Goals

"Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination."

-Fitzhugh Dodson

Gotta Love the State Fair!

So yesterday Matt and I went to the State Fair, and of course, we decided to make it our "treat day" so we could eat some good ol' fair food! Well, after taking about 20 minutes to decide what to get(there were so many choices! nachos? cheeseburger? pizza? chicken fingers? hotdog???), I finally chose fried chicken with fries, coleslaw and a FRIED biscuit!

I was starving, and it was absolutely delicious while I was eating it(especially the biscuit!!!), but then of course right after I stuffed my face, I felt pretty bad. Not bad about eating it, but just physically-my stomach was hating me. It's just not used to all that fat and grease! Ugh...I still feel a little queasy this morning. I am NOT having another treat meal for at least a couple of weeks!

Then later I got a pina colada(virgin, of course), since it's pretty much a tradition to get one every year, and it was sooooo good. Mmmmm....I loved it.

So this morning I did a little bit of uphill walking and some sprint intervals to try to work off maybe just tiny bit of all the calories I consumed yesterday, and to try to undo some of the damage of all the TRANS fat on my arteries! Ew, I can't even think about the crap that I put into my body yesterday....gross gross gross. And the pleasure only lasted a few minutes.....

But, I'm sure I'll do the same exact thing next year!

Matthew 7:13-14

13"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

I think this is my favorite bible verse.

It is so easy to go along with the crowd; to do the same things that everyone else is doing. So many people, even people who call themselves CHRISTIANS, are on the path to destruction because they are taking the EASY path!

They are the ones who go to church every Sunday, but in their real life no one even knows that they are a Christian, because they don't act like one! Matthew 7:21 says, "Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in."

It's not enough to just BELIEVE in God. We have to LIVE for him. Everything we do should reflect Him.

The path to LIFE is so much harder. It's hard to take the narrow path! It's hard to stand up for what you believe and not be ashamed. It's hard to be made fun of or criticized for choosing to be different and not do the things that most people do.

It can be hard to live your life for Jesus! But He gave his best for us, so we should give our best to Him.

HOT!

It is HOT!! So far we've gotten lucky this summer with decent weather in the high 70s/low 80s, but now the summer weather is here full force!! But I'm not complainin'!! I ♥ summer!

Well, over the weekend Matt and I went down to my grandparent's place on the Kentucky River for a day. Asher had fun playing in the water-even though it was really muddy! And we went to Buckheads in Indiana on the River-we had a pretty view of Louisville to look at while we ate! But we had people smoking around us, which was not enjoyable. I can tolerate smoking(but still hate it), but Matt canNOT at all. It makes him VERY angry! I wish people that smoked would be a little more considerate! There's a reason why we choose not to smoke!!

Anyway, today I didn't work- so I layed out for a little while this morning... just got finished training legs...and now I need to go to the grocery. Then I'm making some chicken and corn on the cob for dinner-yummy!

You Are What You Eat

When it comes to eating healthy, most people just don’t care. I’ve had people say to me, “well, we’re all going to die one day, so why does it matter? I might as well enjoy my life.” That way of thinking cracks me up. But it’s kind of sad, too, that people don’t care how they treat their body. To me, that is a horrible attitude to have.

Unfortunately, a lot of Americans have that attitude. I don’t know if they just really don’t care about their health, or if they truly don’t understand what eating bad does to your body. I really hope it’s the latter!

So why is unhealthy eating (along with lack of activity) so bad for us? Well, here are a few statistics:

*Unhealthy eating and inactivity contribute to 310,000 to 580,000 deaths each year according to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). That’s 13 times more than are killed by guns and 20 times more than by drug use.
*Unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity are leading causes of disability and loss of independence:
-Diabetes is a leading cause of blindness and amputation.
-Most hip fractures are caused by osteoporosis. 7Of people over age 50 who fracture a hip, 24% die within one year and 25% require long-term care.
-Within 6 years of a recognized heart attack, 22% of men and 46% of women will be disabled with heart failure
*Almost two-thirds (61%) of American adults are seriously overweight or obese.
*Obesity rates in children have doubled over the last two decades—14% of children and 12% of teens are now obese.
*According to the USDA, healthier diets could prevent at least $71 billion per year in medical costs, lost productivity, and lost lives.
(*cspinet.org* )

Eating a diet that is too high in saturated fat, sodium and sugar and too low in fruits, veggies, fiber and whole grains, contributes to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, hypertension, osteoporosis, many cancers, obesity, and even alzheimer’s. These are not things that just happen because we get older-they are a result of our lifestyle!!! It is crazy how common it is today for people to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and heart disease. I see it so often as a personal trainer, and it’s happening even in younger people now.

You may not think about the food choices you are making right now because you don’t see the effects(besides maybe a little extra fat around the waist!), but in 10 to 20 years, you will definitely start to see how your poor eating habits have affected you. You may live to be 90 years old, but what is the quality of those last 10 to 20 years of you life going to be like if you are obese, diabetic, or have heart disease? Not very good!! Your life is really going to be limited. Don’t think it won’t happen to you!

So for the people who say, “We’ve all gotta die sometime”--living a healthy lifestyle is not just about trying to live longer (although it will help that, too), but it’s more about improving your quality of life while you are here-

It’s about feeling and looking better, having more confidence because you look better, getting sick less often, and having more energy and less depression. It’s about being able to carry your own groceries when you get older, and pick up your grandkids, or being able to walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded. It’s about being able to be independent when you’re older, so that you aren’t a burden to your children.

If you don’t care about your health for yourself, at least think about it for you future or current spouse and kids. You owe it to them to take care of yourself.

You may think that you’re “enjoying life” more by eating junk food. But that way of thinking is just laughable. Let me tell you, you have no idea what you’re missing. I used to eat that way, too, and I would never go back!!

You only have one body-take care of it!!!

Rain Rain Rain

It's raining like crazy outside! We're having flood warnings and supposedly there are cars floating and everything!

Asher gets scared everytime it thunders, and comes and sits right beside me. It's so cute. And earlier I found him in our closet!

As long as I don't have to go anywhere, I love these dark, stormy days. I turn on lamps and light candles and it feels so cozy! So I think I'm just going to watch a movie and lounge around all day!

Rain is supposed to continue for a couple of hours, and then there is supposed to be another storm coming in later!

Found some pics of the flooding in downtown Louisville:

"Next time a sunrise steals your breath or a meadow of flowers leave you speechless, remain that way. Say nothing, and listen as Heaven whispers,"Do you like it? I did it just for you."

-Max Lucado

Nothing makes me feel closer to God than being in Nature and enjoying all that He created.....

A Few Weight Loss Myths

1. Skipping meals will help you lose weight. Skipping meals is one of the worst things you can do! It will cause your metabolism to slow down, and you will be so hungry later that you will most likely overeat at your next meal. You should be eating 3 small meals a day with healthy snacks in between. Never go more than 3 hours without eating! By never letting yourself get extremely hungry, you will be less likely to give into the temptation to eat junk food!

2. Extreme weight loss is safe. Severely limiting calories is NOT the way to lose weight. It not only slows down your metabolism, but also breaks down muscle-NOT a good thing! It can also lead to serious health problems, such as kidney stones and liver stress. A healthy weight to lose is one to two pounds a week at most. Lose more than that, and you will almost always gain it back!

3. You must go on a strict diet to lose weight. Severly restricting calories will cause your body to go into starvation mode and will actually store what food you eat as FAT! Because this will cause your metabolism to decrease, you may actually gain weight, not lose it. Instead, choose healthy foods from all food groups, and make sure you are eating every 2 to 3 hours to keep your metabolism elevated.

4. Eating carbs makes you gain weight. It is NOT bad to eat carbohydrates! They are your body's main source of energy, and the only source of energy for your brain. You just have to make sure that you are choosing the right KIND of carbs-complex carbs, such as 100% whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and beans. Avoid sugar, white flour, and processed foods as much as possible!!!! (white rice, white pasta, white bread, etc.)

5.Low intensity exercise is the best for losing weight. Actually, high intensity exercise burns more overall calories than low intensity exercise and in a shorter amount of time! To achieve a higher intensity level in your workout, try adding in some interval training. Try jogging or walking as fast as you can for 30 to 60 seconds, then slow it down and walk for a minute or two. Repeat this for 15 to 20 minutes. It's that simple! Just make sure you are really going as hard as you can during those 30 to 60 seconds of high intensity. Intervals have been shown to keep your metabolism elevated for hours and hours after you have finished exercising, meaning that you will continue to burn calories for the rest of the day!