Infinity

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rjpDYP9RBk


First things first.  You have to click the above link (assuming my limited technology skills have panned out.  If not, go to YouTube and search for Josh Guru Project Infinity).  It's music so once you hit "play" come back here.  And go!  It's techno music and one of my goals in life is to force others to listen to techno, whether they like it or not, because it simply is the best style of music ever in the world.  Ever.  The lyrics are easy enough for a toddler to keep up with:  "take your time to trust in me and you will find infinity."  You still have the song playing, right? 

Before I get all deep and spritual, this song came to mind because I have exciting news to share!  I now have access to a local gym called Enfinity.  Awesome friends made the connection happen and I can have all kinds of fun workout equipment to train YOU and/or your closest friends!  It's not big and overwhelming, there is no gym membership required of you, and you won't feel like you're in the middle of a meat-market.   That's my shameless plug, by the way. 

Moving on to the ultra spiritual now.  Take your time to trust in me and you will find infinity.  I have a hunch that could be some lyrics that DJ Jazzy Jesus is trying to teach us. 

Take your time.  God is never in a hurry; take your time.  He's never early, never late; take your time.  Tap the brakes on your racetrack schedule and focus on the Lord.  Don't just think about doing it.  Right now, pause and ponder.  What does His face look like?  What emotions surface as you take the time to be still and know that He is God?  Is He smiling at You?

Trust in Me.  While you may not always get your way, He has the advantage of being the Omega, The End.  He is weaving the tapestry of your life in a way you're too close to understand or fully appreciate.  He has plans to prosper you and give you a hope and a future.  So turn around, tighten the blindfold, and risk the free-fall.

You will find Infinity.  Now reread it emphasizing the word "will"...you WILL find Infinity.  It's absolutely going to happen is what Jesus is saying.  So many things waver here on earth, like me with coffee dates and getting my sons haircuts.  But He wants you with Him forever.  I cannot wrap my mind around the concept of infinity.  I've tried to as I explain to my 4 little boys that though their father is no longer earth-bound, they will be reunited with their dad forever and ever and ever.  It almost sounds like a legend and yet we are custom-designed by The Guy who has put into our DNA this yearning for "more" and "better" and "always".   

By now the song has ended or will soon.  Did you love it as much as I do?   Did you catch the word that's repeated about a hundred times?  Relax.   That's not a synonym for "be lazy," by the way.  But we can exhale and relax, knowing we are the clay and not the potter.   I like that.  With all that I'm having to make sure happens (like boys' haircuts), how wonderfully fantastic that the "big" stuff is not my responsibility.  If we truly relax, we are moldable.  Into His image.

Oh, and back to the shameless plug.... debsicola@yahoo.com

Spring = Skin Show

38 days until spring.  Spring can conjure up thoughts of flowers and picnics, bubbles and freshly cut lawns, bicycle bells and sweet breezes.  Know what else it means?  2 things.  Spring cleaning and clothes with less fabric. 

Spring cleaning is dreaded and yet, once done, produces a sense of accomplishment where you can fold your arms, scan your home and nod your head in approval of your hard work.

Could we say the same of our bodies this spring?  Could we get past the dread and focus on being successful so we can have that sense of empowering accomplishment?  When you get your mop and bucket, doesn't it become a teensy bit addictive...one room becomes two rooms becomes the whole house as your project? 

How about we apply this to our health? 

Pick one thing you desire to modify about your health.  Less soda?  More neighborhood walks?  Wearing those shorts at the bottom of the drawer?  And focus on that one thing.  Write it on your fridge.  Ask a friend to help you do it.  Go for it.  What do you have to lose? 

Let me skip to the finish line where I'm waiting at the end for you, cheering you on.  I am high-fiving you because you did it.  You started eating vegetables.  You ran sprints.  Your shirt has no sleeves.  You can do it.  Drop your excuses and change your life. 

Need a nudge in the right direction?  Oh, I'm so glad you asked.  I'm here to help.  Want a nutrition plan because your "healthy" diet isn't enough?  Want to do workouts that give you a sculpted physique instead of the old way that's just going to make you a smaller pear shaped person?  Email me for info.  I'm kind of into this health and nutrition stuff in a big way.  I'm writing this with dried sweat and workout clothes.

debsicola@yahoo.com

Let me be very real. My first two weeks of turning the corner to "Fat Loss" lane were similar to going to drug rehab. I was physically going through withdrawal. Cranky. Anxious. Craving. What a lesson to learn in life. I prayed that the Lord would help me through each hour. Why are donuts NOT on this freakin diet?! It was brutal. But I'm stubborn and wanted change enough that I ate the fruit, the salads, the chicken. This was the spark that would lead to jeans being looser. Success! I'm hooked.

After that it was smooth sailing and I ate flawlessly every day after.  The End.

Get real.   Realizing that you don't just "like" food but actually "love" food is so much fun.  Please reread that with sarcasm.   I learned a lot about myself.  Food wasn't fuel.  Food was comfort.  I had a bad day so I deserve chocolate chip cookies.  I had a great day so I should celebrate by ordering pizza.  I was bored so snacking could fill the time. 

Have you ever read The Jungle?  It's a book with graphic descriptions of the meat-packing industry.  Here's a juicy morsel:  "the meat will be shoveled into carts and the man who did the shoveling will not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one."  It's like how we all know what goes into making a hot dog a hot dog, yet we still smother it with mustard and cram it in.  We know we shouldn't, and yet we do it anyway.  That's the nature of temptation. 

Want to read a book that won't induce vomiting or force you into vegetarianism?  Made to Crave.  This one teaches how we are designed by God to long for  more.  We are supposed to crave Jesus and all that is holy.  Not cheese puffs, though I could eat a handful right now.  And that takes discipline that, in order to be successful, only He can get us through.

So I started seeing my cranky sugar deprivation as a way to lean on the Lord.  He is my milk and honey.  He is the bread of life.  He is living water.  I decided God had been the void I would try to fill with edible treats; didn't work.  I must press into Him and ask for His help to eat in a way that would honor my body, His temple.  He can get me from temptation to victory.  He wants to. 

Here's today's last nugget.  You know what else helps with accountability?  Freakin kids.  My son thinks it is hilarious that he can eat candy as I crunch away at some broccoli.  And when I try to sneak some m&m's, he's bad cop.  "Mo-om, you know you aren't allowed to eat that stuff."  Thank you, Pumpkin.  And it may or may not be true that he and I once wrestled on the couch as he pried Hershey kisses out of my hands.  Oh God bless that kid.

 

"I just want my pants to fit.  In one motion, I want to be able to slide, zip, button.  Without having to do lunges and squats.  Without waiting for 2 o'clock when they've stretched out enough to have circulation return."  That was me two years ago.

Let me back up.  I was a sugar junkie as a kid.  I mean, I lived for Little Debbies and Oreos.  "Fun" cereal was expected and savored.   4 kids and thirty-some years later, I was in shock as to why I had gained 8 pounds in a year.  Really?!  My husband informed me that my "teenage boy" diet just possibly might could maybe be the reason.  He was right.  But I was not into anything green so I came up with the 'perfect' plan.  I know, I'll just eat fewer calories and exercise more.  So I told myself 1700 calories seemed like a good number and I got on that treadmill like it was my job.  So now I could add cranky and tired to my list of self-complaints (though I did "save" enough calories for Lucky Charms for my nighttime snack....magically delicious indeed).

Then I met a girl named Emily.  She changed my life.  A 180.  The kind of change that broke me down to my core and even made me shed tears.  She said she could help me slide, zip and button those jeans and even do it without starving.  It almost sounded like an infomercial except her physique proved it could be done.  She was sweet enough to share her wisdom with me about exercising SMARTER not longer.  She told me to eat MORE (oh, that's the best news ever). 

I'll be honest, when she told me what I had to start eating, I cried.  Tears running down my face, as if facing some kind of death sentence.  And it was a death sentence.  It was dying to self.  Dying to addiction to twinkies and chips.  Could I do it?  Would I do it?  Was the need for change going to outweigh the challenge?  The next day I committed.  I don't know what ground turkey is but I guess I'll find out.  Where do they sell oat bran?!

The other side of the body-change coin was exercise.  I'd taken Pilates, Body Pump, done some nautilus weight machines.   Emily told me to do all kinds of weighted exercises with dumbbells.  What, in the MAN section of the gym?!  No girls in pink are allowed back there!  I tiptoed back there, of course off to the side hoping to never ever be noticed.  And I did the most taxing workout ever.  Sweating like no lady should.  Breathing heavy like I had just climbed the Statue of Liberty.  Could I do this?  Would I stick with this?

To be continued....