Yesterday I called us to think about the truth that we should not be careless with what we cannot replace. Specifically I mentioned God's image and God creation. We cannot replace God's image which is in us. We need to care for our bodies by what we put in them and how active our bodies are. We also cannot replace the earth, God's creation. By recycling, reducing our use of energy and our waste and by reusing anything we can we are helping to care for the earth.
So I want to challenge everyone to be more mindful of how we can be the best caregivers of our planet that we can. Continue to strive to be conscience of how you treat this planet. I am not sure if there is an easy way to measure this improvement among us, but we can strive to do better.
I do think we can measure our care for our bodies. Two measurements come to mind. The first is how many minutes a day we schedule for activity. I am not completely concerned with what activity that is, but just be sure to have some time you are moving about. I am making a commitment to at least 30 minutes of activity at least 5 days a week. If you want to join me in this commitment be sure to let me know and we can encourage one another.
The second measurement is in pounds. I am currently around 195 pounds. I do not think I am dangerously overweight, but I do have some extra pounds. The Body Mass Index (BMI) says the top of my normal weight range is around 170, but I think that is a bit low for me. My goal is to lose between 10-15 pounds by Thanksgiving. I have never tried to lose weight before, so this will be interesting. With my activity I committed to above I will attempt to cut back my calorie intake and see what happens. If anyone wants to join me in this challenge let me know as well. It would be wonderful if many people in our church decide to take off a few pounds to get our image of God in better shape.
I am sure this will not be easy, but if we can make this commitment and be determined to see it through I believe God will have great things in store for us. Join me in this challenge.
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My attempt to connect each day with God and his people.
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About Me
- Pastor James
- I am married to the beautiful and talented Helen. We have two wonderful children that keep us on our toes. Together we pastor St. Paul's UMC in Williamsburg, Iowa, a congregation that is growing and following God's great adventure.
10 comments:
My goal is to lose 37lbs by Helen's birthday (April 13th). Her and I are working out 5 days a week for about 45 minutes.
Now this is exciting! How about some tips?!!! I'll share mine and you all share yours ok?
Tip #1:
WATER, WATER, WATER! Take your weight and divide it by 2 equals how many ounces of water your body REQUIRES! Any less and your body will rob it from your joints, organs, muscles, anywhere there is water. A good book to read is The Seven Pillars of Health by Dr. Don Colbert.
Tip #2:
WRITE IT DOWN! Everything you put in our mouth (including liquids) write it down in a notebook. You will be surprised at how good/bad you are. Yes, I was a Weight Watcher member (who fell off the wagon and had more babies which isn't easy on us women and our figures).
Tip #3:
5 FOOD GROUPS! Sugar is not a food group as I found out... :-( I TRY (doesn't always happen obviously! LOL!) and stick to the food pyramind. This site is AMAZING! www.pyramid.gov
Tip #4:
EXERCISE! Cardio is important and so is building muscles. After all muscle burns fat! This is a good site www.fitnessmagazine.com
Tip #5:
SLEEP! Most of us our running with a half charged battery. Does your car work okay like that? Neither do we!
Tip #6:
SHOPPING THE PERIMETER! I healthy way to shop is to mostly shop the perimeter of the store. It's the freshiest and healthiest stuff! There are SOME items we buy in the aisles but most of that stuff has perservatives and bad stuff in it.
I have MANY MANY more tips but I have to get back to work... If anyone is up for a recipe exchange on healthy recipes let me know!!!
Any advice I missed?
Jamie
Make it a rainbow! If we all ate a white/yellow plate of food we would all be very unhealthy. White and yellow foods are starchy foods that turn into sugar. Some have good nutritional value like carrots (good for your vision). You just have to balance it out. Susanna thinks I'm nuts for always serving two veggies at dinner time. I have three reasons for that. #1, I don't know if my children are actually eating their veggies at school and we are suppose to eat at least 3 veggies a day. #2, it helps make my plate colorful. #3, I REALLY REALLY like vegetables! Thanks Mom!
Another tip is to eat off a child size plate! It tricks your mind into thinking your plate is really full and really that's all the more food your stomach needs in one sitting.
One more... FIBER! I will leave it at that! LOL!
Come on guys! This is a subject I LOVE to research I have just needed encouragement to put the knowledge to work! I read that our bodies are our temples and well, I'm not happy with that thought. I would rather worship in Jennifer Garner's temple, you know what I mean?!!! LOL!
Jamie,
Thanks for great advise and all of the excitement. I guess everyone in our church should you know are one to check with for ideas about getting our "temples" healthy.
Have you heard much about eating more smaller meals instead of 3 big ones? I don't know if that is a weight loss thing or not.
Glad you are up to this challenge.
James
Three big meals is not good for the body! You should make your three meals smaller and eat snacks inbetween your meals. This keeps your body from starving between meals and will increase your metabolism. It's not that your body is actually starving but it thinks it is so the body will take the food that you eat and store it as fat so then when there is a long stretch between meals it can use it for energy but most people have more to eat before any of that stored fat is used up. If you eat in the small portions it trains your body that it has energy as food and the body doesn't store fat. Also watch calories you would be suprised even with small portions how many calories can be in that small portion. My doctor told me to go to 1600 cals aday until I reach 160 lbs and then reach that goal and go to 1450 cals aday util I reach 145 lbs. and then 1250 cals a day until I reach 125 lbs but I have alot of weight to lose so this wouldn't work for everyone!
I am up for a 30 minutes for 30-day challenge. I have been steadily trying to eat better and increasingly appreicate God's gift of health since April, but my excercise can be improved.
Good luck to everyone.
Okay, so far two takers on my challenge. Hopefully we can get a few more. Let's change our lives for the better for God's glory.
I am totally up for the challenge!! I have been working on it since school started and I am already seeing the benefits from exercise. I have never really struggled with my weight but I have noticed a few added pounds since I am getting very close to 40!
Health/Sleep is the struggle for me. Not only have I been sleeping much better at night but I also feel better in general. I have been walking with Danene almost every day since the first day of school for about 45 minutes at a time. We have even added a walk/run routine which gives us a little more of a challenge and is very good for weight loss. Interval exercise is great for your heart and weight loss. It burns the most calories.
My advise for staying commited is to exorcise with a buddy. It keeps you accountable and is much harder to slack off. We pre-plan our walks which makes it too much of a pain to cancel. We also weigh ourselves once a week to give us a little extra encouragement!
If you are going to be doing an exorcise such as walking, invest in some appropriate shoes. I was walking in a pair I have had for years and it was painful. I had blisters and shin splints so bad that I was thinking about giving up. A good pair of walking shoes solved that problem and I have felt great ever since!
Kerry
By the way...I have been exERcising, not exORcising...oops!
Great Kerry! We can exorcise the demons of laziness and poor health with our exercising. Keep it up.
I lost 2lbs this week!!! Yeah me!!! Only 35lbs to go!
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