365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 303

Yesterday was the final day of the Whole 30 challenge. I made cauliflower rice for the first time and fell in love. This morning I get on the scale to see what 30 days has done and was disappointed to see only 2lbs down. But I have to remember I actually, started 3 weeks before the challenge cutting out things and lost 5lbs in those three weeks. I am not to the goal I set myself but I do feel better and have found that I don’t need the snacks and don’t get the shakiness like I use to. I am going to keep going with this way of eating as I have found I really enjoy the freshness of the foods and the new foods I have tried. I may never eat pasta or rice again thanks to spaghetti squash and cauliflower. Who knew? I am going to persevere and keep on this race in eating healthy and let the natural course of time do its thing. It takes one meal to gain weight but takes months to lose it.  So, I am going to call on the Holy Spirit to give me patience and help me with the self-control needed to eat in a disciplined healthy way.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

Cauliflower Rice Recipe:
Pulse cauliflower in food processor until small size, like rice.
Heat pan with coconut oil.
Saute chopped onion and garlic.
Add cauliflower rice and stir for about a minute.
Add a couple tablespoons of chicken broth and simmer and stir for another 5 minutes.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 105

The idea of self-control has been on my mind lately. It has been my typical pattern to go on a diet and lose some weight and keep it off for a while but than something triggers my lack of self-control and I go back to my old habits of eating like I did when I was 20. I can’t do that anymore! My mind and my body are not on the same page. So, yesterday after having an evening of feeling too full, which is so uncomfortable, I opened my bible and started reading some scriptures about self-control. I get the impression from the bible that people didn’t have a problem with self-control when it came to food back in those days. The bible talks more about controlling our speech and our in-take of alcohol. There are probably lots of various things that we can let control us like the television, email, computer games, Facebook, etc. How much of those things am I giving control of my life over to? Think on these things in the week ahead and start making a list of those things that seem to control you and your life. Put the control back into the hands of the Holy Spirit.

1Peter 15-16 But just as he who is called you is holy, so be holy in all  you do, for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 362

Okay, this may seem a bit nutty but I am praising God today for the blessing of having my scale. I am a person that is motivated by accountability which is one of the reasons this challenge on my blog this year has been so successful. I am motivated because I know people are reading it. That scale and getting on everyday and recording it in my notebook on my bathroom counter is one of the best ways to keep me in-line with maintaining my weight. I know that when it goes up I have to plan what I am eating better and than it comes back down. So, I have been in the take off a pound or two mode for the last couple days in preparation for Thanksgiving. I have 2 new desert recipes and a cranberry salad recipe I am trying out this year and don’t want to shoot the weight up too much. The bible says our bodies are temples and we should be treating them well. This can be very challenging in our culture of drive-thru fast food, an abundance of dining establishments and grocery stores with choices abounding but with the Holy Spirit all things can be conquered and we can have self-control. If you haven’t already heard, Twinkies are no longer on the shelves as Hostess went bankrupt.  Such is life. Here today, gone tomorrow. But the Lord will always be with us.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 161

Big or small, important or not, everything needs to be praised to the Lord for without him, none of it would be. So, I am praising being able to get on a treadmill after 6 months of injury and pain that kept me from excerising. I had to take it slow and hold on after a while because my back was feeling it too. I am just thankful that I am able to be without any pain and start working on getting this body God gave me back in shape and feeling stronger. When life gets overwhelming, complicated and stressful, we tend to let go of those things like exercising and eating right because it's easy to let them go. I have tried to keep to the eating right throughout this period of non-exercise so that I wouldn't gain too much weight. Funny thing is God has given me a weight gain warning detection system. It's called acid reflux. When I get to a certain weight that shall be nameless, I start getting heartburn. Ouch! No fun at all but it is a motivator to get back to thinking more about what I am eating and making wiser choices. Like our relationship should be with the Lord, eating right and exercising has to be intentional. It doesn't just happen. It takes effort. My plan is to get back into yoga and get this body feeling good and strong in all ways. I am going to start by putting my yoga mat out in the living room as a reminder to get on it and off the couch.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.