Encouraging

Old habits are hard to break

"But i discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9:27

App of the Day: MyFitnessPal
This is an app I use EVERYDAY. It helps you keep track of your calories and your physical activity.  The best way to manage your weight or even lose weight is to be aware of what you are putting into your body and the amount of calories you are expending.  If you have a smart phone, download this FREE app. Or if you don't have a smart phone, you can actually access the features provided by MyFitnessPal at http://www.myfitnesspal.com. Go check it out. And then add me: msucarliann


We have all heard the old adage, "old habits are hard to break." And let's be honest, we all have our fair share of bad habits (Biting nails, procrastination, over eating, being lazy, and the list goes on and on!)

It definitely takes commitment and dedication to break a habit. But how hard is it to create a habit?
I have always heard that it takes 21 days to create a habit.  3 weeks.  If you think about it, that's not really very long.

I urge you to think today about some habits you should try to create in your life (below are some examples). I would also encourage you to look for others to hold you accountable as you try to create this habit.  If you need someone to help you, let me know. I will be glad to hold you accountable.  I, myself, need more accountability in my life.

Examples of habits to create:
Spend at least 15 minutes reading the Bible every day
Pray while you are driving
Only listen to Christian music
Drink only water or tea (unsweetened of course)
Eat at least two cups of vegetables/day
Include at least 30 minutes of physical activity in your day


Meal of the Day:
Broiled Salmon (6 oz.) -      150 calories
Steamed Broccoli (1 cup) -   30 calories
Steamed okra (1 cup) -         40 calories      
                                          220 calories total


Fitness Tip of the Day:
Hula hooping burns more calories than walking a 15 minute/mile.

Pain is temporary. Quitting is forever.

App of the Day: Fitocracy
Cool app that allows you to complete fitness quests. Add me: msucarliann

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. (I Corinthians 3:16, 17 NKJV)

If you ain't movin, you ain't losin!

"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

App of the Day: Run Training (free on Apple App Store)

Because I decided I want to continue with this quest for healthy living, I decided I want to run a marathon eventually, yet right now, I can probably barely run a mile, so I am starting slowly.  I found several great apps that train you to run different races.  Currently, I am training for a 5K.  There are several apps out there, but I am going to illustrate below the training plan from the app called Run Training.

3 Days/Week for 9 Weeks. 

Week 1

Days 1, 2, & 3

1. 5 minutes warm up

2. 60 seconds jog

3. 90 seconds walk

(Repeat steps 2 & 3 eight times)

4. 5 minutes cool down. 

Week 2

Days 1, 2, & 3

1. 5 minutes warm up

2. 90 seconds jog

3. 2 minutes walk.

(Repeat steps 2 & 3 six times)

4. 5 minutes cool down

Week 3

Days 1, 2, & 3

1. 5 minutes warm up

2. 90 seconds jog

3. 90 seconds walk

4. 3 minutes jog

5. 3 minutes walk

(Repeat steps 2-5)

6. 5 minutes cool down

Week 4

Days 1, 2, & 3

1. 5 minutes warm up

2. 3 minutes jog

3. 90 seconds walk

4. 5 minutes jog

5. 3 minutes walk

6. 3 minutes job

7. 90 seconds walk

8. 5 minutes jog

9. 5 minutes cool down

Week 5

Day 1

1. 5 minutes warm up

2. 5 minutes jog

3. 3 minutes walk

4. 5 minutes jog

5. 3 minutes walk

6. 5 minutes jog

7. 5 minutes cool down

Week 5

Day 2

1. 5 minutes warm up

2. 8 minutes jog

3. 5 minutes walk

4. 8 minutes jog

5. 5 minutes cool down

Week 5

Day 3

1. 5 minutes warm up

2. 20 minutes jog

3. 5 minutes cool down

Week 6

Day 1

1. 5 minutes warm up

2. 5 minutes jog

3. 3 minutes walk

4. 8 minutes jog

5. 3 minutes walk

6. 5 minutes jog

7. 5 minutes cool down

Day 2

1. 5 minutes warm up

2. 10 minutes jog

3. 3 minutes walk

4. 10 minutes jog

5. 5 minutes cool down

Day 3

1. 5 minutes warm up

2. 25 minutes jog

3. 5 minutes cool down

Week 7

Days 1, 2, & 3

1. 5 minutes warm up

2. 25 minutes jog

3. 5 minutes cool down

Week 8

Days 1, 2, & 3

1. 5 minutes warm up

2. 28 minutes jog

3. 5 minutes cool down

Week 9

Days 1, 2, & 3

1. 5 minutes warm up

2. 30 minutes jog

3. 5 minutes cool down

So get off the couch!!! Get moving!!! Anyone can try to jog for 60 seconds. That's only 1 minute.  If you can't make it one minute, try to cut the times in half! If you ain't movin, you ain't losin!

Check out this article!!!

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/03/28/this-is-the-body-the-lord-has-made/

From Fatness to Fitness

I have always been a relatively thin person, yet over the past few years, I let the stress of life plump me up until before I knew it, I was actually overweight - a word I thought would never describe me. In 2011, I heard a friend mention starting The Daniel Plan, a Biblical plan for healthy living.  I had never heard of such, so being the Googler that I am, I checked it out.  I was hooked. On December 31, 2011, I made the hasty decision to give up soft drinks for all of 2012.  Seeing as I had never kept a New Year's Resolution before, I thought this would be a tall order, yet I embarked on the journey anyway.  I decided to take a slightly different approach - I would make it a week-by-week resolution.  It seemed way more manageable than a whole year.  I messed up in March and drank a Sprite and continued drinking those until August when I threw in the towel on all soft drinks.

In addition to cutting out soft drinks, I tried to cut out most sugary foods, and I added Zumba to my life - thanks to my Sweet Santa Claus who brought it to me for Christmas.  Making these minute changes in my daily life made major changes on the scale.  Before I knew it, I had lost 28 pounds.  I felt better than ever.

YET, life got in the way and I gained somewhere between 15 and 20 pounds back (I cannot be sure because I couldn't find my original scale).

Either way, this year I decided to embark on a healthy living quest again.  I did not make any true New Year's resolutions this year, except to be an overall better person.  When I thought about that though, I asked myself - What does it mean to be a better person? I decided that meant that I needed to be healthier, make better choices regarding food and exercise, entrust my whole life to the Lord, and love people more.  I realized all these choices were related.  If I gave my life fully for the Lord, I would want to treat myself and others with more respect.  So with that, I embarked on another journey to health.

I began counting my calories - diligently - and began keeping track of my exercise.
In 2013, I have lost about 15 pounds (would have probably been more but I am gaining muscle) and have started exercising faithfully.  I took my first walk on March 1 and have only missed a few days since that time.  I signed up for a 5K for next Saturday in Baton Rouge. I eat better. And I encourage others to join me in my journey.

I believe from now on I will be dedicating my blog to my journey to living a better, healthier life because I belong to the Lord! I hope you will join me on my journey!!

If at first you don't succeed, keep on trying til ya get it

I am going for another attempt at blogging! Since I have last posted, my world has changed immensely, MORE THAN ONCE (or twice).

The past details are mostly irrelevant, however, to understand who I am today, I will give you a little bit of an update.
I started this blog in 2008 or 2009 to keep up with my adventures with Carnival Cruise Line. After I returned back to normal life on land, I pretty well forgot about my blogging adventures.  I guess I let life get in the way of sharing my details with the world. Or maybe it was Facebook that was my outlet of juicy details. Nonetheless. I am giving it a whirl.

I finished my Master's degree in 2010 and moved to Louisiana, as can be seen from my last blog posting.  In September 2011, I returned to Mississippi where I was miserable.  In August 2012, I started the grand adventure of working toward my Ph.D. at LSU. I guess God was playing a trick on me seeing as I had spent 25 years being a hater of purple and gold.  I came on down here though because I knew God was leading me here.  In the last month, God has turned my whole world completely upside down.  I can't do much discussing of that right now, however, as this process unfolds, I will tell more.