My 2012 Theme

Being that you haven't heard from me since before the new year began, I'll have to fill you in on the theme I've designated for myself this year (although I'm positive the Lord had much to do with it). It's going to be DISCIPLINE. That's spiritual discipline I'm talking about. It really began in the fall of last year because of a Bible study I've been going through at church, but I'm finding myself going full force this month as I've begun implementing new habits (and a few old habits that I'd gotten lazy about) into my daily routine that help me spend a lot more time in the Bible throughout the day.

I am so excited about the changes the Lord is making in my heart and my mind because I'm choosing to fill my day with His Word. Today I was thinking it over while I pushed my shopping cart through the grocery store. I realized it feels like I got saved all over again. Now, don't get me wrong. Christians are only born again one time. It's just that there's this fervor that has returned, which I haven't had in quite some time. So I guess what I'm experiencing is revival.

If you had asked me a month ago if I thought I needed to be spiritually revived, I would've told you "no". You see, I have daily devotions. I memorize scripture. I'm faithful at attending church. I pray. I even speak passionately about God's Word and righteous living. Still, I can tell you after looking back, I know there was something missing. I've needed more. I've simply needed to take in more of the Word and meditate on it more, and I've needed a bit of heart stirring, as well. I'm praying that the Holy Spirit will keep fanning that flame.

So if you see a girl out there carrying a big banner over her head that says Got Discipline?, it'll be me. And forgive me if I talk too loudly. I'm like my father in that respect. I get louder when I'm excited.

I Will Not Live On Bread Alone

You may have noticed that I've been writing a lot about my health and weight-loss challenges and achievements during the last few weeks.  To be honest, I think I could have written about it even more than I have, but I just didn't want to bore you with it all.

But here's the thing.  Working at this discipline of nutrition and health is what a good portion of my life consists of right now.  It's one of the big things that God has chosen to work in me at this point in time in a way He hasn't before, and so it's what I'm going to be most apt to talk about.  And it definitely has been about discovering Liz...discovering who I am in Christ, one life lesson at a time.

So in regards to getting fit, I have to share one of the major victories I've gained.  It's all about the b-r-e-a-d.

You see, I love bread and starch and carbs.  I like to sit down with a bag of chips and munch away with nary a care in the world.  The problem is that I know it's detrimental.  I just didn't know how I was going to cut back.

Even so, I have been choosing to eat fewer servings of bread/starch for several weeks.  Do you know what I've learned?  I don't need all that starch.  I'm okay.  I won't die.  In fact, I'm content.

You know, I'm happy about that.  Happy that I'm experiencing change.  Thrilled to know I can do something I didn't think I could do.  Thankful for the Holy Spirit's power at work in me.

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Now We're Getting Somewhere

Do you remember what I do on Saturdays?  Probably not, so I'll refresh your memory.  It's the day I go to my First Place Bible study.  Yeah... that.

So, you know how last week I had to really get myself back on board with the plan of being self-disciplined and choosing with my will to eat good stuff?  Well, that's exactly what I did. 

For the past week I've written down on my fact sheet/food diary all the food I ate, even when I went out to restaurants.  This week I will start counting the actual exchanges and tallying my bread, meat, milk, veggie, fruit and fat servings. 

Uh oh...I forgot about the 8 glasses of water a day.  Hmmm...can I ease into that, too?  I'm really into Vanilla Coke Zero right now, which leaves very little room for water.  I guess I still have a couple kinks to work out with my diet plan. 

On a final note, I'm pleased to report that it made a difference to rein in my appetite last week.  I lost about 1.5 pounds.  Now that's a step in the right direction.

Accountability

I thought it would be good to stay accountable here and let you know I'm still on track with my fitness goal this week.  I spent 25 minutes on the treadmill today, and I've stuck to my food boundaries and water intake.  Things are looking good.

A Small Incentive

I've been trying to lose weight since last November (at least officially), but it hasn't happened very fast.   Obviously, since this is October.  I still have the last 10 pounds to go, which will at least get me into my healthy weight bracket. 

But that little birthday I had?  Kinda got me off track.  I basically started excusing myself from eating well for the rest of the week, and I ended up gaining weight, or so that rotten-good-for-nothing scale told me this morning.  {sigh}

Saturday is gonna come quick, and I'd really like to avoid crying my eyes out when I have to weigh in at First Place.  I decided to kick it into gear and get back to work on this thing.  I've recorded all my foods today, I've already had 8 glasses of water, and I did the treadmill thing this afternoon - 15 minutes of running and 20 minutes of walking.  Would you believe I even got out my weights and did some upper body training?  Oh yes I did!

Since I know I am about as disciplined as a 5 year old, I thought maybe a small incentive might be in order.  I set a goal to exercise Monday through Friday this week, which I have never done before.  If I achieve the aforementioned goal, I will be getting my cute, little self right on over to the mall to buy myself a present.

Are you familiar with Philosophy?  I had heard of it but never experienced it in person, until I was at Sephora this weekend.  Their bath gels, lotions, and lip shines smell out of this world.  I found this Not the Pits Cherry Cola lip shine and started yearning for it.  It smells EXACTLY like cherry cola.  EXACTLY.

I just couldn't justify spending $12 for lip gloss.  I'm just not that hip and trendy and all makeup-y.  Ya know?  But I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I fell madly in love right there in Sephora.

So...

If I keep my exercise commitment, I will be rewarding myself with this fabulous lip shine, even if I don't lose any weight.  (Although, a loss of 2 pounds would just be icing on the cake.)

Uh... maybe I shouldn't use food metaphors. {ahem}

Pressing Forward

I've been wanting to tell you about something, but since I'm not very good at following through on exercise commitments, I decided not to tell anybody about it until I had a few days under my belt.  I am off to a good start, so I guess now is as good a time as any.

I started a new training schedule for my running last week.  I've been reading The Complete Book of Running for Women, and there is a training schedule in it that was taken from Runner's World magazine.  Since I can already walk several laps and can run at short intervals, it looked like something I could jump into.  It's a 30-minute walk/run plan that will eventually get me to a level of 30 minutes of straight running.

I started off the first week with four days of running for 2 minutes and walking for 4 minutes.  I did that five times, which equaled 30 minutes.  I did get some extra walking time in there for warming up and cooling down.  I have been surprised by how quickly my body adapted to it.  Today was my last day at that level.  On Wednesday, I will increase to five sets of 3 minutes running and 3 minutes walking. 

Don't you love it when you are so close to reaching a goal, you can almost taste it?  There was a day when it took every ounce of sweat (and tears) to be able to run for 1 minute.  Just ONE MINUTE.  I walked away depressed and defeated, yet I just kept going out running, setting aside the sports watch for the time-being.  But now a new goal is within my reach, and I can truly see myself completing 3 minutes of running.  The very first time I run for 3 minutes straight will be one of the most exciting achievements in my brief athletic history.  I can't wait! 

Spring Reading Thing 2008

I'm not sure you know this about me, but I love books. Not just the words and information written within their pages, but also the feel of the covers and the smell of the pages. I'm just sort of quirky that way. I would tell you that I love reading, yet it is a discipline and I often start a book only to set it aside somewhere around chapter 3.

I used to read fiction voraciously and loved a trip to the library. I could spend an hour perusing shelves and come home with 7 books that looked interesting, only to read maybe two of them because they turned out to be duds or I just couldn't read fast enough. I admit I do judge a book by its cover.

A few years ago I left fiction behind and started hitting the non-fiction because I saw a need to learn biblical principles. I find that I am much more apt to focus spiritually, if I have a book that keeps reminding me of spiritual truths and helps me chew on them for weeks. Yet I still struggle to stick with this as well, because it really is a discipline to set aside other distractions and sit down to read a chapter.

Being the goal oriented girl that I am, I thought it would motivate me to read more by taking part in the Spring Reading Thing 2008 that is hosted at Callapidder Days, beginning on this first day of spring. It's as simple as making a reading list of books that I would like to read by the end of spring. So here is my reading list:

• War of Words by Paul David Tripp (non-fiction) - in progress


• God Is The Gospel by John Piper (non-fiction) - in progress


• What Jesus Demands of the World by John Piper (non-fiction)


• Vienna Prelude: Zion Covenant #1 by Brock & Bodie Thoene (fiction) - in progress


• Prague Counterpoint: Zion Covenant #2 by Brock & Bodie Thoene (fiction)


• Mozart's Sister by Nancy Moser (fiction)


• Summer of the Midnight Sun: Alaskan Quest #1 by Tracie Peterson (fiction)

Alright. Let's see how far I get on this list.

Discipline and Change

I'm coming off of a tough week, yet it's been good at the same time. It's been filled with surprises, pain, tears, lessons and time spent with friends.

As for the lessons I've been learning, that's where the pain and tears come in. I'm going through some spiritual changes here, and it hurts to be disciplined. There are hours when I believe God is going to make everything right. Then there are moments that everything seems so hard. Moments when I think things will surely fall apart. I can't seem to stay in any one particular place - trust or doubt. I can't even say for sure that my doubt is in God. I think my doubt is more in myself and whether or not I will obey Him. I can be stubborn.

And then there's the question, Why so many lessons at once? Do I really need to be tested in every tender place of my heart? Can't I just have one at a time? I'm feeling it from all sides: in friendships, in weight loss, physical pain, in my marriage, at work, in my church... It feels like the trials are just piled on, one after another. Still, I can't escape the knowlege that God is in control, and He disciplines us for our good. I must come to the conclusion then that if I'm being tested in all these ways right now, God planned it and I am able to bear it.

Reason Enough to Run

It's no secret that I've struggled to embrace my running program. I have whined and complained and skipped out on days I just didn't feel like going, only because I wasn't progressing the way I wanted to or thought I should be. I'm very good at comparing myself to others, which is the number one contributor to discouragement.

I was so ready to quit last Monday, but I came across an article on the internet that changed my mind. It was dealing with self-discipline. I thought hard about this, and I must say I felt that familiar stab of guilt to my heart.

I began to consider that even if I don't lose weight, I still need to learn self-discipline. What is the Christian life about? Daily dying to self. I need to learn to do hard things, just so as to condition myself to be disciplined in other areas. Hey, I'm a pretty disciplined person when it comes to devotional time, but my eating habits are attrocious. This shouldn't be.

I looked up some verses dealing with self-discipline. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 says,

24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Just as I would discipline myself to be godly, I recognize I need to physically discipline my body. I need to push through when I just don't feel like it. Somehow the physical carries over into the spiritual. I think bringing my body into submission is all part of developing godliness.

So as I'm out there running and want to give up because it seems too hard, I will remember that this is a picture of what it is to deny my flesh of all its desires and to live in the Spirit.

And I think that's reason enough to run...

Another Day...Another Run

Ugh! Why is this choice to run so hard? I'm gonna do it today, more out of need than anything. The back of my legs feel tight, so I'm feeling the need to get out there. I know why it's a hard choice...it's DISCIPLINE. Not one of my favorite words. Anyway, I'm gonna do it...today. I'm gonna put on my headphones and hope the music just carries me away.