Health and Wholeness – Faith Fitness and Mommy Stuff

There’s A Place For Me

bonnie-kittle-186235-unsplash — Photo by Bonnie Kittle on Unsplash

“Who the Son sets free

Oh is free indeed

I’m a child of God

Yes I am

In my Father’s arms

There’s a place for me

I’m a child of God

Yes I am” – Who You Say I Am by Hillsong Worship

I completely misheard this verse last Saturday in Franklin, Tennessee during the cooldown of the Rev On The Road workout. But I didn’t really mishear it. I heard it loud and clear exactly the way my Daddy wanted me to hear it.

Every summer God seems to make me keenly aware of the injustice in this broken world, especially where race is concerned. I just noticed His timing this summer. I think God opened my eyes to the fact that He’s been pricking my heart for the past several summers so I would let go and let Him move freely.

If the question of race or race relations makes you uncomfortable, go ahead and stop reading now. If someone sharing their pain – whether over their personal experiences or the experiences of others – makes you want to check out, please do so now. But if you choose to continue reading, I ask that you do so with an open mind and a softened heart.

I have avoided posting about race for years now. Be it my own experience, or my response to instances of systematic racism – namely the killing of unarmed men of color. All because of fear. Fear that I wouldn’t share my feelings well. That my doing so would make people uncomfortable. That when God told me to open my mouth via my keyboard that my brokenness and unaddressed hurts would muddy His message. So, as I sit here typing these words I keep praying to Him, between tears, that He will heal my hurts as I type so my hurt doesn’t turn to anger. Because while people can relate to anger, they can’t always hear past it.

I know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Made on purpose with a purpose. I walk in this truth daily. But being a woman of color who presents as white has been a very lonely experience at times. I’ve endured passive aggressive and overt racism only to hear that I wasn’t “really Hispanic” or “really Black” or “not like that” implying that the hurtful words didn’t apply to me because I wasn’t really a member of the minority group being referenced. And I’d wonder – even sometimes ask out loud – well, if those words didn’t apply to me, did they apply to my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins? And on the flipside, I’ve gone out of my way to prove myself as a woman of color – that I belonged with the other brown women. Sometimes it’s all been in my head and other times I’ve been asked certain questions to see if my membership was legit or if it was going to be rejected.

And that’s what it comes down to, doesn’t it? Whether the question rests on race or some other means of identification, it all comes down to belonging or being rejected. And when I heard these lyrics God let me hear “In my Father’s arms there’s a place for me” I desperately needed to be held and didn’t even know it. In my life I have experienced more rejection – real or imagined – than I would have liked to. I’ve never felt like there was any particular place for me. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel like this all the time. But it’s always like music playing in the background of my everyday life. I’m not acutely aware of it until I am.

I honestly thought I had let go of all of this belonging and identity stuff years ago. I was walking across the local dam and God told me that I didn’t need to be brown enough, or Latina enough, because I was His. It was the first time in my adult life I felt lies about my identity break off of me. It was cathartic but painful enough for me to want that to be the end of the healing process. Today, I accept that this is truly a process. And as long as I’m breathing He will take me deeper into the hard places to bring me more freedom, healing, and peace.

God met me on that mat last Saturday and allowed me to feel His presence in such a tangible, loving way. I did not like the feelings He stirred up inside of me, namely the deep sense of vulnerability, but it was so very worth it. I don’t remember everything He declared over me because our time together was cut short due to me needing to fulfill my duties as a volunteer at the event. But I did promise Him to get still long enough to go back with Him to that space of surrender.

I’m not really sure why God wouldn’t let me go to sleep until I wrote this. It may just be for my benefit – obedience does feel so much better than the alternative – but I pray that it isn’t. If He’s been calling you deeper, go. It may seem scary and there may be tears, but I promise you the encounter will be worth it. He always is.

Refresh Summit South

I originally wrote this while I was reading “Do Over” by Jon Acuff. It was in response to the Day 5 assignment. Good to know that three years later that I am consistent about not posting consistently – even drafts.

Motivating Place — Where is the most motivating place you’ve ever visited? Refresh!!!

So technically Refresh isn’t a place, it’s…

I find myself at a loss for words when I attempt to describe Refresh Summit ’14 in fewer than four sentences. I’ve been struggling to blog post about it for almost a year now. Mainly because I keep writing too much. Like an epistle too much. Seriously, I could write a blog series about the two days I spent in a B&B cabin with 39 other women in the mountains of Tennessee. I would describe it as “overnight camp” for women.

I never got to go to away camp and it was everything I imagined summer camp would be like. S’mores and all. Except there were no crazy antics involving paddling to the boys’ side of the lake or weird girl clique issues. Obviously, all of the camp ideas I had was based on the 1980’s movies I watched growing up. Even without all the cheesiness of an 80’s movie, I got all of the things I wanted out of an away camp experience at Refresh.

And a lot that I didn’t know I could get out worshipping God, fellowshipping, exercising, and eating really good food. What I can say succinctly about Refresh is that it’s the most uplifting and motivating experience I’ve had in the last several years.

Where’s the most motivating place you’ve ever visited?

Want to attend Refresh Summit South 2018? Registration is now open!

Move In Love

“For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” 2 Timothy 1:7

Revelation Wellness®Instructor Training Retreat — Photo by Raint Photography

Every move we make – every thought and decision – is rooted in either fear or love. And it’s way too easy to root our physical movements, namely our workouts, in fear. It’s kind of our go to motivation when it comes to fitness, isn’t it? My good friend, and MOMENT’em sister, Kasey Schuler posted about body shame this week using a BINGO card and she reminded me just how true this is. Out of fear of having to fill a row or two on the imaginary Body Shame Bingo card we’ll put in extra sweat equity.

Here’s the thing. I am so over moving because I’m afraid. I spent the better part of my 20’s doing that. Working out for hours in hopes of gaining/keeping the attention of a man. In my late 20’s I met and married a man who God used to help me overcome much of that fear and insecurity. But if I’m honest, I started getting caught up in it again the summer I got pregnant with the twins. I was the fittest I had been in my adult life but there was always another goal to reach. And those goals weren’t rooted in love, gratitude, joy, or freedom.

I was caught up in a side of the fitness industry that insists that the only way to be successful is to be a “product of the product”. So I thought I needed to continuously improve my physique. I look back at the pictures from the summer of 2013, shake my head as I remember where my heart was and wish I could have simply enjoyed the health God had blessed me with.

It’s funny, because this summer I wore a bikini for the first time knowing I wasn’t “beach ready” and was totally okay with it. Too much has happened over the years for me to point to one thing that shifted my motivation from fear to love. But I’ll tell you this much, my body was broken for my twins and it will never be the same. So when I move, I choose to do so as an outpouring of gratitude that I can move at all.

In a couple of weeks I’ll start teaching early morning Revelation Fitness® classes because I’m on a mission to help others move in love instead of fear. To move as a “get to” instead of a “have to”. If you live in the Columbia area I would love for you to join us! If you’re not local to our new Irmo class, check out live classes here. Can’t find one, or live classes just aren’t your thing? You can stream videos via RevWell TV.

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” 1 John 4:18

Out Of Shape?

I attended a Relay For Life fundraising event yesterday, that Jessi, a Revelation Wellness Platoon 16 sister, was holding. She provided breakfast, shared her testimony, and led an awesome Revelation Wellness fitness class. Complete with a hope filled message and a kick butt workout. Well, I can’t speak for the other participants, but she definitely kicked my booty. The class ended at a quarter to eleven, and I was already feeling soreness creep into my muscles by the time we went to lunch.

modify — Modifying as needed. Photo credit – Jilly White Photography

As we were walking up to Jason’s Deli (it was my first time and I loved it) I was about to tell Jessi, “Wow, I really must be out of shape because I’m already feeling it in my quads and booty!”, but the Holy Spirit led me to use a different phrase. In what felt like a split second, He said that using the phrase out of shape insinuates that there’s something wrong with one’s shape, that something is wrong with their form, that they are broken or less than. Whoa. He then instructed me to use the phrase out of practice instead. He said it was true, whereas my go-to phrase was not. Isn’t it crazy amazing how the Spirit’s leading can happen in a brief moment but encapsulate so much teaching?

As I was writing that last paragraph, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the lie vs. truth exercise Jessi led us through during yesterday’s class. During a RevFit class, participants are asked to exchange a lie for a truth. Jessi asked us to think about a negative word or phrase we believe about ourselves and to write it down on an index card. My word was broken, as I have believed for over three years that my body was broken beyond repair and would never be able to move as it did before my twins. She then instructed us to tear up the index card and put on some truth by writing on ourselves (shoulder, arm, hand, etc) what God says about us. In Revelation Wellness we call this war paint. The word God spoke over me was restored.

restored-1 — God calls me RESTORED. Photo credit – Jilly White Photography

Even with RESTORED written down my left forearm, I was quick to speak out of shape over myself. How quickly the enemy of our hearts will come and refute truth that God has declared over us. I am so grateful that the Holy Spirit stepped in to remind me who I am. He provided a way out for me. A way out of the temptation to believe lies, however benign they may seem, that I have believed for years.

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. ~ 1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT

So the next time you hear someone say that they’re out of shape, or you’re tempted to say it of yourself, please speak truth – out of practice, not out of shape.

psalm-139v14 — Post lunch – Jessi and I showing off our shirts based on Psalm 139:14.

My Fitness Plan For 2017 – Aiming for Wholeness

“Your body isn’t broken. God just needs to show you how it works. His ways are not harsh, sharp or pressing. May God show you the kinder way that leads you to the real and free you.”

– Alisa Keeton

I feel like the title of this post is misleading because my fitness plan for this year has very little to do with what most people consider fitness. By that, I mean that I’m not signing up for a Spartan Race (although that’s on my Fitness Bucket List), vowing to pick up a new fitness related hobby, or even joining my local Y again. Not that there’s anything wrong with these options. They’re just not right for me. At least not right now.

You see, I carried my twin boys to 37 weeks and 1 day. That’s full term for twins. And they could have gone the full 40 weeks if I hadn’t been in such excruciating pain. But I was. So much so that I begged my doctors to take them before 37 weeks to no avail. One doctor told me, “I have three patients under my care. Two of them are content as can be. Healthy and happy. The other is miserable.” Can you guess which one was me?

They broke me. Or at least that’s what it feels like.

I honestly have no idea how my body managed to carry them for 37 weeks. You’d wonder the same if you saw me in person. My frame is tiny and I have a very short torso. I am grateful that my body took such good care of my babies, but whatever it did to accomplish that feat has left me in constant discomfort and pain.

The pain has decreased over the years. I couldn’t sleep the first several weeks after the boys were born. Initially it was because I had no idea how to care for two infants. But even after I got a handle on their sleep schedule, I couldn’t fall asleep because the pain in my hips kept me up in tears. The pain became manageable after several weeks of working with a chiropractor. During one of my visits last year, she explained that due to muscle memory my body was returning right back to how it held itself during pregnancy. I heard this and accepted that my movement would be limited and pain would just be a part of my everyday experience.

Then I went to Arizona in November to complete my Revelation Wellness instructor training and that was no longer enough. God showed me how that settling for a life of pain wasn’t really living. At least not the abundant life He offers.

View More: http://riantphotography.pass.us/fall-retreat-2016--tue — Riant Photography – On location at Revelation Wellness instructor training

He spoke healing over me. So healing and restoration is what I’m aiming for this year.

In December I visited a new chiropractor. During the initial visit he said I was a “hot mess”. I smiled, nodded, and said “I know”. But I really had no idea just how much of a hot mess until he went over my X-rays with me a couple of weeks later. I won’t pretend to remember all the medical jargon, but here’s what I do remember = my hips aren’t leveled, and one leg is longer than the other because of it, my head rests almost two inches forward from where it should, and I have 97% less curvature at the top of my spine than I should.

While I found his rehabilitative methods promising, driving to his office twice a week wasn’t realistic for my schedule. But I didn’t give up on healing and found a physical therapy practice closer to me. The therapist who worked with me the second half of my visit asked how I injured myself. I told her that I had twins. She smiled, laughed, and told me that she’s an identical twin . During her evaluation she told me that I was “a train wreck”. I smiled, nodded, and said “I know”. She confirmed everything that both chiropractors had told me, and explained how and why in more detail. She also told me that with work I could restore my body to its pre-pregnancy alignment.

Knowing how messed up I am could be discouraging. But my experience has actually been the opposite. It’s been encouraging and motivating. It means that while I may never “bounce back” to my pre-twins body, I can – and will heal. I may never rock a two piece again, but I will be able to exercise without the fear that I’m making things worse. It’s going to take several weeks of physical therapy, maybe even months, but I will retrain my muscles to hold my body the way they did before I carried the twins.

Healing and restoration are my fitness plan for 2017. Who knows, maybe this time next year I’ll be signing up for a Spartan Race.

Green Blender Review + A Great Deal For You

Disclaimer: I received my first week free from Green Blender for reviewing purposes. I loved the service so much that just two days in I signed up to receive another box. With that being said, the opinions shared here are all mine. Oh, and if you sign up to receive this awesome smoothie delivery service using the code shared at the end of the post you’ll get a sweet deal and I’ll receive a small referral commission.

I’m going to give you the what’s what by answering the basic WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and WHY’s. Oh, and HOW.

WHO ~ This service is for anyone who watched Fat Sick and Nearly Dead and thought “I’d love to do that juicing thing but he had to buy so much produce!” or “Yeah, that’s a good thought, but how does it taste, really?” I’ll be totally honest with you, I haven’t tried juicing since the 80’s and that was only with citrus. Nothing like the crazy concoctions that are all the rage today. I can’t see buying that much produce without some of it spoiling before I use it all. And I loathe wasting food – especially fresh food.

It’s also for anyone who has tried smoothies but found that after a while she settles into a groove, a rut if you will. I have exactly two go to smoothies. I say that I’ll venture out and try new recipes but truth be told I can’t bring myself to buy exotic ingredients I only need in small quantities or will probably only use once or twice.

Or perhaps heard or read about juicing and smoothies and before you could do anything with your new found knowledge, you got overwhelmed. Juicing or smoothies? Vitamix or Blendtec? What about Ninja? Are superfood add ins worth the extra money and effort? What’s acai berry anyway?

If any of those descriptions sound like you, then you are the WHO.

snapseed-3

WHAT ~ Green Blender is a smoothie delivery service. Full service, at that. All you need is water, ice, and something to blend the ingredients. You get a new recipe card each week with 5 recipes and enough fresh pre-proportioned ingredients to make 2 servings per recipe. So you get a total of 10 smoothies. It’s a totally efficient, no waste, no brainer approach to making smoothies. And the best part is, at least for this mom of three, is that the prep work and clean up is minimal. As long as I set aside an extra 5 minutes each morning (10 on the days I first make a recipe because I need to separate and store half of the ingredients) I’m able to make a smoothie without feeling rushed.

snapseed-10

WHEN ~ Delivery in my area takes place on Thursdays. If I plan it right I can share a smoothie with my husband two or three times each week and still have enough to last until my next box arrives. Need to skip a week? You can skip up to 4 weeks at a time without any hassle. But you need to do it 5 days prior to your delivery day. So if I had wanted to skip this week’s box I would have had to clicked that option on my account page by Saturday. And if you decide to cancel for any reason you just email customer support.

WHERE ~ Now here comes the not so great news. This awesome service is not available in all states just yet. For being such a new business, though, they are rockin’ the east coast and southeast. Follow Green Blender on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep up with their ever expanding delivery area and get daily inspiration from the recipes and photos they share.

Green Blender Delivery Map

WHY ~ Drinking these smoothies is like taking a vitamin but since you’re getting the real deal your body processes the “good for you” stuff much more efficiently, absorbing more of what you need. For a more sciency explanation please search the Interweb for benefits of real food.

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HOW ~ In the super informative brochure that comes with every package, the ever helpful people of Green Blender (I really want to give them cool names like baristas got, but I don’t know what “smoothie makers” is in Italian) answer your “What is acai berry anyway?” question along with everything you need to know in order to build the perfect smoothie. On the recipe sheet that comes with every shipment, they share Pro Tips for blending.

Things that weren’t covered in either the informational brochure or the recipe sheet:

Style of blender – They assume you’ll be using a traditional blender where the bottom makes contact with the blade. I, however, use a Ninja Professional so when the second step says “top with ice” that really means I need to put the ice in before adding the remaining ingredients.

Size of blender – Again, if you’re using a smaller sized blender like a Ninja or Magic Bullet you won’t be able to make two servings at once. You will need to split the ingredients. Thanks to the ingenious packaging of Green Blender, this isn’t difficult to do. It does take a little extra effort and time but really only in planning/remembering that you need to do it.

snapseed-9 — Pecan Oatmeal Cookie – 1 Smoothie + Stored Ingredients

PRICING ~ There are three weekly subscription options (shown below) and three Challenge subscription options. Like with most subscriptions, you save more when you commit to more weeks at a time.

Green Blender Pricing

DEAL FOR YOU ~ Jenna Tanenbaum, co-founder of Green Blender and fellow FitFuential ambassador, as extended a sweet deal for you – 20% off your first box – when you sign up with the code reina.

As much as I love my daily Green Blender smothie and the twins love begging me for some (you can watch video of Andrew begging for one here), I’ll only be able to get one box a month while they’re still in daycare.

Six Ways to Approach Your Nutrition Differently This Year

I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. I haven’t been one for quite some time. I used to make them and would feel charged up just thinking about all the opportunities a new year held. But it never took long for the new car smell of it all to fade and I’d lose interest in my resolution and the possibilities.

An old friend reached out to me the other day on Facebook to ask about protein and meal replacement shakes. Although she never said the words “New Year’s resolution” I had a feeling that she was looking to start her new year differently than she has before. So rather than doing the whole online back and forth I called her up.

It wasn’t that my friend didn’t know anything about health and wellness. Quite the opposite. She was overwhelmed by all of her choices and just didn’t know where to start. Especially where nutrition is concened. So here are my top tips for approaching nutrition differently this year.

#1 Be Mindful

The first thing I recommend to people is to simply be more mindful when it comes to their intake. There are food journals, daily planners that include space for food stats, fitness journals, and of course in this day and age you know there are apps for that. Just recently I joined my friend Bobbi for her Holiday Shred and I found that even though I wasn’t tracking my nutritional stats I was able to lose five pounds. Mind you, my goal wasn’t to lose weight, but to maintain it over the holidays. I planned to do that by making dinner at least three times a week and by limiting treats to three times a week. Each Saturday when we checked in I was surprised to find that I either maintained or lost weight. It was such a blessing because I finally realized that obsessively tracking every micro and macro simply isn’t necessary. {If you are training for an event or entering a competition, these tips aren’t for you so stop shaking your head ;-)}

#2 Baby Steps, Baby Steps

We just watched “What About Bob” last night and I couldn’t resist using that line as a heading. Wanna make keeping track of your body’s reaction to your new way of eating easier? Make one small change at a time. Think “going Paleo” or primal sounds good? Or maybe that clean eating is the answer to all your problems? {It’s not by the way, but more on that later} Start small by eating more God food – fruits and veggies. Then reduce your intake of man food – stuff that comes in a box or through a window. And even then just focus on one or two things. Last January I stopped eating fried foods for the month. Not forever, just a month. I wasn’t trying to set myself up for failure. I do live in the South, after all. Now, when I choose to eat fried foods I’m able to listen to my body and put down the last bite before it does me in.

#3 Grace Trumps Legalism

Why didn’t I give up fried foods forever? Because although there is a lot of sound diet advice out there, I do not like the “eat this and not that” school of thought. It can get pretty legalistic pretty fast and turn into “eat this and only this and never ever eat that”. God intended food to give life through its nutrients and for it to add to the enjoyment of our lives by the sheer yumminess of it. Besides, legalism = feelings of deprivation and no one sticks with feeling deprived for long. In fact, when people feel deprived they tend to swing the pendulum back in the other direction and binge. Big time. No? Just me?

Fruits and Veggies

#4 A Clean Heart Is Better Than A Clean Diet

Speaking of grace, before I got off the phone with my friend I told her about Revelation Wellness and their next Clean Hearting Challenge. Wherever you are on your health and wellness journey, this challenge can be a real game changer. I participated in it last September and it really helped me strengthen the spirit link of the mind, body, spirit wholeness approach to health and healing. The next challenge starts tomorrow so you still have time to sign up before the midnight deadline!

#5 Shakes, Smoothies, and Juices – Oh My!

While I love shakes and smoothies, I do not recommend using them as meal replacements. Even if their ingredient list is full of real food and all the nutrients you need in one day. Nothing beats eating real food so start there. Once upon a time I just couldn’t seem to eat breakfast on a consistent basis. So I first started drinking shakes as my breakfast, not to replace the meal, but to form the habit of having it every day. Then, as I started teaching more group fitness classes I started eating a meal for breakfast and my daily shake as my “second breakfast” {not third or fourth, people – I’m not a hobbit people} Because I eat my breakfast so early in the morning I’m super hungry once nine o’clock rolls around. A shake makes a great second breakfast. It also makes a great afternoon snack or after dinner dessert.

I was so ready to join the juicing movement after I finished watching “Fat Sick and Nearly Dead” but didn’t feel worthy since I didn’t own a super cool blender. {What’s up Vitamix and Blendtec owners?} Besides, it seemed like a waste of money because I never used all the fruits and veggies I bought. Although I still don’t have a super high tech blender, I have found the perfect solution to the wasting fruits and veggies problem. Green Blender ships you enough ingredients to make ten juices/smoothies from the five recipes they include. No waste. None. I’ll be writing up a formal review later in the week, but no need to wait to use the code they shared with me. Just hop on over and enter “reina” when you check out.

#6 Fearfully And Wonderfully Made

I know that starting to eat better, or returning to eating healthier can be overwhelming. Even when someone gives you “easy to follow tips” like I tried to offer in this post. So I’ll leave you with this – you are perfectly imperfect, just the way God made you. I pray that as we journey to better health and greater wholeness that we invest in our bodies as vessels for His service. That we see our bodies as they are – fearfully and wonderfully made – and not fixer upper projects. Amen?

My Abundant Life: Celebrating Ten Years of Freedom

In November of 2005 I took the first step on a scary but necessary journey to “find myself”. I just giggled as I wrote that sentence because how cliche is that? But I guess it wasn’t entirely cliche, since I usually think of early 20-somethings setting out on such journeys and I was nearing my 30’s but still knew very little about myself. I mean I knew facts about myself, but I had no real sense of who I was. The core of my personality, my likes and dislikes – even my goals in life – hinged on who I was with. I was a chameleon who didn’t know my own true colors.

By the time December 31st of 2005 rolled around I was almost ready to take the next big step in my journey, which was to own up to the fact that I didn’t know what was best for me. As humbling as it was, the admission only made sense since I didn’t really know who I was. How could I possibly make wise decisions for myself? But it wasn’t until January 2, 2006 that I was ready to make this admission to anyone else.

The funny thing is, is that even then I was in no way ready to admit how lost I was – how desperate I was for God. But God is patient and I am so grateful that His timing is perfect. He let me experience exactly what I needed in order for me to get to a place where I would not only recognize my spiritual bankruptcy for what it was, but where I could be humbled enough to cry out to Him.

On this day, January 2nd, I celebrate the ten years I’ve been on this journey with God. The coolest part of my journey with Him may be that as I look back I can clearly see that He was walking with me long before I agreed to walk with Him. And I’m not just talking about the five months between January 2nd when I admitted I didn’t have it all together and the afternoon in May when I asked Him to be Lord of my life. I can look back over my life and see how He gently pursued me until I was ready to give Him all of me – my shame, my guilt, my fear, my insecurities, my hopes, my dreams, my identity.

Over the last ten years He has guided me through a series of surrenders – some deeper than others, but all helping me to see Him for who He is. And in turn, who I am in Him. I share all this to encourage you wherever you may be on your journey with God. He is just and He is merciful. He will pursue you until you are ready to accept His grace and love. And once you have surrendered your all to Him, He will not leave you but continue to walk with you.

Journey With God

“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Dueteronomy 31:6 (NLT)

Things to Try in 2016

Looking Forward to 2016

If you’re anything like me your email inbox has been clogged with “How to make 2016 your best year ever!” subject lines. Maybe it’s because I follow a lot of fitness and mommy accounts but my Instagram feed is overflowing with invitations to join the next challenge group that will blast away my excuses and extra pounds. This post makes no such promises. Nope. I will not be promising that you’ll have a perfectly manicured life if you sign up for any of these services or buy any of these products. These are just some things I’ve read/done/eaten/tried this year and enjoyed (or plan to read/do/eat/try this coming year) that I wanted to share with you.

One Word by Jon Gordon, Dan Britton, and Jimmy Page. I shared about my One Word experiences last year and I can’t recommend going through the process enough. You can get a copy of the book here and if you’re not into pen and paper like I am you can purchase the Kindle version. It’s a super short read but worth the purchase price regardless of the format you decide to get. My word for 2016 is abide. I know it’s the perfect word for this year because I’ll be working on a pretty big God assignment and I’ll need to stay focused on the One who gave the assignment rather than all the directions I can run with it.

Breaking Busy: How to Find Peace & Purpose in a World of Crazy by Alli Worthington is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I started several book this year, but I read this one all the way through so that’s saying a lot. She mixes biblical principles, real life tips, humor, and humility so effortlessly I felt like we were just chatting over coffee. Well, she would be drinking coffee but I’d be drinking tea because I can’t stand coffee. We did in fact chat via Tweets as I was reading the book which was quite fun. I couldn’t help but jump on Twitter as I was reading because there were so many moments of “Oh, that’s so true!” and “That’s so simple it’s brilliant!” that I wanted to share. The book releases January 26th but you can pre-order a copy here. {I just read in the launch group that there will be pre-order goodies to be had, but I don’t have the details, yet. I’ll post an update here as soon as I get them.}

Grokker is an awesome streaming service that provides everything from cooking lessons to workout sessions – including yoga. You can stream on your mobile device or television via Chrome Cast (which is what I’ll be using), Apple TV, or HDMI cables. I learned about the service through FitFluential and recommend you visit their site if you plan to research all things health and fitness. What I’m most looking forward to with using Grokker? The FREE access to the Grokker experts. I will be starting my free trial this weekend. You can get yours here.

Green Blender is another health service I learned about thanks to FitFluential. Each week 5 recipes along with the pre-proportioned ingredients are delivered straight to your house. It’s enough to make 10 smoothies – two 12 oz smoothies per recipe. You can share one or drink a big 24 oz smoothie. I geeked out when I first learned about this service because back in September I stopped ordering a particular super smoothie and I’m down to my last full bag. I was starting to research other protein options but not seriously trying anything because the choices can be a little overwhelming. I was planning on using some of my Christmas money to try the service but this morning I got an email saying that as a FitFluential ambassador I was selected to get my first shipment free. Woo-woot! I even got this cool unique url for you to use in order to sign up. They run cool analytics to see how many people sign up using the link. I think. Because they also gave me a code to give you – reina. I know you use the code, just not totally sure about the link. Can you tell I’m new to this? My first box will arrive the week of January 7th and I’ll have a blog post dedicated to my thoughts on the 5 smoothie recipes up by the 15th.

Revelation Wellness Instructor Training I will be completing a process I started back in August of 2013. I finished all the online training and attended all of the phone based chats but was not able to attend the instructor retreat. I was pregnant with our twins and couldn’t afford to give up five days of leave. I needed every day to go towards maternity leave. Two years later I have some leave saved up and the boys – all of them including my husband – can survive me being gone for a week. I’m actually not so sure about that so I’ll probably be asking my parents to come out from California and help out. If you have ever felt God leading you in the direction of faith then fitness, you should definitely check out Revelation Wellness. If not as an instructor, then at least check out their Periscope account and their YouTube channel.

So, these are the things that have me looking forward to 2016. What about you? What do you want to try out in 2016?

Winning The Bathing Suit Battle

I wrote this as a contributor for Veva Health.

I didn’t want to share this picture. In fact, I promised myself I would never share progress pictures or photos of me in a bathing suit. Never ever.

Cropped Splash Pad Photo

Even as God was tugging on my heart to share it, I couldn’t bring myself to post it on Instagram. I was relieved in an odd sort of way when I realized God meant for me to share it here, with the Veva community. Although I’m new to Veva as a contributor, I have been reading the content for some time, and it feels like a safe place to share scary stuff. You know, the kind of stuff that we surrender to God, only to pick it up again and again. The kind of stuff that we’re hesitant to share with others, but so relieved when we finally do, and they say, “Me too!”

As a middle school teacher I do not get to participate in many play-dates during the year—they are usually scheduled for weekdays. So, this summer I jumped at the opportunity to go meet up with some ladies from my Moms of Multiples group at a local Splash Pad. I didn’t give much thought to what I was going to wear until people started posting questions and comments online. Even after I planned to wear my tankini with khaki shorts, I overlooked the fact that I had to get into the water with the twins. Bottom line, at some point either the shorts were getting wet or coming off. Wearing a wet bathing suit home is one thing, but wet clothes is just uncomfortable. My third option was to keep my shorts on while the twins and I chilled on the grass and watched everyone else splash in the water. My play-date at the Splash Pad taught three very important lessons.

Lesson 1: I will not sit on the sidelines of my own life

I wasn’t about to not take the boys onto the splash pad. Instead, I opted to bare my legs for all to see. For a moment, I wondered if the other moms thought that as a fitness instructor with sixteen month olds that I should be more fit or toned by now. But, God lovingly revealed those thoughts to be lies from the enemy, so I sent them back to where they came from, Hell. Being present and active in my own life, and experiencing a first with the boys didn’t give me time to be consumed by body image issues. Their joy (Andrew) and trepidation (Michael) forced me to get out of my head and live in the moment, and what an enjoyable moment it was. Well, except for the time when some kids accidentally sprayed water directly into our faces. But even that was kind of funny.

Lesson 2: I will capture the memories

I experienced horrible pregnancy acne with the boys. It was so bad I avoided having my picture taken and used as many filters as possible when it was unavoidable. I regret not taking more pictures to document my ever-expanding belly. God reminded me of that regret as the boys and I were getting ready to dry off. I asked my dad to take a picture of us and trusted that in the years to come I would focus on our faces more than my thighs.

Lesson 3: I will step out in faith

I was shocked and confused when God first prompted me to share this photo. He knew about my promise and He knew the reasons behind it. And yet, He nudged me to share it. He gently told me to get over myself. That sharing the picture really wasn’t about me, but about giving other women permission—permission to get off the sidelines of life, to create memories and capture them without worrying about thigh gaps or giggly squishy bits, and permission to fearlessly be the women He has called us to be. As uncomfortable as I was sharing this picture and the accompanying story, it was incredibly freeing to do so. I love how faithful God is to use all things for the good of those who love and obey Him. There is no greater reward than freedom through grace.

I pray that you will join me in doing and sharing some scary stuff to bless others with the relief of “Me too!” Use #lovebeyondlooks and #vevavida on social media to share your “Me too!” moments. If you want to win the bathing suit battle, check out our Bible study on body image: Love Beyond Looks.

What scary challenges have you faced lately?

How has God spoken to you?