Two for One deal: checking off two 30 before 30 goals!

I checked two things off the 30 before 30 list this Saturday. Now while I'm no expert at one of them, I can do enough to say I've learned the technique!

Saturday, March 9th was my Mom's birthday. Couple of things here.

1. My mom is awesome. I'm sure most people think their Mom is awesome but mine is awesome squared. I really do love and cherish time with her. So I wanted to make sure she knew that even though I can get busy and overwhelmed with things, I will always make time for her. Happy Birthday, Mom.

2. I LOVE Birthdays. Seriously. I love them. I probably love birthdays more than holidays (well except for Easter and Christmas - but hey Christmas is a birthday :)) That special day is just for you, I want to make sure it is special!

I asked Mom what she wanted to do for her Birthday and I got the typical "I don't know Charity...anything you want." Great... That leaves the door wide open and created an opportunity for me to plan for something special... something that I thought would mean a lot to us both.

My Mom has always been a crafty person. Since I can remember, she has always had some craft project going. When I was growing up, she and I would do projects together. I loved that time with her. We've made potpourri jars, angels out of some weird type of cloth, kitchen towel angels, wreaths (lots of these), and so many more...

Now I didn't have a really good game plan for the day with Mom. I just knew we would do something crafty. She wanted me to bake her a checkerboard cake, so I did that. We had also planned to have chocolate covered fruit (which didn't really happen...)



 

Side note - this is the cake she wanted... Not really Charity's style... For future reference, I prefer yellow cake with butter cream frosting... No fancy decoration needed :)

As we discussed what we would do for the day, a sewing idea came up. Why don't we make something for the house? I had been contemplating putting curtains up in the living room but hadn't yet for fear it would make it too dark. We decided to give it a try it anyway.

 

Now I am by no means an expert at sewing after this project, but I can at least operate the machine and the curtains/pillows turned out pretty well. I really look forward to learning more about sewing. I feel like it is a skill that can always grow. Enjoy the photos! Craft day with mom + learn to sew. Done.

 

What's weighing you down? Part 1 - Throw away the scale!

Do any of you weigh yourself daily, or most days per week? Do you find your mood can be easily affected by the number staring back at you?

Well... STOP! Better yet, throw away the scale. Now if that sounds a little drastic, just hide it somewhere you are not tempted to step on it EVERY time you walk by it!

Today, I'm starting a little mini-series entitled "What's weighing you down?" In this series, we'll look at weight and examine its effect on us (and specifically its effect on our mind and emotion). For this motivational Monday, we are taking on the scale!

I probably couldn't say it better than the words written on the scale above. Why does this one little number affect us so much?

If you are on a fitness plan and eating healthy, you are probably trying to lose weight. Right? I would beg to differ... you're trying to lose FAT! So why should the amount you weigh matter? Wouldn't it be 10 times better if you stopped focusing on this number and focused on how you feel?

Now don't get me wrong, the scale can be a useful tool to gauge progress and to hold us accountable... but in moderation!! Our weight can fluctuate as much as 5 pounds in a day. Add to that the weight of clothes/shoes or your dog (child) in your arms. Ok well you get the picture. Weight should not be the only tool you use to manage your success.

 

You shouldn't lose weight fast either! Experts encourage a 1-2 pounds a week for weight loss (and even that can be too much for some). Crash diets and other diet fads will not produce long term results. A healthy lifestyle balanced with exercise, nutritious foods, stress management, and sleep will create an environment for a healthy, sustainable weight and body image.
 

So now that you are avoiding the scale, how should you measure?

 

Here are my suggestions:

1. Stop comparing yourself to others! You'll probably see that all over my blog, but it is super important. You do not have the same body make up as the people around you (and why do you want so badly to look like someone else anyway? God made you unique for a reason!)
2. Measure how you feel! Do you have more energy? Smile more? Happy? Then why do you need to see a number?
3. Measure how your clothes fit. You could be slimming down in areas without ever seeing a change in the number on the scale. I tend to slim down on my hips and my pants always feel looser (now if I were to get on the scale - It might not have changed - then all that happiness of loose pants...right out the window)
4. Focus on action. Focus on things that are in your control like being active, choosing activities that don't revolve around food, making healthy eating choices. Insure that your actions are in line with your goals.
5. Choose mind over matter. Sometimes the way we look at ourselves in the mirror is all in our head. I know my husband reminds me of this multiple times a week when I stand in front of that mirror and dislike what I see. He always says, "Charity, I wish you could see yourself through my eyes." Gets me every time.

I'm going to go into more detail on the mental/emotional baggage that weighs us down, but for today, just focus on feeling better and not that little (or big) number staring at you from the device you're standing on. After all, it's beneath you!

Fit For Friday - BodyPump

This week, I rejoined the YMCA. Cheers from behind the computer screen. Last Summer, Adam and I decided we needed to cut expenses to reduce debt and buy a house, so my Y membership got the ax... So at the beginning of February, we decided to start saving up money for a YMCA membership again. Long story short, Adam would put $10 in a fund every time I did a non-running related workout and this week, we (with a little extra funds from someone special) made it to the year membership fee, so I joined. Yay!

Now on to the topic at hand... BodyPump! I'm pretty sure my very first exposure to BodyPump was my first year in college (back track to 2005). To fight those "freshman 15" I joined AC Fitness for Women in Auburn. The membership didn't last very long because it wasn't really a priority of mine, but I did see these crazy women there doing BodyPump (from my treadmill/elliptical).

Here were my thoughts... Geez that looks hard. They are crazy. They have muscles... I could NEVER do that.

Well... fast forward to 2011 (wow - 6 years...getting old). I'm in the process of changing my physical appearance and stubble across BudyPump (again). This time, I've been running for a little while, doing other aerobics classes, so I think, "Why not?" All I have to do is survive one hour, not make a total fool of myself, and if I don't like it, I never have to do it again.... Well... I loved it.

This kinda makes me nervous...

I'm not sure what everything does. I don't want to spend to long on one machine... people are waiting. Do I have correct form? You get the point.

But this...

Not quite as scary. And the instructors help to correct form. You choose the weight. It's not really as much about how much weight as it is correct form and repetitions.

So here's what BodyPump is. If you want to learn more visit their website. BodyPump is a barbell class that will sculpt your entire body. With 70-100 reps in each of the 10 tracks, you can get 800 repetitions in an hour.

Knowledge is power, and some people avoid classes because they just don't know what to expect. So here is "what to expect"

The class is 1 hour. There are 10 tracks (including a warm up & cool down/stretching). Each track focuses on a specific muscles group.

• Track 1: Provides a warm-up with the lowest weight of the class. During the warm-up, most muscle groups are trained in short succession, and stance and barbell grip is often changed when cycling through all different exercises.
• Track 2: Squats. This track targets the legs, notably the quadriceps and glutes and participants are advised to use the highest weight of the entire class. A typical weight for squats ranges between two and three times the warm-up weight. The weight is placed in the neck of the participant.
• Track 3: Chest. In this track, participants are invited to lay on their backs on a step, and perform chest presses with the barbell. Sometimes, depending on the choreography of the release, these are combines with chest push-ups. A typical weight will be around 1,5 times the warm-up weight.
• Track 4: Back. In this track, participants stand up and train the muscles of their back. Exercises performed vary from release to release, but mostly contain dead lifts, dead rows and sometimes clean-and-presses. A typical weight selection will be between chest and squat weight.
• Track 5: Triceps. As the first of the smaller muscle training, participants will select a lower weight, usually slightly above warm-up weight and perform triceps exercises. These change per release, but mostly consist of triceps extensions with a barbell, triceps pushups, kickbacks with a single free weight and dips on a step.
• Track 6: Biceps. After the triceps, participants stand up again and use the barbell to do bicep crunches and sometimes bicep dead rows. Mostly, the weight will remain the same as for triceps, or slightly more.
• Track 7: Lunges. Participants take on a heavier weight, usually the same as for the chest track to train the legs again. In this track, squats can be included but most of the time will be spent doing lunges to train the butt and the glutes. These lunges can be performed with the barbell in the neck, or without a barbell but by adding a plyometric element by jumping at the end of the lunge.
• Track 8: Shoulders. The participants select a weight comparable to their warm-up weight on the barbell, and two free weights. The track traditionally starts with pushups, after which the participants use free weights for shoulder raises, either to the side or to the front. At the end, the bar is used for upright or overhead presses, with a heavier weight than using free weights only. Sometimes the choreography adds another set of pushups at the end.
• Track 9: Abdominals and core. Usually no weights are used, and participants perform abdominal crunches or planks to strengthen the core.
• Track 10: Cool down and stretching.

So that's it. BodyPump in a nutshell. They release new tracks all the time that change up choreography and music. I love it because it is challenging. I feel stronger after a workout and SORE. Sore is good. That's when I know it's working :) If you want to try out a class or two, join me!

Run for God - Competing for the prize

I'm a competitive person. It's just in my nature (it's probably in most peoples "human" nature). Just last night, our community group had a game night instead of our usual Sunday sermon discussion. Since our community group is all couples, we split the couples into teams: Guys vs Gals... and played a really fun game.

Needless to say, the girls won. I would tell you the score, but I am going to protect innocent (and that's not very loving to gloat...) I really like the way this article describes competition. It's not bad in its on right, but given the circumstance and perspective, wouldn't love, sharing, cooperation, humility, praise, and joy for everyone be a much better option.

Just as in the story in Chapter 3, sometimes our competitive nature can get the best of us. In running, it's difficult not to compare ourselves to or compete with others. Isn't that why we have races? So we can earn the price at the end? The scripture says in 1 Corinthians 9:24

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

I really like the way "The Message" version puts this passage:

^24-25 You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.

^26-27 I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.

It goes so much deeper than just getting a prize. It's about personal choices. Self discipline. Not competing/ comparing yourself with others.

 

 

So just as I discuss in Week 3's blog. It's important to Run Your Race. If you are giving your 100%, you don't need to worry about what everyone else is doing. The only prize you should be working toward is our eternal prize!

Run for God - Week 3 - Run YOUR Race

"You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?"  —Galatians 5:7

There are so many things I could say about this weeks topic. It really has changed the way I view running (and other areas of my life) I think this kind of "sums it up"

 

Maybe you are struggling with comparing yourself to others. I do. I tell you more about my competitive spirit here. It's ingrained in our culture. Supermodels on the cover of magazines. There are one million and one diet plans and weight loss "secrets". We see competition in the workplace... we compare the size of our house or car... Man when I come to think about it, everything we are surrounded with is an opportunity for us to compare ourselves (and the things we have) with others.

 

Week 3 is about challenging ourselves to seek God's path for our lives. It's not always. In fact, sometimes, it is down right hard. But, I promise when you run the race he has laid out it will be rewarding. You will feel joy and peace that no medal, new "friend", shiny car, house, or other possessions can yield.

 

Here's an exert from Chapter 3 that really helps to clarify our race:

 

In Galatians 5:7, Paul asks the Galatians why they stopped running their race. Jesus had given them a specific race to run—one of freedom, grace, and love. Unfortunately, they got sucked back into following the requirements of the Law; they were burdened again by trying to earn God’s favor. They’d lost the joy and peace that they’d received through the simple belief and trust in Jesus. Basically, they’d stopped running their race.

For me, it’s so tempting to return to my old ways of trying to earn God’s favor—to be performance-driven, to be ―good enough,‖ to follow the rules, to think that God is only pleased with me when I’m achieving or doing things just right. But this is a burden of slavery. And it’s a lie. We are saved by grace, and we are changed by His Spirit. It’s not something we do; it’s something He alone can do in us.

So, don’t get derailed by what someone else is doing. Don’t let the emotion of the moment get you off course. Don’t let your old ways of doing things make you abandon the new. Run your race. Stick to His plan and let God keep you on the path that leads to life.

 

In week 3, we also had a great opportunity to have Reggie Luther from Big Dog Running Company. Discuss shoes with us. I'm so thankful for his presentation and all Big Dog does for the running community.

 

As always, if you are following along for the workouts. Week 3's workout is

5 min warm up, 90 sec run; 90 sec walk; 3 min run; 3 min walk (repeat once) 5 min cool down/ stretch



Run for God - Week 2 - Running the Race before Us

Hebrews 12: 1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

This has to be one of my favorite verses... for so many reasons which I will continue to address over the course of the Run for God posts!

But... sometimes I struggle with "seeing" the Path God has marked out for me. I trust that he knows every step I will take, every action I will do, every word I will say, but sometimes I just wish he would email me that master plan blueprint for my life. See then, I would know that I am following his plan for my life and not Charity's...

Sometimes, I get tangled in the/my web of sin or caught up in my past failures... that's when I lose focus. I take my eyes off the pioneer and perfecter of Faith. That's when I remember (or get reminded) that the only way I can learn what path I should follow is to be in relationship with God. Every day. Every minute. Every moment. I have to keep my eyes fixed on Christ all the time or I will stray EVERY TIME.

That's a lot of what week 2 focused on. Now let's back track to week 1's run in the rain. Somewhere in the craziness of the first night, God introduced me to a really amazing lady. (God's introduced me to a ton of amazing people, but I'm going to focus on one this round) I can not begin to tell you how much just the limited interaction I have had with her has meant to my life.

Kay Campbell is a women after God's heart. Her smile lights up the room. I can see her energy and enthusiasm for life. I just love her. On the first night, I ran beside her for a moment and she began to share a really awesome story with me. After the story, she told me she has tons of these stories because she keeps a journal and guess what she writes about???  RUNNING!

Hello God! Thanks for the introduction. So after the run, I had to get more of these stories and I wanted her to share some of these with our group. On night two, she shared one. While that story was amazing, I'm going to share another one with you... So here it is in her words:

Keep your focus on Him and not the circumstances. I think He is teaching me to discipline my mind to focus on Him when I run. As long as I am worshipping and praising Him, I can run the race. As soon as my focus is redirected to my circumstances (how tired I am, how hot I am, my feet hurt, my side hurts, I am out of breath, the sun is too bright, the rain is too cold, etc) then I can’t continue and want to quit. I am learning to keep my eyes on Him alone.

Sometimes when I run, I imagine that Jesus is at the finish line, and I am running to meet Him like I will someday in heaven. I understand that I should live my life the same way, and every day brings me closer to meeting Him face to face.

Sometimes I imagine Him running beside me, and just like in life, I am comforted knowing that I am never alone.

No matter what comes my way, keep my eyes on Him, praise Him, and keep on running!

And all I can say is AMEN! God has opened so many doors through Run for God. I am thankful to get to be on this journey with Kay and so many other wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ.

5 minute warm up, 90 seconds of running alternated with 2 minutes of walking for 20 minutes, 5 min cool down and stretch.

Run for God - Week 1 - Praising God in the Rain

It's time to play "catch up". Run for God started on Feb 10th and it's now March 6th.... I do want to take the time to blog about each class/ workouts because you guys can use this study as a tool to improve your physical, mental, and spiritual health! I'll bring you up to speed on the first four classes over the next week, and then I'll share each one after it happens.

To start things off, I guest blogged at my dear friend Sharita's blog. Check out the post here. This highlights our first night's run together. Yes we ran in the rain.

The first night was so exciting! Although we had lots of paperwork to do, we did a big overview of the class and focused on what the next 10ish weeks would hold for us. By this point, I had been prepping for 2 months, so my excitement level was through the roof. I had every detail of this first night down to the minute... then everyone started rolling in and well... I had to be flexible.

 I was so encouraged by the smiles, joy, and laughter of the 65 people in the class. Although we were 10 minutes late starting (did I mention I do not like (OK despise) being late - God is working on me...), we started by watching the Run for God promo video.  Then I shared my testimony. God is so good to give us peace in all circumstances. Sharing my heart and story so openly is scary, but God wrapped his loving arms around me and hopefully my story can bless others.

Here's a little introduction of my awesome friends who help out each week. Thank you guys!

So here's what we do in Run for God each Sunday.

We begin each Sunday with prayer and devotion. The devotions vary but serve as a link to parallel running with our Christian walk. We read a motivational story, focus in on key scriptures, and have a short discussion.

After the first 30 minutes, for the next 30 minutes, we discuss a running topic. From running gear to MP3 players to breathing and stretching, we'll discuss running topics that will make the runs more enjoyable and help us to avoid injury.

Then we run. My absoulute favorite question of the night was "What do we do about inclement weather?". Well... my response, "We run" :) Now altough I'm crazy, I would never put my fellow running friends in danger. We will not run in hail, a tornado, a hurricane, lighting, or any other act of God that could kill us. We will however brave the rain and cold to get our weekly runs in. We wouldn't stop our Christian walk because of a little trial, so we don't stop our physical journey because of a little rain. So each Sunday, we all leave the church for run. During the first few weeks, there is more walking than running, but eventually we will complete a 5k race - running the entire thing :)

So that's the Run for God overview/ first week in a nutshell. If you want to follow the workouts, the first week's workout is 5 min warm up, 60 second runs alternated with 90 second walks for 20 minutes, then a 5 min cool down/ stretch.