TEMPTATION
I believe that in life most of us strive for happiness and fun, rather than contentment and salvation and that the old enemy has had a part to play with tempting us with bad choices which we seem to think are fun. The fun label is certainly confused. I saw a sign the other day:
"I have cleared everything out
of the house that's bad.
It was delicious!!!!"
Made me laugh but really our appetites and choices have developed so that anything that is health related is made to seem boring and has no life.
Thankfully there are now many healthy businesses opening like the Wild Food Cafe & Fit-Fish that make healthy food look delicious.
Praise Jesus for these places !!!
Do your best to adapt and overcome in every circumstance you face and remain as consistent as possible. The more consistent the more success you will have.
Never make excuses but give yourself a genuine reason why you should or shouldn't do something.
Give yourself regular but balanced rewards with every small goal achieved.
You will have ups and downs but when you're down, get on your knees and give it over to your Creator who knows exactly where you're at.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR LIMITS
I know that in my journey that the way I visualise and see and taste health is totally different from 20 years ago. I still love chocolate cake and fry ups but the difference is, I now have a better understanding of the limits of with what is good for my body. But discovering this can take patience, time and sacrifice to finding what works for each of us as eating is something we were not born instinctively knowing about. It's something we learn. Our relationship with sugar can have a big effect with mood swings, diabetes and life in general. Although our bodies need things like proteins, carbs, fats, water etc...a healthy body could actually operate perfectly well without sugar.
OVERCOMING & ACHIEVING
Today I am not only qualified and educated in how to look after myself physically, but mentally and spiritually. I had to experience what it's like not only to live how the world and devil would like me to live, but now how God wants to me to live. For me to say this I had to overcome some pretty hard challenges first and make many sacrifices and form new habits. I have learnt that when you continually challenge your body in a healthy way then you're always overcoming goals and learning how to focus better. This is massive not just in fitness but anything you come up against in life.
THE HUMAN BODY
The human body is like life's journey itself, as when we strengthen our body we break down muscle fibre so it rebuilds stronger each time if this is achieved in a healthy way. For myself I had to be down to come up,
PRIORITISE
I am a great believer that if someone wants to do something and is prepared to set themselves achievable goals and prioritise their Health & Fitness, then anything is possible. On my journey, I have learnt that life is never going to be an easy ride but the ride can become effective and efficient and hard obstacles can be overcome when we find purpose in who we are.
GOAL SETTING
Setting small goals with an end goal was key. For me the end goal was not just to run the London Marathon but to make health, fitness and faith part of my everyday life and to find a church, hobby and friends that I could relate to.
GOD THE PERSONAL TRAINER
So where does the MOTIVATION come from to do this? It can only be Jesus. He has called us to be his hands and feet. God plants the seed which he waters as we trust in him by Faith allowing God to journey with us.
Some of my friends and colleagues in the world of fitness would probably not understand how Jesus can be the back bone and seed behind my efforts (and nor did I at first). But I know that it is by Faith that we step out into the unknown. God will stay with us whichever road we take.