God's Promise

Genesis 8 and 9: A rainbow, "This is the sign of the promise I am making to all life on earth."

I'm not sure why, but I am so glad God promised that he would never flood the earth to destroy all living things again. Every time, when I see a rainbow, I will remember God's promise.

God made this promise knowing that all humans would be born with evil.

My promise to God: Always live in the likeness of the Lord.

Cleaning Up

Genesis 4-7

Message: God sent a flood to clean up the earth from all of the evil. We should be the likeness of God. We too can clean up our lives and help others. Lets flood our lives with his Holiness.

What part of your life could you work on and clean up?

For me, I am working on cleaning up all aspects of my life. Career, love, relationships, etc. I have a lot of work to do. Procrastination is my enemy. I need to work on things immediately, instead of letting them getting so bad, it hard to correct.

Putting God First

Genesis 1-3

This is a continuation of my previous post, "New Week, New Beginnings". There is no better way to start the new week than with the word of God. I'm starting with Genesis today. I have a mission to read the entire Bible within the year. I am also using a daily devotional by Joyce Meyer. Now, I just need to find a church that I like. I'm thinking of either going to the Catholic Church in Little Italy or St. Casmir's in Canton. We will see.

Message for today: Genesis 1:27 "God Blessed them and said, "Be fertile, increase in number, fill the earth, and be its master. Rule the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that crawl on the earth.""

Wow, what a message. "We are the master's of the earth." Really??? We surely don't act like it. We really need to take care of our little piece of earth that God has given each every one of us. Make it Godly and beautiful.

New Week, New Beginnings

I have got to get it together. I feel good, but I still feel like I have so many things in the air, I am afraid to drop something.

I had a wonderful weekend. My oldest son came home from college for the weekend and brought a couple of friends with him. My daughter and youngest son was there as well. I love having them all together.

I got some great news to start off my weekend with excitement. My tenants will be moving out of my house by the end of October. I will have my house back. I am truly thankful.

Exercise Videos

So, what are you doing to exercise? Workout videos are a great way to get a variety of exercises right in you living room. And they are so inexpensive. I just got a new Pilates video for only $7.99 on clearance. Love it!

I am currently doing the Jackie Warner Power Circuit Training DVD. It is so awesome. It has five different workouts: 15-Minute Total Body Circuit, 15-Minute Abs Only Circuit, 15-Minute Lower Body Circuit, 15-Minute Upper Body Circuit, and 40-Minute Total Body Circuit.

I totally love this video. For about a week, I have been doing the 15-Minute Total Body Circuit, and wow, did it work me out. Some days, I could barely get through the warm-up. So after a week, I thought I was ready for the 40-Minute workout. Well, after doing 30 minutes of the video, I realized I was wrong. The next, I could barely move. It was so funny. She worked out muscles I did not even know I had. I'm going to keep with the 15-minute workout, except do 15-minutes in the morning and 15- minutes in the evening when I get home from work.

If you are looking for a challenging and a variety of exercises, this is the video to try. It was only nine bucks at Walmart. Not bad.

Are you working out to a great video? Leave a post.

Body Mass Index

I went to the doctors a couple of days ago and the doctor told me that if I lost one more pound I won't be obese anymore. Looking down at myself, I did not realize I was obese. Overweight, yes, but obese? I asked my provider how he came up with this number. He told me the Body Mass Index.

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a statistical measure which compares a person's weight and height. However, it does not measure your percentage of body fat. So, if you are muscular (and we all know that muscle weights more than fat) you may come up with a higher BMI. A normal BMI is from 18.5 to 22.9, overweight from 23 to 27.5, obese from 27.6 to 40, and morbidly obese greater than 40.

The BMI calculation is a little compicated, so to make it easier for you and I, there are many different calculators out there to help. If you click on this link, you can find out your BMI: http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/bmi.htm

Leg Exercises

Today, I am working out my legs. Here are some leg exercises you can try.

1. Lunges: I did 50 lunges from the front door to the end of the kitchen. This will work great if you have a long hallway in your house.

2. Wall Sit Exercise: This exercise will work your quads, hamstrings and glutes. Here is a You Tube video to show you how it is done. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDjKeOCgisw

3. Leg Lifts: Three sets of 10 reps for each. Lay on each side, on your back, and on your stomach.

4. Squats: Three sets of 10 reps.

5. Glute Kickback: Three sets of 10 reps. These will help lift the bum. Click on the You Tube Video to see how they are done. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45YVKSQN88E

6. Pli’e Squat: With your feet twice shoulder length apart and your toes turned outward. Squat while counting to ten. Hold for two seconds. Then, rise while counting to 10. Try a set of 10 reps.

7. Lateral Squat: If you aren’t tired yet, try the lateral squat. You will love them. Here is a video to show you how it is done. http://www.kewego.com/video/iLyROoafYeph.html

Let me know what leg exercises you do.

Adding Extra Steps Throughout the Day

Today, when I was pulling into the parking garage, I thought to myself, "I need to get more steps in during the day". So, I parked on the 4th floor of the garage. And, instead of using the elevator, I used the stairs. Today, I will have added six flights of stairs to my day. I'm not sure how many steps that is, but I'm sure it is a lot.

Here are a few more ideas of how to add more steps to your day:

1. Walk around the mall a couple of times, before you start shopping.

2. Make more trips. If you are taking the clothes from the basement to the upstairs, carry less and make more trips. This will also save your back.

3. Take your pet for a walk. They will like the new scenery. Just make sure to bring a bag to clean up after your pet.

4. Plant a flower bed. You will use muscles you didn't even know you had.

5. Don't hire someone to wash your car or mow your lawn. Do it yourself. You will burn off calories and NOT burn a hole in your pocket.

6. When you are talking on the phone, walk around the house.

7. While watching your favorite show, get up and do 50 jump-n-jacks during the commercials. WARNING: Significant others like this exercise too. (wink);-)

8. When you are cleaning your house, blast the music and dance.

9. Do something you enjoy!

What do you do to add in extra steps during the day? Leave me a comment.

New Blog

Hey there! I'm Paula and I have started this blog to help me stay motivated in this diet and exercise regimen I started about 10 days ago. I started at approximately 186.2 lbs. I have lost 3.4 lbs. so far. Not bad!

To get to this point, I have been walking on my treadmill daily. I have also added the app Lose It to my iPod Touch. It is so cool. It counts your calories, tracks your weight, and you can add friends to compete with. If you have the iPhone or iTouch, I recommend adding it. Plus, it's free.

At this point, I have a budget of 1,183 calories per day. When I add my exercise in, I get to eat more calories. Wooo....Hoooo.....

I have only had a couple of days with eating bad foods. But, the next day, I start all over again and continue on my plan.

I'm on track today.