This has been a long week. Back to getting up at five. That's actually about the only thing I went back to this week. I didn't go back to eating the same way I've been eating. I didn't go back to not exercising consistently. I didn't go back to Worn. They weren't really new year's resolutions. It just happened that I got fed up with how my mind and body were feeling at about the time the 1st day of 2013 got here.
So I'm pressing in and pressing on.
I bought three new books on my kindle. I am about a third of the way through If God is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil by Randy Alcorn. Excellent. Challenging. A Need-to-Read. I purchased It Starts With Food by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig and have read the first four chapters and used several recipes already. I also purchased A Long Obedience In The Same Direction: Discipleship In An Instant Society by Eugene Peterson. I haven't begun that one yet, but I'd like to ask the ladies at church if they'd like to go through this book with me sometime in the near future.
I started teaching the second grade Sunday School class at church. I take it as a great privilege and responsibility teaching God's word to children. I intend this to be my focus as a seed-planter in God's Kingdom for the year ahead. But I would still love to get together with the women of Pathway and I think (just by looking through it) that the book by Eugene Peterson might serve as a good way to do that.
Today was the 10th day of this Whole30 Challenge that I've embarked on, with hopes of feeling better and stronger... being healthier. Basically its eat as much vegetables, meat, eggs and fruit as you want. No grains. No dairy. No sugar. No artificial anything. Nothing in a shiny package or box (except Lara bars which I have discovered is God's candy bar- made of dates, cashews and coconut flakes). The first three days without sugar I felt like I had a bowling ball the weight of Texas for a head, but now I feel just fine. I mean, I wouldn't say a miracle has occurred in 10 days or that I'm full of energy and strong as an ox, but I would say I can definitely see a good difference. No bloated belly. No somebody-just-unplugged-my-energy-source-and-I-have-to-lay-down-and-close-my-eyes-right-now-at-4pm. No cravings (which surprises me). I think it's all the good food I have been eating that is keeping the craving for the sweets I haven't been eating at bay. If I was subsisting on chicken breasts and carrot sticks I'm sure I'd be massively craving.
I've found some really yummy recipes and made up some pretty tasty ones of my own. You definitely can't eat this fresh and well without good planning, especially while working full time. There's no room for, "I'm in a rush I'll swing by Chik-Fil-A." If I've craved anything, its been chocolate, cream and sugar in my coffee, and Chik-Fil-A nuggets, fries and lemonade.
I guess the 30 days is just a time period to form a new habit and sort-of a time to "reset" your body's diet.
I'll post recipes and pics later.
I went back to the gym this week because I need to. I'm not a Crossfitter. I'm not a competitive athlete... I'm not even an athlete. I exercise for the same reason I brush my teeth. And if I don't go to the gym I'll find something else to fill the time and before I know it I haven't exercised in a month. I don't know if it's all in my head or if this Whole30 diet is having an actual effect, but I did 6 sets of 10 repetitions of strict push ups without having to go to my knees this week. Last month, when I did push ups last, I couldn't do more than 5 strict push ups without going to my knees.
But, it's only been a week. Now to press on for a disciplined life. I tend to start things with gusto, with sprints, and give-up after the first mile. Consistency is not my strength. God has been forming long-suffering in me. Patience. Endurance. He seems to be calling me to press forward. His call is not to sprint, but for a long-obedience in the same direction.
Quieted,
Sheila
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