Faith and Fitness: Do these two go together? For me it does. I've found that when I add faith to my fitness plan, I am more successful and more likely to reach my fitness goals. When forget to add faith to my fitness program, I get sidetrack and encounter many setbacks which leads to me being frustrated and possibly neglecting my fitness goals. I end up having to refocus and readjust my goals, which causes me to use more, time, money and effort. So if you notice yourself struggling to reach your fitness goals, I would like to suggest that you include faith in your fitness plan.
How do you include faith in your fitness plan?
First you need to have a fitness plan. Your fitness plan should include what you would like your ideal weight to be, what diet you want to follow to get & maintain your ideal weight and what exercise schedule you want to do burn fat and get stronger. Once you determine what you want your fitness plan to be, you are ready to include faith in your fitness plan. The way you would include faith is by doing all three things. They must be done on a daily basis and you can't just do one or two things, but all three things. They are talking to God (prayer and fasting), writing your gratitude list (praise and worship), and speaking in with 100% belief that the things you are praying for will happen in the future (prophesying).
What is my fitness plan?
I would like to share my fitness plan and hopefully it will help you create one of your own. My ideal weight is 117 lbs. I calculated my ideal weight by using Dr. Fuhrman's "Ideal Weight" formula. For men it is 105 lb for the first 5 ft and 5 lb for each inch over 5 ft and for women it is 95 lb for the first 5 ft and 4 lb for each inch over 5 ft. To reach my ideal weight goal I'm using the recipes from Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live program, Rip Esselstyn's Engine 2 Diet, Matt Frazier's No Meat Athlete program, and Marco Borges's 22 Day Revolution Diet. I love the recipes from these books and they are helping me get closer to my ideal body weight. The exercise plan I am using to reach my ideal weight is simple and to the point. I must do 20 minutes of interval training everyday. On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, I am doing my cardio workouts. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I'm doing my strength workouts. I'm using podcasts, DVDs, websites and books to help me manage my exercise progression. Some of the programs I've done and are currently doing are Todd Lange's 5k 101 podcast, SparkPeople 5k training schedule, Zumba, 21 Day Fit, P90x3, T25, as well as Todd Durkin's Total Gym Beginner Program. Most importantly, I'm using Dietbet's Kickstarter and Transformer Challenge Games to help me stay on track while I'm striving to reach my ideal weight goal.
How am I including faith in my fitness plan?
In the morning, the first thing I do is pray. Some of the prayers that I pray are "a prayer to lose weight", "a prayer for strength to succeed" and "a prayer to resist the cravings". They are found on the website called Prayer Diet. When I pray these prayers, or prayers similar, I'm more focus and on track. Just the fact of believing a power greater than me is with and before me gives me the strength I need to lose weight, succeed and resist cravings. The second thing I do is literally write a list of everything I'm grateful for, when it relates to my fitness plan. Nothing is too small. For example, I'm grateful that I didn't drink that soda. Lord, I'm grateful that I didn't stop at my favorite restaurant or didn't buy my favorite junk food when I was in the store. Last but not least, speaking affirmations, listed on the website http://www.prayers-for-special-help.com/weight-loss-affirmations.html encourages me to be healthier everyday.