Tag Archives: Habits

One Step at a Time

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Every day since June 1st (it just happened to be the first when I started, that wasn’t my plan), I’ve taken at least a 20-minute walk.

Yes, every day for the last 6 weeks.

I’m only now mentioning this on the blog, because I was hesitant to post about something I wouldn’t follow through. I’ve done this before, only to give up after a month or two. I still might give up, but I don’t think I will.

Even when I found out about the move two weeks into doing this, I still kept it up. With packing and other busyness I haven’t taken as long as walks as I’d eventually like (mid-June I was up to 60-minute walks), but I plan on ramping that back up after I get settled in my new place. Next week is also camp at church, so every evening will taken up by that.

I know that this is *only* walking, but it’s making a difference, because I have been losing weight. I’ve lost 16 pounds since April (got a jump start with the pneumonia, losing the first 7 pounds). I still have a long way way to go, but it feels great to have loose pants and a noticeably ( to me) smaller gut. This is a crucial time for me weight-loss wise, because the last time I was this serious (summer 2006), I lost 16 pounds before falling back into bad habits and gaining again. But I’m hopefully that taking it one day at a time, one decision at a time, I can continue towards better health.

So what makes me think this time is different? The motivation is different, for one thing. I’m not obsessed with the numbers of it all. It’s more like a report card than anything.

Instead of primarily wanting to look better or get a man, I primarily want to honor God through my choices. And choosing to self-indulge again and again doesn’t honor him.

I’m not perfect at this yet. But the walking has helped. My body’s intolerance for as large of doses of sugary things as I once indulged in has helped too. Cutting my budget to eat out a whole lot less has helped, too.

Two books that have also greatly helped me in this journey are Love to Eat, Hate to Eat by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst. Reviews to come.

I say this all to encourage you that you too can make positive changes in your life, whatever those changes need to be. We aren’t the centers of our own universes.

Photo by parl

Goals by the Day

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Happy New Year’s!

What else should I do for my first post of 2011, but talk about resolutions?  While choosing to write about resolutions on January 3rd isn’t creative, it is what everyone is talking about, so I’m jumping in.

This year, I’ve decided to make goals that can be measured daily.  I’ve made a small calendar (that I can keep in the cover of my Nook, hehe) to track which days I’ve done these 6 things:

1.  Read 10 chapters of the Bible.

2.  Work on Scripture memory. Specifically, I want to read or recite five times the chapter I’m working on memorizing, or if it’s just a verse or two, read or recite them 20 times.

3.  Read 100 pages (with 2 minutes of audio book equally one page).  This will keep me on track to read 120 books this year.  Definitely the most pleasurable thing on my resolutions list (and probably would get done anyway).

4. Exercise 20 minutes. By far the hardest thing on this list for me!

5. No unnecessary eating out. “Necessary” eating out is when it’s with friends or when I don’t have time to stop by home on my way to something.  Basically, I want to stop eating out (especially since it’s usually  junk that creates a lot of trash) when I’m just being too lazy to make something.

6.  Write or edit for 30 minutes. I really enjoy it, but if I don’t make time for it, it’s easy to ignore.  But this is important for my future goals (more information about that coming soon).

Sundays are free, so I get a break.  Each thing I complete earns me one “X” on that calendar date.  Every 125 Xs earns me one reward. That would be 3.5 weeks of perfect behavior or, more realistically, a month of good behavior.  I think my first reward will be a bottle of nail polish, and I have a list of other ideas, including dinner out, books, MP3 albums, jewelry, a purse, and trips to the beach or the cabin.  I’ll decide these as I go, as I’ll likely think of other things as I go along.

Will I be successful?  Perhaps.  History says “not quite,” but I’m not aiming for perfect.  I am wanting to maintain, establish, and re-establish good habits in my life.  In the short term, none of these seem too monumental, but they’ll help me get to my long-term goals and dreams.

Back to the Basics

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I’ve already talked about how much I enjoyed Radical. It was the kick in the pants that I needed.

I needed to get back to the basics.  All the seminary training and reading won’t do me any good if I’m not whole-heartedly seeking God through His Word and prayer.  And all of that is meaningless if I’m not working out my faith.

Spending last week with the kids at camp I learned the same thing: it’s all about the basics.  Not only do I need to teach them the how of the faith, but I need to model it.

This is why I’ve been working on re-establishing good habits: reading 6 chapters of the Bible everyday (3 of each testament), praying not only for those around me but for the world, and memorizing  and meditating God’s Word.  These are building blocks…but they are necessary.

I’m far from perfect even in these small things (in fact, part of my reason for writing this is to be held to it), but they’re necessary.  Not that doing the right things will earn favor with God, but it is how I will know God.

“When you or I open the Bible, we are beholding the very words of God — words that have supernatural power to redeem, renew, refresh, and restore our lives to what he created them to be. That is why I believe it is more important for you and me to read Leviticus than it is for us to read the best Christian book ever published, because Leviticus has a quality and produces an effect that no book in the Christian marketplace can compete with.” – Radical by David Platt, p. 192

Photo by Artful Magpie