Running for a purpose

I am training for the first 5k of my life, thanks to my beautiful friend Deondra Scott.

In June, Deondra was in an awful boating accident that resulted in the loss of her right arm. That moment has changed her life forever - a reality she faces every day. I can still remember her at work the day before, bubbling with excitement about the boat she and her friends rented and were taking out on Lake Norman. It's a memory that kind of haunts me now.

A fellow co-worker called me that Saturday afternoon and reluctantly shared what happened. You can never prepare for news like that, and it wasn't clear at that point if she was even going to make it. The fighter in her has shone through, though, and  almost two months later she is out of the hospital and radiating with gratefulness and hope even as she faces the difficulties of transitioning into everyday life without her arm. And yes, she was right handed.

So the community is pulling together and holding a 5k in her honor on September 10 at Frank Liske Park in Concord, NC - to raise money to cover the mountainous medical bills and to support her as she continues pursuing her dreams.

So how is that for a health goal? I'm gonna do a 5k for the first time. It's amazing motivation to run for a cause and allow your commitment and determination to support someone else. I've never run a race except for the 6th grade endurance run mentioned in an earlier blog, so it may be more like a walk/run endeavor. But that's okay. Either way my feet are hitting the pavement for 5 kilometers to show that I am committed to seeing Deondra recover well.

It would be an honor if you could join with me and sponsor me in the race. Each participant is asked to raise $200, and all the money will go to Deondra's fund (you can learn more at http://www.deondrascott.com/). Every little bit makes a big impact. Email me at cddarnell@gmail.com or post in the comments.

Thanks!

A morning meal to remember

There is something about starting your day right that sets the tone for every subsequent hour. The choices I make in my waking moments are crucial. When I avoid the snooze button and get up at the time I intended, I am able to get ready at a relaxing pace. But when I press that doggone button for a measly five minutes a pop, I find myself rushed, disheveled and moody (hey, what girl isn't moody when she's disheveled?). In the immediacy of a rushed morning, the main thing I forgo is usually breakfast. And guess what breakfast is...the most important meal of the day. Ugh.

So lately I have been planning my mornings so I won't miss out on the benefits of a solid, nutritional morning meal. I'm not talking about coffee (although it's one of my morning staples), a bowl of cereal or a granola bar. I mean an eat-like-a-king breakfast. Here's what I have been trying lately:

So, my breakfast are now including the following:

-- Kale lightly sauteed in water (learned that one from my awesome health coach, Theresa Caveney)
-- Eggs. I either do it fried or scrambled - scrambled is more fun because I like to add onions and peppers)
-- Fruit.
-- Grains. I didn't have grains in the first one, but the second dish includes polenta. It's great because Trader Joe's sells premade polenta - all I have to do it slice it and put it on the skillet.

The day I started eating like this, I noticed I had a lot more energy, mental clarity and I didn't get hungry for hours. And it only takes about five minutes to make!

What do your breakfast meals look like - are you treating it as a nice-to instead of a need-to? Why not find some simple, fast options that work for you. It might take a few days for some people to get used to eating a large breakfast, so it might be good to start with small portions. It's worth it.

Easy Eats

Food is a weakness for me - and I work in an Italian restaurant. How convenient. My resolve to eat healthy is strong until I walk through the kitchen doors, bombarded with the scent of sizzling garlic and heavy cream. I think the key is to plan ahead. Sometimes I go to work thinking I won't get hungry, or I'll just eat something healthy at work (denying the fact that there is nothing healthy at work). But if I bring in items that are healthy and taste good - tasty food is important when tempted with alfredo sauce - I'm a lot more likely to stay on track.

One snack that I love is Planters NUT-rition trail mixes. They come in small snack bags, and they are the perfect mixture of sweet and salty. Their energy mix is my favorite (http://www.planters.com/varieties.aspx), but they can get kinda expensive - I guess eating two packs a day can do that.

So I decided to make my own trail mix inspired by the Planters mix. I headed over to Trader Joe's and filled my basket with the following: raw walnuts, raw almonds, whole grain pretzel bars, and dark chocolate covered soybeans. To add flavor you can change out roasted or cinnamon almonds, honey wheat pretzel bars or add honey roasted peanuts. I mix them up into separate ziplock bags, so I can take one each day. The almonds and walnuts were pricey, but those bags will last me for months.

What are some creative healthy snacks that you make to keep the junk food cravings at bay?

Too busy not to pursue health

Well, if you couldn't tell by my lack of recent posts, I got a little derailed from my health goals.

It was nothing specific or tragic. I didn't get sick or injured. I just got lazy. Granted, a lot changed. The crazy semester wrapped up, I started leadership training at work and I started an internship in the magazine division of the Charlotte Observer.

I soon realized that I was too busy not to be healthy. It wasn't long before my attention span dwindled, my energy levels plummeted and I had to stare at the same page for 10 minutes before my mind processed the words.

After two months of missing my gym visits, I am finally working out again - three weeks now. I started off with 30 minutes of cardio (seriously, I felt so tired and foggy that I could do little more than that) and I am now back into strength training classes - yay! Already, my mind is clearer and my outlook more positive.

That might also be due to the fact that I was published in the July issue of UCity Magazine (woohoo!) and have more to articles to come. My guess is that pursuing your dream does wonders for your helath:).

Well, to anyone else who got sidetracked, I hope you'll join me in jumping back on that treadmill. Who cares if January has come and gone - super fast by the way - July sounds like a wonderful new starting point to me.

Toxic Thoughts

The other night I was lying in bed again, exhausted but wide awake. My mind was whirling with random thoughts, most of them negative and most of them meaningless. It was like my mind was controlled by a separate entity – but not by me. I couldn’t seem to turn off the thoughts ping-ponging through my head.

Because I couldn’t control my thoughts, I couldn’t sleep that night. Because I didn’t sleep, I was sluggish and moody the next day, grabbing whatever convenient food I could find on my rush out the door. I was too tired to work out, so after work I wasted a few hours before making myself push through the mental fog to focus on schoolwork. At that point, I was too drained to cook, so I either had cereal or bought takeout (not friendly to my health or my budget). But as soon as I hit the pillow to fall asleep, my mind ran off without me again. And the cycle repeated itself all week long.

This has been an issue with me for years, but God gave me an awareness and discernment this time that I haven’t experienced before. Not only were my thoughts hyperactive at night, my thoughts toward myself were very negative throughout the day. They went something like this:

-          You’ll never change. As soon as you’re faced with a difficult situation, you’ll fail.

-          You’re so stupid.

-          You don’t fit in.

-          What’s wrong with you?

-          You’re so awkward; nobody wants to be around you.

Wow, writing them down, I realize how harsh those thoughts sound. But listen yourself throughout the day. Do you ever think or say the same things? Why do we do that? I Peter 5:8 gives me a hint: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” How does he devour us? One way is through our mind. If he can plant thoughts and seeds in our mind – get us to believe they are our  thoughts and then get us to believe those thoughts, then we’re already half eaten.

If I believe that I’ll never change, then I’m not putting my faith in God’s promises to me, and I’ll never try. If I believe that I’m stupid, that I don’t fit in, that there is always something wrong with me, then it’s like trying to run a race with a fifty pound stone strapped to my back (FYI, if I had that stone on my back, I’d fall right on my face…there would be no running). I can’t move forward in godly confidence if I constantly have the instinct to cower in a cave because I’m embarrassed with myself.

Those thoughts are toxic. They are lies and they are destructive. They hinder me from walking in God’s purpose and they hinder me from living out the healthy lifestyle that I so desperately want.

In her book, Reshaping It All, Candace Cameron Bure says, “It’s the feeling that we’re trapped in a body that has control over us. That’s why we want change. That why we need change!”

I need change. I need to detoxify my thought life and take control over my mind so it won’t control me anymore.

Gents, Take a Walk...

I'm more of a weight lifting girl. I enjoy the group fitness class, bodypump, and like to think cardio is overrated. The other day I timidly ventured into the impressive cardio section of my gym. There's probably fifty machines all lined up into organized rows of ellipticals, stair steppers, stationary bikes and then, to the right, treadmills. I don't get a good workout on the elliptical, the stair stepper hurts too much, and the stationary bikes are in the front row - and I hate the front row. So that leaves me with the treadmill. I consider it my enemy and my friend.

I've never been much of a runner. Sprinter, maybe, but not an endurance runner. I can still recall my sixth grade field day. Students signed up for different events like the 100-yard dash, long jump, and obstacle course (I got 1st place!). I'm not sure why my parents let me do it, but I signed up for the endurance run.

The horn blew to signal the start of the race, and I sprinted off ahead of everybody. I never thought to pace myself. My athletic dad never mentioned that idea. So I sprinted the first lap before doubling over, close to the barf-stage, to catch my breath. I never caught it. In fact, I'm surprised I didn't pass out. I walked, hand clinging to my cramping side, the rest of the way to cross the finish line. I still won.

That's my most vivid memory of running. I haven't done it much since. I just recently started jumping on the treadmill with the intent to learn, and I humbly started with 2-minute intervals. I was embarrassed at first, using my peripheral vision to measure the progress of my fellow gym members, noticing that the girl next to me had been running for thirty minutes straight. What?! Compare two minutes with thirty minutes - I'm not feeling so great.

But I'll tell you this. The more I do it, the longer I can run. Of the thirty minutes I spend on the machine, more of it is spent running and less walking. And the longer I run, the more I like it. I'm beginning to feel more athletically impressive. I ran six minutes straight the other day - I'm on my way to the Olympics, baby!

It reminds me of a verse in James 1: "But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." Sometimes doing what's right is hard. Being obedient to God maybe mean sacrifice. It means going against our human nature, and maybe even suffering a little. But I'll bet the more we do the right thing - the more we practice our spiritual muscles - the easier it gets.

Purposeful Thoughts

Okay, so I'm taking these pillars out of order. The next pillar should be living foods (certainly an important topic), but we're going to discuss Pillar 7 - coping with stress. Lately, God has opened doors of opportunities for me in writing. Some worked out, some didn't. Last week, I got another assignment from a print publication and, while it's incredibly exciting, it's also scary.

Managing stress has never been my strong point. With every test, every paper, every new activity, my emotions get overwhelmed with a sense of anxiety. But my dream is to be an established freelance writer. Guess what that means? Deadlines. Unfamiliar topics. Cold calls. Interviews. Risk of failure. Mix them all together and they create a breeding ground for stress. Still, my dream outweighs my fear. I'm going to follow Joyce Meyer's advice and "do it afraid." These new opportunities may stir feelings of anxiety, but I'm going to pursue them anyway. I trust that the more I do that, the less anxiety I'll experience.

My goal then isn't to eliminate stressful situations but to effectively manage stress. Dr. Colbert lists a number of methods in the last section of his book "The Seven Pillars of Health." I'm going to share the ones that work for me.

In the evening, I would randomly remember an offense - a colleague who spoke rudely to me or a doctor who said the pain was all in my head. I clearly wasn't over them because I rehashed those conversations over and over, reliving it and practicing the way I wish I had responded. Dr. Colbert calls it "stewing in stress juices."  But as I laid down to fall asleep, my heart beat fast and hard, my mind raced and my skin flushed with the extra blood circulation, causing it to itch. I couldn't sleep because I allowed unforgiven offense to stew in my heart. The devil got a foothold, and pushed my stress buttons right before bed. Because I wasn't sleeping, I was tired, irritable and unfocused. Try to manage a crazy schedule effectively with no sleep - doesn't work well.

No one wronged me in a significant way, but small offenses took root in my heart and were stealing joy and sleep. Holding on to those offenses didn't hurt the people I was offended by - it only hurt me. I confessed them to the Lord and have been sleeping better every since. I have to be aware of my thoughts, purposely choosing not to dwell on offenses when they come. It's not easy, but it has already made a big difference.

I also have a tendency to subconsciously add unnecessary things to my to-do list. I want to watch Morning Glory, I want to read through the piles of health magazines littering my floor, or I notice the fire mantle needs to be redecorated. So now, even though I don't write it down on my list of things to accomplish, my mind recognizes those desires as undone tasks. I live in a feeling of always needing to do "more."

It goes back to the concept of awareness. I recognize my struggle in these areas, so I must be purposeful about changing my mental patterns toward them.

Do these seem unrelated to the opportunities I mentioned earlier? The point is they were draining mental, emotional and physical energy that I need to invest in pursuing more important things. It resulted in fatigue and procrastination, making school and writing more of a last-ditch effort. Not anymore!  

Divine Rest

In my last post, we talked about water as a foundational element for our health. The next pillar in Dr. Colbert’s book The Seven Pillars of Health is sleep. Did you know that when you sleep, your body is repairing and recharging itself? It’s amazing that even though we are physically shutting ourselves off from the rest of the world, our bodies are being incredibly productive. Your body needs that time of sleep and rest so that you can be capable of full mental and physical productivity while you are awake! Sleeping is the responsible thing to do – and all the tired people of the world rejoice!

If you are like me and have issues falling or staying asleep, Dr. Colbert offers a lot of helpful advice. Regular exercise (at least two or three hours before bedtime), natural supplements, a good mattress, a comfortable and dark room, and a consistent bedtime routine are examples. Some of those things help me (like a good mattress) but some don’t (the consistent bedtime routine), so it’s important to try them out and discover what works for you. I’m still trying out different ideas and praying that I will fall asleep quickly and sleep well.

Physical sleep restores your body so that it works at its maximum capacity, and inner rest restores your spirit and soul. Life is hard, and we are busy people. The stress of life takes its toll – and it’s almost always negative. In Matthew 11:28 - 30, Jesus said, “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.”

When I read that verse at the beginning of 2010, it stirred a longing within me. I just wanted to be at rest. I was tired of this constant feeling of heaviness and pressure – like I should always be doing more. It became the basis for my new year’s goals for that year, and I sensed God calling me to simplify my life. I was half-engaged in a long list of activities, and I needed to finish them and let them go. So I did. I cut ties with a direct selling business and paid off the debt associated with it. I finished a book study with two wonderful high-school seniors who were preparing for college and completed the assignments for an experimental writing group.

I finished all the items on my list. Then God led me to start my graduate degree in journalism at Regent University. If I hadn’t let go of those other activities, there’s no way I would have the time to devote to school. I’m not spread out thin, involved in a wide variety of “good” things. My focus is simple but powerful.

What God calls us to do, He enables us to do. He called me to start school again (that’s a miracle story in and of itself), and He has given me the power and grace to do it thus far. AND it’s been enjoyable. I have to constantly evaluate my priorities, though, and ask God if He is calling me to do them. If you are struggling to do something, and you feel weary and drained of joy, you might want to evaluate your involvement. I realized no one person can do everything, so I determined to stop trying. Find the things God has gifted and called you to do, and then do them with excellence.

Come to Christ. Take up His yoke and find rest. Involve yourself in the activities He leads you to, and let go of the rest. You aren’t meant to live as a strained individual, but a joyful one. Rest is crucial to mental and physical restoration, so make it a priority!

“Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep.”                                                                      Psalm 127:1-2                                

Drink up!

The first pillar in Seven Pillars of Health by Dr. Don Colbert is water. Water is a foundational element of our body and proper hydration ensures that things work correctly. Dr. Colbert attributes dehydration to problems such as “headaches, back pains, arthritis, skin problems, digestive problems and other ailments.” Um, basically everything. He goes so far as to say that “water is the single most important nutrient for our bodies.”

He recommends that you take your weight in pounds and divide it by two. That’s how much water you should drink in ounces every day (so if you weigh 130 pounds, you should drink 65 ounces of water). I picked up a BPA free nalgene bottle at REI (BPA is a harmful ingredient found in some plastics). It holds 32 ounces of water, so I need to drink two nalgenes a day to reach my goal. It keeps it simple – I do well with simple. Water is a daily source of life. Literally. Now, let’s get into some figurative stuff.

I’m a journalism student, so I’m constantly learning about storytelling techniques and the importance of helping a reader “see” the message you’re trying to communicate. They need to experience it for themselves and see it through their own eyes. Jesus was a master at storytelling. Throughout the four gospel books (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) you’ll find scores of parables and metaphors, each representing spiritual truths.

One example is in John 4. Jesus got tired (what? Jesus got tired?) and sat down by a well. A Samaritan woman walked up and began to draw water. First of all, Jews didn’t talk to Samaritans. It wasn’t customary for them to talk with women either. So, when Jesus asked her for a drink (what? He got thirsty too?), I can picture the puzzled look on her face when she said, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?”

Apparently Jesus saw this as an opportunity to share one of His metaphors. “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” If He had said that to me, I would be confused too. She didn’t understand that He was speaking metaphorically, and she just asked him how He could get water if He didn’t have a bucket. Patiently, he answered her, “Whoever drinks this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

At this point, I think the Samaritan woman was getting it. “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” Okay, maybe she didn’t totally get it. Jesus was saying that just as physical water is crucial to our survival, so a relationship with Christ is crucial to eternal life with God.

Sorry, you still need to drink about two quarts of water a day – there is no way around that. Water is the physical source of life. The Environmental Protection Agency says that the average person can live five to seven weeks without food but can’t last more than five days without water. Only through a relationship with Jesus Christ, the source of our spiritual life, can we experience eternal life.

In John 15, Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” When we are plugged into Christ, we have a continual stream of nutrients and life pouring into us. We will naturally bear fruit when we are connected with the vine.

What does that mean for us? First, it means that we need a relationship with Jesus to be plugged into the source of spiritual life. It also means that we need to stay connected with Him. How do you maintain important relationships with the people in your life? You talk with them. You share your thoughts, your feelings, your fears and your dreams. You ask for help, and you give of yourself by serving. We maintain a relationship with Christ the same way.

When we build our relationship with Christ, we allow in a steady stream of living water to provide life and nutrients necessary to the healthy development of our spiritual lives.

So today (and the days hereafter), focus on drinking the right amount of water based on your weight. Also focus on your relationship with God through Christ, spending time each day to talk to Him, listen to Him and serve Him. The result? A fulfilling life!

Seven Pillars of Health

I’m a book junkie. I collect them like a fashionista buys clothes. My house has built in shelves and cubby holes, and all of them contain their own pile of books – color coded, I might add. I’ve run out of shelf and cubby space and have resorted to creating piles on the floor of my office.

The book I turn to most often for health guidance is Dr. Don Colbert’s Seven Pillars of Health. If you’re able, I highly recommend adding it to your collection. It’s split into seven weeks of daily readings, each week focusing on a different pillar of health. It’s set up so that you slowly add these habits into your life in a sustainable way. You can find it on Amazon.com here. 

The seven pillars are water, sleep, living food, exercise, managing stress, detox, and supplements. Recently, I spent my morning sipping hot coffee and praying, and I realized that each of the seven pillars of physical health lined up with a spiritual truth that correlates with our health spiritually and emotionally.

I thought it was so insightful, and I’d love to share them with you over the next few weeks.

It's nice to meet you...

I’m so excited to be taking this journey with you. So you have some background information about me:

I’m a young woman in my mid-twenties, working a full-time job in a national restaurant chain (Italian!), carrying a full graduate school load studying journalism. I am married to my wonderful husband, and we don’t have any kiddos yet. So, basically, I’m like most American women – busy.

I’ve had a number of health issues over the years, primarily with my GI tract. My symptoms closely resembled IBS, and it significantly impacted my quality of life. I would be up for hours in the middle of the night with nausea, I started avoiding restaurants because I would feel sick after eating meals, and I couldn’t hang out past 9pm because my stomach would cramp so badly. The long and short of it is that I have an acid issue, and I have to be careful what I eat.

I also struggle with acne even though I take superb care of my skin with medical grade products. My mom is a medical aesthetician, so I’m always using the newest and best topical medications. And I still struggle with acne. Ugh.

I started focusing on healthy living a couple years ago when I started going to a health and wellness counselor. She worked with me on all the specifics of healthy eating – she gave me lessons in her kitchen and everything. She also talked a lot about holistic health and the importance of living a balanced life. Our health is about much more than diet and exercise – your stress levels and satisfaction with life play crucial roles.

I made a number of strides in the right direction, but I got overwhelmed with the amount of information. That – and I have a problem with follow through. I start a lot of activities, but I have a hard time finishing them. I know the right things to do. I have a lot of head knowledge. You know what it looks like, though. “I don’t feel like going to the gym today” or “water just doesn’t sound good right now.” I can come up with an excuse or anything. Well, not anymore. I’m done making excuses.

Joyce Meyer is constantly saying that the battle is in our mind. If we can change our minds, we can change our lives. So I’m changing my mind with the goal of changing my life. I’m setting my mind on healthy living, and I’m keeping it set.

This blog is my accountability to move every day toward a healthy lifestyle. It will be a journey with many ups and downs, but such is life. I’ll share what I’m thinking, what I’m learning, and what I’m doing. I’ll let you know the books I’m reading, the recipes I’m using, and the workouts that are working (and aren’t working). If you have ideas, please share them. 

I’ll never reach my potential without some hard work and determination – and neither will you. I hope you’ll take this as an inspiring challenge and go on this journey with me.