{YouTube Workout} Total Body Workout Number One

If you are anything like me, your busy schedule doesn't leave a huge amount of time to fit in your ideal workout every day. That's why it's important to target exactly what you need to get done in a short amount of time. Over time, I will be creating and posting my own videos on YouTube of the workouts I did to help me lose 80 pounds, but it may be a while before I get the chance to get them done. Often, I find myself searching YouTube to get some fresh inspiration to keep my workout fun, and not surprisingly, there is a treasure trove of awesome stuff for fitties like us! Until I get my own videos up, I'm going to be posting links to the videos I love. Each post with the title {YouTube Workout} will be designed to do once through (or more times if you want!) and will target most of the "trouble" areas we tend to focus on.

So, if you're feeling energetic today try to complete all of the "mini-workouts" I have in the first play list. However, if you want to start easy, just pick four and make every move count!  Just a heads up, you'll need a set of free weights (or as they mention, cans of soup work too if you don't have access to a set of hand weights) and some water.

Start by stretching a little then get right into working on your abs....

Then work on your inner thighs!  I will warn you, this is tough!!

We'd be lying if we said we didn't like the results of this one. It's hard but SO worth it.

Legs, Legs, Legs

Then even it up with arms!

And just so you all know, I did this exact play list once a day for two weeks and saw results by day three. So, keep up the hard work and let me know how you like it!!! Add in a little bit of cardio to fill up and hour, and you've got a great workout to do at least three times per week.  Happy exercising!

{Fitspo} Finding an Eternal Motivation

Over the course of posting on this blog, I will be featuring a "Fitspo" section. It will be a series of posts that are intended to help you stay motivated to be healthy. Sometimes they will be quotes, pictures, articles, and Bible verses, but I wanted to start the section off with what I feel is the most important reason to have consistency in our workout lives. 

We all tend to lose inspiration to maintain a "fittie" lifestyle every now and then. When you get to those times, what do you look to for inspiration?  A lot of people follow Twitter and Instagram feeds of fellow "fitfamily" members who post pictures of themselves killing it at the gym and seeing results. Others watch shows like "The Biggest Loser" so they can be reminded of what they don't want to become. These things are great to get an immediate spike in enthusiasm, but it will taper off quickly. What if we could find a way to get AND STAY motivated? We can!

"Don't you know that all the runners in the stadium run, but only one gets the prize? So run to win. Everyone who competes practices self-discipline in everything. The runners do this to get a crown of leaves that will shrivel up and die, but we do it to receive a crown that will never die. So this is how I run - not with a clear goal in sight. I fight like a boxer in the ring, not like someone who is shadow boxing. Rather, I am landing punches on my own body and subduing it like a slave. I do this so that I myself won't be disqualified after preaching to others."

                                                                                                      - 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

When we look at exercise in the light of our call as Christians on this earth, it makes sense that it should be a practice that EVERYONE is employing. Earlier in the chapter, Paul discusses not letting anything to get in the way of the gospel of Christ.

There are plenty of ways that not exercising will get in the way of the gospel going forth. People who exercise consistently and take care of their bodies show that they are the type of "self-disciplined" that Paul is talking about. When we give our lives over to Christ and he dwells in us, our bodies have become a temple to host His Spirit (1 Corinthians, Chapter 6). We need to LIVE OUT what we know in our minds about our relationship with Christ. When we choose to take the route to beat our bodies into submission and resist the temptation of sweets, watching TV instead of getting your workout time in, and taking the lazy way out, that is how we can glorify God.

Setting a "goal weight" (I too am guilty of this) does the spiritual aspect of exercise such a grave injustice. We are not to exercise with a goal weight in mind, we are to do it in order to be the best we can be as a temple of Christ. Yes, it is good to be FIT so we can remain in good health to serve the Lord, but fit does not necessarily mean skinny. It means being in good shape and in good health and that is going to look vastly different for everyone. It also means staying spiritually fit by staying in the Word, and having a surrounding of other Christians that are going to be your "iron sharpening iron".

So here is where we find our eternal inspiration, friends. Stay fit and be consistent in order to keep your body in shape as a show of the Lord manifesting self-discipline in you; not to be the "best looking" or so that you can get the best time at a triathlon.