KFGO Blog

I can barely move.

2 days ago I started a new workout program – and it is the most intense workout program I’ve ever done (and that’s coming from a guy who has run a marathon).  My muscles are so sore!  And did I mention that we work out at 5:30am?  The world should all be sleeping until at least 9am in my opinion.

Now to see maximum results from this program I have totally modified my diet as well.  No more fast food – no more delicious French onion dip – no more pizza (gasp!).  Instead, here’s what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast: scrambled egg whites, cottage cheese, strawberries
Snack: a protein shake and a protein bar
Lunch: A chef’s salad – no dressing/no cheese
Snack: turkey jerky and a few nuts
Dinner: baked salmon, asparagus, and wild rice

Now you can take a look at that and agree that it’s not bad food.  I am actually pretty impressed with the options I get.  But the bottom line is this: it’s different.  It takes a lot of prep-work.  It doesn’t taste ‘great.’ And my body is struggling without carbs, sugar, or onion rings.

So both the workout and the diet take big commitments – but if you want big results you have to make big sacrifices.  I am just so tired of feeling ‘blah’ with life – with the way I look and the way I feel.  I need change.

Is this you?  Is this the way you feel physically?

How about this – is this how you feel spiritually/mentally?  Have you gotten to a point where the healthy things in your life are so unfamiliar that it’s uncomfortable?

I always have these ‘plans’ to make changes.  I had always ‘planned’ on dieting and exercising more.  So I would change my habits…for like a couple of days…and then find myself making excuses and I end up right back where I started.

Are you making excuses in your relationship with Christ?  Are you ‘too busy?’  Do you have other things that are seemingly more important?  What’s your excuse?  If we’re honest, most of us struggle with this daily.

So here’s my decree (because I’ve always wanted to issue a decree): No more excuses.  No more easy outs.  No more brief passion followed by a stumble back to our routines.  Instead, let’s work on getting healthy.

If you are out of shape physically, then change it.  No more excuses.  Just put in the work.  Your body is a temple, after all.

If you are out of shape mentally/spiritually, then change it.  No more excuses.  Just put in the work. Get to church more often.  Get involved.  Read your bible.  Pray fervently.  Talk to others about Christ.  Make Christianity not just a thing you do on Sundays…but rather a lifestyle.

God has so much waiting for us – we just have to go and take it!  So let’s get to sweatin’!

<><
Erik Hatch is a Youth Director at First Lutheran Church in Fargo, ND.  Hatch is a graduate of North Dakota State University and sells real estate in his spare time for the Jim Lund Team, Keller Williams.  Hatch also is founder and director of Homeless & Hungry.  To contact Hatch,  email him at ehatch@flcfargo.org.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 3:01 am and is filed under Faith in the Valley, KFGO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.