Relationships...Part 2

Last week I discussed how important relationships are for support, encouragement, and wisdom.  In this post I'll pull some quotes from Dr. Norman B. Anderson's book Emotional Longevity: What Really Determines How Long You Live.

In one study "a number of social relationships were measured, including marital status, church attendance, and participation in volunteer activities.  Women with smaller social networks had a mortality rate nearly double that of those high in social ties...men low in social ties died at two to three times the rate of men with strong social connections."

Other studies Dr. Anderson referenced showed the following:

• Relationships predict heart-disease deaths and heart attack recovery
• Relationships predict against the common cold
• Relationships predict birth outcomes
• Relationships predict hypertension...atherosclerosis...and stress-hormone levels

Bottom line?  Get out there and make some good friends.

Someone who has been there...

Friends:  Sheri Traxler, James Cobb, Jennifer McCoy, Patty Whitehead

Relationships.  We need each other for practical help:  moving, baby sitting, sharing recipes, etc.  We need to bounce ideas around and get wisdom from others.  And, of course, accountability is an important part of relationships.

Today I want to focus on a critical benefit of relationships:  emotional support we receive in crisis.  Finding out that you have "something" going on in your life that you did not expect can throw you.  Strength comes when people come around you saying...

• "You're going to make it."
• "We will find an answer."
• "God is faithful and will not forsake you and will not let you go."
• "I am here with you."
• "All is well."

And then the one that is a living, breathing picture of hope for me personally...

• "I have been there.  I understand.  You are not alone.  I am standing here now and you will stand, too. "  

Knowing someone who has "been there" requires that you build a variety of relationships now, invest your life into others' lives, and then not be timid to ask for support when you need it.

Who will you invest in today?

And, if you need support today, who has been there?  Reach out to them.

Herbal Remedies for the Outdoors

Enjoy mint on your skin to repel insects.

August and September...the last of summer.  Time to be outdoors in the evenings and weekends, enjoying the warmth.  How to help with the bugs and minor scrapes?  Just turn to your herb garden or the herbs already in your kitchen.  Thanks to Lisa Bedner for the advice below:

1.  Rosemary - Is antibacterial for the skin.  Create a strong tea and use as a wash on scrapes.  You can also create a poultice (crushed rosemary in warm - not hot oil) and soothe the scrapes.  Leave on poultice and cover with cloth or bandage.

2.  Mint - Repels insects.  Either rub the fresh leaves directly on your skin or infuse oil with crushed mint for 2 weeks.  Rub your skin with the oil.

3.  Basil - This tip comes from Rosemary Gladstar's book Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide.  Basil, mashed or chewed into a poultice, helps to take out the swelling and itching of an insect bite or sting.

For all of these, use fresh if you have it.  Dried leaves can be somewhat effective, too.

Keep enjoying the outdoors!

Indoor Intervals

Too hot for a hike?  

Can't get outside for a walk early morning when it is cool enough?  If you are exercising later in the day, when the temps are well into the 90's...try Indoor Intervals.

Set out your hand weights, a chair, and turn on your tunes.  Lace up your walking shoes and let's go.

• 1 minute - Cardio Choice (Jumping Jacks, Front Kicks, Knee Ups, Jog in place, Walk up/down your stairs.)
• 1 minute - Chest (Push-ups or Flat Fly on the floor)
• 1 minute - Back (Bent Over Row on your chair, 30 seconds each arm)
• 1 minute - Cardio Choice
• 1 minute - Walking Lunges or Squats
• 1 minute - Bicep Curl (keep moving your legs gently)
• 1 minute - Cardio Choice
• 1 minute - Tricep Overhead Extension (keep moving your legs gently)
• 1 minute - Shoulder Overhead Press (keep moving your legs gently)

Repeat.  If you feel light-headed at anytime, slow it down.  And even though you are exercising inside, remember to stay hydrated.

An 18 minute quick workout when your schedule needs it.

Have a great rest of the summer!

5 Ways to Hydrate for the Heat

Summertime!  It is time to play outside.  But outside is not very climate controlled and you sweat out water and electrolytes.  How to put them back in?  Read on...

1.  Water.  Water.  Water.  Being active and playing outside for an hour or two in the heat?  If you are healthy and have been eating a balanced diet (including at least 8 cups of water each day), then plain water is your best hydration drink for that hour of playing in the sun.

2.  Natural electrolyte drinks.  Staying out longer than a couple of hours?  Intensely exercising for an hour?  Diluted vegetable juices - half water and half vegetable juice, especially one high in celery juice.  If you have a juicer, create your own vegetable juice with greens, celery, carrot, and a little apple or pineapple to sweeten it.  If you prefer a powdered vegetable juice mix, make it with a little extra water.  (If you are playing intensely for many hours, commercial electrolyte drinks are beneficial, too.)

3.  Just Eat It.  Eat your water.  Eat your electrolytes.  Watermelon and other melons.  Salads (without the heavy dressings that are harder to digest in the heat).  Celery.

4.  Drink fluids at room temperature.  Remember those ice cream headaches?  If you come in from the heat to a very cold room and drink an iced drink, it may feel good for a few minutes.  But you may constrict your blood vessels and give yourself a terrible headache later.  (Of course, we are talking about preventing over-heating, not dealing with heat exhaustion.  That's a medical issue to handle specifically.)

5.  Hydrate regularly: before, during, and after.  Don't gulp down 3 cups of water right before a run.  That is a set up for stomach cramps.  What's best?  Consistently hydrating both in small doses throughout your play and hydrating afterwards for recovery.

Stay hydrated everyday, because you never know...an opportunity to go outside and play could show up anytime.  Have a fun and safe summer.  

Extreme Fitness for Men

This week is National Men's Health Week.  The focus this year includes, of course, an encouragement to get your annual physical and PSA reading.  However, the folks at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) are also reminding men to get enough sleep (no less than 7 hours each night) and to increase their cardiovascular fitness levels.

I can think of no better "cardiovascular fitness" example to men than the Man, Jesus Christ.  So for this week's blog, I'm sharing an excerpt from my book Go Forward: 28 Days to Eat, Move, and Enjoy Life God's Way about the Extreme Fitness of Jesus.  Read Matthew 15 for the full story.

"To better understand the fitness level of Jesus, explore His journeys.  Find a map of Palestine during the time of Christ, in the back of your Bible or on the Internet.  Follow along Jesus’ route in Matthew 15:21 and 29. 

Let’s pick up the story in Matthew 15:21.  We find Jesus teaching in Gennesaret, which is located near the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee.  He leaves Gennesaret and travels northward to Tyre and Sidon.  Between these two regions wind 35-50 rough mountainous miles.  Jesus either covers the distance in a day, or He sleeps outside overnight, likely in the mountains.  Either option is physically demanding.  After healing a Canaanite woman’s daughter in the area of Tyre and Sidon, He turns around and walks back over the mountains to the Sea of Galilee, this time skirting the sea on the east side through the region of Decapolis (Mark 7:31)."  

In a short time frame, Jesus walked 70-100 miles...an ultra-marathon.  (Oh, and at the end of that, He had enough stamina to hold the anointing for healing a multitude.)   "In addition, Jesus worked as a carpenter; this was a very physical profession, especially with the use of only hand tools."

So, men, take your cue this week and take care of your fitness and health.

Delicious Rainbow

A friend, who is feeding her family with intention, recently shared she is trying to eat a rainbow. What an important concept.  I teach how to "Eat a Rainbow" in my Nourish Your Life workshop, which is now (finally) available on video and audio here.

What she said inspired me to share a "Purple" recipe...plus fresh blackberries are coming in season, so it is an excuse to make this snack/dessert.

Enjoy!  

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1-2 tsp minced lemon verbena leaves (if you do not have this herb, lemon zest can substitute)
• 1/2 tsp ground or grated dried ginger or 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 10 or more blackberries
• lemon verbena leaves for garnish

Mix the yogurt, minced lemon verbena, and ginger.  "Marinate" in the refrigerator for at least an hour.  Top with blackberries and lemon verbena leaf (or lemon slice).  Makes 2 servings.

In my front yard...who knew?

Get out there and enjoy being active this summer.  Hike.  Play catch and throw frisbee with your kids.  Dig in the dirt.  I encourage you every year to do that.  But playing catch comes with a catch.  The possibility of stings and bites.  Yuck.

When Lisa Bedner of Pipssisewa Herbs taught me about Plantain being good to draw out the toxins from a bee-sting or insect-bite, I thought "I need some of that.  But, I'll have to plant some."  (If you are familiar with Plantain, I am sure you are laughing.)

Every picture I saw when I researched the plant had roundish-oval shaped leaves.  No Plantain in my yard.  Then Jeremy Lekich of Nashville Foodscapes (www.nashvillefoodscapes.com) gave an edible plant walk at the Middle TN Urban Gardening Festival last weekend.  I learned that Plantain comes in two varieties:  Plantago major (the round one) and Plantago lanceolata (lance-leaf).  Guess what?  I have more than enough lance-leaf.  In fact, in my front yard and around my HVAC I have plenty to share, in case you don't have either variety.

Unfortunately, I got to use it the day after Jeremy taught.  I got two spider bites, which normally would stay red for a couple of days and itch.  I chewed Plantain into a poultice (side note - it tastes like grass), applied it, and let dry.  There was no itching and by the next day the redness was gone.

Oh, if you want some from around my HVAC, come transplant it quick.  I'm clearing that out before Covenant Heating and Cooling comes out next week for my spring maintenance.  (Gotta protect the air-conditioning system for when I go in from the summer play.)  

Novice Medicinal Herbs

Scullcap for muscle strains and pains and bruises

I write "novice" because "beginner" is even too advanced for me right now.  When I went to Pipsissewa Herbs to talk with Lisa Bedner (both an R.N. and a Certified Professional Medical Herbalist), I was immersed in herbal information and hands-on instruction for two days.  Thank you, Lisa.

As I grow some of these herbs, I'll share my experience with you.  Many of the herbs you may already be growing.  Mint or oregano, anyone?  Hopefully these posts will inspire you grow a few herbs for your own in-your-backyard-medicine-cabinet.

Here are my first ideas for you:  When you are out this spring and summer hiking, working in your yard, and cycling with your kids, your muscles may get a little sore.  Two herbs that help muscle soreness are scullcap and valerian root.  You can find both of these in capsule form at your local vitamin store, however...

I learned from Lisa Bedner that scullcap loses 90% of its effectiveness when it is dried.  To get the full power of scullcap, use the fresh leaves to make a tea or tincture.  It is an easy herb to grow and it is beautiful, too.  It grows well in a pot, only get a foot high, likes part sun and tolerates shade, too.  So if your lifestyle is prone to muscle soreness, strains and pains, start container growing some scullcap soon.

Oh, an added bonus:  both scullcap and valerian root mildly relax your muscles to help you sleep better, too.

Happy, Healthy Gardening.

Made in the Shade

It is that time of year...time to get out your seed packets and your garden planning notebook.  (By the way, I love this new planning notebook, Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook, that White Harvest Seed introduced to me.)

In the book Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook by Ron and Jennifer Kujawski, I found an answer to one of my "Reader Questions."  Kim Hulett, this post is for you and for anyone else with shady yards.  Here are their tips based on hours of sunlight received:

• 5 hours of direct sunlight?

1. beets and carrots
2. onions
3. kohlrabi and turnips
4. tomatoes and peppers
5. beans
6. squash
7. cilantro, dill, thyme, marjoram

• 2-4 hours of sunlight?

1. leafy greens (kale, etc.)
2. parsely, chives, and basil

• Dappled sunlight?

1. endive
2. leaf lettuce
3. leeks
4. spinach
5. radishes

• Heavy shade - no sun at all?  I love their comment:  "You'd best plant yourself in line at the local produce market."

Happy planting (and eating)!  (By the way, for those who like charts and "when to do what" tips to help plan the garden, this book is a treasure.)

Beginner Herb Gardening

Three different types of cilantro

Do you love the idea of cooking with herbs...but find it frustrating to buy just the right amount from the store?  Or you have limited varieties available?  Colleen McElroy of Colonial Creek Farm in Georgia has an answer for you.  Start a container herb garden near your window.  Then cut the amount you need...you can't get any fresher than that.

Here are some tips from Colleen:

• If you have never grown herbs before, start with oregano, thyme, chives, and parsley in a container together.  You may also grow sage in the same container...but sage likes to be a little drier, so don't over-water.
• To arrange the above herbs in a round container, plant the chives, parsley, and perhaps sage, in the middle.  Plant the oregano and thyme around the outside and let them trail over.  
• To grow these herbs in a window box, grow the chives, parsley, and sage in the back (closest to the window) and the oregano and thyme in the front.
• Mint is also a great herb to try, but it can be invasive, so consider a separate container for it. Colonial Creek Farm has over 20 varieties of mint...so pick your favorite flavor!
• If you are bit more adventurous, you can also grow rosemary and lavender in a separate container.  These two herbs prefer very well-drained soil, so they would not grow well with your other herbs which prefer more traditional potting soil.
• Do you love salsa in the summer, but can't get your cilantro to grow in the heat?  Cilantro is a cool weather herb.  However, you can grow Vietnamese cilantro, which prefers the heat.  I look forward to trying mine for the first time this year!
• Remember that herbs love the sun.  They get "leggy" (lots of stem and few leaves) in the shade.
• Last, herbs are generally "water it and forget it" plants.  They taste better if you don't fertilize them much.  

So plant the herbs you love in the soil they love.  Keep them in sun and water them.  Cut, eat, and enjoy!

Thank you, Colleen, for chatting with me at the 2016 Nashville Lawn and Garden Show.  Colonial Creek Farm is a mail order nursery with unique herbs I've not seen in other nurseries.  Their web address is www.colonialcreekfarm.com

Keep growing your food fresh for a ViREO Life!

Trying Gardening this year? You need ...

Thanks to Randall Keele of the Big Yellow Bag!

A Big Yellow Bag.

A what?  Well, if you live in middle Tennessee, you need what actually comes in a Big Yellow Bag.  Yesterday at the 2016 Nashville Lawn and Garden Show I discovered the most unique garden-starter product I have ever seen:  one cubic yard of very high quality garden soil...delivered in a Big Yellow Bag.  I've got to tell you about it.

But first, here are a few tips I got from Randall Keele on small-scale gardening:

1. If you are growing vegetables in containers, then every two years change the soil. Recycle the semi-spent soil into your landscaping and turf.  There are still some nutrients for your yard and shrubs, just not enough for your tomatoes and kale.
2. With high-quality composted soil (like Big Yellow Bag) you can make a "compost tea" which you can use to add nutrients to the soil around your fruit bushes or houseplants.

Now, here's what's to love about "The Bag":

• The soil itself is vegetable garden ready.  It is fully composted grass clipping, other organic matter (all FREE of pesticides and herbicides), and manure from a next-door dairy farm.  The company is looking toward an OMRI (organic) certification.
• The amount is PERFECT for a beginner gardener!  One cubic yard will fill a 6' X 4' raised bed at 12 inches high...plus a little left over for a couple of container plants.  Or, if you are double digging (that's worth a whole other post), you could fill two 6' X 4' beds at 6 inches, plus a little left over.
• The storage method is what wowed me!  As a beginner gardener, you usually don't have time to set up all of the projects you want to do at once.  (We didn't, at least.)  That means you have two options:  either purchase numerous bags of lower-quality soil at "big-box" stores and haul it yourself, or purchase a cubic yard at a nursery.  

That nursery cubic yard of soil is usually high-quality - but it is dumped in a mound on your yard.  Then when you only use part of it this season, you have to shovel it somewhere else and cover it with a tarp.  Why?  So rain doesn't wash it away or (hopefully) weed-seeds don't get in it.  We experienced this back-breaking mound of an eye-sore for over a year.  Yuck!  

But, since this is delivered to you in a huge sturdy re-sealable bag, when you have leftovers you (plus a friend or two, depending on the weight of the leftover soil), move the re-sealed bag to the side of your house or inside your garage.  Then next season just open the bag again, still weed and water free.

• The cost?  Reasonable.  Compared to a nursery's vegetable-garden soil, delivered and dumped on your yard, it is approximately the same (assuming they will deliver a single cubic yard).   Compared with the same amount (27 cubic feet) in small bags at the "big-box" stores, it is also approximately the same...of course, you are delivering and unloading it all yourself and the quality is not as good.
• Bottom line?  If you are starting a small garden and you live in middle Tennessee, talk to the Big Yellow Bag company at 615-274-3009 before you purchase your soil.  If you live elsewhere, tell your local organic sod companies to start composting this product for you.

Regardless, keep growing some of your own healthy food.  Live a ViREO Life!

Videos and Audios coming right up!

In the world of ViREO Life, we've started some video and audio projects.  The main one we filmed on Monday, Feb 22nd.  Several friends came over and we discussed Nourishment and Intuitive Eating.  Oh, and we ate some really good food, too.  (Of course, I am biased.  I cooked it.)  We'll release it as a DVD and CD and downloads by end of March.  

We also have video projects starting for a YouTube channel.  Some of the first videos will be about Tiny Gardening.  For example, what to do inside your existing landscaping.  And what 2-3 container gardening options to try.  

I'm getting advise on this at next weekend's Nashville Lawn and Garden show.  I will be interviewing experts in home gardening.  Here's where you come in...what questions do you want answered?  I will be glad to ask the vendors at the Lawn and Garden Show.

• What struggles are you having getting started?
• What is confusing to you?
• If you have started gardening, what issues do you need help with?

Thanks for sharing your questions.  And healthy gardening!

Never too cold to exercise (at least inside)

When it is cold and snowy outside, you may want to hibernate.  But don't!  Get moving inside.

• Pull out your old step aerobics bench and video from 15 years ago.
• Straighten your house, making as many trips up and down the stairs as you can.
• Go walk the mall.  Without stopping to shop.
• Turn on your favorite dance tunes, close the blinds, and pretend you are on Dancing with the Stars.
• Turn on your kids' favorite dance tunes and have a dance-off.
• Those podcasts you've been meaning to listen to?  Turn one on and alternate push-ups, crunches, planks, and other strengthening exercises.
• What do you do to keep moving when it is cold outside?

Depression Clouds? Try the Start app and Exercise

If you or someone you know has a cloud of depression obscuring the joy of life, you often wonder...what is the remedy?  Is there an answer?

According to Thomas Goetz, the inventor of a mobile app called Start (which I'll describe in a moment), antidepressants are the most often prescribed medication for adults under 45.  Over 30 million Americans take antidepressants, even though there is a 50% failure rate.

A first step?  Exercise has been shown to be at least as effective for mild to moderate depression as the drugs.  So, go for a walk.  Or take an exercise class or go for a swim.  Find a way to move your body daily.

A second step?  If someone is taking an antidepressant, one way to test if the drug is effective is through the mobile app, Start.  The app is designed to create a "feedback loop between the medication and the symptoms, giving people a path through the fog ... to a better place as fast as possible." (Quote from Thomas Goetz)

Perhaps the same concept could apply to exercise.  For example, tracking your exercise (what you did, time of day, length of time, and intensity) and tracking your symptoms for the next 24 hours.  Through this, you may discover that a long brisk walk at lunch is most effective for you ... or that 3 shorter walks each day helps you more.

Keep your physician "in the loop" on what you are doing and about your symptoms.  Also, remember to seek counsel from a pastor and to talk with God about your struggle.  God does have an answer for you!

(Don't forget, the book Go Forward: 28 Days to Eat, Move, and Enjoy Life God's Way, available on Amazon, leads you through scriptures about health topics, including mental health.)

Life doesn't come with a syllabus...

The book is done.  The Kindle version uploaded and "published" last night.  Now that it is done, I think, "Oh, that wasn't so difficult."

But then as I am looking back over my 2015 planner and journal, I am reminded of the struggles.  

• Not knowing anything about publishing vs. self-publishing.  Not knowing where to even start researching it.
• How to find an editor (An editor was the only role I knew I needed.  But, who?)
• Not knowing what steps needed to happen.  And the more I read on the internet, the more I realized how much I did not know.  

I won't tire you with the details (as interesting as they are to me).  I will use the experience to encourage you. 

When you are faced with a situation about which you have zero or near-zero knowledge...nor do you know anyone who has dealt with it...here are the questions that helped me:

• Who do I know who might know someone with experience or answers?   (For me, I remembered someone who might know an editor.  Eventually, that editor introduced me to a formatter, a role I didn't know I needed.)
• What have I done in the past when I was clueless and had no direction?  (Recently for me was starting a garden.)  Mimic those ideas.
• What are the commonalities I read on the internet?  (There are always "themes" that surface in an area.  Pursue those first.)
• Trust.  Faith.  That one is difficult for those of us who need a plan.  I don't have to know all of the steps upfront.  (Though I really really want to know.)  Life doesn't come with a syllabus.  Once I have a few answers and a few people-connections, just start.  Those actions will then lead me to the next "right questions and people."  Be all right that I will take actions that turn out "not perfect."  If I can't change them this time, I will next time.  Even with those less-than-perfect outcomes, I at least have an outcome.  In this case, a book that will help so many folks in their health journey.

Next for me is a DVD and audio and YouTube.  I'll ask myself those questions again.  What is next for you?

Stressed Out? Not in 2016!

Back in October 2015 I wrote about tips for stress management, including getting help vs. trying to "do it all alone."  Stress is such a major issue, that I want to help you to manage your stress in 2016.

How big of an issue is stress? Stress is a major factor in most lifestyle diseases.  According to The American Institute of Stress, 77% of people regularly suffer physical problems caused by stress.  Stress costs American industry more than $300 billion annually, through health care and missed work.

What are your major stress points?  Both life's "big issues" as well as the day-to-day frustrations?  Comment on this blog or send an email about your stressed-out questions.  

I am pulling together some experts in stress management so that we can get answers to your issues in 2016!

Setting (and keeping) New Year's Resolutions

If you have set resolutions - or goals - in years past and have had challenges keeping them, read on.  You can achieve your dreams this year!

Goals need to be specific.  For example, if you want to eat more vegetables, how many servings do you want to average?  If you desire to sleep more, how many hours of rest will you get each night?  If you need to exercise more, how far will you walk each week?  One important goal I encourage you to make is to read the Bible each day.  Knowing God’s Word will encourage you and give you the right perspective as you become healthier.  To help you determine the details of your goals, choose both “outcome” goals and “behavior” goals.

An outcome goal is the result you want.  A behavior goal is an action you take to achieve the result.  For example, an outcome goal would be to lower your blood pressure to below 120/80.  A behavior goal would be to walk three miles each day.  You are in direct control of your behavior goals.  You are not in direct control of your outcome goals, especially the exact timeframe in which you accomplish them.  However, reaching for a challenging outcome makes changing behaviors more exciting!

Goals need to have a reason why.  Think about the purpose of your goals.  If you want to get stronger, ask yourself why?  What are the benefits to your life once you are stronger?  If you want to have more energy, ask yourself why?  What are the benefits to your life once you are more energetic?

Need more ideas for keeping your healthy goals?  Read Go Forward: 28 Days to Eat, Move, and Enjoy Life God's Way.  Order it here  https://www.createspace.com/5927179

One Thing at a Time

Are you as impatient as I am to accomplish goals?  Do you want to have all of your New Year's Resolutions achieved now?  We've all learned (the hard way) that focusing on one or two at a time accomplishes them faster, in the long-run.  Scripture teaches us that, too.  Today's excerpt from my book Go Forward: 28 Days to Eat, Move, and Enjoy Life God's Way introduces how to make changes that last.

If you would like to read the full chapter, just follow this link to purchase Go Forward.  2016 will be a strong and healthy year for you!

Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.  1 Timothy 4:15(NKJV)

“Meditate on these things.”  In order to successfully move forward on your health journey, you will need to remove different obstacles.  One hindrance is unhelpful thoughts such as, “I don’t know if I can do this.”  Rather than thinking negative thoughts, meditate on what the Bible says, particularly in regard to your health. 

Another hindrance is that we all live our current patterns by reflex and without thought.  To change to a new manner of living, you must consciously choose your actions each moment, until the new way of living is automatic.  How do you break an engrained pattern and start a new one?  Think constantly on the new habit you want to form or the lifestyle you want to live.  (For "how to" ideas, refer to the list in Go Forward.)

“Give yourself entirely to them.”  Decrease or eliminate what distracts you from your goal.   Do not have so many new goals that they distract from each other.  Choose one or two new habits that reinforce each other to focus on at a time.  For example: I will drink two cups of water after my mid-day walk.  “Entirely” means one hundred percent.  If you try to form several new healthy habits at once, you will not be able to give all of your attention to each.  After a week (or a month) of practicing one habit, add another.  What if you have a setback?  No worries.  Turn lapses into lessons.  Do not judge yourself, but learn from your experiences.  This time next year the “new habits” will be a lifestyle.  

It's almost out!

Go Forward: 28 Days to Eat, Move, and Enjoy Life God's Way will be available in the next day or two on Amazon.  Thanks to everyone who has made this book possible!

• Confused by conflicting exercise and nutrition “information?” 
• Frustrated by too many sizes in your closet? 
• Determined to “not quit this time” – but not sure how?

Go Forward: 28 Days to Eat, Move, and Enjoy Life God’s Way will help you understand what God’s Word teaches about exercise, nutrition, stress management, sleep, and numerous other health topics.  But understanding what to do is only the first step.  Through this book you will also begin the second step: practicing how to make a habit for a lifetime.

• Broken into topical sections
• Learn at your own pace and areas of interest  
• Scripture references and ample space is provided to write what God teaches you.

Whether you are starting your health journey for the first time or the fiftieth time, you will find your footing here.  If you are ready for the health and energy you need to accomplish your dreams, if you want to find your unique path and fulfill your potential, then it is time to Go Forward!