Discipline is Key!

I am being featured over on Reshaping It All today!!! 


Here's how it begins:

In Chapter 3 of Reshaping It All, it says “I’ll hang onto the back of your bike for a while, but soon you’ll be riding alone. There is a place of freedom, when the trying just becomes living. It becomes smooth sailing from that moment on, when you finally have wings to soar.”

For me, this is what "65 Days to Reshaping It All" is all about. I feel like this website is holding the back of my bike while I practice doing the right things. And when the 65 days are up--I am praying that we all soar! That our trying will become living!

Walk with the King!

Guarding Against Gluttony In Our Lives

Janelle, from Comfy In The Kitchen, has been my Friday guest now for 8 straight months! Some of you have written and asked - "how does Janelle stay so thin when she cooks such tasty homemade food?"


Janelle's answer "moderation". Below she openly shares her struggles with food and what she does when it starts to take over her life.

"A lot of gluttony is born of boredom. Life is not satisfying or stimulating, relationships feel empty, and work is boring, but food is always there and tastes so good." -John Piper

Janelle writes: Here are some photos I have taken over the past 2 weeks ... 

Here are my groceries!!!! Oh wow...where is the coffee? Diet Coke? Doritos? I left them back at the grocery store, haha. Out of sight, out of mind. 

The past 2 weeks we have "downed" a lot of smoothies! I would actually prefer a smoothie to a milkshake at this point(here's my recipe)! 

I opted for a spinach salad instead of a heavy sandwich at Subway. I made my own dressing with a little olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and pepper. I felt full...and better yet, had no guilt. 

My favorite salad for lunch..again I make my own dressing then add beans, corn, and salsa. 

Candace's Asparagus, whole wheat pasta with Grandma Ruth's sauce. 

I am laughing right now...this is tofu turkey ("Tofuturkey") if you will,  with brown rice and veggies. I am not a tofu lover, but my husband was really craving some meat so I made this for him. I ate this without the meatless meat, lol. ( I will not make you eat this) 

Ladies, I am certain I will continue to post about delicious desserts..and just about anything that tastes good, lol.  However, moderation is key to a successful eating plan. If you we are going to splurge-we should enjoy it,  drop the guilt, make our next food choice wise and run the extra mile the next day (literally). I really hope I am making sense here and not being contradictory....For me, giving up sweets for life just wouldn't happen. Allowing myself a treat here and there keeps me on a straight path.

Love to you! 

Janelle

Janelle and I are taking part in the "65 Days to Reshaping It All" challenge.  Janelle was a guest there last week and I will be guest posting there this coming week.  The 65 days have only just begun - so if you need some accountability in the area of your eating habits - please join us there (my guest post will be about more than just our physical eating habits but our spiritual ones too!)!  You do not have to own the "Reshaping It All" book to join us and you know me - I LOVE ACCOUNTABILITY (like the Good Morning Girls - which by the way are enrolling right now for the summer session!) because IT WORKS! 


Walk with the King!

If you are looking for more recipes or have one to share - visit Janelle's link-up today!


You can follow Janelle on her own blog Comfy In The Kitchen or on Facebook and Twitter.

I am participating in Titus 2sdays, Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, and Balancing Beauty and Bedlam recipe exchanges. I am also linked up to Raising Homemakers Weds. link up and Works For Me Wednesday! For more blogger recipes go to these links.

 

65 Days To Reshaping It All

I'm super excited to participate in this 65 day challenge to Reshaping It All! 

Candace Cameron Bure (formerly known as DJ on Full House) and Darlene Schacht released the book Reshaping It All this past January and it hit the New York Times Best Seller list! 

Darlene is going to lead us through the book as we apply the tips!  You do not have to own the book to participate. 

Let me be honest, blogging is not figure friendly.  I've put on a few pounds this winter sitting at my computer desk.  Back in January, when I first read the book I started applying the principles and making the recipes (which are really good by the way!).  I lost 4 pounds in just a few weeks.  Then I finished the book and stopped applying the principles and the 4 pounds are back!  I'm hoping this time to do a little better - and make some long term changes!

You need a change?  Need some encouragement and community in this area?  The 65 days begin tomorrow!  Join Darlene (and me) over at ReshapingItAll.com

Walk with the King!

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Guess what I just learned! 

My friend Bethany from A Big Red Pot - is giving away a copy of Reshaping It All!  All you have to do is leave a comment to win!  So hop on over to the Big Red Pot and I'm crossing my fingers it's one of you who win!!!

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10:58pm - ANNNNNND I just learned another bloggy friend Gina is giving away 3 copies starting next Monday at Chats With An Old Lady!  So check her out too and enter to win there too!!!

I'm linked to Time Warp Wife, We Are That Family and Raising Homemakers.

My 7 Day Social Media Break

I'm taking a 7 day break from being social on social media to spend time with these wonderful people above! 


I will be back next Monday but while I'm gone, I would love for you to visit my friend Clare.  Clare just started blogging at the beginning this year.  She is one of my real life friends - we've co-led bible study together, lived in the same neighborhood and she was my fitness trainer for years.  She inspires me greatly and I hope that she inspires you too! 


Clare left a message for you:
Hi everyone! I'd like to thank you for visiting my blog over the past 3 months! Courtney was very kind to promote me on here and I am grateful that you all came and "checked me out"!



I'd like to invite you over to my blog again for a first at Peak313 Fitness. I'm having our first CHALLENGE and link-up for the month of April! I'm calling it the "Try It!" challenge.


In "Reshaping it all" by Candace Cameron Bure, she says, "Piggybacking one new habit with a regular routine is a great way to introduce a new change." One of my desires in having a blog is to teach you and introduce you to new things that you otherwise wouldn't choose. I am going to take you through 4 food items that you might not have introduced to your diet before. I'll examine why they are beneficial, different ways to incorporate them into your diet (with recipes!) and of course, CHALLENGE you to try them for the week!

<a href="http://www.peak313.com" ><img border="0" src="http://peak313.com/wp-content/uploads/tryit.jpg" /></a>

Thanks Clare - I'm in and have a great week everyone!!!


Walk with the King,

Quick, Easy and Healthy Homemade Marinara

Today Janelle from Comfy In The Kitchen is guest posting - she writes: "This recipe comes from my dear friend Mindy…we have been friends for literally our entire lives…our parents are friends and our mom’s were pregnant with us at the same time! What a blessing it is to have a life-long friend. She also comes from an Italian family who loves to cook! Mindy made this dish for me at my house a few years ago and left the recipe…Since then, I have made it over and over. It is so simple and so Bellisimo (as she would say)! The fresh herbs and garlic make this sauce!"

Crushed tomatoes, olive oil, chicken bouillon, parsley, basil, garlic, onion, black pepper, angel hair pasta There is no secret to chopping fresh herbs...but it is well worth the extra effort! Just bunch together and start chopping into small pieces. (You may substitute dry herbs for fresh- I do it all the time)


Then, take 4 cloves apart from the head of garlic and peel/chop into fine pieces.


Pour 1/4 cup of olive oil in a pot (enough to cover the bottom of the pot) and set on medium heat
Dice onion

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until tender


Start boiling water for noodles...I add a touch of oil in my water to prevent the noodles from sticking (a little trick my grandma taught me)


Add noodles and boil- Angel Hair does not take long to cook..go by package instructions for al dente (appx 5 mins)


Drain well



Back to the sauce! Add bouillon, parsley, basil and pepper into the onion mixture and stir well for 1 min.
Add crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil for 15 mins
Add 3/4 cup of water

Let simmer for 10 more mins


Voila! Bellisimo!!! My hubby thinks it is hilarious I eat my pasta with a spoon and fork...:)


Quick, Easy and Healthy Homemade Marinara
2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
2 tsp chicken bouillon
2 tsp fresh parsley (chopped)
1 tsp fresh basil (chopped)
4 cloves fresh garlic (diced)
1 medium onion (diced)
¼ cup olive oil
3/4 cup water
black pepper to taste

1 Package of Angel Hair Pasta( or any pasta of your liking).


Pour olive oil in large pot and turn burner onto medium/high heat. Saute diced onion and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add bouillon, parsley, basil in onion mixture for 1 min. Add crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil for 15 mins. Add ½ can of water and let boil 10 more mins. Serve over Angel Hair pasta of your choice. MMMmmm…


Thank you so much Janelle for a another dynamite recipe!


Walk with the King!

If you are looking for more recipes or have one to share - visit Janelle's new link-up today!



You can follow Janelle on her own blog Comfy In The Kitchen or on Facebook and Twitter.

I am participating in What's Cooking Wednesday, Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Dining With Debbie , Balancing Beauty and Bedlam , and Tuesdays at the Table recipe exchanges. I am also linked up to Raising Homemakers Weds. link up and Works For Me Wednesday! For more blogger recipes go to these links.

My Fitness Instructor

If the healthy living posts this week have struck a chord with you - then I want to recommend one final resource to you - my fitness instructor!


During the first year of Women Living Well, I featured a personal friend of mine regularly. She is my fitness instructor named Clare. Clare was a friend of mine for a few years before I attended her first fitness class. I was shocked the evening after her first class - I felt like I had been hit by a semi-truck...I was SO sore - I could not move!!!


My respect for her and her ability to talk through high cardio intensity lol! and her physical strength has nothing but grown since then. At 32 weeks pregnant with her second child, she was still leading her classes. Honestly, by about 12 weeks, I would have used the excuse that I was pregnant to bow out of all challenging workout routines - but not Clare! I have officially labeled her the "bionic woman".


Clare is not only physically fit but spiritually this girl blows me away. She is kind, always ready to help anyone who asks, a great listener, wise, hungry for God's truth, and not shy in sharing her faith.


For over 2 years I have told her, "you must start a blog". This girl is filled with amazing fun facts mixed with a spiritual maturity that is contagious! I am so excited to share her brand new blog that just launched late last night!!! In the early stages of her choosing her name and the other details, I invited Clare and Janelle to my home for bloggy talk - here's some pics...


Since that night, she has worked diligently to build an on-line ministry to reach ladies who need encouragement from the inside out.


I invite you to visit her and give her a warm welcome here!

Clare - I feel like a big sister who is so proud of her little sister today!!!

Walk with the King!

How To Overcome A Constant Desire For Food

Today we have a guest - it's Darlene - the co-author of Reshaping It All! Darlene Schacht is an ordinary mom, living an extraordinary life, because of who she is through Jesus Christ. As help-meet to her husband Michael, Darlene guides and nurtures their four children, leading them toward a deeper walk of faith. She’s also an inspirational writer and co-author of Candace Cameron Bure’s new book, “Reshaping it All: Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness,” a motivational tool that will put readers on the right track and keep them there. In addition to practical advice, the book offers a biblical perspective on appetite and self control that provides encouragement to women, guiding them toward freedom.

A reader recently asked me how she could overcome her constant desire for sweets. It’s a good question, since it’s a struggle that many of us have tried to defeat. The way that I see it is that we can’t control the things we desire, until our hearts have been changed. Fortunately they naturally change over time so that many of the things we once enjoyed aren’t so appealing anymore, but there are some things that we develop a passion for that never seem to go away, no matter how old we get.


Take chocolate for instance. Some of us developed a weakness for chocolate in our teens and it’s plagued us ever since. For others, like me, it’s potato chips. I just can’t seem to get enough salt. I figured that by the age of 45 this chip phase would be gone, but nope—it still rears its ugly head every time the TV goes on–or when it’s off for that matter.


So how do we separate ourselves from these passions? That question would be similar to one asking “How do I run a marathon?” The answer is simple—a sensible training program will get you there. Sure you can run without training, but all you’ll manage to get is a sprint. In order to complete in a marathon, athletes must train for months or years.


In dieting, the sprint is otherwise known as the “Yo-Yo Diet.” You start off at a great pace, but soon find out that you aren’t equipped for the long run. You can barely make a mile, never mind 26.2. A few months or a year down the road, you start again with the same uncontrolled enthusiasm you had before, and once again you lose steam. If you want to achieve long term success, you must train yourself as an athlete trains for a race—no pain no gain.


Dr. Joyce Beck, author of The Complete Beck Diet for Life, often writes about strengthening our resistance muscle, which she defines as, “a psychological muscle that is strengthened by resisting the urge to eat unplanned food.” She also says, “Life becomes so much easier when your resistance muscle is strong.” If you’re looking to find motivation and change the way you think about food, Dr. Beck’s books, The Complete Beck Diet for Life and The Beck Diet Solution are a great read.


Ways to strengthen our resistance may include:
• Passing on the junk food in the grocery store
• Making a healthy choice when eating out
• Passing on the goodies at group meetings
• Taking one trip to a buffet instead of two or more
• Eating until we’re comfortable rather than stuffed
• Limiting treats to once or twice a week, rather than daily


Our resistance is quite weak on the first three days of a new diet plan. If we can just get past the first three days, things usually seem to get a bit easier. Again if we get past the first three weeks, we start to see the muscle is strengthened and working for us.


Does this sound like a foreign concept? Compare Hebrews 12:11-12:
"At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God. So don’t sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!"
–Hebrews 12:11-12, The Message


So, the answer to the question, “how could one overcome a constant desire for sweets?” is resistance training. No, it isn’t easy at first, but it does get easier the more we train ourselves to say “no.”


Saying “no” should never include a pacifier. If you’ve had enough sweets, then don’t fall into the trap that so many dieters do of purchasing low-cal alternatives to squeeze a little more in. A few years back, just after I took off 40 pounds, and had maintained for a while, I decided that indulging in low-cal gelatin would be a great afternoon treat. What could it hurt?


I started to get my gelatin ready the night before (cherry is my favorite), then enjoy a large bowlful the next day, in the heat of the afternoon sun. It was working for me, until I tired of the same old afternoon treat, and started rummaging through the cupboards for something better. Pretty soon ice cream and I were bathing together in the hot summer sun, day after day.


Had I just stuck with the plan, which didn’t include an afternoon treat every day, I wouldn’t have had another bad habit to kick. A better idea would have been to plan for an occasional treat.


Imagine how our children would be if every time they cried for a cookie we handed them something sweet. Teaching our children to know when they’ve had enough is an important part of their training. It’s also a part of ours.


Learn to train yourself to eat enough, to make the best choices, and to stick to the plan. That’s how you’ll win this race!


Thank you Darlene for your wisdom in this area!!! I have learned a lot from the book. If you want to learn more from Darlene visit her over at Time Warp Wives. On her blog today is a link up titled Titus 2sdays - we invite you to come link up!

Walk with the King!

Reshaping It All and a Giveaway

Over Christmas, I began reading Reshaping It All: Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness written by Candace Cameron Bure (formerly known as DJ from Full House) and Darlene Schacht who blogs over at Time Warp Wives.

Not only have I been reading it, I have been applying it!! So let me share with you a few of the principles I have learned from the book.

1. "This outer shell is simply an envelop for my spirit. The contents are precious, eternal and costly, bought with a price, and the envelop has been fashioned by the world's greatest designer, the Creator Himself." pg. 66 It is tempting to put too much focus on our outer "envelope"...but it is the precious contents - my spirit and soul that God has redeemed and that will live forever. But we must remember that God did choose to give us this "envelope" and he designed it as he pleased. (Psalm 139:13-16)

2. "God loves you, just the shape you are and there isn't a single number on the scale that could ever change that." pg. 67

3. "Each year, each week, each day, and each hour we are offered choices. Should I grab water or a soda pop, a bag of chips or an apple?...take the stairs or the elevator? The reason we fail to consider these choices as carefully as we should is because the value we place on them is so low." pg. 83 This is SO true about learning any discipline in life. It's the small battles won day in and day out that show a life transformed. It's saying no to our flesh over and over and over and over that over time show a life of victory.

4. "When we resist temptation, it eventually flees." (James 4:7) pg.83 This is so very true. For a fleeting few minutes we may face temptation when everyone is eating dessert. But when the dessert time has ended, the temptation also ends and we learn indeed we can survive without dessert!

5. "Self-disciplines when applied to our life not only bring self-respect; they also bring the respect from others around us." pg 100 The Proverbs 31 woman led a life of discipline and as a result both her husband and children praised her. People who seek out the quick fixes are less remarkable and usually return to their old ways. But those who are diligent to lead a disciplined life - often demand the attention of others - they are remarkable!

6. Prosperity gives us the option for gluttony, a sin the Bible warns against. But many of us aren't sure where pleasure ends and gluttony begins...Proverbs 23:20-21 speaks against a gluttonous lifestyle...in Latin gluttire means "to gulp down or swallow"...In Hebrew it means "to have in excess." The modern definition of the word gluttony is to habitually eat to excess." pg. 111 This is a hard truth to swallow...isn't it *{blush}


What is fun about this book is not only does it give you great principles to live by but it also includes Candace's testimony, solid scripture references, realistic tips to apply and even recipes!!!

This week I whipped up for my family three of Candace's dishes! I made her Orange Chicken Fajitas, Oven Roasted Broccoli with Lemon Baked Salmon (not pictured), and her Turkey Meatloaf (ignore the butter on the potatoes - I know it's not healthy lol! I'm a work in progress okay? hehe!). And I plan to make a few more of her recipes this week!

This gives you a great intro to this book. I highly recommend it. I honestly could write 5 posts on this book - but let me leave you with this one staggering truth! I have been applying it THIS week and I lost 3 pounds - now mind you - I'm coming off the holiday sugar rush...but I still see how this book is transforming my thinking and helping me to think clearly about what and why I eat. It feels good to be practicing self-control again in this area of my life.

Darlene has provided an extra copy of Reshaping It All for me to give away to one of you! To enter to win, simply leave a comment in the comment section. I will choose a winner this Thursday! Join me tomorrow for more on this topic!


Walk with the King!

GREAT NEWS! So many of you are entering, that I just got word from Darlene she is adding two more books to this giveaway! So I will be giving away 3 books on Thursday!!!

I am linking up to: Making Your Home Sing Monday, Hip Homeschool Hop, Raising Homemakers, and Works For Me Wednesday.