Sunday - Inspiration

J mentioned something to me the other day and it's taken a while for it to sink in.  He said that I had inspired people to lose weight and/or be healthier.  I can't even imagine myself inspiring anyone, I just live my life and try my best to do what God would have me to do.  Sometimes I think that I succeed, sometimes I think I fall short.  But I keep going and pray.  Pray for guidance, forgiveness and strength.  I am definitely not praying so that I can inspire someone else.  Although, now that I've thought about it, maybe I should be.  Just what we've done Lord so that it can help/inspire others.  And unknowingly, I inspire myself to keep going, to keep doing what God wants me to do, not necessarily what I want to do.  So my prayer tonight is Lord, please give me guidance and strength so that through your will, we can inspire others to achieve their fitness goals.  And forgive me my shortcomings, when I fall sort of your will for my life.  
So when you think that someone is not looking, think again.  You just could be that person's inspiration.  Or they could be yours.

Blessings & Inspiration,
Magnolia

Tuesday - Portion Control

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/thumbnails/0,,20405321,00.html

Great article for anyone not just diabetics. And portion size is the key to eating healthy. I'll admit when I finally realized what correct portion sizes were I was shocked. Gives you something to really think about.

Blessings,
Magnolia

Monday - Better

The old hips are better today. Did my usual run and then some biking. There were a couple of minutes that I thought they might start hurting. But I made it. Of course there was a lot of prayer going on. And I'm back to my normal weekly diet. Thank goodness. My salad at lunch tasted so good!!! I'm hopeful that I can get in another run tomorrow without pain. Pray for me!

Blessings & Old Hips,
Magnolia

Sunday - Birthdays

I am now 365 days away from 40! Yep 40! It will probably take about that long for it to sink in. Some days I still think that I'm in my 20s. Friday was not one of those days. I pushed myself so that the week of my birthday I could be proud of myself and say that I did 20+ miles this week. But my body showed it's age and about 3/4 of the way through Friday's run, my hip sort of "snapped" and started to ache. I can say that I finished my run, but only because God stepped in and kept me going. Needless to say I took some drugs and have been nursing it the entire weekend. It's been normal today, so hopefully I'll be able to get back at the workouts tomorrow. At least I hope so considering all the birthday cake etc. I've eaten the last couple of days. Oh well, you only have one a year and I heard somewhere that calories don't count on your birthday (ha! I wish!). So Happy (Almost 40) Birthday to me!

Blessings,

Magnolia

Easter Sunday

I LOVE Easter! I love what it means, love the traditions, love the time of year....I love everything about it. This is one holiday that has not been over commercialized (relative to Christmas that is). J and I started out the weekend with doing some errands on Friday and then hit the gym, Saturday, we did the grocery store thing, ate at a wonderful mom & pop pizza place that was new for us, and watched a movie. Today was church, Easter lunch and a long walk at River Front Park. The weather has been amazing!

But the most important thing today is that we are all renewed. Meaning that when Jesus died on the cross, we all get a "do over". I know that might sound trivial, but it's the best way to describe what happened. Of course, we get the ultimate "do over". And I am so incredibly grateful that we do. All of us have reasons to need forgiveness. I need it every single day, and it took me a really long time to realize that. I also, realized I need God's grace and mercy and help every single day and because Jesus died on the cross for me, I can go to him every single day and know that his forgiveness, grace and mercy is there, always.

Blessings & Happy Easter,

Magnolia