Last month I had the opportunity to become a new patient at HeartFit for Duty. HeartFit for Duty provides in-depth cardiac and metabolic wellness programs and offers advance medical testing for first responders. Obviously, this stay at home mom is not a first responder but I am married to one, which qualified me to be able to benefit from the abundant medical testing and nutrition counseling that they offer. I think we all know that when you and your husband are on board with making healthy changes together a positive outcome and the long term success greatly increases. My Initial Appointment Josh and I both saw Megan McCarthy for our appointments. We went on separate days and each of our visits lasted an hour. We went fasted and had our blood drawn, vitals taken, and were then shown to a room where we took a glucose test. After drinking that lovely liquid sugar, Megan came and went over my medical history and what my goals were moving forward. Because of the … [Read more...]
A Mother’s Day Tribute
With Mother's Day approaching this weekend I wanted to share a public tribute to my Mom. The purpose of this tribute is to give her the honor she deserves and to display my appreciation to God for the mom he gave me. I am linking back to Tim Challies for the great idea! Check out his series The Commandment We Forgot that looks at the fifth commandment (“honor your father and mother”) and explores the idea of how to obey this command once we are adults. #dearmom17 Dear Mom, I know I don't always take the time to say thank you for all the amazing ways you have shown and continue to show your love to our family so I am taking time today to rectify that. First off, you are beautiful. You may not hear those words enough from your family, myself included. You have shown me over the course of my life that true beauty comes from within and most importantly when Christ shines out of us. Thank you for teaching me that it is the small moments in the day that develop our character for … [Read more...]
Total Body Functional Workout
I think I am finally, hopefully, starting to get back to a somewhat normal exercise schedule. It was so hard for me to get started again after having Jesse. But just like anything else, sometimes you just need to be disciplined and make it happen. I so enjoyed all the time I spent letting my body rest after having a new baby and I knew it was time to get back to my workouts. Now that I am three weeks in to exercising consistently I am actually looking forward to my workouts again. I am focusing right now on rebuilding my strength and concentrating on reconnecting muscles (specifically in my core and pelvic floor) back together after having a baby. This is a workout I put together that takes under an hour to complete. Each movement should be done slowly and with intention and not rushed. Equipment Needed: Bands (found HERE and HERE) Exercises: Banded Squats Banded Lateral Bounds Bear Crawl Band Pull Aparts Dead Bugs Lateral Walk Bird Dogs Let … [Read more...]
Why I Stopped Teaching “Christian” Yoga
I have tried to write numerous times over the last two years. Our family Bible verse is: Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 To those of you reading this, I hope that you know that my words are coming from a place of love. Not from condemnation or malice. I enjoy sharing how God continues to mold and shape me, thanks for reading! A few years ago I wrote a blog post titled “Does Downward Dog dishonor God?” I tried to address the question “Should Christians practice yoga?” Over the last few years my desire to know God has grown so much that last year I finally disciplined myself to read the Bible in its entirety. Even before I began reading my Bible something had just continued to feel off over the last several years when I would practice and teach yoga. I would have loved to have stumbled across a blog post like this back when I was looking into teaching Christian yoga. The only reason I ever felt … [Read more...]
Backyard Circuit Workout
Two weeks ago my favorite clients came over to our house for a backyard training session. The workout they did was so good that I wanted to share it on the blog. I realize not everyone has access to this equipment or space at their house but this could make a great park, track, or gym workout too with a few modifications if need be. Equipment Needed: Pull-up Bar (Josh built one in our backyard but I am linking to an at home option), Battle Rope, Heavy & Light Kettlebells/Dumbells Complete three rounds of circuit one resting only after a round is completed. Once three rounds are complete move to circuit two. For the squats and lunges I held in 18 pound kettlebell but you could also just use your bodyweight for these exercises. We have an alley behind our home that I used for sprinting, thus the name alley sprints, and I am estimating that the distance sprinted would be 100m. Right before Jesse was born was the first time in my life that I had ever been able to perform a … [Read more...]
Fruit of the Spirit (Family Devotion Unit for Preschoolers & Toddlers)
Back in the fall of last year I began sharing our family devotions on the blog. I had all the lessons typed up and ready to post and forgot to publish them. Along the way I discovered that there were some things that needed to be tweaked to work better for our family, especially now that we have a newborn! I am happy and excited to share our full 9 lesson unit of the Fruit of the Spirit for Preschoolers and Toddlers! || CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OUR FREE LESSON PLAN PDF FOR THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT UNIT || Below are the Supplies + Resources for our Fruit of the Spirit Family Devotional Unit. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. The Jesus Storybook Bible The Good Samaritan (5 Minute Bible Stories) 9 Fruits Alive (GodCounts Series) Seeds Family Worship - Seeds of Character If you have any questions feel free to ask. This family devotion unit will always remain free, but I love getting feedback! Let me know what did or didn't work for you. The first … [Read more...]
