The Faith Journey #23 - Being a Proverbs 31 Woman Vs. 17

Happy Sunday!  I am so excited about finally getting some beautiful spring weather!  I feel like I appreciate it more every year.  With this winter being so hard, I am really grateful to feel the warmth of the sun and to see the beautiful colors of the season in bloom.

"She dresses herself with strength
    and makes her arms strong." - Proverbs 31:17 English Standard Version

Back towards the beginning of this series I asked you to make a list of things that you thought were good qualities in yourself.  We learned that in order for others to find value in us, we need to find value in ourselves first.  When we value ourselves, we take care of ourselves.  We should be concerned with our health, and our fitness.  I will admit, I hate going to the doctors.  I will avoid it at all cost...in fact, aside from pregnancy related visits, I don't think I have been to any doctor for anything other than one severe sinus infection in about 4 years.  I do take my kids and encourage hubby to go regularly, but I tend to neglect myself.  Why?  Well it takes up too much time from my schedule; it cost too much money; it isn't really necessary; I already know what they will tell me.  I could come up with a hundred more excuses for why I don't go...but this isn't setting a good example for my children and I know it.

BEYOND that though, I do take pretty good care of myself.  I started just a little under a year ago to do The Virgin Diet because of food intolerance and have shared that experience with you here.  I exercise regularly and between the two things have lost so much weight that I now weigh less than I did when I got married!  A few years ago I never would have thought that I could have gotten back down to such a healthy weight for myself.  I haven't felt so good about myself in years!  I realize I sound as though I am bragging about myself, and I guess in a way I am.  I worked hard to get here.  It wasn't an easy road, but I got here.  I am stronger and leaner than I had ever believed I could be and I am proud of myself for accomplishing it!  So now I just need to work on the whole going to the doctors thing.  ;)

So you can probably guess what my homework for you will be today.  YUP!  Exercise!  Our verse states that the Proverbs 31 woman "dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong".  Now, I don't think she was heading to the gym 3 times a week, but I do think that she worked hard on her garden and home and as a result grew strong.  I believe she took care of her health by eating well and taking care of her needs.

The type of work that she would have done would have been physically challenging and so she would get plenty of exercise from her daily chores.  Most of us aren't doing that type of physical activity in our daily life, so we need to make up for it with scheduled workouts.  I don't want to hear your excuses!  Ever person alive needs some form of exercise. Even if you have limited mobility, you can still do some form of exercise.  Keep the muscles that you are able to healthy and happy.

 If you already work out, you are ahead of the curve!  Make sure you are eating healthy and drinking plenty of water.  

If you aren't already exercising, let's start off small and build up.  I avoided exercise for a few years because my knees would ache so bad I could hardly walk afterwards.  A few months ago, I had decided I really wanted to tone up and so began to search to find something that would fit my needs.

I stumbled on Cassey Ho's website Blogilates.  She has a great YouTube channel and blogs about health and fitness.  She is a Pilates and fitness instructor and she is fabulous!  She is always super perky and helpful.  She does a great job of explaining the moves and how to correctly perform them.  I started on her beginners workout calendar and would follow it and cross it off everyday.  I found it was very helpful to have the calendar because I could see what I had accomplished, and what I was going to be doing next.  Cassey's fun approach to exercise and her energy just pours out of each of her videos and made me fall in love with her brand.

If you need to loose weight and not just tone up try starting with something like walking.  Now that it is spring, a brisk walk around the neighborhood is a good way to go.  I also love Leslie Sansone's Walk at Home Series.  She has a whole series of videos (many of which you can find on YouTube) that guide you through a great walking working out that you can do right in your living room.  Start with the 1 Mile Walk and work your way up!  Leslie is so encouraging and always seems to know right when you need that little push to keep going.  

There are plenty of other exercises that you can do as well that won't cost you a dime!  

• Grab a huge load of laundry and cart it up and down the stairs 10 times.  
• Take your baby and hold her out in front of you while doing squats!  
• Go do laps at your local pool, pond, lake, or beach.
• Get outside and start working on that garden we talked about last week.  
• Run your vacuum in every room in the house as fast as you can without stopping (seriously this is a workout!  Have you ever tried it?)
• Go to the park and see how many times you can walk the whole perimeter in just 15 minutes.  
• Go for a bike ride with your kids.
• Grab a jump rope and brush up on those elementary rhyming skills (your kids will get a kick out of this!)
• Play tag with your kids and actually run.

OK my dears, go back to that list you made about what you liked about yourself.  Can you add "my health" to it?  I hope you soon will!

Blessings,