done a competition or intends to do one. I have clients that I take through the process of preparing for a show as long as I know that they are doing it for the right reasons.

The reason WHY you do anything for your body is incredibly important in determining if you can meet a body goal without compromising your mind’s health and your spiritual health.

The problem for me was my WHY. Because my why ultimately came from a place of insecurity. And once you give into that insecurity, that insecurity grows. That’s how FEAR works.

So it meant that this competition and my training superseded everything in my life! It was the only thing I could think about, which meant I was worshiping it more than I was worshiping God. My body had become my idol.

I think most people can see that doing a competition such as this is an extreme exploitation of what it means to be “healthy.” But what if it’s not so obvious and extreme? What it you are compromising your mind and spiritual health in exchange for your body’s health without even knowing it?

There are so many ways that it has become very normal in society worry about our appearance. But the act of “worrying” about fitting-in is the very essence that drives us in FEAR and toward unhealthy goals. While yours might not be as extreme as a body building competition, it could be just as damaging mentally or spiritually. Something very subtle or not-so-subtle things like agonizing over the mirror about your looks; isolating yourself at home because you’re ashamed of how you look; skipping meals or building up eating disorders to cover up guilt; refusing to date until you lose 20lbs; diets, diet pills, and plastic surgery… etc! Our society is taking more and more extreme measures trying to be good enough and we are ignoring our own divine intuition on a daily basis!

By God’s grace, I thankfully came to realize the consequences of not listening to my divine intuition and how far that could take my mind away from a healthy mindset about my health. God took me by my Right hand and helped me navigate my way back to True Health. A journey I am still on and a journey I am called to share with you.

He was always ready for when I was ready.

Today, out of remembrance of this story that I hate to share, and in the interest of continuing to Purge My Past, I did something else that was very good for my mind and soul—I purged the past of my CLOSET!

I realized when looking at ALL the clothes I have, that I often times was shopping for this person that I thought I should be. I was shopping for a body that was not mine. I was also holding onto a lot of clothes that don’t fit me now (a lot of the ones that I was wearing when I was down to 12% body fat). Don’t get me wrong, I loved the fact that I could find Black Friday promotions to lower the cost of clothes, but I wasn’t helping myself.

It struck me today, that while I’m purging this story up and trying to focus on my future walk, it would make sense to also purge ALL the ways I had tried to play the role of someone I wasn’t. As you can see by this massive pile of clothes, there was a lot of old ways of thinking and old versions of me that needed to go! I have never felt more free from the burden of being anything other than ME!

Pile of Clothes

It’s time to move beyond the person I thought I “should” be. It’s time to just be me.

JOURNALING QUESTIONS:

What are some of the ways that you tell yourself you have to play the role of a certain person in order to be happy or to be someone you think you should be?

Is there a feeling of divine intuition regarding your appearance that has been nagging at you but you’ve been ignoring? I encourage you to quiet your mind and heart and listen. Write down whatever you hear and if it comes to you, why you think you feel it? If you don’t know why, I encourage you to sit and wait for a while before you move. More will be revealed.

Find a way to purge your past today! Whether it’s throwing out old clothes, burning up old stories, or cutting ties to places or even people that don’t represent the person you ARE.

REFOCUS: Once you have taken the time to purge the past, I encourage you to then reframe your mind back to the present by focusing back on God’s love for you. You don’t need to live in the past of your regrets. Come back to the presence of God’s love.

“I don‘t have time to maintain these regrets, when I think about the way He Loves Me.”
Oh How He Loves Us, by

In Good Health,

Mandi

Categories
Fitness & Training Food & Nutrition Health Coaching Spiritual Health Uncategorized

“I just want to fit into my skinny jeans” and other ways we fall short


One of my health coaching clients sent me an article she received from her gym in New York City.   Coincidentally, it was also an article about overcoming the urge to quit and she asked me what I thought about it.   A couple days ago,  I debuted my first blog also on ‘not quitting’ (which I purposely chose the positive affirmative of “Tips to Keep Climbing”).  If you didn’t see it,  check it out HERE!

This other article was written with the intention of  helping keep people from already giving up on their New Years resolutions, which as we all know is very common around this time of year!  Just 1-month in the New Year and a large population of people have already forgotten those new habits they were so determined to get right this year!  Like many in the Health and Fitness Community, this gym came up with a very concise and straight forward list of tips:

1. Remember the reason why you started
2. Speak Positive Truths
3. It’s Just A Valley  (ie. don’t quit from the challenge)
4. Play It Loud (get new music)
5. “They” expect you to quit (do it to show others they’re wrong)
6. Look at the ladies (or guys) for motivation
7. Eat Well (don’t cut too many calories)
8. Go To Bed (sleep)
9. Picture the New You (imagine your success)

They are all friendly reminders and with good intention behind it.   I am not bashing the intention of this article at all and on the surface, they are all great tips. 

But that seems to be my biggest issue with the way the Health and Fitness generation is trying to teach health.  Everywhere you look, you are given tip after tip after tip!  Often times, they are contradictory too and more confusing than anything. 

But the reason why I feel I am called to this platform writing and expressing my view of health and why God is calling me not only to write my truth but to also question the truths that I have long been accepting from “experts”.  My whole life I have been trying “harder” to follow ALL the tips at once, and feeling defeated when I couldn’t sustain any of them for very long.    

It wasn’t until I dug deeper into my health in my spirit and my mind that I was finally able to have real impact on my body’s health.  I believe that we as a society need to GO DEEPER in order to invoke any real change in the trajectory of our health both as individuals and as a nation.

We can see all around us that we have a health epidemic on our hands.  Our nation is sick, literally dying from health related causes.  Our kids, our elderly, our poor and our rich–it doesn’t escape anyone.   Our health has everything to do with much more than what’s on the surface too.   Ironically, there have never as many Diet and Fitness Experts in society as there are today too. Thousands of them out there that will give you a thousand different “Tips” on how to lose weight and meet your goals.  And YET, if you look around, all these “experts” aren’t really having any impact. 

To Me, most people will fit into one of three categories:

A. Yo-Yo Dieters— hopping on and off the health bandwagons in an “all or nothing” fashion  

B. Apathetic— that choose not to pursue their health and quit before we even start, seeing that the struggle is not worth the fight  or it’s just “how they’re built.”           

C. Extremists— The Uber fit, overdoing our goals to meet some unrealistic body image that doesn’t actually exist for long-term health. 

As I read the list from the New York City gym, I don’t disagree with any one of the tips.  But I also find the list to be very shallow in motivation and severely lacking in the DEPTH or any real CONVICTION behind it.

For example, if I were the old me and thinking about my New Year’s resolutions of years past, for Tip #1:  Remember the Reason Why You Started?, my answer would have been something like:

“I want to fit into my size 6 skinny jeans so I can feel confident and better about myself!”

And I would log hour after hour at the gym until I reached my goal!  Then, yes, as I slid on those size 6 skinny jeans I would feel really good about myself…….for about a week.  Maybe two. 

Then I would need another “motivation” or new “goal” to keep me going further otherwise I would just go back to drinking and binge eating and soon the skinny jeans wouldn’t fit so well any more. 

That is literally how I lived the majority of my life.  I was a “new goal” junkie, just creating more and more goals to get me “fitter” and “fitter.”  Never having actually felt fit at all.   Making small-time goals and reaching them, only to not feel as great about them as I thought I would.   Most of the time I actually felt disappointed by them!  Something was lacking.  There was no “Joy” in my success.  There was no real success!

The type of True Health and thus True Goals I am talking about are much deeper than this.  To make goals based on FAITH and not FEAR. To use GOD and not GUILT.   Tying our goals to our Greater Purpose makes the reason why we get-up-and-going to be a much deeper and much more life changing.    

My True Health Goals look something like this:

I want to feel loved, fit and good enough no matter what my jean size is.  I want to go to the gym and increase my strength and power so that I know if God calls on me to do something great, I will be physically strong enough to do it.  I want to be a shining example for my kids, my friends and  my family and I want to show them that anything is possible at any age.  And, I know I can do this because I know “I can do all thing through Christ, who gives me strength.” (Phil 4:13)

Doesn’t my WHY resonate SO much deeper to SOULFUL level?  Doesn’t the above goal not just hit what I want for my Body, but also my Mind and my Sprit too?    Doesn’t it sound like the kind of life-changing conviction that will change my whole life and keep me motivated for longer?  Not just help me with some small-time skinny jeans goal for the New Year? 

So what if we turn that list into something with more DEPTH?  Take their great tips and just add some Greater Purpose thinking behind it?    

I think it would look something like this: 

1. Remember why God is calling you to be fit, how does it tie to your Greater Purpose?
2. You are able to speak positive truths because you are perfectly Loved
3. Valley’s are purposeful so you always must rely on God. Embrace the challenge and draw nearer to Him.
4. The Music Lives Within— No matter what beat you hear, the movement will come from within you.  Tap into that beat.
5. “Do Not Judge or You Too Will Be Judged” (Matt 7:1)- Think about ways you can support others in their goals and you will find that they will support you back.
6. Look to your soul for motivation and the men/women will come in the right time.
7. Eat Well to sustain your fuel for your Greater Purpose.
8. Find REAL rest to renew your body, mind and soul.
9. Picture Yourself Living Out your Greater Purpose!

Journal/Thought Provocation: 

What are some of the goals that you have made so far this year?  What are some ways you can re-frame those goals to serve your Greater Purpose?

If you are struggling with knowing what your Greater Purpose is, I invite you to sit and pray about it.  Even if an answer doesn’t come to you immediately, the act of listening will be rewarding for you soon enough.  What God might be telling you is that your Greater Purpose for right now is to do exactly what you are doing, but do it in a way that would bring honor to Him.  Do it with integrity, courage, faith and love.   Their is purpose in everything we do, so do it well and do it for Good.  

In Good Health,

Mandi

Categories
Fitness & Training Spiritual Health Uncategorized

DON’T MISS THE VIEW FROM THE TOP: 5 TIPS TO HELP YOU KEEP CLIMBING!

HikeScaled

I am originally from Colorado and thus I have always loved hiking. So naturally, when my husband and I were taking a road trip from our home in San Diego,CA to Phoenix, AZ, I was all about the Camelback Mountain hike! Now that we’re more experienced, we can go on more challenging routes and we even forage for berries and check on campingfunzone.com to check they’re safe to eat! We have so much fun and spend hours trekking through the area.

We set out on the terrain on busy Tuesday morning. For those that have ever been near Camelback Mountain, or have ever done one of the two trails on the mountain, you’ll know it really doesn’t waste anytime going up! It goes from a flat-ish land to boom….mountain! A thrilling challenge! For anyone looking to start rock climbing in Colorado, it may be worth checking out these colorado rock climbing guides, for example, to learn more about it. This can be a pretty exciting hobby for many people! Plus, who doesn’t love a challenge?

Midway through out trek, we came upon a particularly rocky incline and a woman who was stopped in the middle (see pic). Treks like this often throw some hazardous obstacles our way to overcome; the trick is to be prepared! Having essential equipment like a ham radio for survival can ensure thay you’ll be able to stay in contact with other members of your group should you require thier assistance.

I trudged ahead and my husband followed suit and as I approached her, she asked me, “Have you ever done this hike?” I told her that it was our first time. “Oh I was just wondering if the rest of this hike is going to be as rocky as this part?”

I replied that I honestly didn’t know what to expect, but I made mention to, “Use the rocks in your favor. They are steps that help you keep your balance.” and I moved ahead.

I believe she took my advice and promptly turned around!

The rest of the hike, I was in deep thought, wondering about this woman that gave up on her journey because she was afraid it was going to be too hard.

It got me thinking about how many people do that all the time in their life and on their quests for health.

I believe God has placed a mountain before each of us, and if we accept his path, it’s not just taking us onward, but it’s taking us upward! Just like we are hiking!

As this woman noted- when hiking, you really can’t tell what’s ahead. False peaks and winding paths block your view to the top. So it takes quite a bit of trust, courage and perseverance to keep moving onward and upward.

What I see in our society, is that so many of us quit before we even start the hike, deciding we are not sure about this whole God thing to begin with. Others, think they want to follow in God’s path, but quit before reaching the top as they see the challenges.

In terms of your health, I believe that God calls us all to follow Him in ALL things in our life and that includes our quests for better health. I believe we are all here to serve a Greater Purpose in life, and our health is certainly a factor in whether we can do that to our highest potential or not. Our true health doesn’t mean “skinnier” like society might seem to make it, it means healthier in our body, our mind AND our soul. Healthy in the sight of God. Not healthy in the sight of Man.

Many of us face huge mountains ahead of us as we seek true health. There is a real struggle that we face and many times we quit. Thinking that our body’s health or mindset of health is just not able to face this mountain.

But what we miss by quitting or stopping short is the amazing view from the top. What I would term a fully realized blessing from God. A view that is breathtaking and so beautiful that you don’t even remember any struggle along the way, all you can do is sit in awe of God, thankful that he has blessed you far greater than you could ever imagine.

So as I thought about that woman who quit, and I think about all of you out there on your own quests for health, I wanted to share:

5 TIPS TO HELP YOU KEEP CLIMBING!

1.) REMEMBER, Reaching the top is not a matter of WILLPOWER, but a matter of FAITH

So often in life, when we have a set-back on our path and we think, “Oh, if I just had the willpower to keep going!” If we are wanting to get healthier and lose weight, we think it’s all about having enough WILLPOWER to diet and exercise and stay the course.

But, this is not a willpower issue, this is a FEAR issue. We are afraid of what we don’t know.

Some (like me) think we are motivated by fear:

Oh, I HAVE to workout 2-hours a day so I don’t gain the weight back! I have to obsessively measure all my food and count every carb so I don’t gain body fat!

Others are paralyzed by fear:

I can’t even start the idea of working out, because I’m too afraid I’ll fail and be even more disappointed in myself.

It wrecks havoc on our lives.

For those that are motivated in fear, it might mean that we blindly run up the path as quickly as possible, only to realize in our hurry, we missed the shortcut path that God had laid out for us. For those that are paralyzed by fear, it stops us cold in our tracks rendering us unable to move at all.

The solution is not to willpower yourself out of it, but to simply refocus and reframe your thoughts to that of Faith. Look for the next step of what you CAN do.

Looking up at the top, you think, “Oh God, I can’t make it all the way up there!”

But if you look at the next step ahead of you, you probably CAN make the next step.

In your quest for health, you CAN start by walking every day around your block. You can focus on just feeling better, not performing better. You can just create one healthier habit and focus on implementing that, not everything all at once.

In your quest for health, don’t get too caught up in the mountain you have ahead of you, think about that next step that you CAN do and faithfully take that step. God will show you what step to take. Have Faith in HIM, not just faith in YOU.

2.) REMEMBER, THOSE ROCKS ARE STEPS!

The woman on the trail, thought, “Look at all these rocks on my path! No thank you! It’s far too rocky for me.”

What she didn’t see was that the rocks were there for her not against her.

Romans 8:31 says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Had there been no rocks at all and rather just sand or dirt, the hike would be significantly harder. You would take a step up only the slide back down

The rocks in your journey for health are things like finding time to exercise, finding the right foods to eat, a demanding life, work, kids, stress, relationships etc! Many of us see these rocks as blockades, that are against us.

But really, God uses them STEPS to take you higher. Each rock he has placed there, he has done so for a reason. Take a look at all of the rocks and ask how God might be using this rock as a step?

If the rock in your way is you are struggling with finding time to work out and spend time with your family? Maybe God is trying to tell you to workout with your family. Doing push-up challenges, races, jump rope or just exercises during the commercial break of your favorite TV program. Don’t let the rock let you quit. Find a way to use it as a step.

3.) REMEMBER, YOU ARE ABLE, SO STOP SHOULD-ING ALL OVER YOURSELF!

I will be honest, just as the woman had feared, the hike did get harder at some points and had areas that were a challenge!

But, I can tell you that she could have still finished. I had watched her as we were following her for some time and she was in plenty good shape.

God will not put us on any mountain that we are not able to climb.

1 Corinthians 10:13 “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.”

It doesn’t mean that it won’t be challenging, quite the contrary. But he says he will not allow you to have more than you can handle.

The reason this woman couldn’t see that was because she was should-ing all over herself. She was thinking things like, “I should be in better shape to do this.” Not realizing she was more than able just the way she was.

If you stop thinking in terms of what you should be doing and instead focus on what God has enabled you with, it will keep your focus on that next step.

4.) REMEMBER, COMPARISON IS THE THIEF OF JOY:

Besides being afraid, I’m sure this woman stopped short because she was intimidated by the other hikers on the path. She was self conscious in her ability to “keep up” with the others.

You have some avid hikers can literally RUN that trail. They are advanced. It can be really intimidating for the average person!

But, comparing your journey to theirs, you are robbing yourself of the joy and the view from where you are.

In reality, those that are running up the hike, might be doing more harm than good. Sure, they might look all fit and in good shape, but check back on their knees cartilage in about 5 years! Check-in on them when they thought they had their footing and instead slipped and fell. Just because something looks glamorous in the health and fitness community, doesn’t mean is the smartest thing for a person to do. A lot of times people are doing crazy things from a place of insecurity themselves.

But another view point is that maybe God is surrounding you people for a reason. Maybe the people around you are there to help you and motivate you, not make you self conscious. More than one person on that hike gave me a helping hand to help me up on a steep step. They were there for a reason. But it was up to ME how I viewed them and used them.

See the others around you on your path to health in the same way. Don’t try to “keep up with them” or compare yourself to them. But use them to help you when you need it. What you might find is that you are there to help others too!

5.) REMEMBER, THE FALSE PEAKS ARE GOOD FOR A VIEW, BUT NOT TO STOP:

Often on hikes we think we are reaching the top only to realize that there’s still more to go! It can be such build-up and let down.

Many people take these false peaks as the “good enough” parts of their journey. They think, well this view from here is beautiful and good enough. The next leg of the journey seems like too much of a hassle to get the energy to get there again.

Similarly in our life we think:

“Church on Sundays is enough. I really don’t have enough time to read the bible or to sit a pray.”

“My exercise routine that I’ve been doing for the last 2-years is good enough. If God is asking me to do any more, I’m just not willing to try something new.”

“This one vegetable I like to eat is good enough. I’d rather just stick to the one thing I know then to try something new.”

We get comfortable with mediocrity. We think our effort so far is good “enough”. But by doing so, we are limiting ourselves from our fully realized blessing! We convince ourself this is all that God has to offer and it takes too much sacrifice and won’t be worth the effort.

Don’t get me wrong, the view that you see from the false peak is beautiful. It should be celebrated and viewed as a blessing! But it’s not the place to stop and quit.

The FULLY-REALIZED, 180° view from the top, kind of blessing is going to be far greater than anything you could ever imagine.

The woman that quit early had NO idea how beautiful it was gong to be! She had no idea what blessing was in store for her and the feeling she would feel from such an accomplishment. She could have done it, but she’ll never know.

You have no idea how wonderful the blessing from God is going to be for your life either! But expect something miraculous! If you’re on the trail, just keep going! If you have quit, get back up and try again! It’s ever too late to follow God’s calling and find that view.

CAMELBACK MTN HIKE