Eat Real: Walk the Talk

The word 'exercise' has a bad rap. There is so much baggage wrapped around it. Are we doing enough of it, are we doing it the right way. I heard muscle weighs more than fat... You should measure inches and not weigh yourself. Yoga, running, strength training... I need different shoes for each - or none in some cases. Do I have the right equipment, the right gym, the right trainer? Do I hire a trainer?

How about these for excuses... I'm too busy. My foot hurts. My priority is the family and I can't fit it into my day. I need special shoes for that. The gym membership is too much. It's too hot. It's too cold. It's too dark. It's too sunny. I know you have a list a mile long. And there is always one more to add to it!

Are your excuses helping or hurting you? It doesn't really matter what you do or when you do it if you are already riding the couch. You have shoes, there's the door, go outside and walk.

Just start walking. Eventually, the walking will get easier and you'll go longer distances. Pay attention to your body. It wants to move and needs time to acclimate. If it hurts, stop. If you walk 5 or 10 minutes and you usually don't walk, that is a HUGE accomplishment.

Just 30 minutes everyday will do wonders for your health. "From the perspective of prevention, it appears that the 30 minutes per day will keep most people from gaining the additional weight associated with inactivity," said Cris Slentz, Ph.D of the Duke University research team in a news release. It reduces cancer risks, helps you sleep better and improves your mood. Check out this article through CNN.

A pill isn't going to fix your life forever. You have to do it. You CAN do it!
The best solutions are simple:
1. Drink water (and lots of it).
2. Eat real, whole food (and not too much of it.)
3. Get up and move - as much as your body lets you.
4. Sleep

Here are some of my tips for exercising while taking care of a family:
1. Put the big kids on bikes and the little one(s) in a stroller.
2. Get up earlier than everyone else and walk. You'll get home before they wake up.
3. Walk by yourself after dinner if a spouse is home.
4. Walk around the playground while they play.
5. Walk up and down the street in front of the house while they nap.

I've walked in the wee hours of the morning with crying children who couldn't be comforted. I've walked late at night when my husband was working 24 hr shifts with 2 children asleep in a stroller. They were bundled with blankets and hats in the cold winter. I've walked at 5 am on hot summer days before they all wake up. I've walked barefoot, with running shoes and crocs. I've walked alone, with company, pregnant, sick, hurt, depressed, angry, happy, fat, thin, grieving and under any other circumstance that came my way. Be grateful for the gift of legs that work and the ability to walk.

If I can do it, so can you. Stop with the excuses and start moving in any way your body will let you.

(As always, check with a medical professional before starting an exercise routine. But don't use this as a cop-out!)

Be Real: Fat Lip, Black Eye & Stories

It's only been our 2nd full week of vacation and already my second son has a fat lip and a black eye. What's the story you ask? He ran into a pole at basketball and fell off his little brother's bike with training wheels. Doesn't sound to exciting does it?

My husband has decided he would tell everyone he got beat up by a 4 yr old girl. My son is cool with that. He knows dad is just teasing. His older brother has decided a Star Wars story about how he looks would be good. And the little one could care less. He just wants to wear a cowboy hat and run around with his pants off. Ahhh, the joys of motherhood.

I share these stories with you because this has shown me, in a very real way, how we are all just stories. We wear these costumes called bodies and we play a part in a story. When I was little, the soap operas were called stories. We can choose to play the victim and blame others for our issues. We can choose to play the heroine and save everyone else. We can be a martyr and sacrifice ourselves or we can be an observer. The parts we choose to play are endless.

These roles are dictated by our choices. We choose to put ourselves in situations to have an experience. How we react to the experience defines our role and how we define ourselves.

Here's another story for you... We were at the pool with some friends from school and some older kids decided to 'attack' my group of kids by throwing popsicles and popcorn and squiritng them with water guns while they were harmlessly playing. My role was to go over, tear them a 'new one' and 'save' my group of boys. Not what I had in mind for our pool trip, but God obviously needed me to learn something and these kids provided the scene in which to do it. My kids were good after it was all said and done. Yet another chance to expand and choose light. Am I going to rant and rave about it, or say we need to pray for these kids because they obviously need help making choices. One, might ask, "what did you do to attract this?" Can't say that I know, all I know is that God provides me the words and I deliver the message - even if I'm yelling it at strangers.

We teach each other through example or in direct, interactive ways. We must remember to love each other through the teaching, because we are really just helping each other figure things out and discover another part of who we really are.

My group of kids decided they were tough and 'saved' each other because they could have died. Ha! Talk about a story. One more lesson provided by a group of souls that love us.

So, I ask you today, what story are you creating for your life? Are you going to keep looking back at what could have been or are you going to bless the experiences you've had because they've shaped you into the incredible person you are today? Are you going to play the part of a victim or a loving, willing participant in life?

Just get up, dust yourself off and live life to the best of your ability. YOU are a work in progress. We all are. Let's have some fun while we are here and help each other out on the way. We are ALL children of God. We are ALL brothers and sisters. We are all part of the one soul - the body of Christ.

Be Real: When Life Gives You Lemons...

You make lemonade, right?

I had to get over myself today. My kids wanted to do a lemonade stand. Oh man! I could hear my parents - "No, we don't do that sort of thing." Well, guess what? We did it! They were out for 2 hours and sold out 3 pitchers of lemonade. They made $29.20! (The little one drank most of the first pitcher's profits.) After 5 glasses, he came home walking all drunk and complaining of drinking too much lemonade. He's been coasting all night. They had a great time! So did I.

They are learning early about selection instead of rejection. Plenty of people have passed them by and thankfully, not run them over. Some have offered smiles, statements of not having money and some have actually diverted their eyes and intentionally looked away. This is so funny to me, now. It wasn't always. There was a time when I felt rejection as if something was wrong with me if someone chose not to work with me. If something didn't go exactly the way I envisioned, then all was lost. Oh, how mistaken was that thinking!

My kids don't think anything is wrong with them or anyone else and they get that it's not about them. They don't take any of it personally. They are all about the fun, the money and they are focusing on all the cool people who have supported their lemonade stand... The lady that gave them $2, because she's allergic to lemons but wanted them to have some, Mr. Steve who gave them a tip and the 3 girls on bikes who said they were coming back. Oh yes, don't forget the Domino's Pizza guy who bought some and he looked like a NASCAR driver. The kids keep smiling and waving no matter who buys or not. Something we could all do.

What a lesson to us all - especially their mother. It's not about me (or them), it's about the experience. As long as I'm happy, in integrity and doing my best, so what about everyone else. That's what my kids have taught me tonight. They've shown me once again that fear is really an illusion. Taking anything personally is a deception of self. Now I know why God has loaned them to me. Children are our greatest teachers. I'm so grateful to have had this teaching from three little people.

By the way, let us not forget the incredible health benefits and healing power of lemons. I thought it ironic that the Domino's Pizza Guy was drinking homemade, organic lemonade! With actual real lemons! Lemons are incredibly rich in vitamin C. In fact, just one lemon can meet your vitamin C needs for the day. They are also alkalizing for the body. The body wants to be in a state of neutrality, or balance. Neither too alkaline or too acidic. Lemons, although acidic on the outside are alkaline on the inside of our bodies. So, adding freshly squeezed lemon to your day can offset the affects of poor food choices, stress and environmental toxins. It's great to start your day with a cup of warm water and the juice of 1 freshly squeezed lemon.

Homemade Lemonade:
3 lemons
1 pitcher of water (1/2 to 1 gallon)
1-2 tbsp. organic cane sugar or a dropperful of Stevia

Directions:
Juice or squeeze the lemons. Boil 1/2 cup of water and add the sugar to it to make sugar water. Once the sugar has dissolved, add it and the lemon juice to the remainder of the water. Chill and add ice for affect. If you have mint in your yard (as we do), take a few sprigs and add it to the pitcher. It makes for a nice affect.

There's only selection. Rejection is an illusion. Just remember to smile and wave...