Unpacking the Need to Be Skinny

The holidays are over, the parties have caught up with us and well, our clothes are a bit, okay, REALLY snug and the image in the mirror isn’t quite where you would like to be. New year, new you, right??? Commence the desire to find a quick fix, something that will get me where I want to be. The dream goal weight, the dream body image you’ve always wanted. 

As women we are constantly striving to look and feel our very best. A constant desire and void that was never meant to be filled by the desires of our flesh. A longing that will never be satisfied, leaving us relying on our own personal works to help fulfill an emptiness that only God can fill with His unrelenting, unconditional, immeasurable love and approval of us. 

What is at the root of that desire?

Why is enough never enough?

What keeps us striving for more?

Can we go back to the garden where the peace of our body image was robbed? (Did I just blow your mind, no coincidence that God had me here in Genesis on January 1, 2020) 

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 

The moment Satan tempted Eve (by food of all things) marks the very beginning of our fleshly fall. 

Genesis 3:4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The evil lie planted from the serpent that relying on God wasn’t enough, the lie that we could somehow become our own gods. 

In that moment, we were robbed from our God given, childlike faith forever. A faith that solely relied on Him for our every single need or desire. 

Satan spewed lies and temptations. 

Eve fell into that temptation, immediately bringing about feelings of guilt and shame the moment she tasted the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

When we take a moment to consider why we search for thin, skinny, and acceptance of others; the root of all of it is fear and lies planted by the enemy himself. We have a choice to believe the lies, water them, and let them take root or treat them like the weeds they are. Uprooting them, never allowing them to hinder Gods beautiful work within us.

Fear of not being accepted for who you are in the present. 

Fear of not being enough. 

Fear of marital betrayal. 

Fear of not looking like or being as thin as someone else. 

Fear of not fitting in.

Fear of never being loved. 

Unpack your baggage, sister!

What are you afraid of?

What lies have taken hold?

Can you control the lies?

Can you control what (insert name) thinks of you?

Can you control that you’ll never be enough in (insert name)’s eyes?

The answer is no!

Take a step back and challenge yourself to control the controllable! 

Let go of constantly trying to measure up. 

Take hold of who you are in Him. 

A masterpiece, fearfully and wonderfully made, formed in your mother’s womb, created for a purpose. 

Once an orphan, a daughter of the King, now adopted for His holy priesthood. 

Isn’t that enough?

What happens when we lay it all down...the lies, the striving, the fear, the insecurity?

What happens when we trust that His ways are better, worthy, purposeful, enough. 

Peace, that’s what you’ll find, sweet sister friend! A childlike, unfailing peace that God intended for us to have before Satan entered the garden. 

Can I invite you to take a hard look at the baggage you carry?

Unpack it bit by bit. 

Challenge it, comb through it, sort it out into piles if you have to.

What’s the driving force behind the striving?

Will you allow God to be the only god in your life? Will you allow Him to mend those broken pieces and put them back together His way once and for all?

Sister friend, we weren't made to loathe the image in the mirror, strive for anything other than who He sees us to be.

Bless and release, lean in.

You are LOVED!

The Adventures of Tough Mudder Kentucky

Would you think we were totally cray-cray if I told you that Tim and I looked at each other at mile 9 and both agreed that we weren't ready for it to end? LOL! Yeah, that happened!!! I am going to recap our 10 mile adventure!!! It was a physical and mental TEST of endurance but it was soooo worth it and I would totally do it again tomorrow! Or today if I could! ;)

So the first not so cool obstacle was the "Birth Canal!"

Weird right! I know what your thinking, this is an obstacle??? Yes, yes it is! I know now why babies take so long to enter this world, or at least I think I do! Oh my! That was a tight squeeze! Luckily the water in this obstacle was not red, it was clear! I was a little freaked out about this pic!

We endured a couple of wall climbs and then we were on to the "Arctic Enema!" My LEAST favorite obstacle last year! Last year I jumped into the ice and water filled dumpster and took a huge shocking breath in through my nose and my mouth! Yes, I choked on nasty muddy water! Here is a picture of the bad boy!!!

This year they added a chain link fence and you needed to slide into the dumpster! Nice!!! I slid in with my breath held and my nose plugged.  When I came up I wasn't sure where I was and didn't know if the fence was still above me! I lifted my hands in the air to see if I was clear and I was! Thank goodness!!! Next I needed to jump over a wall in the dumpster! 

Last year we had to swim under the wall! Thankful that changed and also thankful that this obstacle was at the beginning of our race!

Our next crazy obstacle was the "King of Swingers!" Insane!!! So you climb up onto a platform where you walk the plank, jump to catch a set of handle bars, those handle bars swing you over to a bell where you are to hit it so it rings, and then you let go and fall into the water below!

I stood on that platform for 10 minutes! Walking out to the plank, looking down and seeing how far the fall was and chickening out, then going back and forth.  At one point, I look over and there is a guy on the side with his head gushing blood.  I felt like I was going to vomit! By this time Tim (my husband) had gone twice.  The third time he came up and told me I was going, I would regret it if I didn't (I already knew this in the back of my mind)! So we walked out to the plank together, side by side, I closed my eyes, opened them and focused on the handle bars, and I JUMPED!!! I caught them!  Wahoo!!! I did it!!! And Tim was right, I was sooooo glad I did!!!

Next up, "The Funky Monkey 2.0!!!" Ugh!!! I have a love/hate relationship with this obstacle! 

In this one you climb the monkey bars to the middle, grab handle bars that swing you over to the pipe and make your way across the pipe to the platform on the other side!

Again, I had cold feet! I stood there and went back and forth for what seemed like forever! The volunteer next to me told me to "Do it for (her) because I can't!" Ok, you've got it sister!!! So I was easily able to get myself up to the center, I reached for the swing, swung across and grabbed the pole with TWO stinking fingers!!! I tried to adjust so that I could get a better grip.  NOTHING!!! I reached with my right hand to go for the pipe and fell.  Disappointed??? YES, but I got further than I did last year so I was still very proud of myself! I still wish I had gone back and attempted again!

Then the "Hold Your Wood" obstacle! Funny right?!?! 

Tim and I had to carry a log about 50 yards! At that point we were to put the log through a hole in a wall without actually touching the wall.  Then we were to walk another 50 yards and toss the log over a wall and climb over that wall.  After that we were to carry the log another 50 yards.  Let's just say this was the most physically demanding obstacle.  Most teams had 3-4 MEN, Tim and I had each other! Tim was pretty impressed that I was able to hang!!! BEAST MODE!!!

As a legionnaire (a 2 time Mudder or more) we had the opportunity to do a legionnaire ONLY obstacle! That obstacle..."Dead Ringer!" Straight out of American Ninja Warrior!  

After completing this obstacle we had the option of heading to the finish line or going back for Electroshock Therapy! Can you guess what Tim demanded we do??? HA!!! Boy did he regret it!!!  He insisted we head back to "Electroshock Therapy!" 

This year's obstacle, MUCH WORSE than last year's!!! The shocks were stronger and there were more of them!  So Tim's bright idea....not such a good one!!! I ran through the obstacle getting shocked so many times I lost count.  Tim on the other hand got shocked in the jugular and man went down.  You know those funny YouTube videos of this obstacle with the man bobbing up and down with his face going in the mud multiple times??? Yeah, that was Tim!!! HA!!! All I could do was stand there and laugh at him! Probably not funny, right???

Once we finished the "Electroshock Thereapy," we were finished! We finished around the same time as we did last year 2 hours 38 minutes! Looking forward to our next Mudder! Hoping to complete one this Fall but FIRST on to the Spartan at the end of August!!! 

I am so very thankful for my husband and how he entertains my adventurous side! I thanked him all throughout the race for supporting my crazy ideas!!! This is the stuff that brings us closer together!!!

Change Begins With a Decision That You Are Not Going to Stay Where You Are!!!

In April of 2013, my husband Tim and I made a decision that we no longer wanted to be tired and lazy! We decided that the numbers on the scale were unacceptable, that life was passing us by and we were too busy stuffing our faces with unhealthy food and sitting on the couch to realize it! So we decided that we were going to change!  In April of 2013, we were introduced to Beachbody, TurboFire, and Chalene Johnson!!! Together, my husband and I powered through 90 days of TurboFire! While we didn't change our diet, we did see some pounds melt away!

In July of 2013, we decided we were ready for a challenge so we decided to begin Insanity! At this point we weren't seeing the scale move all that much so we began to count calories!!! Whoa!!! You never know just how much you are eating until you sit down and figure out exactly what you are putting in your mouth.  A bit of mac and cheese here, a chicken nugget there, eating my kids leftovers, and then sitting down and eating my own portion! Before I knew it, I was well on my way to a 2,500-3,000 calorie diet a day! Insane right! Something needed to change! So we began to cut calories! Insanity was rough! We weren't able to complete every exercise at first but as the weeks progressed so did our endurance! We were finally seeing progress! 

Tim's before and after pics were amazing! However, we were determined and we weren't going to stop there! Asylum was our next Beachbody program of choice! It was a step above Insanity and was quite a bit more challenging! Every time we began a new program we were humbled by what we could and could not do! Asylum is for athletes and we were striving to be athletes!!! 

In September we decided to look into clean eating! It was overwhelming and daunting! I didn't know where to begin! I researched information on the internet, found recipes, and slowly we began to cut out the sugar and processed junk!  It was definitely a slow process, not something we did overnight! I loved my greek yogurt, you know the ones with fruit in it? It was hard for me to give that up so I slowly moved from greek yogurt with fruit, to vanilla greek yogurt with granola, to plain yogurt with fruit! Definitely a process! Cold turkey is tough!!!  

Here are our results from the Asylum....

By the time December rolled around friends around me were asking what I was doing! I was helping others change their lives! It was empowering!!! I then decided that I would like to become a Beachbody coach!!! Changing lives is actually a job!!! I had found my calling!!!  

In March, the 21 Day Fix came out! Another challenge!!! A challenge that would test both our physical and mental capacity!!! Workouts, portion control, and clean eating!!! It was a perfect combo! Check out these results....

Together my husband and I lost a total of 130 pounds!!! People began to call me "skinny!!!" That was a word I had NEVER been called EVER!!! 

This whole lifestyle change has not only made us feel better on the outside, it has grown us on the inside exponentially more!!! My husband's business is thriving, our spiritual life has NEVER been better, our marriage is amazing, our relationships with our children has grown, we have learned how to live the life that God has intended for us all along!!! 

When will you decided to make a lifestyle change? When will you begin to live the life God has intended for you??? Why not you??? Why not now???

Where Does God Fit Into a Fit Lifestyle???

Sometimes I forget that when I crave bad things all I need to do is pray for God to either take that temptation away or distract me from those temptations! I forget that God is in the business of helping people through trials and tribulations no matter how big or small! Are you guilty of this as well? Sometimes I think to myself, "He has miracles to work and I am not sure this is one of them!"

Truth is, God wants you to ask for help! He wants you to know that He has POWER over everything big or small! I may think that my portion control issues are too ridiculous for God to intervene but in reality their not!

Lean on Him and have faith that He will see you through!

I am beginning a new challenge group focused souly (LOL! Play on words) on leaning on God for help when it comes to your health and fitness goals! We will read Lisa TerKeurst's book, "Made to Crave: Satisfying your deepest desire with God Not Food." God is sovereign over EVERYTHING and He wants to help you live a happy, healthy lifestyle!

Interested in joining my select group of women? Just add your info into the "Let's Talk" section on this page and I will get back with you!  Can't wait to see what God has in store for you!!!

Day 1 of the 21 Day Fix Extreme...Review!

My husband and I have taken the 21 Day Fix Extreme challenge! We soooo need this! After months of working our tails off during the week and indulging on the weekends we have just been throwing our results out the window! We have taken a new vow to break our bad habits and what a better way to do so than to do the 21 Day Fix Extreme??? Let's do this! I want to share with you a day in the life of the 21 Day Fix Extreme meal plan.  For breakfast we had our Shakeology! I use vegan chocolate Shakeology, a drop of peppermint oil, 4-5 ice cubes and 12 ounces of water! Blend away in my Ninja and voila...peppermint pattie Shakeology! Yep, this is a pic of our Shakeo in a kids cup! hehehe!

My mid morning snack was my favorite! An apple cored with 2 teaspoons of all natural almond butter! Delish!

Let's talk lunch!!! Oh yummy!!! 4 egg whites, 1 whole egg, quinoa, spinach, bella mushrooms, and hot sauce! 

My afternoon snack is my daily treat! Plain greek nonfat yogurt with berries, grapes, and cinnamon! 

Last but definitely not least DINNER!!! I made a zucchini shrimp scampi! I added EVOO sautéed julienned zucchini and garlic.  Took the zucchini out of the pan and added the shrimp and sautéed them as well!  I used Mrs. Dash for seasoning!  So delish! We also had a side of roasted sweet potatoes topped with cinnamon! 

I am a foodie! Yes, an addict really! This meal plan is soooo very doable! I was full and content throughout the day!  Definitely a great program for anyone to follow!