Heartbreak and Fear

I generally shy away from writing about topics such as those that are currently plastered all over the media this week. But then I realized, people are hurting, people are searching, that doesn't seem like the time to stay silent. As a Christian my heart is breaking. As a mom, I find myself somewhat fearful.

I don't know if you've kept up with the headlines or watched the videos. If you have, I would imagine your heart breaks too.

My heart breaks not only over the headline events of the past week, but over the untold stories that don't get attention. Many of the stories this past week centered on racism. Racism comes from fear and misinformation and is very alive and well today no matter how much we try to ignore it. There are prejudices of all types alive and well today. But this isn't what is at the center of these and other events. Evil is. Evil comes in so many forms, perceived hatred for the color of ones skin just happens to be the one gaining attention at the moment.

As Christians we can't take sides with people groups. The only side we can stand on is God's side. We must love and pray for the salvation of all people. And mourn those who may never get the chance. We must boldly be sharing the gospel with all people, we can't count anyone out because of their past, their skin color, their occupation, their religion, their gender or sexual orientation. The Gospel changes everything. It is the only hope.

We cannot go on expecting change when we are doing nothing to bring about change. We can't keep the Gospel to ourselves and wonder why things seem to only be getting worse. We cannot expect peace and love from those who do not know the Prince of Peace, the Author of Life and Love. We must step up and care for the orphans and widows left behind regardless if it happened by a health crisis, car accident, gang violence, drugs, shooting, or suicide. We must pray for a 4 year old who sat in a car and watched as a man gets shot and bleeds to death while no one helped. We must pray for families who get calls every day that their loved one is not coming home because of evil. We must pray for a generation of youth being brought up thinking that all of the evils of the world, and there are many, are the norm. We must sense the urgency that these tensions bring.

Our hearts must break for what breaks the Lord's heart. Evil, hatred and rebellion break the Lord's heart. Disobedience of Christians to rise up and care for our communities also break the Lord's heart.

But we also can't live in fear. People whose skin is dark can't fear evil people who wish them harm just because. Women can't fear being preyed on just for being a woman. Police officers (and many other professions) can't fear going to work to serve our communities because they never know what's waiting for them that day.  Christians can't fear sharing the Gospel here or in other parts of the world. These are all part of who we are, who God has made us to be. And God tells us not fear. He tells us there will be evil in the world and we cannot fear it because he is in control. We must remain close to God now and all of the time. We must seek ways to share His love and heal our communities through our local churches. We must become a refuge for those who are hurting from all kinds of evils.

I'm not claiming to have all of, or for that matter, any answers, other than God. God is the only one who can heal. I don't know where we go from here except prayer. I pray for the tension in America right now that keeps escalating because of fear. I pray for peace in my heart as I raise a 16 year old boy with dark skin who is sometimes judged based on just that. Who aside from that, is a teenager and is easily swayed by peers, the media and celebrities who make bold statements about what is right and wrong because often Christians aren't speaking as boldly into teenagers lives as everyone else is. I pray for all of the police officers I know and their families who do fear the tension happening right now, that they would find peace as they seek to serve and protect our communities. I pray for our nation as we head into elections and the turmoil surrounding that. I pray for Christian leaders on the international, national and local level as they are looked up to for answers about how to deal with all of the evils of the world. I pray for the courage of all Christians (myself included) to look around and see what needs aren't being met in their own communities and neighborhoods. Moms that need help putting food on the table, kids that need school supplies, a ride to church or even socks or underwear, dads that need jobs, families that need hope, people who need a friend, anyone who needs Jesus.

We can't live in fear.
We can't be paralyzed in our heartbreak.
We can't stay silent.
We can't take sides.
We can share the Gospel.
We can pray for change.

Do You Want to be Beautiful?

Ladies, think back to when you were young and how you defined beautiful. Did you possibly watch as a sister, mom or maybe even grandmother put makeup on and did her hair? Did you admire her sense of style? Did you hope to grow up and be just like her? Maybe there was a celebrity that you admired and tried to mimic her style. But I bet if I asked you then you would have said they were beautiful and you wanted to be just like them.

If I asked you today if you want to be beautiful, what would you say? How do you define that now? Is there still a celebrity you admire, or do you still think back to your younger days and who you admired as beautiful then?

Today young girls have not only their moms, sisters or other family members to look up to, they have YouTube. They can find hundreds of thousands of videos in seconds that can teach them how to be beautiful. Unfortunately, lost in all of this is the true meaning of beauty and we are failing this younger generation. We are allowing them to be deceived into thinking perfection, or at least the appearance of, is beautiful. And they aren't the only ones being deceived, every generation is falling into this trap. We are believing that lipstick, eyeliner, a perfect complexion, trendy clothes or a chiseled body are the definition of beautiful.

Just take a look at our Facebook and Instagram feeds, you will see lots of people portraying their perfect, "beautiful" lives. And the young eyes are watching. Scratch that, all of the eyes are watching. We are often setting our goals based on our perceptions of other peoples lives. Forgetting the time and effort it to took for many people to reach their goals.

I've been reading in Ecclesiastes this week and this verse stuck with me:

True beauty comes from a mature faith in Jesus Christ. We will never find it in our makeup, the clothes we wear, our complexion, or a chiseled body. God does not judge our character or beauty on these things. But God will make you beautiful.

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30

"But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.' " 1 Samuel 16:7

As a matter of fact if we let these thing become idols in our lives they become the opposite of beautiful.

Here is where I think we are failing. We aren't sharing this with others. We aren't having conversations and building those relationships with the younger generation or other women around us. We aren't sharing our struggles and asking them about theirs. We aren't encouraging them to seek the Lord to find their worth.

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded of you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20

We are called to disciple. We are called to bring out the beauty in others. We are called to walk in obedience beside them and share our insecurities and how God is using those things too. Encouraging them to embrace their own. We do not have to share of all of our struggles and temptations on social media, but we need to make sure we are being real. And we need to make sure that we have genuine relationships where we can share those struggles, where we intentionally tell people what's going on. Where we pour into the younger generation about the reality of growing up and becoming beautiful in Christ.

So let me ask you again, do you want to be beautiful? If you do let me give you a 4 step guide on how to do it.

1. Pray
Pray day and night, have constant conversation with God. Give him all of your insecurities over and over. There is no decision, temptation, or idea too big or too small to bring to him.

2. Read your Bible.
This is how we get to know our Father- through reading His Word. We cannot share Him if we don't know Him.

3. Take care of yourself.
Eat healthy food to fuel your body. Move more. This keeps your mind and body functioning and ready to serve Him.

4. Share
Our lives should not be meaningless but a reflection of Christ. Christ is beautiful. When we reflect Christ, when we share about Christ, our true beauty is going to shine through. Share about whom your beauty comes from.

No physical flaw (by our definition) can steal true beauty. You are beautiful in the Lord's eyes.  Take refuge in that today. Find someone to share your beauty with. Be truly beautiful to the eyes that are watching. Be someone our daughters, sisters, nieces and other young people desire to grow up be just like, not based on our outward appearance, but based on our Christ-like appearance.


Find me on Facebook: Facebook.com/faithmeetsfitness

Summer Plans

With my job comes six weeks off each summer. It's not paid time off, but it's a nice break to catch up and refresh, get some projects done, and work towards some goals. And, while getting paid is preferred, haha, time is pretty valuable too and I choose to enjoy every moment.

My time off is what lead to the 21 Day Fix bootcamp idea. However I ended up getting one full round in before I began my break (See here for results... CLICK ME!). I do have other plans for my time off that don't include working out though.

(In no particular order)
#1: Clean and organize! Getting this done early will help the rest of the time, projects and goals go smoother.

#2 Make a business plan for Beachbody. I struggled in the beginning treating Beachbody as a business but I working to embrace it now. I began this blog before becoming a Beachbody coach, I began my journey before becoming a Beachbody coach and I would continue it all with or without Beachbody. However Beachbody gives me some awesome tools to help people who are ready to make a change and don't know where to start. I will gladly help anyone, but having nutrition plans and workouts that work all laid out is pretty awesome. All of the messages from people who want to make changes and who are making changes are so rewarding! I don't think I ever connected the dots that I could make make a business by doing something I'm so passionate about- something I would do anyway. I had the same problem when I decorated cakes. Do you know how much time can go into one cake? And I just wanted to give them away because it was fun. Well, this is the same thing.

But I digress...

So a business plan with some goals and a schedule to help me meet those goals. (Yes, I'm type A) I want to get things ready so I can get some people to join my team of coaches. Everything is more fun when you have friends to share success with!

#3 Spend time with my baby sister. She lives so close now, but we have such opposite schedules. We are either road tripping or I am just going to crash her place a few days.
And my other sister? I'd like to see her too- and it would be ok if it was in her pool ;)

#4 Coffee! Lots of coffee with friends and family. I have a niece who has been anxiously awaiting a few coffee dates this summer.

#5 Prep for a new small group! Well, it's an old group with a new twist if you will. I am really, really excited about this even if it means I have to give up my Saturday morning coffee ritual.

#6 Beachbody Summit- I am headed to Nashville, TN for a few days to hang out with 25,000 other Beachbody coaches. I will get to workout and learn from some awesome leaders in the organization. I will meet my coach and other team members, all of whom I have never met before. I'll room with people I've never met (please don't let me snore!). And hopefully come back even more energized and ready to encourage a healthy lifestyle even more!

In between all of this I want to read as much as I can, write as much as I can and enjoy the new swing outside. What are your plans for the rest of the summer?

21 Day Fix Results... Round 1!

I started 21 Day Fix on June 13th, 2016. I'm a little late to the party considering it's been out for a couple of years.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting big results. I was a little skeptical. I've been doing this weight loss thing for over 3 years already and the scale is really slowing down. I was doing HIIT workouts 5 days a week and prior to the fix I was also walking nearly every day. I count calories, I try to keep up with nutrition and educate myself on it. I didn't believe this program would offer any huge results for me.

Here are my before pictures:

But regardless of what I thought would happen, I was in. I was going to to follow the nutrition plan and do all of the workouts. The workouts consist of varied 30 minute/day activities such as cardio, strength training, yoga and pilates. I also planned to stay committed to my 20 minute HIIT workouts 5 days a week since I help lead them. This would mean giving up walking, but I was ok with that given the scorching summer temps. The nutrition program was going to take a little more work for me. There are perfectly portioned containers for specific food groups (protein, veggies, fruit, carbs, nuts and seeds, healthy fats). I was going to have to pay a lot more attention to where my calories where coming from.

The first week went great! I'm a daily weigher ( I don't recommend when doing the program, but I still do it haha) the ounces and pounds were literately falling off. I could not believe what was happening. I had not seen the scale move like that in a VERY long time. I knew it would slow down, but I wasn't prepared for what happened next. I should have been, but I wasn't. Before we get to that, let's talk about the workouts. I do what I consider to be some pretty difficult workouts. Stating the 21 Day Fix workouts I was a new kind of sore every single day for the first 7 days. 7 days. It's the best kind of sore there is.

Then week 2 happened. I started an online 7 day clean eating group. Sounded like a great plan- shouldn't have interferred with 21 Day Fix, but it did. I got too wrapped up in making sure my foods were "clean" that I wasn't using my containers at all. I figured as long as it was clean it was healthy. But that's not what the containers are about. They are about balance and portions. I also noticed my workout effort left a little to be desired. I just felt blah. I also watched as the scale creeped back up a few pounds. I grew EXTREMELY frustrated. Then day 14 came and everything made complete sense. One word- sorry guys- hormones. I was again frustrated as this was going to be how the final week was spent.

Week 3 I made a decision to press forward. I watched the scale sit still for days and I had to work very hard to not let that continue to frustrate me. I knew why it was sitting there and I knew it would move again in a week. This is a monthly ritual if you look back at my weigh ins. I also felt very tired and just yucky, but decided to push through. I kind of gave up hope that the results would be what I thought they might after an exciting first week. I had to accept that this was completely beyond my control. I had to remind myself what I preach, that a scale does not define me. I had to remind myself that I put in some really hard work these 2 weeks and I wasn't going to stop this last week. I had to remind myself how much stronger I already was from just these 2 weeks and that another week would build on that. So, I dug the containers back out. I recommitted to working out hard.

The number on the scale wasn't going to be the end of my journey whether it read 5 pounds or 15 pounds lost. That number would be one tiny marker, like all of the other markers along the way.

My weigh in today served as an end to round 1... AND it serves for a starting point for round 2!!!
And for round 2 I have friends joining me and I am super excited! I absolutely cannot wait to see how it goes for everyone. (One of the ladies had to start early to finish before a trip... as of day 3 she was already down 3 lbs!)  I hope that whatever results these ladies have that they are proud of themselves for giving it all they have when the 21 days are over and I hope they will let me share some of their results too! I want them to be proud of 1 pound or 1 inch lost (it won't be!) or 10 pounds and 10 inches (very possible!)

But for you who have read this far, here is what you came here for: THE RESULTS!!!
Over the past couple of days the scale began coming down again, moving in the right direction. I also hit a new "decade" of pounds which I had been waiting so long to see! I am 29.6 pounds from my original goal.

Total pounds lost in 21 days: 7.4! 
(Equivalent to 2.5 pounds a week - and 114.4 pounds total in my journey)
Total inches lost in 21 days: 6! 
(2 were in my abs!)

After pics:

Side by side pictures:

I still can't believe I lost over 7 pounds in 21 days, that is awesome! I've been lucky to lose 4-5 each month lately. I am SUPER SUPER pleased with these results!  I can't wait to go another round and work harder on controlling my portions and eating a more balanced diet. I am continuing to learn foods that agree with me more than others and how that affects how I feel. I ate pretty simply this round. Now that I'm off work for a few weeks, I'm breaking out my Fixate cookbook and I'm hoping to start incorporating more actual recipes this round and feeding my family fix approved meals that they can learn to love too!

If you have any questions about the program or would like to join me for the next 21 Day Fix bootcamp send me a message and I will get you some more information!