Time Management

Time Management

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.”
-William Penn

^“So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”
-Ephesians 5:15-17

By Amy Parham

How many times have you said to yourself, “I don’t have time to exercise” or “I don’t have time to cook all my meals” or “I just don’t have time…period.”  I hear these statements all the time.  I even used to say these things myself.  But everyone has the same twenty-four hours in a day.  I have twenty-four hours in a day.  You have twenty-four hours in a day.  The president of the United States has twenty-four hours in a day.  No one has more time than anyone else.  The amount of time we have isn’t the issue; it’s how we use our time.

We spend so much time on things that aren’t producing any positive results in our lives.  I used to send hours every night watching television.  My life revolved around the nightly TV schedule and what I was going to eat while watching.  I wasted hours of my life that could have been spent productively.  I could have been exercising during that time or getting the right amount of sleep or reading books on health.

Think about your own life.  How are you spending the twenty-four hours each day God has given you?  I read that the average American watches four hours of TV a day.  Four hours is a lot of time that could be used to do things that are life-giving or life-changing, not just sitting in front of a screen being entertained.  Maybe you spend your time doing other things that aren’t productive, such as surfing the web, shopping, reading tabloid magazines, or chatting on the phone.  Be honest with yourself about how much time you spend doing things that only waste time.

Have you ever had a friend call you up at the last minute and invite you to come to their vacation home for the weekend?  Isn’t it amazing how quickly we can rearrange our schedules, get the dog taken care of, pack a suitcase for every member of the family, straighten up the house, gas up the car, and hit the road because it’s an invitation to do something fun?

Well, guess what?  I have a ticket to a new life waiting for you.  You just have to rearrange your schedule a little and make a few changes.  How badly do you want to make the change?  How badly do you want to be in better shape?  How badly do you want better health?  Make time by eliminating the things you know you don’t need to be doing.  Use your day wisely.

Mini-Challenge of the Day

Keep track of your time today.  From the minute you wake up to the time you go to bed, write down everything you do and how long it takes.  At the end of the day, review what you have written down and see where you can make some changes.  Notice where you are wasting time and make a commitment to stop doing those things.

Tip of the Day

Take containers of flavored yogurt and put them in the freezer.  Frozen yogurt is a delicious and healthy substitute for ice cream.

Until tomorrow, be blessed!

Remember to DREAM!

Taken from “The 90-Fitness Challenge” by Phil and Amy Parham, former contestants on television’s “The Biggest Loser.”

It Takes Work

It Takes Work

“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”
-Philippians 4:13

I’m not going to lie to you.  Making your health a priority takes planning and focus.  We’ve already talked about the importance of eating every three to four hours.  As you start training, your metabolism picks up, and you will know when it is time to eat again because you will be hungry three hours after your last meal.  Did you know that many people who struggle with weight don’t often feel hungry?  This is a talltale sign that their metabolism is not working properly.

It can be challenging to find healthy tasty food when you’re on the go.  This is why you need to prepare meals and snacks ahead of time and take them wherever you go.  This will prevent you from being caught without food when hunger strikes.

Cook food ahead of time and store individual portions in the freezer for a quick meal when hunger strikes.  Depending on the meal, we may fix a little extra brown rice or even pasta, portion them out and put them in the freezer for a later time.  Snacks are easy.  We put almonds, granola, and other snack items in individually baggies so they are easy to grab when we’re on the run.

While preparing food takes a while to prepare, it is an important step in eating success.  During the busy workweek, you will always have food ready to eat three or four times a day.  There will be no need for excuses to stop at some fast-food joint on the way home.  You will also save money by buying food in bulk.  By spending a little time preparing, your body will be thinner and your wallet fatter.

Mini-Challenge of the Day

Pick a day to cook your meals for the next few days, you don’t have to do all of them.  Prepare a meal plan using our suggestions or meals from a healthy cookbook.  Ask a friend to help.

Tip of the Day

Feel like overeating?  An acronym to remember is HALT.  Being too Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired are conditions that make us more vulnerable to the temptations to binge.  Instead of eating impulsively, do a check – Do you need some rest?  Do you need to call a friend? Did something tick you off today?  Did you skip a meal?  These four conditions are strong triggers that will tempt us to overeat, so pay attention to yourself.

Until tomorrow, be blessed!

Rember to DREAM!

Giving Up Is Not An Option

Giving Up Is Not An Option

By Amy Parham

Those of you who watch The Biggest Loser may get the impression that the contestants’ experience is so much easier than it actually is.  Think about it.  You see only two hours once a week of what took days to film.  You can’t feel what is going through the television, so the producers try their best to show the highlights of the contestants’ struggles and triumphs.

If you think that the ranch is a magical fairyland of weight loss, you are very wrong.  There are no hidden secrets that cause these people to lose dramatic amounts of weight.  The results that you see on that show are because of large amounts of exercise and relearning how to eat only healthy foods.  It’s a process of detoxing the body from processed foods and sugars.  It is physically, emotionally, and mentally demanding.  And for most of us, it’s the hardest thing we’ve ever done.

I say all of this, believe it or not, to encourage you.  If you’re having a difficult time in this journey, it’s a sign that you’re on the right track.  If you’re pushing yourself outside your comfort zone…good!  If you have days where you struggle emotionally…great!  This means you are in the middle of the battle instead of watching it from the sidelines.

Nothing worthwhile in life is without struggle.  Just ask mothers if the road to childbirth is easy.  One cannot imagine (unless you’ve been there) how painful it is to have a baby, but that same pain produces a miraculous life.  Ask the players in the Super Bowl if the road to that game was an easy one.  I’m sure they’ll laugh in your face.  Ask presidential candidates if the road to the White House is easy.  A year of nonstop travel, speeches, and fund-raising?  What do you think?

If you’re finding the road to health difficult, then that just proves great things are on the horizon.  Never give up because something is hard.  Keep going until you reach your goal, because that is your reward.  Many people give up right when their breakthrough is about to come.  If you think you’ve hit a plateau in your weight, keep eating right.  If you can’t see any results in your fitness work, don’t quit.  If you don’t think you can get through the next few days, tell yourself otherwise.  Don’t give up on your dream.  You’ve come too far!

Mini-Challenge of the Day

If you feel yourself on the verge of giving up your weight-loss challenge, make a phone call to someone who is fully supportive of your adventure.  Tell this person you need some encouragement.  Don’t be afraid of being vulnerable or embarrassed.  We all need a cheerleader when we face tough challenges.

Tip of the Day

Hummus is a great dip with vegetables.  Hummus is made out of chickpeas, tahini, and lemon juice.  It’s affordable and delicious with carrot sticks, celery sticks, or red pepper slices.

Until tomorrow, be blessed!

Remember to DREAM!

Taken from “The 90-Day Fitness Challenge” by Phil and Amy Parham, former contestants on “The Biggest Loser.”

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,
“Plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.”
-Jeremiah 29:11

Most of us like things that are predictable.  I love keeping a tight schedule and having order in my life.  I am comfortable knowing what I’m doing and where I’m going.  Don’t get me wrong.  I like a new adventure, but only if I plan for it.

No one likes the kind of change that hits you out of left field – changes such as the loss of a job, an injury, or a friendship calling apart.  In life, however, changes are inevitable, and how we react to them will determine whether we succeed or fail in our journey.  In the past several years I have been through some severe changes.  I have experienced a business failure, dealt with the autism diagnosis of our son, moved to a home that needed to be completely renovated, changed careers twice, and lost a hundred pounds.

I did not plan these changes.  I had a completely different plan for my life.  I always thought I would live in New York City and write for a magazine or become Mother of the Year, taking my kids to the park every day and caring for my family like June Cleaver.  Neither of these things happened because God had another plan for my future.  Did I want all those changes?  Absolutely not!  Have I learned through them?  Most definitely.

Maybe you are faced with a change that you did not want.  Maybe you lost a partner or have been laid off from your job.  Maybe you can’t communicate with a friend and the relationship is in jeopardy.  Maybe you’ve had an accident and can’t do some of the things you used to do.  What are you going to do now?

I hope you will pick yourself up, learn from the experience, and adapt to your different life.  Your outlook is the key, creating a mindset that’s not afraid of change, but acknowledges it and adapts to it.  If you look only at the negative of your current situation, you may never see the possibilities that the change may bring.  When we lost our business, I was devastated.  I look back now and understand that if it hadn’t happened, we would have continued on a path that was not God’s plan for us.

If we trust God and allow Him to lead us through our circumstances (no matter what they are or how difficult), we will ultimately fulfill our destined purpose.  No matter what your journey may be, it’s important to keep going.

Mini-Challenge of the Day

Set aside a few minutes today to surrender your plans and your life to God.  Tell Him that you will trust Him, and ask Him to help you daily renew your mind and your thinking to encompass any changes that you are going through or that will come in the future.

Tip of the Day

I’ve said before that your legs are the largest muscle group in your body.  When you do squats and lunges, you build those muscles, and muscles burn fat and calories.  Squats and lunges don’t require any gym equipment and are easy to do at home or even at the office.

Amy Parham

Until tomorrow, be blessed!

Remember to DREAM!

Taken from “The 90-Fitness Challenge” by Phil and Amy Parham, former contestants on television’s “The Biggest Loser.”

It's Time to Change the Tape

It’s Time to Change the Tape

 ^“ No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,
but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past
and looking forward to what lies ahead,
I press on to reach the end of the race
and receive the heavenly prize
for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
-Philippians 3:13-14

Recently Phil and I were invited to the home of our mentors, who also happen to be close friends.  These two are the kind of people I want to be like when I grow up, and I am thankful for their wisdom and example.

As we ate, the topic of cycling came up.  Our hosts, who are in their fifties, are cyclists and regularly compete in triathlons.  I admire the sport, but I have never seen myself as a cyclist.  When I was eight years old, I literally ran over my sister with a bicycle and broke her leg.  That memory popped up during the dinner conversation, and I realized I had always believed that if I got on a bike, I was going to hurt someone or myself.  That memory became a replaying tape in my head.  It was time to change that old tape that told me I couldn’t be successful at biking and put in a new tape that told me I could.

Sometimes the tapes we play in our subconscious mind become the reality in our lives.  If we believe we can never see ourselves as an athlete, then we will never be one.  If we believe we can never get healthy, then we will never be healthy.  If we believe we can’t lose weight, we won’t.  If we believe we can’t be successful, we won’t.

Think about your own life.  Take some time in prayer and let God show you some areas where you have allowed old tapes to dictate how you see yourself.  It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since the tape’s been rolling.  It is never to do great things, especially concerning your health.  But remember what you gotta do first, change that tape!

By Amy Parham

Mini-Challenge of the Day

Think back to an instance in your life where someone you may have trusted or admired said something about you that hurt.  Maybe you had a father who always called you “good for nothing.”  Maybe someone at work said you would always be fat.  Whatever it is, write that statement down and below it, write down five positive statements about yourself (e.g., I am worth my health, I am beautiful, I am created in God’s image and He doesn’t make mistakes).  Every time you are tempted to replay that negative statement, play these words of affirmation instead.

Tip of the Day

Don’t eat too much red meat.  Wherever you are, whether at home or at a restaurant, always choose the leanest meat possible.  Limit it to one or two servings a week.

Until tomorrow, be blessed!

Remember to DREAM!

This was taken from “The 90-Day Fitness Challenge” by Phil and Amy Parham, former contestants on television’s “The Biggest Loser.”