It's What We Do That Matters

Normally when I run, I listen to my Christian exercise playlist; it's just upbeat music that keeps me going and I love it. 

One of the songs has a line that says, "It doesn't matter how you feel, it's what you do that matters."

I. Love. That. Line.

It keeps me going when I really feel like quitting.

It makes me push through how I feel and instead, dig deep into what I can actually DO. 

Because what I FEEL I can do and what I can ACTUALLY do are two different things. Totally. Different.

But that line doesn't speak to me just about exercising, it speaks to my life.

It doesn't matter how I feel. It's what I do that matters.

I might feel angry - but what am I going to do about it?

I might feel hurt - but how am I going to respond?

I might feel frustrated - but does that mean I lose my temper?

We can feel lots of things. 

That doesn't mean we have to act on them. 

My feelings can get me in trouble, they can cause me to focus on myself and my rights, instead of on God's ways.

My feelings are fleeting with the moment and my circumstances, but I must focus on the truth that is never changing. 

I pray we all would respond and act based on the truth, not on our feelings in that moment.

I pray we would fill our hearts with the Word of Truth, that it would speak to us in those moments.

I pray we remember that it's what we DO that matters.

What we do is what others see and that is how they will see our Christ in us.

Blessings my friends,

Rashel

My Facebook Page

I just wanted to let you all know that while I may not be very consistent blogging on here, my Facebook page is much more active. It takes a lot less time to post a quick note on there compared to here and let's face it, we are all pretty busy - so I know you understand where I'm coming from.

This week I'm sharing some tips about how I make Trim Healthy Mama work for me so be sure to check out my page on Facebook. I also love the interaction there, I love hearing from all of you and getting to know you a little better on there. I look forward to seeing you all there!

Blessings,
Rashel

Increasing My Running Speed and Endurance

When I started running I used the Couch to 5K app and I really enjoyed it- for awhile. However, once I reached a certain point it was moving too fast for me and I couldn't keep up with the daily goals. I kept running, sometimes using previous days on the app and sometimes just making up my own goal that day. But I wasn't seeing much improvement in my 5k times and knew I needed to do something different.

That is when I really started researching what others do to increase their speed and endurance and I found out there is a vast amount of information on the internet about the subject. I read and read, then I asked questions on the THM runners facebook group. (They are so supportive and helpful!)

I learned enough to come up with my own plan and it has helped me tremendously! I thought I would share what I do each week, but then I highly encourage you to do some reading on your own and find out what works for you. Just because this works for me, it may not be the best for you. Also remember that I am not a professional, I am just sharing what I do.

My fitness journey

I've been thinking and praying about how I can best encourage you in your fitness journey, and I believe the best way is for me just to share my journey with you.

So, I plan to just kind of journal about my exercises, my food choices or whatever is speaking to me that day. I pray that you don't find it boastful or prideful, but instead are encouraged in your own life.

I want to encourage others no matter what their level of fitness. I have so much to learn and I want to share it all with you as I go.

I don't want to devote hours each day to being fit, instead I want to spend my time on what really works without taking tons of time.  While fitness is a passion of mine, it can't take up my whole day. I'm a wife and a mom first and those two jobs take up most of my time.

Today I want to share what I have been doing for upper body strength. I got this routine from several sources on the internet and put together which ones I would/could do consistently.

I know the quality of the photo is not great, but I hope you can read it anyway.

I keep this paper tacked up on the wall in my room where I work out and I use 3lb weights on the ones that require weights. I've been doing these three days a week, opposite of my run days. They really don't take long to get done, but they work! 

Here is a progress picture-

There is only 10 days between the two pictures and I know it isn't a huge difference, but it is enough to notice. Which makes me want to keep going!!

The other things I've been doing each day to help upper body strength are pushups and a plank. Each day I add a pushup and add time to my plank every other day. I am up to 17 pushups and a 95 second plank!

Working out doesn't have to be extra strenuous and it doesn't have to take hours. I'm usually done in 30 minutes.

Are you exercising regularly? It is so important to your overall health. I pray you find something you like and then stick with it.

Blessings,

Rashel

Bumps on my path

I have a busy day ahead so I don't have long, but I did want to share something with you.

This morning for my run I made a new path around my field instead of just running the driveway, it's much prettier :)

The problem is that this is a new path, out in a hayfield, which means it is not flat or level in all places. As I'm running and praying that God would make the path flat and safe so I don't injure myself, He reminded me that sometimes there are going to be bumps in my journey. The bumps may make things harder and I may not always like them, but -

the bumps make me stronger!

Just like in life, we have bumps in our journey. 

Things are not always easy or safe, God never told me they would be. He just said follow me and His path was not easy either.

So remember in your journey, on your run of life, that you will have bumps in your path, but those bumps will make you stronger if you just keep going.

Rely on Him in all things.

Trust Him in all things.

God is in control and He wants what is best for you, always.

Blessings,

Rashel

I got some new running clothes this weekend!

33 Day Challenge Day 1

Yesterday was day 1 of my PrayFit 33 day total body challenge so I thought I'd share how it went. Have you ever heard of Pray Fit? I love it! Jimmy Pena totally relates our faith to our fitness in every aspect and is super encouraging to listen to. My favorite thing about the total body challenge is that it encourages me to do better tomorrow than I did today, keeping my focus on improving myselft not comparing myself to others.

I also love that we only use our own body weight, no other equipment is required - so anyone can do this! It is your basic old school exercises, but put together in the best order for the best effect.

Yeah, totally being real here! I never look fabulous exercising, do you? 

Anyway, I said I'd share my journey and this is part of it, so there you go - me doing a squat!

My plan is to do this every day, in addition to my 3 days a week of 5k training. If that becomes too much, then I won't do the challenge on training days. We shall see how it goes.

As for my eating yesterday, I did well even though we ate out TWICE!! That is pretty rare for us, but it happened. I did the best I could at lunch, Taco Bell, and then stayed on track at Cracker Barrel for dinner (that place is easy).  If you want to know exactly what I ate, I track my food on the Two Grand app, username RashelTHM. That is a great accountability app for me, knowing I have to take a picture of everything I eat and then post it for all to see really makes me think about what is going in my mouth.

I'm excited to keep sharing my fitness journey with you and hope you enjoy it as well. I did take my measurements when I started and I'll give weekly updates as I go, maybe some before and after pics too :)

Have a blessed day today and do something toward better health for yourself today!

Blessings,

Rashel

My First 5K

Saturday I ran my first 5k - and I LOVED it!!

My daughter and my cousin (that's my daughter's age) ran (read that jogged and walked) with me and we had a great time. 

I had only trained a few weeks so I was not prepared to run the entire race, but I  really didn't care. We had two goals- finish and have fun. We accomplished both of those goals, praise the Lord! However, my running partners did wish that I would have run a little more, okay, a lot more. We had decided we would all stay together because it was our first race, it was in a decent size town and there were over 700 people there and I was not okay with them taking off on their own. Despite my slowing them down, they chatted the entire race and had a great time.

We are ready to sign up for our next one and this time some of my boys and my other cousin want to run with us - how awesome is that?!

My daughter and I after the race.

Everyone that finished got a medal which made it even better for our first race! 

Yes, I am totally addicted. I even bought a used treadmill yesterday so I could continue running in bad weather - I am definitely a fair weather runner. 

I am going to post about our runs and my training here on my blog, for a journal for myself and maybe it will encourage someone else to get moving.

I decided for now to follow the couch to 5k program because it has an app for my phone which makes it super simple. Today I completed week 3 day 1.

I am not an expert runner, ha ha obviously, and I am not a medical expert so please don't take anything I say as expert advice, I'm only sharing my walk - I mean run ;)

I pray each of you has a blessed day.

Rashel