This summer Teri and I modified our morning schedule to beef up our exercise, and we are greatly enjoying it. We go to bed at 9:00 p.m. so we can get up at 5:00 to beat the heat. Yes, it gets pretty warm in Kansas. We walk 7 miles, and during that time, we spend about 1/2 hour talking, 1 hour praying out loud, and 1/2 hour listening to an audiobook. Some days we come home and do a short kettlebell workout too. After that is personal Bible and prayer time.
Having the same walking route at the same time each day, we are developing some friendships with other walkers we meet regularly.
I love exercising with my best friend and also having that time multiplied for fellowship, prayer, and edification.
We invested in Airpods so that we could listen to the same book together. Some affectionately call them “sharepods.” Right now we are focusing on biographies of great Christians.
It is such a sweet and beneficial time.
Steve
“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered” (1 Peter 3:7).
Our family loves Colorado vacations and hiking. A trip to Colorado provides excellent incentive to get in better shape. Last year Steve wasn’t able to climb a 14er because of some issues with his feet and legs. He really wants to be able to make that hike this August. There are many factors that have to be dealt with, and extra weight is one of them.
Through the years we have tried diets, but only one has been successful for Steve and me. We discovered this diet 15 years ago, when Steve had cholesterol issues.
In Eat to Live, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, encouraged us to try his diet for 6 weeks and then evaluate the results in several areas of health including cholesterol and weight (the link above was our Amazon Affiliate link, see our privacy policy here). Sure enough. Steve’s cholesterol plummeted, and we both lost weight. We stayed on the diet from January to July that year, and Steve lost 50 pounds.
While Dr. Fuhrman suggests making his diet a life-long way of eating, it wasn’t palatable enough for us to do that—at least not yet. We use it as our way of eating when we are serious about weight loss.
We refer to Eat to Live as our healthy greens and stomach-filling beans diet. Most vegetables are allowed in unlimited quantities, and we are to eat large portions of them. One whole grain, 1 cup of beans, four fruits, and 1 ounce of nuts or seeds are allowed each day. We choose to keep using salt to make our food taste better, and we weren’t as strict with the types of salad dressing as Dr. Fuhrman recommends.
With plans set for Colorado again this year, we are in the midst of a month of healthy greens and stomach-filling beans. If you are looking for a healthy way to lose weight, consider Eat to Live.
What about you? What diets are successful for you?
Trusting in Jesus, Teri
“And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 3:13).
Sometimes we’re asked about what we do for exercise so I decided to give you an idea of what we did for a workout recently. This one was, however, a bit unusual. Normally the girls exercise together and the guys also are a team, but on this day we decided to join up for a special workout.
We had six stations and worked to complete as many repetitions as possible during the time period. The timer was set to loop through a 45 second interval and when it went off each of us rotated to the next station in clockwise order.
3 Rounds for reps:
Pushups
Virtual shovel
Medicine ball clean (can be subbed for weighted or regular squats)
Kettlebell swing
Box jumps (20″)
Overhead lunges
We enjoy our time together: whether it’s sharing at conferences, working on projects, or yes, gasping for breath as we exercise. Team Maxwell!
Serving Jesus, Sarah
Sarah doing pushups. Mary: virtual shoveling.
Jesse performing a med-ball clean. Joseph doing kettlebell swings. Anna doing box jumps. John doing overhead lunges.
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” Psalms 133:1
Some might wonder how we exercise on the road. First off, sometimes it is a challenge to fit into our traveling schedule! We have mentioned earlier about how ministry is most important, and on the days that we have to get up early and drive we don’t usually get to “formally” exercise. The Titus2 Fitness pushup and lunge challenge we do whether it’s a busy traveling day or conference day, because it’s easy to fit in at any time!
Last week we were able to exercise many days. Anywhere from out in the boonies of Arizona to beautiful California. We have different workouts that we do, and we try to have as much variety as possible. Some of the exercises might include jump rope, pushups, situps, running, kettlebell swings, ball slams…
Ah, those double-unders are challenging.At the beginning of the workout we usually stand around and discuss what workout we want to do!Go Sarah!RunningMary doing her lunges for the challenge.Mom and Dad doing pushups!I guess, I jumped out of the picture!:-) These are ball slams. Some were wondering what the balls were in the Oklahoma City blog post. They can be used for many exercises, but this one you jump in the air and throw the ball down as hard as you can.ÂAnd the final one - a semi-group shot.Â
In Christ, Anna
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?â€Â (I Corinthians 6:19)
I want to encourage you to join our Titus2 fitness challenge. I decided to participate with my family in the February pushup challenge although I had no expectation of being able to improve my ability to do pushups.
On our trip last fall, I had done pushups as part of my on-the-road exercising. I started the trip being able to do seven pushups and ended the trip being able to do seven pushups.
On the first day of February when we tested how many unbroken pushups we could do, you guessed it – seven for me.  Throughout the month as a family we encouraged each other in the challenge and reminded each other to do our pushups, usually doing them either before or after dinner. We groaned together with sore muscles at first, laughed trying to find a place on the crowded living room floor for all of us to fit in when we did them at the same time, critiqued each other on our form, and decided pushups were easier upstairs on the carpet than downstairs on the tile.
Each day, except Sunday, I did three sets in a row of all the pushups I could do at one time. At the end of the month when we were to again test how many unbroken pushups we could do, mine was 21. Not only did my number triple, but my form improved as well.
I am sharing my pushup challenge story because if a fifty-five-year old mother of eight  and grandmother can do pushups and significantly improve through consistently doing them, then I think you could as well. The pushups don’t take any equipment.  You can do them anytime of the day. Your children can do them with you, and it doesn’t take very much time. If you would say that you couldn’t even to one normal pushup, the Jan. 28th post on this blog has information on a beginner way to do pushups.  It is the post that started the pushup challenge. Then on Jan. 28, there is a post that gives suggestions if you can’t even do one beginner pushup.
I encourage you to go to the Titus2Fitness blog and join the current fitness challenge. This month we are doing lunges while keeping up our pushups. We are only doing the pushups twice a week, but you could combine both last month’s pushup challenge and March’s lunge challenge by doing pushups and lunges every day – except for our full rest day on Sunday. I think you will be pleased with how simple it is and the amount of quantifiable progress you can make.  The lunge post was on March 1. It will give you the information you need to begin the lunge challenge.
If you started the challenge in February but didn’t finish it, pick it up again. Post on the new Titus2 Fitness blog and let us know what you are doing. We will be encouraged, and you will be too. You will also find it is a good time together as a family.
Teri
“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.†3 John 1:2
