We’ve been training for a few months now. We are only three weeks away from our big run. But now the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has forced the run organizers to cancel. #Coronavirus #BentonvilleHalfMarathon
It’s a hard choice for the organizers. And for the runners, especially first time half marathon runners, this is devastating news. For those who have been training and weekly pushing their bodies to new distance or pace goals, their big motivation has been removed.
This year would be my third Bentonville Half Marathon, my goal was to just run it faster. Yet I have many friends that I have encouraged to run their first half, and a few are now very demotivated.
My message to you all is to focus on taming the flesh and silence the voice of the lazy flesh sack we live in.
Be determined to press on and conquer those 13.1 miles. Many races are switching to a virtual format. This means you still have to prove that you ran the miles to get the medal.
And although the lights and the camera may not be there, the action will be. When you run 13.1 miles for the first time in your life it will still move you emotionally. Don’t give up your training just because you won’t be around thousands of other sweaty faced runners.
The true goal is to overcome the voice of the quitter in your head. And prove to yourself that you can do it. This is your motivation! Not the crowd at the finish line, but the one doubting voice in your mind that you must silence.
There are not many life changing goals that have ever been reached without hard work, obstacles, challenges and/or pain. Many times those goals are achieved without a finish line and no audience to speak of. But the goal was still achieved.
Will you give up? Will you let the voice of fear and laziness win again? Or will you Run, Endure and Finish Strong?
Taming the flesh and extending the mission that God has created you for.
What motivates you to dedicate your time to something when you don’t see immediate results?
Well, it’s the third week of January and my guess is that many folks have set a fitness goal for themselves this year. I hope you all achieve that goal, and that you have set the goal to be completed on a reasonable timeline.
When I started on my fitness journey a little over three years ago, it was not the first time I had tried. My previous attempts at weight loss had not worked or did not last long because I gave up. Life change happened, work stress happened, food and screen time were comforting. Yeah, that’s still true. Yet, it had to become tertiary if I wanted to be healthy and extend my life for the purposes God has for me (whatever they may be).
When you start a managed nutritional life change (not a diet), sometimes it takes several weeks to start seeing any physical changes. You have to continually motivate yourself to stick to the program. And you will eventually start seeing real results if you don’t cheat yourself. Self motivation is key.
Your friends may not stick to the plan, and they may never even try, but you have a goal. Ask God to help you. He cares, I know He does. Once you are able to tame your flesh and not let it continually control your food and drink choices, you can start doing it in other ways too.
Each of us will be motivated differently based on our past life experiences and desired goals. I’ve also found that my motivating push each day may differ based on my mood, but determination must push us to stick to the dietary boundaries we set to achieve our goals and focus our mind on the end game. That’s true in many aspects of life. Don’t rush things, just stick to the plan and let it happen.
When my friend Michael told me about the MyFitnessPal app, it was the start of my journey. That day I put my details in the app and set it to help me lose 1.5 pounds per week. Well, that was not cool because it said I could only eat about 1500 calories per day. Yikes! Do you know how many calories are in a small order of fries? Not good folks. But the app helped me to learn the foods I was eating that were causing major problems for me.
This helped me start managing the food intake while measuring the energy usage with my fitness watch (Fitbit, Samsung and currently Garmin) that linked up to MyFitnessPal. When you burn calories, you get to eat more. Win! Just make sure you are not getting those calories with simple sugars, keep those under 55 grams a day. I have one day a week that I have a dessert item. It is usually a milkshake with Rocky Road Ice Cream from Braum’s, which also has protein added (Plus!). But I only did that after I started a good weekly exercise routine. Your body is lazy and it will always use simple sugars for energy before burning fat if it is available.
As I mentioned in my previous fitness journey post I lost about 30 pounds without really exercising at all. I would try and hit my 10,000 step count as often as possible. But I had to learn the hard way about the weight loss plateau and needing to reduce the sugar. When I cut down the sugar I started losing again.
One day at a time friends.
‘GRACE AND PEACE BE MULTIPLIED TO YOU IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AND OF JESUS OUR LORD; SEEING THAT HIS DIVINE POWER HAS GRANTED TO US EVERYTHING PERTAINING TO LIFE AND GODLINESS, THROUGH THE TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM WHO CALLED US BY HIS OWN GLORY AND EXCELLENCE. FOR BY THESE HE HAS GRANTED TO US HIS PRECIOUS AND MAGNIFICENT PROMISES, SO THAT BY THEM YOU MAY BECOME PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE, HAVING ESCAPED THE CORRUPTION THAT IS IN THE WORLD BY LUST. NOW FOR THIS VERY REASON ALSO, APPLYING ALL DILIGENCE, IN YOUR FAITH SUPPLY MORAL EXCELLENCE, AND IN YOUR MORAL EXCELLENCE, KNOWLEDGE, AND IN YOUR KNOWLEDGE, SELF-CONTROL, AND IN YOUR SELF-CONTROL, PERSEVERANCE, AND IN YOUR PERSEVERANCE, GODLINESS, AND IN YOUR GODLINESS, BROTHERLY KINDNESS, AND IN YOUR BROTHERLY KINDNESS, LOVE. FOR IF THESE QUALITIES ARE YOURS AND ARE INCREASING, THEY RENDER YOU NEITHER USELESS NOR UNFRUITFUL IN THE TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. ‘ ‘FOR HE WHO LACKS THESE QUALITIES IS BLIND OR SHORT-SIGHTED, HAVING FORGOTTEN HIS PURIFICATION FROM HIS FORMER SINS. THEREFORE, BRETHREN, BE ALL THE MORE DILIGENT TO MAKE CERTAIN ABOUT HIS CALLING AND CHOOSING YOU; FOR AS LONG AS YOU PRACTICE THESE THINGS, YOU WILL NEVER STUMBLE; FOR IN THIS WAY THE ENTRANCE INTO THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST WILL BE ABUNDANTLY SUPPLIED TO YOU.’ 2 PETER 1:1-11
Taming the Flesh and Extending the Mission God has for your life
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