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Use it or lose it

May 8, 2012 in Goals, Health with 2 Comments

I went jogging today for the first time in at least a month – and probably the 4th or 5th time since mid-October. It really sucked. 

 

I used the Jeff Galloway method where you jog/walk in intervals. I jogged 2 minutes and then walked one minute. I did 10 intervals for a total of 30 minutes. It may not sound very difficult, but I really struggled.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised it was hard, it’s not like I am the picture of health and fitness. But it is a little surprising – or more accurately, depressing how fast things can decline. You see, I did a half marathon just six months ago. In October I jogged 13 miles and today I certainly could not even do a mile if I didn’t work in walking. Ugh …

There are a couple lessons here for anyone who desires to be at least a little healthy and have some cardiovascular fitness. In fact these are lessons for anyone who wants to keep a skill or retain some knowledge.

The first lesson is to continue on. It is a lot easier to maintain than it is to regain physical conditioning. I imagine if I had jogged 2-3 times a week, I could have continued to be able to run 3-5 miles. It will take me several weeks to get to that point now. Likewise if you want to retain something you have learned, you need to continue to do something with it, if you learned a language in college and then do nothing with it for years, in all likelihood, you will forget all you have learned.

The second lesson is to look forward. As you look ahead, continue to remind yourself of the impact your retaining that skill or knowledge will have long-term. How can that skill benefit you five years from now? How could better health and fitness make enhance your life looking ahead 10 years?

What skill have you lost through inactivity over the past 10-20 years?

 

The danger of ignoring things

April 28, 2012 in Christian Living, Goals, Health with 0 Comments

The saying goes, “Ignorance is bliss!” Nothing could be further from the truth.

I can tend to have the personality that if I ignore something, it will go away – never to bother me again!

How many of you are like that?

The issues that can be ignored are endless, health, relationships, financial, workplace, church … it could go on and on.

I know of some people who are struggling with their marriage, but they absolutely refuse to address the issues – hoping things will just get better. I know of some others who are struggling in raising their children (these children are of any age) and they do nothing to address the situation. I know of others who have health issues and fail to address their situation hoping that things will “just get better”.

I have fallen into that last area. I have some health issues I have ignored the past several months. I went to the doctor this past week and found out that ignoring things has not helped. In fact, ignoring things NEVER helps!

So, what can a person do to fight this tendency to ignore things?

  • Admit it! First we must admit there is an issue. This is obvious, but necessary.
  • Seek accountability. Find someone to help hold you accountable for movement. I have another appointment with my doctor in four weeks and progress will need to be made by then. Find someone and ask for this!
  • Have daily reminders! In regards to my health, there are daily things I need to do. What can you do to work on your financial situation daily? How can you keep that in the forefront? Perhaps a note on your mirror or at your desk at work.
  • Turn it over to God. When you are at the end of your rope and you don’t know what to do, turn it over to God. “Trying harder” doesn’t work. Rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says in Matthew 11, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The doctor warned me in regards to ignoring my health issues. There may come a point of “no return” when things can’t get better. This is the same for any issue you choose to ignore. You may get to that point of “no return”, when it is too late to make changes. Do something before it gets to that point!

What are you ignoring right now? What are your first couple steps you need to take to address that issue?

Sabbatical – Rest

March 19, 2012 in Christian Living, Health, The Kitchen Table with 0 Comments

I am blessed to be serving a church that has a Sabbatical Policy. Our policy is that after six years of service a pastor has to take at least five weeks off as a Sabbatical. The pastor is eligible for another Sabbatical every seven years. The purpose of the Sabbatical is three-fold: rest, spiritual renewal and a ministry focus (a specific project, developing a skill, learning something new, etc…).

Our Student Ministries pastor, Dikran (D), just got back from his Sabbatical. It is customary here that one’s office gets decorated to commemorate the return to work – as you can see from the picture, it involved lots of balloons and wrapping paper.

I am a year away from being eligible for my second Sabbatical. My first was very beneficial and I am just now starting to give some thought to what the next one could look like.

This has caused me to ponder. First, I think it would be awesome if each profession had a Sabbatical Policy in place for their employees. Some professions do. Teachers and school workers really get a yearly Sabbatical each summer – a time to renew and refresh for the next year of teaching. I certainly realize that most jobs do not allow for a Sabbatical time, but it would be nice if they did.

Also, if the purposes of a Sabbatical policy are important (rest, spiritual renewal and a specific focus), what are some ways we can incorporate those items into our lives on a more regular basis?

Rest

This is the one item that D mentioned to me as being the most surprising during his Sabbatical, how much rest he needed. D said it was during his time away that he realized how physically tired he was.

So, how can each of us ensure we are getting the rest we need?

Michael Hyatt wrote a helpful blogpost that discusses ways to increase one’s energy level. It is certainly worth the read.

Other than sleeping more, eating in a healthy manner, proper exercise, what are some ways to really rest?

A few ideas come to mind.

1. Perhaps once a month you should devote an entire day to rest. Sleep in as long as you can. Take a nap or two or three. Stay in your pajamas all day and lay down whenever you get a chance. Seek to catch up on rest on this day.

2. Take a vacation that is not focused on doing things and going places. Go someplace to just relax. We have been blessed to vacation at a lake in Minnesota a few times and to the Atlantic Ocean. Both locations, the biggest concern was if the lawn chair would leave lines on your legs or if the ropes from the hammock would actually hold your body weight. I am sure Disney is great. Golfing is a blast. Going to museums, ball games and sight-seeing are fun. I challenge to you take a vacation to do nothing except chill.

3. Get in a daily nap. I love naps. Unfortunately, they only tend to happen on Sundays as who has time during the week? I have read about the benefits of a daily 20-minute “power nap”. I will have to try this out!

4. Get adequate sleep. Most people stay up too late and get up too early. We have all heard people brag by saying that they only need 4 hours of sleep a night. Hogwash! They may be able to get by with this for a season, but not long-term. Most things I have read say a person needs 8 to 9 hours of sleep a night. How much sleep do you get each night?

What am I missing here? What can you do to ensure you are getting the rest you need?

Whatever it takes!

February 20, 2012 in Christian Living, Goals, Health with 1 Comment

Are you willing to do whatever it takes to succeed?

That is an interesting question. Before you answer, we need to discuss a couple things.

First, when I say, “whatever”, I mean “whatever” within moral and legal boundaries. No breaking the law, no treating people poorly, no manipulation, coercion, etc… you get the point.

Second, when I talk about success, we must define what success means. I would propose that we define success as meaning, “Knowing what God wants you to accomplish and doing it”. This could be in any area of your life, health goals, relationships, job related, etc…

If you felt God wants you to _____________ (mend a relationship, lose weight, write a book, change jobs, etc…) how far would you go to see that you succeed? This is a hard question. I think all too often, we (ok, at least I) won’t go very far. When it gets hard, typically that means it is time to stop.

I have been glancing through Tim Ferriss’ book, The 4-Hour Body. The goal of this book is better health. Ferriss has several chapters on losing weight. One chapter (pages 122-132) I found particularly interesting. It spoke about the role of cold exposure in helping speed up weight loss. In the book, Ferriss shares about Ray. Ray followed a diet plan for twelve weeks and lost 17.8 pounds (1.48 pounds per week). He later did the same diet plan and added intermittent cold exposure and lost 28 pounds in six weeks (4.77 pounds per week). Quite a difference!

He recommended that daily you do the following things to help facilitate weight loss:
1. Place an ice pack on the back of your neck for 20-30 minutes per day – preferable in the evening (towel, then ice pack)
2. Drink at least 500 ml of ice water on an empty stomach immediately upon waking up in the morning
3. Take 5-10 minute cold showers before breakfast and/or before bed

Would you be willing to do this to help lose weight? I have taken 3-4 cold showers that past week and trust me, it sucks and is not much fun, but, am I willing to do this to help be successful in my weight-loss goals? How far am I willing to go to succeed?

This can be any scenario. Are you willing to sit down and communicate with your spouse to take those first steps towards a better marriage? Are you willing to speak to someone for help and accountability for that area in your life where you are struggling, that area you know where God wants you to change? Are you willing to spend that extra time in God’s Word each day to deepen your relationship with Him? Are you willing to find that 30-60 minutes per day for exercise? Are you willing to go seek forgiveness to that person you have offended or wronged? Are you willing to forgive that person who has wronged you? Are you willing to seek training and further education to better position yourself for that dream job?

How far are you willing to go to succeed?

Expect Resistance

February 15, 2012 in Christian Living, Goals, Health with 0 Comments

I am wanting to make some positive changes in my life. I am wanting to eat in a more healthy manner, exercise and do more reading. I know you have all heard this before. It seems like whenever I decide to do something like this, I always face resistance – I am invited to an all-you-can-eat buffet, or the weather is bad, or I have lots of meetings to make it harder to read, or I get a cold, … the list could go on and on!

The thing about resistance is that it shouldn’t surprise me. I think anytime someone wants to make a change or accomplish a difficult task, resistance always creeps in! This resistance can come in many forms, from the environment (like weather), from other people – friends and family, and even from within. If you want to start jogging, it may rain or snow the next day. Sometimes people really don’t want you to change. They either like you as you are – or that change is threatening to them. If you change, then they may have to change.

I have found for me, that I can tend to give myself the most resistance. One of my goals is to write a book sometime. This is an honorable goal, but then my inner voice kicks in and tells me, “you don’t have the time” or “you can’t write well enough”, or “why do you think anyone would ever read what you wrote?”, or “you aren’t an expert on anything” … I am pretty good at this. Talking myself out of even trying – or allowing others to stomp on my goals.

I need to do a better job of planning ahead for resistance – as I know it will be coming. I need to identify areas ahead of time where I may get push back and develop a plan to deal with it ahead of time. I also need to realize that the more push back I get, what I want to accomplish is probably even more important as I believe Satan truly does not want us to succeed in living lives that bring glory and honor to God.

Think of something you want to accomplish. What are some obstacles or areas of resistance you can identify and perhaps deal with before you even meet them?

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