Our Journey Through Health and Knowledge

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Archive for October, 2008

5 inches.

October 20, 2008 at 9:44 pm · Filed under Tamika, body, diet

5 inches.

FIVE INCHES.

5 bloody inches.

I knew I’d gained weight.  I’d been telling my girls about those irksome 5 pounds I’d gained last hockey season.  Over beer and hot wings, I stepped on the scale and saw that 5 lb increase and thought… That’s a lot of beer and hot wings.  Nothing seemed to fit correctly.  Nothing seemed to look good.  It’s amazing what 5 pounds can do.

Well.

It’s not just 5 pounds.  Interestingly in this thing called MY THIRTIES, this has somehow translated into FIVE *%*&^%^% INCHES gained.  Not 5 all over.  Nooooo, that’d be too easy.  FIVE in my waist.  FIVE in my bust.  FIVE in my hips.  I don’t even want to measure anywhere else.

*sigh*

So, there is only one thing to do *gulps beer*… put down the beer, is one.  I mean, honestly, who knew that the beer gut thing could happen to a woman?  After all, I’m not a heavy drinker, but I like heavy beer.  In rugby and hockey seasons, the beer consumption goes up.  Well, that may not have been a big deal in my 20’s, but in my 30’s, you can see every ounce.

Before, I said that I’d chronicle my experimentation with the Mediterranean lifestyle.  Well, my friends, that will not be the narrow focus.  Yes, I’ll be sharing lovely meals and foody commentary, but more importantly, it’s time to lose these five inches nouveau.  I’m officially chronicling the proverbial hitting of my rock bottom.  Ugh.

To change my now sedentary lifestyle (when did I become sedentary???), I will have to limit my time behind the laptop.  I’ll need to get up early to start the day off with exercise.  I’ll need to incorporate Pilates and Yoga at home.  I love Yoga.  I like Pilates.  I loathe walking.  BUT, I know that it’s a must-do at this point… So, I’m doing it.  I’ll check in with updates on my progress.  I’m setting three goals for myself.  If I achieve more than that, great.  Three is what has to happen.  If anyone has a goal, please share it and let’s help each other out.

My goals:

  • Minimum of 1 hour exercise every day for 30 days.  This can include yoga, walking, jogging, pilates, cycling.
  • Increase of water intake to the proper amount (64 oz) while decreasing the “other” liquid intake.  No soda or beer for 30 days.
  • Limit time behind the computer to 2 hours.

Well, that’s it for me.  You have any you want to share?  Let’s start NOW!

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nourishment

October 10, 2008 at 11:03 am · Filed under Tiffany, spirit

hatred stirs up dissention, but love covers over all wrongs. proverbs 10:12

 

i sit here at my writing retreat and we are having a difficult time getting started.  we have written two songs, one of which we recorded a rough draft. there are many ideas and many things that are valuable, but there just seems to be difficulty in finding the path god has laid out for us to travel down with this group. 

i was having a devotional. meditational moment this morning as i welcomed the sun with my bible and coffee and the mountains and i was reading the psalms and proverbs. this blog talks about nourishing our mind, our body and our spiritual selves. i worry about the pathway the campaigns have turned as of late. i know we all have been injured by words, spoken or unspoken. would you take a moment to reflect on your recent conversations: have you felt nourished by someone’s encouraging words? have they lifted you up? i tell you in the past year, i have been wounded by the words of those who should be the most uplifting. its almost like, no it is just like, those words went deeper than the same words spoken by someone else. the wounds of the past year are still flowing. bandaids are not effective and thus i find myself having to really soul search and find who i am in this changed reality and perspective. 

i have longed for the mountains. they are truly my thin place, where i can most fully and easily see and hear god. i wish i were a little more isolated. there are a lot of people here in this place. my mind and spirit are being stifled by those with me. i long to hear, truly hear, what some of them are saying. yet there are others who espouse and are verbose to the point of “omg shut up!” so i am having a difficult time hearing gods words in our direction right now. 

i pray for all of you, peace, quiet, meditative calm and the lovely guidance of god and his words. listen. truly hear. he is always nourishing, when you hear them. find that calm, quiet place to hear, truly hear.

 

love you

-tif

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Mother Love

October 5, 2008 at 2:52 pm · Filed under Stacy, mind, spirituality

I have outgrown the Bride.

I am not the Bride of Christ, the Bride of Mike, the Bride of Ken.

I do not wait for the Bridegroom to

                Claim me,

                Change me,

                Mold me into his image.

I am Mother Love, nurtured and emboldened by Mother Nature, Mother Earth and Mothering.

 

Mother Love encompasses all—

Swallows the gulf between binaries.

                I am fallible and wise.

                I am love and violence.

                I am community and self.

                I am all and all is I.

 

I wonder what would happen if we looked at All through eyes of the mother.

What if the Muslim was my son?

What if the AIDS victim were my daughter?

What if the starving were my children, gaunt eyes not a cold picture but pieces of my heart imploring to live one more day?

What if the Earth herself were mine?

 

Mother Love is unconditional but full of expectations.

I expect much of my children.  Do their teachers?

I protect much for my children.  Do the politicians?

I value the lives of my children.  Does religion?

 

Mother Love is my religion.

Mother Love is the Cure.

I pledge allegiance to Mother Love—

                Divisible,

                Flawed,

                Divine and not,

                Me.

  

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