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I Choose To Be Healthy

I haven’t always honored my temple.

 

I haven’t always known how.

 

When I look at pictures of myself from my thicker days, I thought I was doing some things right then. But I was young and didn’t have all the answers. I didn’t understand that though my frozen dinners were low in fat, they were high in sugar and sodium. I didn’t know that drowning my salad in blue cheese dressing undid all of what I thought I was accomplishing in eating the big plate of leafy greens.

 

Tyra in college

 

When I did learn how to honor my temple, I didn’t always obey. But I have to ask myself, “Do you want to be in health and prosper even as your soul prospers?” We have to decide. I choose to be healthy.

 

Even now, some days are difficult. Just recently I engaged in the battle of the bulge. You can read more about that here. I’m happy to say I waged an all out assault and have since claimed rounds 1 & 2 victorious! I’ve been even more disciplined in my exercise regime, I try to get adequate rest, though I think a new bed would greatly help in that area and my eating habits are good.

 

I would say my diet is very clean. That means I consume food that is minimally processed and most closely resembles its natural state. But even in that, I knew I could clean it up even more. So for those of us who already eat clean and for those who want to do better, here’s how I’ve raised the bar for myself in the past few weeks:

 

~Cut Back Sugar

On average, Americans consume about 20 teaspoons of added sugar a day. I probably consumed on average 4-6 teaspoons a day. It lurks in nearly everything. Even in a clean diet it can add up. Even if my healthy friends aren’t consuming refined sugar, several teaspoons a day of maple syrup, agave, honey, coconut palm sugar, Stevia, fill in the blank…add up. So see if there are ways to cut back. I used to have 2 teaspoons in the morning in my coffee. Then I cut that back to 1. Then I cut my coffee. Jesus is still helping me with that transition. You can read more about cutting coffee here. I also cut my “natural” treats like coconut milk ice cream, again the sugar.

 

~Cut Carbs

I am not waging a war against carbs. But really, do I need to eat pasta more than once a week, even if it is whole-wheat pasta? Do I need to eat a grain with every meal? I’m constantly challenging myself to rethink the plate. We’ve come to know the plate as large section of meat, medium sized portion of starch and small portion of vegetables (read more on that here). So lately I’ve been swapping out my pasta with zucchini noodles, cutting the amount of rice (even though it’s brown rice) and having no baked goods (bread, muffins {even though the muffins would be homemade using all natural ingredients}, cookies).

 

 

~Cut The Salty Snacks

Oh dear, I really love and miss tortilla chips. I could easily have tortilla chips 1-3 times a week. A moderate serving size coupled with my favorite hummus. I had rationalized, “I’m eating healthy here Lord, cut me some slack. It’s just organic blue corn tortilla chips and homemade hummus.” And while those snacks are much healthier than Lay’s potato chips, tortilla chips are still fried. And hummus while it is healthy is high in calories for a small serving. So again, it’s obeying God and knowing where I can cut back a little. I’m not saying I won’t eat them again, I’m just cutting back for a while as I temper my actions and taste buds with self-discipline and self-control (I also had to comfortably get back in my jeans). Even raw nuts, which are one of my go to healthy snacks have to be consumed in moderation because they are high in fat (albeit good fats but still high) and they are acidic. And really, who can eat just one serving of nuts? One serving of almond is just 14 almonds! Man, I can eat 3x that easily.

 

I keep this statement before me as a caution in helping me decide to choose well.

 

What will I do today to add to not detract from my health?

 

So throughout the day, when I am presented with CHOICE, I ask myself…

 

~Will eating a croissant add to or detract from my health?

 

~Will this cup of coffee add to or detract from my health?

 

~Will this kale salad add to or detract from my health?

 

~I’m sleepy but will this exercise add to or detract from my health?

 

There is no food Swiss neutral. What you consume either promotes or negates good health.

 

While this may be radical for some, for me it’s just obeying what God has called ME to do. I am not only responsible for my health, but I have to provide nourishment for my husband and my five children. The decisions I make today, will directly affect my children’s DNA thus directly affecting their children to come. I have to be an example for the women I serve in ministry. I need to be strong and healthy in my body to carry out all that God has tasked to my hands. I do not want to defile my body but want His light to radiate uninhibited from this temple so that it draws others near to Him and the decisions I make throughout the day directly impact that. Sometimes it is hard. Sometimes I fail.  But I will try.

 

What is God whispering to you about what you can do to honor Him by honoring your temple?

 

So again I ask, not what can you do, but what WILL you do to add to not detract from your health today?

 

I choose to be healthy. And you can too. Discipline, self-control and obedience pay off.   I am still a work in progress but I feel strong and capable to run with endurance the race set before me.

before and after

Tyra Lane-Kingsland

 

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

Feature Image Photo Credit
Happy to connect with friends at Dance With Jesus & Fellowship Friday

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Choose Well

They were calling out to me. In all their hot, oily, salty splendor, those spuds hollered my name. Such was the case when I walked past that Five Guys Burgers and Fries joint. Yield not to temptation. Score one for team healthy!

 

I was chatting with some ladies in my Women’s Group and one asked how I stay so disciplined when it comes to my eating. As I described to her what I do when faced with a food choice, she summed it up quite well. She said, “So you do a lot of self-talk”. And that’s correct.

 

Honoring your temple is a choice. And when faced with options, I constantly have to weigh and choose.

 

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15

 

Because my body is the temple where the Holy Spirit resides, I have to choose to honor my temple. And choosing well is not always easy. I’ve shared previously how I’ve devised a system that supports honoring my temple through proper nourishment. You can read more about how I choose well with:

Eating Right on the go

Getting Kids to Eat Right

 

I like to keep it interesting in the kitchen so I’m always concocting something that tantalizes the taste buds. But on the real, truth be told I love a few foods that do the opposite of honoring the temple. I LOVE coffee, pizza, macaroni and cheese and two of my absolute favorites are tiramisu and The Cheesecake Factory’s Banana Cream Cheesecake. One slice of that cheesecake has a whopping 930 calories, 36 grams of fat and 60 grams of sugar.

 

Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, on away from that cheesecake!

 

When I walk into my local Wegman’s grocery store to pick up a few items and haven’t eaten lunch yet, my eyes spot the mac and cheese. One whole hot bar station is full with different types of mac and cheese: traditional, blue cheese, chicken mac and cheese and more. Can I also mention here that the bakery is right near the hot food bar replete with pastries, cakes and cookies? The struggle is real folks! Nonetheless, I begin a dialogue with myself. It sounds a little something like this:

 

~Mmm that mac and cheese smells so good

 

~Don’t even look in that direction

 

~Hot cheesy melty goodness

 

~Seek out the vegetables

 

~A little won’t hurt

 

~Honor your temple and choose well

 

~Ch-a (that’s me sucking my teeth)

 

~Brown Rice veggie sushi roll w/ small side of Sichuan green beans

 

~You’ve chosen well daughter.

 

I’m sure you are confronted with similar choices every day all day. From the moment you wake up you have to decide, will you have:

 

~McDonald’s Medium McCafe Carmel Mocha 390 calories 14 grams of fat and 50 grams of sugar. That one drink has your recommended sugar intake for 2 days!

 

~McDonald’s Bacon Egg and Cheese Bagel with egg whites because hey, you’re trying to save on some grams of cholesterol by choosing well with the egg whites yet it has 530 calories, one fourth of your total caloric intake for the day, 23 grams of fat, more than one-third of your daily value of fat and 1340 mg of sodium, more than half of your recommended value of salt for the day.

 

So with those two breakfast choices, one’s health account is overdrawn and checks are bouncing.

 

While you may not know or have readily available these nutritional facts before you consume food (though it is posted in McDonald’s) you should ask yourself, “Is this contributing to or detracting from my health?”

McDonald's Choices

And I’m sharing here not to point fingers or to make you feel bad. I’m sharing because I know from my personal experiences that it IS difficult to choose well. I do have one area where I am NOT so disciplined and that is with popcorn. See I had rationalized it was healthy so I could indulge but that indulgence went too far and I had to really examine myself. You can read more about that here. But I’m happy to report; I’m getting that under control. I will not be a slave to my urges. Yes, by the power of the Spirit at work in me I am a spirit-controlled self-disciplined individual.

 

A spirit-controlled individual is self-disciplined. As Believers we can discipline ourselves to attend worship service regularly, to serve regularly, to dial in to prayer calls regularly, to have daily quiet time, but when it comes to eating right and exercise…well, it can be challenging.

 

I know it’s difficult. But I also know that we can do ALL things through Christ who gives us strength. Just like He strengthens me at this very moment to not go downstairs and get something sweet. I used to like to have a sweet little bite before going to bed but I had to end my attachment with that. Eating before bed interrupts your ability to fast overnight. That’s why the first meal of the day is called Breakfast because you are breaking your overnight fast. Eating before sleeping can cause insomnia, restless sleep, weight gain, and heartburn among other issues. I have eaten before bed and literally awoke feeling like I had a hangover. And I thought to myself, “Did that food ferment in my stomach?” I’m no doctor but that was my immediate thought.

 

So be empowered friends to choose well.

 

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” Deuteronomy 30:19

 

Having the right information is just one step in helping you make better choices. When it comes to what you eat, some decisions may be clearly apparent, while others may be murky. To assist you when making better choices at the grocery store and at restaurants there is a fun quick read called Eat This Not That.

 

Coupled with the right information is then exercising our will and making the right choices. Will we choose to add to or to detract from our health? Every food decision we make is either a deposit or a withdrawal. There is no food shade of gray, just black or white, an investment or a loss, an advancement of health or a reversal.

 

“Every person has free choice. Free to obey or disobey the Natural Laws. Your choice determines the consequences. Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices.” Alfred A. Montepert

 

I stand here, cheering you on as you choose well!

 

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired to Live Fully!

 

Feature Image Photo Credit

Happy to connect with Dance With Jesus Fellowship Friday Grace and Truth

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The One Who Sees

He said it was the pink linen suit.

 

The thing that drew him to me.

 

A hand me down from my cousin. A 3-piece linen pantsuit with shoulder pads made for a linebacker. Yup…that’s what got his attention.

 

His neon orange vest, Bo Jackson Nikes, fresh temple taper haircut and smooth DC swag. Yup…that’s what got my attention.

 

March 1993. Best Friends. He saw me, I saw him and this year we celebrate 15 years of wedded bliss.

 

Just as my sweet husband saw me all those years ago, God sees us right now.

 

Oh the reassurance of this truth.

 

He is indeed el-Roi, the God Who Sees.

 

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

Genesis 16:13

 

Have you ever felt invisible? Have you ever felt as if people haven’t SEEN you? As a child, I was intimately acquainted with feeling invisible. My mother was present but ‘unavailable’. I needed her but there were times she didn’t see me. And it is only after embarking on a personal healing journey in 2014 that I have fully dealt with those feelings.

 

Even today I need the reassurance that HE sees me. I have an affectionate, doting, caring husband. I have friends who love, encourage and support me. Even my earthly father still showers me with words of affirmation. But THE ONE WHO SEES, is the one whom I need to be seen by. When I am bony weary from carry out all that he’s task to my hands. When I’ve poured out my last drop in service to him, I am comforted in knowing he sees me. Just as he saw Hagar, sitting in desperation in the desert, he sees me. And because he sees me, he’s acquainted with my concerns, joy, pain, strengths, weaknesses and vulnerabilities. He sees and he cares. And because he cares, he wants me to cast my cares on him so he can help me. He is truly a very present help in the time of trouble.

 

Not only does he see me, but he chose me.

 

Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Ephesians 1:4

 

 

Who did he choose? Me. And He chose you too. From the time you were created, you were engrafted with a desire to be in relationship with a faithful, loving, serving partner. From the time you were created, the desire was placed in you to hunger after a love relationship, a relationship with the Lord. But there have been times that I misappropriate that need for love. I sought that love from people and things yet it was never satiated. How about you?

 

There is a love space in our hearts that’s custom made and ONLY Jesus fits the exact proportions.

 

Only He can fill that space in our hearts.

 

So even after we have been unfaithful, he still seeks a relationship with us. He still unwaveringly, tenaciously pursues us. He pursues and reminds us to draw near to him and he will draw even closer to us. He reminds us to seek him first and all other things will be added onto us. He reminds us that he is our friend. He reminds us that he loves us with an everlasting love. After all we do, or don’t do for that matter, he still chooses us.

 

He sees us. He chooses us. Not an accident, happenstance or mistake but intentionally out of his unfailing love for us, he chooses us.

 

How will your heart respond today?

 

When that handsome young man saw me and chose me all those years ago, at first I dismissed it. I though it was yet another person with some ulterior motive. But that young man had vision. He says he KNEW I would be his wife. I’ve never really been the visionary type. I’m more of the realistic, right now in the present, focused on all the little details type that doesn’t cast a vision or see the ‘big picture’. Well, he saw it and it has come to pass.

 

Jesus sees the BIG PICTURE of your life. He’s the only one who knows all the finite details. He’s THE ONE WHO SEES your beginning from your end.

 

He’s gazing at you from across the distance.

 

He’s approaching…

 

Join me in prayer….Thank you Lord for being an ever loving, patient and kind God. Thank you for seeing me and choosing me. Just as you saw Hagar in the desert, you see me. And before the foundation of the world you chose me. You love me with an everlasting love. Give me eyes to see and the mind of Christ that I may choose well. Open the eyes of my heart that I may see you. Above people and things let me choose you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

All week we’ll be talking about Embracing Everlasting Love. I pray you join me as we embrace a love so pure, a love that expects nothing in return, a love that is complete, a love that can only be found in Jesus.

 

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

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