1. STOP making excuses for not starting.  The biggest barriers for not reaching our goals are our own excuses.  We can get overwhelmed because so many things feel out of our control.  So we learn to control the controllables and pray about the rest.  What can you control?  Your attitudes, your behavior, your actions…You might not be able to do everything you want to do or wish you could do, but that doesn’t mean you do NOTHING. 

So take a minute to think about it right now.  What excuses do you make?  Excuses about time?  Excuses stemming from fear of failure?  Excuses that at the end of the day are to avoid the work that’s needed to reach your goals?  Write down 2-3 excuses.

This year, I encourage you to set goals so big that you are bound to fail without God’s help!  What are the changes you need to make, want to make, and can make with God’s help?  What could you dream possible for your relationships, for your walk with God, for your finances or for your health? 

Ephesians 3:20 tells us that God can do far more than you could dream or imagine, so let the size of your God determine the size of your goals. 

Goal setting is a spiritual responsibility and a statement of faith, and I’m excited to encourage you to step out in faith and set big goals for yourself this year.  You are capable of so much, and with God by your side, you will accomplish more than you could have imagined! 

Don’t just read stories from the Bible to your children before bed.  Don’t  just show them videos to passively sit and watch.  Bring the Bible to life for your  little ones!  Allow them to actively participate in the learning process so they can experience what they are learning and remember what they have learned.

When their bodies are  engaged through kinesthetic  learning, young  children  are able to learn their best.  And that’s what we  want  for  our little ones  as we teach them  the Bible!  We want the stories to come to life in their minds.  We want them to connect with the stories and remember what  they learn.  That’s exactly why I created SoulStrength Fit Kids.   As a former  elementary  school teacher with 18 years spent in the classroom,  I’ve seen firsthand the power of kinesthetic learning.  

I can’t...

It seems that just about everyone has tried to lose weight at some point in time.  In fact, nearly half of American adults surveyed in the past few years have reported that they are trying to lose weight.  Chances are therefore pretty high that weight loss has been a goal of yours in recent years.  With so many people trying to lose weight, a very important question many people don’t always consider, however, is what kind of weight am I losing?

Weight loss can come from body fat (which is the goal), muscle, water, and even bone mass.

It can become all too easy in the pursuit of weight loss to become overly fixated on the bathroom scale.  Monitoring just the pounds on a scale, however, only measures the total amount of weight lost, without giving information about the kind of weight that has been lost.

So let’s just stop and consider for a moment why our scale weight matters so much to us.  If our real goal is to look toned and fit, our...

Here’s a question for you:

Could your protein shakes be making you gain weight?

It’s possible.  If you feel like that’s the case, you’re not alone.  I’ve actually had multiple clients start a shake-based plan intended for weight loss or some sort of clean eating challenge who have gained weight on the plan.  I've also seen plenty of clients who have incorporated a new protein powder into their diet for the first time in hopes that the weight loss claims  made by the shake or company would ring true.  

Let’s start here.  No protein powder on the market is a guarantee for weight loss.  I don’t care how many awesome ingredients the powder has, how vegan, clean, or high protein it is.  Because we all know that when it comes down to it, calories matter for weight loss.

Now, that being said, are calories the ONLY thing to consider when trying to lose weight?  Absolutely not.  Food...

Best Foods for Weight Loss

Nutrition is probably the single most important factor in weight loss and health.  It can become easy when we want to lose weight to become obsessed with finding the latest diet fad, or focusing on calorie intake alone.  But what’s so important to remember on any weight loss journey is the enormous impact that solid nutrition has on your fitness and health.  What we need to do is find a way of eating that’s sustainable, and allow your healthy eating habits to become a lifestyle.  This is what will lead to you being healthier, happier, a few pounds lighter, and more confident.  It’s said for good reason that food is medicine.

To lose weight and actually become healthier in the process, here’s a list of 10 foods I’d recommend you work into your diet.

 Whole Fruits and Veggies

To begin with, EAT whole fruits and veggies.  Juicing has become a very popular trend....

How Intermittent Fasting Changed My Relationship with Food

You may have heard about Intermittent Fasting and some of its associated health benefits by now.  From cognitive benefits to weight loss, decreasing risks of type 2 diabetes to heart health, many studies have show Intermittent Fasting (IF) to have powerful benefits.  

I was drawn to IF because of all of this research supporting it as a way to promote health and aid weight loss, specifically the way fasting has been shown to trigger autophagy, which is simply the body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells.  Because autophagy can lead to repair and recycling of older or toxic proteins, it’s main benefits seem to come in the form fo anti-aging principles, which definitely caught my attention.  Although my initial interest was focused on the health benefits associated with fasting, I soon came to discover it has many other benefits,...

Protein Powder "Recipes" I Love!

Recipes

I love supplementing with protein powder, but I don't LOVE shakes.  Here are two quick and easy go-to recipes I use regularly :)

Make-Ahead Chocolate Mug Cake

- serves 4

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup liquid egg whites

2 Tbsp ground flax

4 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 scoop protein powder

I recommend liquid stevia to sweeten.

Blend all ingredients and separate among 4 mugs coated with cooking spray.  Microwave for about 3 1/2 minutes.  

Protein Pancake

1/2 cup liquid egg whites

1 Tbsp ground flax

1/2 scoop protein powder4

2 Tbsp canned pumpkin

I recommend liquid stevia to sweeten.

Blend all ingredients and cook like a pancake.

Is Exercise All I Need for Weight Loss?

We know we need to exercise.  Exercise burns calories and fat, it builds muscle which improves metabolism, improves flexibility and mobility, and even strengthens our bones.  You want to be fit?  You definitely need to exercise.  Let’s consider the role both exercise and nutrition play in helping us lose weight, maintain that weight loss, and keep fit, lean, and healthy.

We need about 20 to 35 minutes a day of exercise to prevent weight gain.  25 to 30minutes a day,  or a little bit longer - 30 to 50 minutes - if you only exercise 5 days a week.  You may need to bump up the amount of exercise to lose weight, not just maintain and prevent weight gain, however.  We can look at this from a mathematical point of view: In order to lose a pound a week, you’d have to have a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day.  A 500 calorie deficit a day will mean a lot of exercise if your...