What is Significant About January 20???

According to surveys only 8% of Americans successfully achieve their New Year's resolutions.  This means that 92% are not kept!  By January 20, 80% of those who make New Year's resolutions have failed!!!

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_percentage_of_people_fail_the_resolutions_they_make_on_New_Year's_Day#ixzz1k0uybxF3

How would you describe your commitment level to healthier living today, January 20 as opposed to what it was 19 days ago???  

If you are like me... huge changes... all at once, are hard to maintain.  Here are two tricks that I have learned to help me cultivate a lasting commitment to a healthy lifestyle.

Find a partner to pursue a healthier lifestyle with.  The power of accountability and companionship is immeasurable!  This is one of the main reasons I teach aerobics twice a week!  The commitment I have made to YOU gets my body moving on days I would wimp out otherwise!

Give yourself incremental rewards.  I personally like the 5/2 principle.  I try to really discipline myself 5 days a week with the happy awareness that I will have 2 free days to eat whatever I want!!!  

A 5 day stretch is do-able for a girl like me!

Remember that this is a PROCESS!!!  Consistently implementing small changes over time will have a much more lasting effect than a few over-kill experiences in the gym or at the table! 

I love the age old adage-

Inch by Inch it's a Cinch... Yard by Yard it's too Hard!!!

Reverent Respect

In the April 2005 General Conference, Russel M Nelson spoke of six things we can do to prepare to meet God.  The first on his list, "repent", was easily anticipated.  His second call to action, however, surprised me.

Now is the time to show reverent respect for one's physical body.  It serves as the tabernacle for one's spirit throughout all eternity.  Physical appetites are to be controlled by the will of one's spirit.  We are to deny ourselves of all ungodliness.  We are to forsake all evil and cleave unto all good, and live by every word which proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God.

Russel M. Nelson "Now is the Time to Prepare"

Prayerfully identify 2 ways that you can show more reverent respect for your body and then move forward in Christ's strength to implement the inspired changes.

The Incomparable Gift of the Body

"A consecrated life respects the incomparable gift of one’s physical body, a divine creation in the very image of God. A central purpose of the mortal experience is that each spirit should receive such a body and learn to exercise moral agency in a tabernacle of flesh. A physical body is also essential for exaltation, which comes only in the perfect combination of the physical and the spiritual, as we see in our beloved, resurrected Lord. In this fallen world, some lives will be painfully brief; some bodies will be malformed, broken, or barely adequate to maintain life; yet life will be long enough for each spirit, and each body will qualify for resurrection.

Those who believe that our bodies are nothing more than the result of evolutionary chance will feel no accountability to God or anyone else for what they do with or to their body. We who have a witness of the broader reality of premortal, mortal, and postmortal eternity, however, must acknowledge that we have a duty to God with respect to this crowning achievement of His physical creation. In Paul’s words:

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

“For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).

Acknowledging these truths and the direction of President Thomas S. Monson in last April’s general conference, we would certainly not deface our body, as with tattoos; or debilitate it, as with drugs; or defile it, as with fornication, adultery, or immodesty. ⁴ As our body is the instrument of our spirit, it is vital that we care for it as best we can. We should consecrate its powers to serve and further the work of Christ. Said Paul, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God” (Romans 12:1)."

"Reflections of a Consecrated Life" D Todd Christofferson

Wise and Healthy Words from a Health "Guru"

I rece'd an email today from Erleen Tilton - a wise and healthy woman and "health guru" in my opinion. She shared some great insights and I thought I'd pass them on to you here - in her own words:

"Recently, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson, which clearly
helps one understand that in areas of health, relationships, finances, or any area in our lives, that the 'difference between success and failure is not dramatic. In fact, the difference between success and failure is so subtle, most people miss it.'

We lack understanding that it's the little decisions we make every day that seem so insignificant, yet are in fact what sets us up for success or failure. 'The right choices you make today, compounded over time, will take you higher and higher up the success curve of this real-time movie called 'your life'. The wrong choices you make today, compounded over time, will absolutely, positively and inevitably take you down, and out.'

Making good eating choices is "easy to do, easy not to do". One poor meal eaten today will not cause you to gain weight or make any huge adverse effect on your body, but poor choices of foods eaten on a continual basis, will over time, add unwanted pounds and create the disorders you have to end up treating.

So if you would do just 5 simple little things each and every day – easy to do, easy not to do – you could over time see dramatic improvements in your health and weight. Being unhealthy is, in reality, a HUGE EXPENSE, so eventually you could also greatly lighten your budget too!
Those 5 Simple Things Each Day to improve your health are these:

1. Eat simply – at least 50-70% of your food intake RAW! Veggies, veggies, veggies, fruits too! Other foods: wholesome does make a difference!
2. Drink a minimum of 2-3 quarts of pure water – every day, without fail!
3. Boost your immunities with PURE supplements – greens powders, antioxidant juices, essential oils, pro-biotics!
4. Exercise at least 30 minutes each day – some way, somehow – just be more active!
5. Get a good night's rest – this is vital for regeneration and healing! Relax with good uplifting, spiritual, self-improvement, educational materials!

Easy to do, easy not to do! These 5 little things done every day, or not done every day, compounded over time will make a huge difference in your health, in wellness or sickness!

I just love how Erleen's words feed right into our 90-day health challenge. After 90 days, we should become so accustomed to our healthier habits, that hopefully we'll all continue on, compounding them over time, into a long life of success and wellness.

Earn as many points each day as you possibly can! Do you have your "Body Mind & Spirit" check sheet calendar? Are you checking off your accomplishements at the end of each day? Each night as I evaluate my day and the points I've earned, I think about all of you and wonder how you're doing and hoping that you're really trying to be a better you. I'm really trying too.

Picture yourself as a healthy, happy, strong, intelligent and spiritual woman - a better woman than you are today. Put "deposits" each day into that woman that will compound over time until you become her.

It's great to hear from you as to how you're doing thus far. As I'm writing this, I'm remembering that I owe myself one more serving of raw vegetables. I'm gonna go get myself some broccoli - nummm.

p.s. if you'd like to check out Erleen's website, you can do so here: http://erleentilton.com/

I wanted to provide a little more info on the "Waist to Hip Ratio" measurement that is described on our "Weigh-in Sheet". It has to do with the way your body distributes its fat. People with more weight around their waist (i.e. tending toward apple-shape) are at greater risk of heart disease and diabetes than those with weight carried around their hips. So for example, two women could have a similar body fat composition, but a very different WtoH Ratio. The one with the smaller ratio has less risk. So, if you're like me - and your ratio isn't all that great - then all the more reason to eat very healthy!

Here is a link to a simple site with a BMI (Body Mass Index) calculator, a basic Body Fat Calculator, a BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) Calculator, and a WtoH Ratio Calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/

Here's how my body fat came out on the fat composition scale this morning, compared to how it came out on the calculator on the website: 31% this morning on the scale, vs. 28% using the fat calculator on the website - a difference of 3%. Both readings have me on the higher end of the "Average" scale. My goal is to get it down to around 22%. If you were to use a fat comp scale, fat calipers and the website calculators - you would get different readings - but they would all likely fall within a few percentage points of each other.

If you want to get the most accurate body fat measurement, try hydrostatic weighing in a dunk tank. This is usually pretty expensive though and you'll have to travel to a place that does this. But for our purposes - just get your calculations however you wish, and use them as a benchmark for your improvement at the end of 90 days.

Is My View of My Body in Harmony With God's?

Most if not all women that I know seem to struggle with ingratitude for their bodies.  There is a sense of constant dissatisfaction... the constant desire to change.  While the desire to improve is necessary for our progression, it is only godly when founded in gratitude and sufficiency.

How blessed is the woman who develops gratitude for the precious gift of her body!  How blessed is the woman who learns to walk in sufficiency through Christ!  The hope of eventual perfection when combined with gratitude for where one is currently at... fills the soul with peace.

In my own life, I have learned to identify feelings of inadequacy, dissatisfaction, and ingratitude as the fruits of the adversary.  When I look in the mirror and feel critical and negative thoughts overcome me... I recognize this to be one of Satan's easiest "ins" with me.  Would the Father, who crafted my body in His own image ever want me to feel that way?  Is that ever pleasing to God?  The answer comes into my mind with resounding force and love, "NO!"

I invite you to spend some time in prayer and introspection considering ways you can walk in greater harmony with God's perspective of your body.  This new year will be filled with billions of tiny decision points.  The commitment to walk in gratitude and sufficiency will require constant dedication and re-dedication.  Please recognize that you will likely not perfect these godly attributes all at once.  You will undoubtedly fall short from time to time, but it is my promise that these stumbles are as much a part of God's plan for you as your moments of success! Constantly seek the grace of Jesus Christ in this effort!  As you do so, He will strengthen you and fill you with the peace that can only come as one rejoices in the gifts that have been given, chief among which is the body!!!

"For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift?  

Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift."

D&C 88:33