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Thursday, June 9, 2011

Do Something!

Emphasis on something.

Today is our first Healthy Thursday and while I intend to eventually give work out suggestions and nutrition advice I've picked up from years of athletic torture playing competitive sports, today is very simple. I think the first and most important part of living a healthy lifestyle is a commitment to do something.

All too often, a person makes the decision to start working out regularly and somewhere falls off the wagon. You've seen it. And judging by statistics, you've probably done it! You determine your plan and what you want to do each morning or night. You buy the clothes for it and any accompanying videos or literature necessary. You get the water bottles, sweat bands and iPod accessories needed. You're all set! And then...well, life happens.

You come home from an awful day at work and can't possibly think about any thing but vegging out on the couch, staring off at the TV while giving your mind a break. We've so all been there. Or, the kids were overly unruly all day long and you finally get them in bed and can't think of anything that sounds better than a bubble bath and an overly full glass of wine an early night's sleep.

My charge to you is to do something. Even on those days. Do something! You won't believe how much better you'll feel both for accomplishing something you set out to do, and for the biological fact that your body releases endorphins during exercise that help you relieve stress!

We will talk about setting personal goals that are relative to you and your current state next week, but let your first goal be to do something every day/night.

I define something, for our purposes here, as anything that elevates the heart rate to a level that is beyond your resting level, or anything that causes a muscle to burn.

My husband and I are committed to doing something every day. Most days, our something looks like this:
- He picks up our son and gets home before me. He changes his clothes and gets water for us and our son
- I get home shortly thereafter and immediately change clothes
- We jog around the neighborhood to one of the parks in the area and let our son play while we throw a frisbee or play catch
- We walk home and I cook dinner and proceed with bath, bed time, and Mommy/Daddy time

However, sometimes, my something looks like:
- doing crunches during my favorite TV show
- doing lunges during the commercials of a baseball game we're watching
- lifting my son repeatedly, intentionally, until my arms burn...putting him down...and repeating it
- going for an after dinner walk because something kept us from jogging before dinner and we don't want to barf think walking would be wiser
- lunging and squatting in the bathroom at work (I can't believe I just owned up to doing that...)(shows how much I care and want you all to find a way to fit something in!)

I think this is such an important step because this is where it becomes part of your lifestyle. It's not a crash diet or a New Year's resolution. It's what you do. Just like you don't go to bed before brushing your teeth, try not to go to bed before you've done something. I can't count the nights that I've done crunches by the side of the bed because I realized I'd let the day get away without doing anything that raised my heart rate or made my muscles burn. I've even laid in the bed with my legs slightly off the mattress for a minute at a time to get some ab burn in before we turned out the lights.

The possibilities are endless. Make it part of your life to do something and you will begin to see it become part of who you are. And taking care of the body God gave us is one of the ways we can honor him. Try to see this as an act of worship and not the pursuit of a body the world tells you you should want. It's a lot more fulfilling and God-glorifying that way.

Everyone can do something.

What will you do today?

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