Category: Faith & Self Care

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Faith & Self Care

Freeing Yourself from a Dieters Mentality

My Full Disclosure Policy

I am an affiliate for Nutrient Based Eating program. I receive a commission for anyone who purchase the program through my link.  That in no way effects my opinion.

I am so excited to have my FaithFit friend Amanda Wright on the blog today! Amanda is a faithful women like myself who also is driven to show others how to honor her temple. I am so honored to have her on the blog today!

Crazy Prayers!

What’s the craziest prayer you’ve ever prayed?  I don’t mean crazy in the sense that you were praying with bold faith for Kingdom values we know our Father has prepared for us.

I was thinking more along the lines of pretty self-serving, incredibly shallow, and well…crazy!

Mine is a prayer I prayed quite often for the decades of life that I was living under the burden of being a “dieter” and pretty obsessive about my food, eating, and body.

My crazy prayer would always be, “Lord, can you help me not gain weight from this excessive amount of (fill in the blank) that I’m about to eat (or, let’s face it, was already in the middle of eating.)”

Note, it was NOT a prayer asking for His strength to help me stop eating, nor was it a prayer of blessing and thanksgiving for such a treat or meal.  Oh no, it was always out of FEAR that my compulsive eating or drinking would make be fat.

Funny, but I can’t remember one time that my loving Father answered this prayer.  Every time I over-indulged, my body wore that decision.

Guilty Indulgence

Then I would feel guilty and condemned for letting my eating get to so out of control.  So then I would over-compensate for that guilt by overhauling my eating on some diet or clean eating regimen for as long as my willpower held out.

But sure enough, my cravings would come back with a vengeance, and I would set my sights on some new over-indulgence and the cycle would start all over again.

Jesus Girl Dilemma’s

This is a dieters dilemma for the faith-based girl.

So, allow me to officially introduce myself.  I’m Amanda Wright, founder of my business A. Wright Fit.  I am a certified nutritionist and certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and I teach women the tools to grow STRONGher in her body, WISEher in her mindset all by living more SURRENDhered to Jesus!

So, I am a fit-faith friend of our girl De, and have been passionately following her amazing transformation journey and am in AWE of her discipline and motivating presence in this world.

De and I have been chatting about nutrition and the struggle that we ourselves have experienced along with the struggle we see so many of our friends and clients face with regards to our eating and our relationship with food.

We see that there are problems with the “diet mentality” for women of Faith.

There is a beautiful quote by Elisabeth Elliot that said, “We cannot give our hearts to God and keep our bodies for ourselves.”  So much truth to that!

Surrender is not to be selective.

And in my crazy prayer I shared with you above, I was certainly being selective in what I gave God reign over and I see a lot of my faithful friends still doing that as well

So, I wanted to share 3 problems that I see with this diet-driven society, and also give you a chance to embark on a new journey with me (and De) to transform your nutrition with my Nutrient Based Eating lifestyle based program for women.
Problem #1:  We are commanded by Jesus to “not worry about out eating or our drinking.”

““Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? “ Matt 6:25

When we “worry” over anything, even something as good as getting good nutrition, we are, as Rick Warren says,  “acting like practical atheists.” You take on God’s role when you think that by worrying about something, you actually have power of it.  We think that when we “worry” about something that we are proving that we care.  But that is not true.  Worry is based out of fear, and fear opposes love and all that God is.

Your Solution:  There is a way to CARE about your eating without worrying and that is to step into the love of what you’re after.  Instead of “worrying” about every detail of your food, you will simply take on an attitude of doing your best to build good habits and then surrender the rest.

Let’s be clear, we do need to care, so don’t mistake this advice as though you need to shut off all consideration for what you’re eating.  We must care because our body is a gift from God that we are called to steward well.   We must simply draw the line on the emotional power we allow our food choices to have over us.

 

Problem #2:  We follow “her” instead of Him.

“Do not follow the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2

Often we get caught following our girlfriends more than we follow God’s call on our lives.  This is not necessarily bad, especially when God sends good women to help teach us, but we have to be able to discern what is a pattern of the world that belongs to the world versus a pattern of the Kingdom that is worthy of our practice.

Just because your girlfriend claims that she saw such fast results taking her supplement program or going vegan does not mean that that program is right for you or your body type.

In my coaching, I have come to realize that I cannot be a hero for my clients.  I cannot give them the “magic fix” by telling them exactly what to eat.  I have to teach her how to take personal responsibility for her own body and investigate what foods work best for her own metabolism, tastes, and body systems.

We are all uniquely made! God will guide you in the process of self-discovery.  Own it!

Problem #3:   Practices that use only our “willpower” limit our “Godpower.”

So many women think the only option to change her eating is to take an “all-or-nothing” approach to her eating and completely overhaul everything at once.

Anytime you try to make several changes at once, you are by default relying on your willpower to sustain your efforts.  Habits are very challenging to make stick in our busy brains (Dr. Caroline Leaf shows it takes about 63-days for just ONE habit), so multitasking all these changes at once creates overload and eventually breaks down.

Ultimately this is a fleshy response, trying to use our own will to transform us.  And we know that anytime we are acting in the flesh we are opposing the Spirit within us. (Galatians 5:17)

Your Solution:  Instead of overhauling your eating, consider making just ONE habit in the right direction and allow God to show you what this may look like…which may just include a little guidance from yours truly.
If you are in need of some faith-based wisdom on what nutritional habits to follow in order to improve your lifestyle based approach to healthy eating, I would love to welcome you to the Nutrient Based Eating habit-based program for lean lifestyles and thriving energy!

The NBE is a eBook and video eCourse that guides you step-by-step through 3 important areas in your nutrition.

Section I:  Education— In the book I teach you the incredible power of having a “nutrient” focus on your eating instead of a “calorie” focus.  I teach you what holistic eating is and why it is the single best decision you can make for your eating!  You have a full guide on the essential vitamins and minerals and where to find them in your food.

Section II:  Application— Here I take you through the 5 PHASES of Nutrient Based Eating progression.  Using plate graphics and hand-measuring tools I guide you through the building of 17+ solid nutritional habits that will keep you progressing!

I give you printable tools like my “NBE Habit Formula Tracker” to help you hold yourself accountable and the “Assessment Protocol” to help you determine what is working for you and what needs to be tweaked.

Section III:  Maintenance— where other programs might leave you hanging here, I help you prepare for this phase once you reach your goal by teaching you the “mindset of maintenance” along with the reverse-habit protocol you can take to ensure the lifelong maintenance.

When you join, you will receive 6-eCourse videos that teach you the NBE lifestyle in full.  I will also add you to the private Facebook NBE group and portal to be in community with fellow fit-faith women who are in this journey with you!  You’ll receive daily encouragement, accountability and coaching that will help you stay CONSISTENT!

For more information or to purchase, click here.  But be aware, the opportunity to purchase only lasts until Friday, March 3 at midnight!  So, feel free to reach out to me or De with any questions!

TELL ME MORE ABOUT NUTRIENT BASED EATING

“Amanda Wright is a Jesus-girl, a certified nutritionist and Certified Strength and

Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). She is owner of the fit and faith-based women’s

health coaching practice, called A. Wright Fit, where she teaches women to grow

STRONG’her in body, WISE’her in mindset all by living more SURREND’hered to

Jesus.

She is madly in love with her husband of just 2-years, Howard, and stepmom to

Alyssa and Eden. She and Howard reside in California in the Silicon Valley area. She

loves to exercise (obvi), hike, read and is also incredibly lucky to travel the world

with her husband for his current role in corporate America.

 

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Babies christian mom Faith & Self Care Fitness Fitness and Health Self self-care Weightloss Journey

5 Habits Mom’s do to derail progress

mistake

I made a delicious, nutritious, and fat loss friendly meal for breakfast. Nothing extravagant Apple Chai (Sugar Free) Oatmeal and Hard boiled Eggs.  Something very simple after an intense workout. Ate my serving, that was measured out and a perfect portion, then I did the unthinkable. A habit that I have had since my lil diva’s started eating table food. I am usually mindful but you know how things go, sometimes you slip back into old habits. So, what did I do that is so heinous? As I am clearing the table, I…..yes, I did it. I scarfed down the leftover food from my littlest diva’s plate. (The horror-insert scared emoji here) I went from being completely satisfied with my meal, portion, and calories being in a healthy range. To the feeling of being stuffed and adding probably a good 100-200 calories extra to my meal, (maybe less) which I can’t totally calculate because I didn’t measure out my child’s leftovers. Now, am I going to totally freak out and do more pushups, jumping jacks, and burpees. Um, no I am way to worn out for that. Thank God there is such a thing as grace. But, I am going to be mindful that these bad habits although innocent is little things that make it harder for me to get to my goal. A healthier, physically fit body. That I work very hard on 30 minutes a day 4 days a week. While doing dishes I was thinking, “I know other mother’s do the same thing but I wonder how many innocent habits do we do that hamper our progress?” I came up with five and I would love for you to add more that I don’t think about and maybe not even aware of that these little nuances exist. Pointing them out will help us to stay focused and not derail our hard efforts. Time and pushups are very valuable things to me and if I can reduce both that is a good thing.

Derail

5 Habits Mom do to derail progress

  1. Eating remaining food off your children’s plate. Let’s start with today’s offender. I try to be mindful of this but being the overseer of our food budget and working hard to provided nutritious meals for my family. When I see perfectly good food on its way to the trash my first instinct is to just eat it. You know the saying, “there are poor children starving in Africa.” My instinct to save the waste is counterproductive to my goal to live a healthier lifestyle. Those little bit of calories can add up, considering you feed your children 3-5 times a day. A great solution is to serve your children less. They can always get more and that way they are not wasting as much food and you are not adding to your daily intake by saving food from the trash.
  2. Not sitting down to eat. Again, most of these are just going to be my confession. Up until recently especially in the morning before school. I would eat on the go and have my children sit at the table for breakfast, lunch and I usually sit down during dinner. But, sometimes I am trying to throw something in my mouth and tackle, chores, phone calls, or something while I have them sitting there quietly (somewhat) eating a meal. This too allows you to make poor food choices, portion control and just add unnecessary stress. Sit down, chill, enjoy the meal you have prepared and take a little time out in your day to talk with your children. Teaching moments of “abc’s” or just to sit for 10-20 minutes. This can help reduce your stress which helps reduce your cortisol so, it’s a triple win; Stress reducer, nourishment and calorie control.
  3. Don’t drink enough water. I am in that weird mom stage, I am either on the go with my two older school age children or I am on alert with a very curious toddler. Regardless, I am not attentive to my own needs most of the time. Somedays, I am just on auto pilot getting through the to-do’s of the day. We are supposed to drink half our weight in ounces of water. If I am conscious I am doing that but that requires lots of fill ups and lots of pit stops, if you know what I am saying. But, proper hydration is key to good nutrition so it is something that must be added to the to-do list until, it becomes a great habit.
  4. Don’t make time to workout. Again, this was a mistake of mine. So, beginning of 2015 I had the best intentions. Gym membership, resolution motivation and a 6 month old baby and two active lil school aged divas. My husband works most of the time so, although I intentionally signed up with a 24-hour gym I never seemed to make it in there at all within 24-hours. I am just hanging on by a prayer after 8 pm when my husband usually comes home during basketball season, so night time workout don’t work. Although, I get up at five in the morning for devotion. The idea of getting up at 4 am to devote and then workout seemed like pure insanity to me. I think it would be safe to say that as a mother we do not always prioritize ourselves in life. That is a mistake. We need to take care of ourselves. Physical inactivity leads to so many things that cause us to poorly do our job. Small things like lack in energy, poor immune system; To big things like stroke, obesity, diabetes and other life threatening ailments. We must be active for at least 150 hours per week according to the American Center for Disease Control, however you break that down in your week. It’s a must! So, not adding your time to devote (I find that essential in self-care and honoring your temple) and exercise is a major no, no to weight loss and a healthy lifestyle.

Deuteronomy316

5. Rely on your self.

How do you do better?

The second best thing I ever did for myself was canceled my gym membership, invested in weights and found an awesome workout that could be done in less than 30 minutes.  It has double the benefits of going to the gym, an hour of cardio, or an hour workout DVD. If you have an hour of to devote to working out make sure you schedule it in and pop in that DVD. Whatever you do get your 150 hours a week in any way that you can. With kids, without kids but just honor your temple with intentionally avoiding habits and mistakes that you have become accustomed to. I know that I am doing it and although the journey is not as fast as I like, “if I stop now, I will soon be back where I started, 40 pounds heavier, 56 more inches wider. And when I started, I was desperately wishing I could be where I am now.”

The best thing that I did to help me see my mistakes and have strength to change them was bring my goal to live better and healthier to God.  After trying too long and too hard I gave it to Him and He has helped me overcome so much. Even though old ugly habits will rear there heads. I was able to instantly recognize it and now will make a conscious effort to overcome it.

Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid of them! The Lord your God will goes ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6

I know I am not crossing a river to go into warfare but I am going into battle with my own sinful nature. And the ways that I have become accustomed and where I am trying to do better in my life. So, get out there and honor your temple better.  What mistakes or habits do you have that are derailing you from honoring your temple better?

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Faith & Self Care Faith Journey Fitness Fitness and Health

So Much More

FaithFueled Friday

Honoring Your Temple is Not Just about Weight Loss

In my opinion honoring your temple is not just about weight loss, eating right and exercise. It is about taking care of the body God gave you spiritually, mentally and physically. It has come to my attention that I have been misrepresenting myself. I have showcased the physical worship of God and not the mental and spiritual. Partially because I’ve been on a weight loss journey; I am passionate about healthy, and fitness, and I have been sharing my journey on social media and through this blog. I have not been so public about the personal journey that I have been on in the last few years. The mental and spiritual journey I have kept to myself because I do them in my quiet private time but I find that it is equal, if not greater than my worship of God through physical activity.

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:6

 Mommy.time

Using our talents to spread His word

I believe our purpose is to spread the gospel, and there are so many ways we can do that.  We all have our strengths, and I have recently reconnected my love of fitness, nutrition, and health.  I have found that I love to inspire and motivate others through fitness, but there is so much more to me too.

“It would be a shame to be fit for this world but be unfit for the King.”

I believe that physical fitness is important, but a relationship with God and knowledge of His word is more important.

Honoring your temple includes:

Things you watch;

Romans 12:2 – And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God

The things that you say,

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear,

The way you treat others,

Luke 6:31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

 Among other things.

Worshiping God is done in many forms: dance, song, written, fitness for example but one is no more important than the other.  It is your way of bringing glory to the Lord.

HonorYourTemple

 Misrepresenting my purpose

It has been brought to my attention that I was misrepresenting my beliefs on honoring your temple. August 1st, I will begin my third prayer channel this year, and I have invited the public to join me this time. I put an invitation on Instagram to join, and women commented, that she thought “honoring your temple” was to keep clear of a worldly desire not just physical fitness and that if she joined that would be her focus. Those who know me personally, know my heart but because I am a fitness blogger; I enjoy fitness and nutrition, and I talk, post and share about it daily but that is not solely where my heart lies. Nor is it the sole intention of my Honor Your Temple prayer challenge but if you do not know me personally, never experienced my prayer challenge it would be safe to assume that physical fitness and proper nutrition is my focus in my prayer challenge.

Honor Your Temple

What’s my point?

So, this prompted me to write this post to let everyone know that there is no one way to honor your temple there are many and your relationship with God is the ultimate honor and my intention and purpose to share. We are here to spread the gospel. However, you choose to do so and connects you with God. Treat your body with respect other than salvation it is one of our greatest gifts. What do you believe is important when honoring your temple? Is it one particular thing or several things?

If you’re interested in joining my 30 Day FREE (I would never charge someone to pray) Honor Your Temple Prayer Challenge, please join us at www.FaithFueledFitness.org

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christian mom Faith & Self Care Faith Journey new christians Self

Outside of my Comfort Zone

still

The voice of the Lord twists the oaks ad strips the forest bare. An in his temple all cry, Glory! Psalms 29:9

Lacking the ability of direction

I have a horrible sense of direction. Always have not sure if it’s inherited but my mother does too. Get us together and we are the blind leading the blind. I learned when my daughter was in 2nd grade that we all have certain genius’. And spatial genius-being good a directions and space, that is something that I lack.

So, for the last year I have felt lost.  Like, I know I am going in some sort of direction but a little confused.  I have been seeking God’s guidance and his response has been, “be still.”  Well they tell you when you are lost to stay still till someone finds you, right? I am not the stay still type of person. I have been pursuing different directions trying to find the direction of this evolving new me for about 4 years, but still lost.  Again, seeking God’s direction and again, His response “be still.” This time is different, I am tired of thinking I am heading in the right direction only to be getting further and further lost.  I want to stay still, but how does one stay still?

How does one stay still?

Have you ever tried to stay still? I have stayed still in moments, each time progressively longer but never till I found an answer.  Never committing fully or entirely grasping the concept of “staying still.” If someone put a gun to my head I could probably master it but honestly;

Who wants a gun held to their head?

I rather voluntarily submit. I am trying to be still before God forces me too.  He has gently reminded me from time to time for some time now.  I have decided that I really really want to obey.

The definition of be still is-not moving or making a sound; deep silence and calm; stillness; and quieten.  I am someone who is constantly moving. I always having an idea that needs to be brought to fruition. I am loud, not calm (calmer now that I am older but still I wouldn’t characterize me as calm), constantly active and quieten-I had to look that one up and nope not that either. To sit still is literally torture to me which makes me think:

“Why does God want to torture me?”

Yet, I really feel that God wants me to be still, so what does that mean for me? I honestly have no clue what to do when you are still and my husband jokingly says,

“that means do nothing.”

So, I go to google because clearly someone has had to created steps to “doing nothing.”

Yea, no.

Next, I got to the source the ultimate instruction manual the Bible. What does the Bible say about being still?

Figuring out the steps

I am being still to honor and serve God therefore, once I achieve being still then I need to wait on God.   Okay, waiting now that is something that I am very familiar with. I am not am an impatient person. So, not only does God want me to be still, but He also wants me to wait. Who ever said this being a Christian thing is easy- is a LIAR! So, I now take this journey down a path to strengthen my faith I find that God is working on three things in me- my ability to be obedient, my ability to be still and to be patient and wait on Him to come guide me where I need to go.  Let’s tackle one thing at a time: be still.

stillwater

In my google search there was not a Wiki-How on how to be still but there was a quote that resonated with me.  “You can only see your reflection in still water.” Did you get the same “Aha” that I did? Praise God for shining a little light on the subject. Here I am lost trying to find my way trying to find my calling. I told a friend one time I felt like a Spaghetti noodle being flung on the wall trying to see if I stick.  I have so many talents, passions, ideas but every time I go to God to see where to take them I get the “be still.” Then, this quote brought so much clarity. I can’t figure out how to use these talents, pursue my passion until I am still enough to see my reflection. God wasn’t trying to torture me at all He was trying to give me the direction that I have been praying about for years and my hard headed self was trying to figure it out myself. When He really was answering me. How many times do we do that? Ask God to answer our prayers and then ignore Him when He actually does? (You can put your hand down, now.)

“The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” Exodus 14:14

He makes things so easy sometimes I feel like we are the ones who complicate it. So, I need to be still so that I can figure out and hear God better and start going in the direction of whatever purpose He has for me. Yep, easier said than done. So, actively trying to be still which for me is taking a step back from everything but raising my family. Daily devoting into the word, reading books, the Bible and just learning  and growing in Him. For when I am actually still enough to see my reflection I want to be ready. I hopefully don’t have to wait too long.

Be Patient and Wait

This brings me to the next growing pain from God. I haven’t completely achieved being still and obedient. Although, I am honestly giving it all that I have growing that muscle daily but being patient and waiting is a lesson that I have learned before from God. Again, haven’t mastered it but I think He was preparing me for this phase of life so I have some understanding on how it is done. There are a few passages, highlighted, sticker-ed (Yes, I put stickers in my Bible) and heavily noted on waiting. My absolute favorite and another “Aha” is:

We wait in hope for the Lord;

He is our help and our shied.

In him our hearts rejoice,

For we trust in his holy name.

May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,

Ever as we put our hope in you.

Psalms 34:20-22

essentials to waiting

4 Essentials to Waiting

  1. WAIT. Although, we don’t want to we must wait on the Lord. He is only conspiring for our good and although it may seem like a long time for us it is only a moment for Him. His plan supersedes our plan and He wants more for us than we can even imagine all we have to do is wait for His provision.  For your salvation I wait, O Lord. Genesis 49:18
  2. HELP. If it really gets too hard to wait, too much to bear then we need to rely on Him but to be impatient with God and try to do things our own way means that we don’t trust in Him to provide. We are so used to instant gratification but doesn’t meant that is how things should be. God is our refuge our strength in ever present help in trouble.  Psalm 46:1
  3. REJOICE. One of my favorite quotes is: When times are sweet give thanks and celebrate. When times are bitter give thanks and grow. We should always rejoice in the Lord, “For this is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalms 118:24 It can always be worse but it is only a day, a moment, a season and blip in time that the Lord gives us, We should rejoice. So when waiting rejoice for where you are presently. Rejoice for where you will be in the future and rejoice and praise the Lord always for his provision. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4
  4. TRUST. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and not lead to your own understanding Proverbs 3:5 because honestly, you just won’t get it. He has a upper story a meaning and a purpose planned out. What we are looking at here and now is not the full picture. It is a narrow perspective. We have to have trust in Him that He is conspiring for us in all things (which He is). How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, on those who take refuge in you.

I know what I need to be doing and I kind of know how to do it. So, I am just going to take a seat before He makes me take a seat and let God do His thing. I will try to rejoice and not look at it as torture because He could ask me to do far greater and harder things than to just be still. (ie. Moses, Abraham, Gideon, David….just for example)
Has God ever asked you to do something out of your comfort zone?

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