So, on Friday I talked about my journey into the Discipline of Discomfort and my desire to push through the uncomfortable barriers in my life that are keeping me stuck.

Now, if you’re like me, and a bit of a “Type A” personality combined with ADD you will have a list a mile long of things that need to change in your life, or things you want to push through. Tackling them all at once (as we tend to do in the first week of January…) is only going to get you frustrated.

I like to try to add one thing per week, but even that is overwhelming and I burn out too quickly. Right after the New Year I came across Chris Brogan’s blog post “My 3 Words for 2012” and he mentioned a personal trainer named Jackie from Fitarella.com who uses a concept called “12 in 12″. Every month you pick one thing that you’re going to do consistently for 30 days. At the end of the 30 days you decide if you’ll continue or not. Regardless of the decision on that first item, you add a second item to work on in the next 30 days. Check out the blog post to get more detail.

The main area that is frustrating the heck out of me is the weight that refuses to budge, regardless of the diet, exercise, or magic potions I might try. SO unbelievably discouraging. If you can’t lose weight walking 100+km a week, while eating a healthy diet, there really is little hope. Currently I have the cold/cough from hell that refuses to let go, so my options are somewhat limited here as well. However, last month I began a program of supplementation/cleansing that I’m hoping will boost my energy and help me sleep better. I’ve been pretty faithful with that. The first two weeks of January have been about healing this blasted cold/cough, but I’ve also been doing some research into programs that will help me get fit and lose the weight without stressing my daily schedule too much.

Several years ago I found Zna Trainer and found her stuff very interesting and backed by a huge amount of science. It’s pretty weird, though, and is based on some rather odd breathing practices. It’s only 5-10 minutes a day and the results seem pretty astounding. I spent about an hour chatting with her on Facebook and then spent more time exploring her site and some of the success stories, and then 15 minutes working on figuring out the O2 exercises which are unbelievably powerful. Just the O2 Breathing exercises alone gave me a full abdominal and facial workout! I will feel this tomorrow.

So, between now and the end of January I’m going to do her O2 exercises every morning for 5 minutes. In February, my intention is to start back with my walking, which is nearly impossible right now with the combination of this cough and the cold weather. Hopefully by the end of January, the cough will be history!!

Why not join me? Pick one thing you’re going to do between now and the end of January, every day, faithfully, regardless. Post below what that is, and we’ll motivate each other!

Make it a great day!

Darlene

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I just have to admit it. I’m a wuss.

I love being comfy. Snuggling in warm blankets, drinking warm cocoa, sleeping in, curling up with a good book and some tea, doing what I want, when I want…

I’m also spoiled. I have a brilliant family who is always jumping in to give me a hand and make my life less awkward. I deeply appreciate it, but the truth is, I’m getting soft(er) and not in a positive way. I really struggle against anything that makes me push harder or go beyond my comfort zone. “I just can’t be bothered” is becoming a catch phrase in my life.

I think it’s beginning to cost me. Experiences that I could be having are being missed because it’s too much effort. Growth I could be seeing in my life is hindered because it’s too awkward to deal with. I need to take some lessons from Paul, who says in 1 Corinthians 9:27

I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.

Into this introspection, that’s been going on for a while, comes this fascinating little book, “The Flinch*” Julien Smith. A fascinating, short treatise on forcing ourselves into discomfort in order to move past personal blocks. This isn’t about hair shirts and self-flaggelation. It’s more about looking for an opportunity to lean into uncomfortable situations in order to move forward. Some of his suggestions include taking a cold shower every morning for a week, saying “hello” to people you pass in the street, or saying “yes” to any and every opportunity that comes up over a certain period of time.

In light of my own realizations regarding my discomfort with discomfort, I’m going to be taking on the challenge of doing awkward things. In fact, I’ve already begun by taking on more social engagements involving crowds of people in order to move my business forward. Sounds small, perhaps, but I normally try to avoid situations that require my mingling with groups of people I don’t know well. They are, however, extremely important for my business growth.

There are other things I’m wanting to try, too, but my current battle with a truly nasty, debilitating cold/cough is holding me at bay. While I’m waiting, however, I’m forcing myself to take a regular dose of Buckley’s. Surely that has to count for something! In fact, even their website says: “When it comes to being sick, there are two kinds of people in this world. Those who want comfort, and those who want to get better.” so I figure I’m in good hands.

And the other things I’m going to try? Well, check in on Monday, and I’ll tell you all about it!

Darlene

PS: The book is free. Go get a copy! “The Flinch*” and yes, that’s an Amazon link, but as the book’s free, it’s not really an issue!

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So, here we are at week 4! Lookin’ good. I’m so pleased with my results so far. My week was kind of up and down – a big birthday celebration for my daughter at “The Olive Garden where I simply enjoyed myself and my dinner consisting of Shrimp & Crab Tortelli Romana, their amazing endless tossed salad and breadsticks (only had one of those…) and a delicious dessert choosing the Tiramisu from their selection of tiny desserts called Dolcini. YUMMM! We had a GREAT waiter (Thanks, JB!) and lots of fun.

For the rest of the week I was pretty good, though I did enjoy the odd treat, which is how I like to diet!

My results? Take a look:

Get your own graph at skinnyr

No change in inches overall.

It’s been kind of an interesting week this week. I began working with an intentional goal dealing with increasing the set-point of my body’s very sluggish metabolism. I started experimenting with intentional goal setting a while back but (as usual) had trouble following through.

This time, instead of starting with an ideal weight set-point, I started with revving up my metabolism with the following intentional goal:

By the end of 4 weeks at the latest (Nov 6, 2011), I will have done whatever is necessary and appropriate to increase the set-point of my body’s metabolism by 10% – 15%. I will notice it because my body will be pleasantly and comfortably warm (including my hands and feet), excess fat will drop off, and I will feel healthy, lean, energetic, vibrant, clear-headed, strong, joyful, and alive.

I will have done all this joyfully and easily, according to the perfect will of God and for the highest good of me and of everyone else involved.

There is a specific, somewhat time-consuming method to wording this exactly right, and you can get more information on that here: Changing Your Unconscious Body-Weight Set-Point. Once you’ve got the goal exactly right you repeat it daily, 100x until you see the evidence that it’s working properly.

Now, the interesting thing is, while I’ve still been a little hit-and-miss with the goal setting thing, I’ve been plugging away at it, and the first thing that came to mind was a recipe I’d found and modified from Dr. Axe (whose site, while always great before, seems to be indicating some sort of malware, so I won’t share the link!). The recipe is as follows:

Detox Drink:

• 1/4 C. fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 C. organic apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp cassia cinnamon
• 10 drops therapeutic grade Grapefruit Essential Oil (if it’s less than therapeutic grade it can do you harm if you ingest it)
• 750 ml iced green Oolong tea

Mix together, and drink 250 ml before each meal. (note, you might need to put 1/3 into a large glass and dilute it with water or more green tea. It’s quite strong! Also note that Cassia Cinnamon turns to a kind of mucous if you leave it in the mixture for a while, so add 1/3 tsp to the bottom of the glass, then slowly add the mixture and mix as you go).

This recipe is a strong fat-burning mix but I’m not sure exactly if/how it stimulates metabolism. I drink it for its fat-loss qualities.

Then a couple of days later I was reminded of the chapter on Thermogenesis for weight loss as recorded in Tim Ferriss’ book “The 4-Hour Body“. Taking their suggestion, I started drinking ice-water every morning upon awakening. Over the next two weeks I’ll be adding in other things that also fire up the fat-burning metabolism of my body.

Finally, I remembered that at a recent health seminar I went to they listed the main symptoms of hypothyroidism as being:

• Tiredness/Low Energy
• Forgetfulness/Slower Thinking
• Weight Gain and
• Cold Intolerance

All of which I have in abundance! So I started researching that, as well, with some fascinating results that I’ll share with you on Wednesday! Stay tuned!

And I’m off for my walk! Catch ya’ll later!

Darlene

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Who is Darlene Hull? Click here: www.darlenehull.com to find out!

Feeling great this week. Had one day of “spoiling” but was otherwise in good shape regarding my diet. Yesterday marked the start of actual training instead of just walking, and today’s walk was a really good “push”. Oh, it feels SO good to be back on track.

My results are pretty nice, too! Take a look:

Get your own graph at skinnyr

As far as inches are concerned, I gained a total of.25, but that was the overall result of gaining in legs and thighs and losing in more important places, so I’m happy there, too!

I’m still struggling with water. Not sure why that’s such a problem for me. I’m playing around with my schedule at the moment, and so my devotional time is a little messy, too, but that’s ok. It’s all about journeying in the right direction.

How about you? How are your goals coming? Share your results below so we can encourage you!

Happy Walking!

Darlene

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Hey, it’s national “Start Walking Day!”. The American Heart Association has a program called “Start Walking Now” and today is the day it begins for this year.

If you’re American, you can download it here: National Start Walking Day You can’t download it if you’re not American (at least, I couldn’t – if you figure it out, let me know!)

If you’re not American, you can download my freebie on the right and get started with that.

Or, keep it simple, and just head out the door. Hey, it feels like Spring in Calgary (finally!!) That, in itself is worth getting outside and taking a walk for! Can’t waste the beautiful weather – never know when the next snow dump will arrive!

Have a great day walking!!

Darlene

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Yes, I’m still here! Can hardly believe it’s been over two weeks since I last posted! So unlike me! Tells you just how busy things have been!

So, thought I’d drop in for a quick update!

As my regular readers know, I’ve been doing some serious experimenting over the past few weeks in addition to having my business take off, and keeping up with homeschool and teaching at Gymboree. With all that together, I’ve been busier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs! But I feel like I’ve finally come up for air, and so I thought I’d pop in a catch everyone up!

Sleepless:

As many of you know, for the past couple of months I’ve been following a program of really intensive prayer. It’s an interesting course about spiritual warfare, and battling those strongholds that keep us bound, often without our realization. The goal of the course is to break free of everything from the past so you can walk free into the future. It’s not for the faint of heart. Since the 14th of January I’ve been getting up every night at 11:30 and praying through until 1:30-2:00 am. I have to admit, there has been the odd night (perhaps around 5 in total) where I’ve just been unable to get up, or my alarm didn’t work, but otherwise, I’ve been pretty faithful to this regimen. As morning starts at 5:30, that makes for a very short night. So, in and around the prayer times I’ve been experimenting – mostly unsuccessfully with Polyphasic Sleep. I tried to go “hard core” and jump in with both feet, but unless you have very supportive people around you who are willing to monitor you and drag you out of bed, it’s pretty hard to follow through on. Currently I do a 1.5hr nap from about 10:00-11:30, followed by prayer, followed by a 4-hour “core sleep”. Then, in the afternoon, I take a nap for 30-45 minutes. So far, that’s working well. Once I’m well into that rhythm, I’ll drop the 1.5 hour nap before prayer, and add another 30 minute nap during the day. I would like to eventually work up to a 3 hour core sleep, and 3 short naps. That would give me quite a bit of free time to work on things I can’t get around to now. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m going to give myself several months to work into that schedule gradually. I don’t do well with shock therapy!

Starving

In addition to letting go of the burden of sleep (ahem) the prayer course also allows me the privilege of giving up food. It often calls for 3 days of dry fasting (an “Esther Fast” where you avoid both food AND water. I’m OK letting go of the food, but I’ve not yet managed a completely dry fast) followed by 1-3 weeks of partial fasting. To make my life easier, I’ve simply adopted the “Fast-5” lifestyle and add in the extra fast when called for. I actually like this way of eating, and, in fact, am rarely, if ever, hungry. Sure saves time! Only one meal to prepare!

Steps

The other thing the prayer course is doing is encouraging my walking. One is supposed to march as one prays, and because our house is so open plan, I need to walk someplace that’s a little soundproofed so as to allow the rest of the family the peace and quiet they need to sleep. The only place that allows that is the basement, and the only place to walk in the basement is on the treadmill. So, in addition to my training that I do in the mornings, I now walk 1.5 – 2 hours in the middle of the night, and, having realized the the treadmill allows me to spend day after day without ever getting outside, I now take an afternoon walk of about 3.5km outside. The sidewalks are still a bit of a mess, but on this walk I’m not worried about training or speed or heart rate, so I don’t mind if I have to slow right down or take a detour or whatever. The combination of all three is keeping me at my step goal of a minimum of 10,000 steps with very little conscious effort – Nice!

Sabbathing

The added stress of all the above has also encouraged me to get serious about sabbathing. Now, at 6:00pm on a Saturday night, I shut off my computer, and don’t turn it on again until Sunday night around the same time. I don’t check e-mail on my iPod, I don’t do business work, and I try and take time for family and reading. I work my prayer time so I can now sleep through on Saturday-Sunday, and I also sleep in on Sunday mornings, don’t worry about fasting, and ignore my normal schedule. This is HUGELY refreshing to my soul. I highly recommend it.

Now our business is in a manageably “steady” place, I will soon be leaving Gymboree except to do the occasional subbing, and I’m in a good rhythm with food/sleep/prayer, so I’m feeling much more myself! I hope you’ll be hearing lots more from me (and I hope you think that’s a GOOD thing, LOL!)

So, enough about me – catch me up with what you’ve been up to, and where you’re headed! I’d love to hear the things you’re experimenting with and testing in your own life!

Happy Walking!

Darlene

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I love having the opportunity of sharing resources that I think will bless, strengthen, and otherwise help others. One of the joys of doing this “PraiseWalker” blog is that I get to meet others who think the same way. Today I want to re-introduce you to a fellow fitness colleague of mine: Laurette Willis of PraiseMoves. The main focus of Laurette’s ministry is a “Christian Alternative to Yoga“. I’ve used many of her programs, and I find them all really inspiring!

Well, Laurette has come out with something new, that’s right up my alley! It’s a walking program called “Power Promises“. I picked up a copy to see what it was about, and I must say she’s done a great job!

Power Promises is a 30 minute “walk” that you can do outside, on a treadmill, on an elliptical, or simply in place on your living room floor! It starts with a short warm-up to instrumental praise music (My Hope is Built on Nothing Less), then you get a workout section of about 20 minutes to techno-pop style music, and then a cool down with instrumental praise (Blessed Assurance). Throughout the whole program Laurette is in the background reading scriptures and scriptural affirmations. You come away from the program refreshed in body, mind, and spirit. Very cool.

Best part? About half way through she talks about worry, and makes the comment “Worry is meditating on the Devil’s thoughts – Why would I want to do that?!” What a wonderful line! I will remember that next time I panic…

So, down to detail – what specifically do I like and not like?

Here is the very short list of things I don’t like:

• I’d rather have praise music – or something else more inspiring – in the background of the workout part. I found the particular techno music track a little off-putting after the refreshing warm up.
• Sometimes the mix was a little off, and an individual word or two got lost. She’s reading from a different translation than I usually use (NKJ?) and so the specific wording wasn’t as familiar to me, and I didn’t catch all the words

Ok now here’s what I love!!

• wonderful selection of scripture, well read, and well presented. You come away truly strengthened in spirit.
• The workout is appropriate for everyone. The maximum speed according to my treadmill was about 4.5km/hr which is a great speed – not so fast that it could be dangerous, but not so slow that you get bored. It’s also worth about 3800 steps, which is a good chunk of your daily 10,000 step requirement – not a bad way to start the day!
• Laurette has a lovely voice and reads with expression, passion, and clarity. No grating nasal or harsh tone to her voice! She has a neutral accent, and a very pleasant timbre. Quite soothing while still being stimulating and encouraging – no mean feat!
• Laurette reads at a pace that is comfortable for listening/meditation, but is also perfect for repeating along with her, to declare the affirmations aloud over your own life. I like that
• The program is a downloadable mp3 (so there’s no waiting!) and comes with an ebook of all the scriptures (so you can read along if you like, which eliminates the issue above with losing words…) and a workbook to help you really claim the scriptures for yourself and apply them to your day and life. It also comes with daily video encouragement where Laurette goes over the scriptures on video that you work on in your workbook. Again, nicely done.
• The price (currently a paltry $17, but regularly a very respectable $27) is a definite value for money!

All in all, a wonderful program, definitely worth the money at either price, and I can’t think of a better way to jumpstart your day! In fact, I’m thinking of using it as my daily warm-up!

So, head on over to Laurette’s site, pick up a copy, and let her know I sent you.

Oh, and just so we’re clear, I paid for the program myself, and am doing this review on my own initiative because I believe in what Laurette’s doing. I get no remuneration – monetary or otherwise – for posting this. I’m just a firm believer in non-competition business practice. If there’s something out there worth seeing, even if it’s going to support a “competitor”, I want to let you know!

Happy walking!

Darlene

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So, the new year has begun. How are all those resolutions you set? Are you succeeding with any of them?

It’s difficult to succeed in making healthier choices in life. We all know we need to slow down, eat better, exercise more, spend more time with God and our families. Yes, it’s all there in black and white in our heads, but it’s just so hard to walk those choices out.

Over the years as my desperation to change has risen to a fever pitch, I’ve learned a few tricks that have helped me, so I thought I’d share them here in the hopes that they’ll help you, too.

1. One habit at a time – I know your list is long, but choose one habit at a time. If you try to tackle them all, you’ll fail at them all. If you tackle one at a time, you’ll master the ones you work on.
2. Keep it Small – Reduce your goal to the smallest possible steps and tackle one small step per week.

So, here are some ideas you might try:

Getting in shape: Let me suggest that you buy a pedometer instead of a gym membership. Measure your steps normally for a week, find your daily average, and increase that daily average the next week by 100 steps. Continue to increase your daily average week by week. When you’re up to a couple thousand add an easy, refreshing 10-minute walk. Increase the walk by 10 minutes every month. Once you hit 60 minutes, increase your speed.

Eating better: Don’t buy the latest diet book, simply start breakfast with a selection of fresh fruit, begin lunch with a bowl of vegetable soup (broth based) and dinner with a large tossed salad. Each week drink one more glass of water a day until you’ve reached a minimum of 8 glasses. Once you’ve mastered that, start eliminating the bad stuff – but keep one day a week as a splurge day.

Spending more time with my family: Instead of instigating something like a family night out of the blue, make a choice to stop, turn, and look when your child speaks to you – in other words, practice listening. Then start asking questions about things they like to do. Participate wherever you’re invited. Soon the family times take care of themselves.

Improving my relationship with God: I don’t think most of us need another study, a new prayer system, a new Bible, or a program. I would simply recommend a journal, a pen, and some time. As in the above goal, start with listening. It might be pretty quiet for a while, but God is speaking, and if we learn to hear Him, the rest falls into place.

These probably sound ridiculously simple, but I think you’ll find if you start here, doors will open up, and new possibilities will present themselves.

If this is the kind of thing you’re looking for to reach those resolutions, download my free, 8-week “Introduction to Praisewalking” ebook over there on the right, and get started!

Try it and see! Keep me posted on how it works for you!

Darlene

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So, no big change in weight (and I weighed myself after a large glass of water!), but I’ve lost 3.5″ overall, which is a huge encouragement.

I’m VERY excited that Tim Ferriss’ new book “The 4-Hour Body” is finally out. I’ve almost finished reading it, and wow, there’s some GREAT stuff in there. I have his “Kindle” version on my iPod as well as the audiobook, and I’m waiting for my hard copy to arrive in the mail! This is going to be a “text book” for my fitness goals alongside Phil Maffetone’s “The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing”

Tom and I have started with his Slow Carb diet which is just a slight variation of what we’ve been doing now, and to keep the weight loss consistent, we also get to add a binge day every week, which is going to be fun! If you want a very brief overview, check out his article: How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise The book goes into much more detail, but the article will get you started.

After we’re in a comfortable place with that, I’ll be working through Tim Ferriss’ chapter on body alignment called “Pre-Hab: Injury-Proofing the Body” and then I’ll be working through his endurance chapters: “Ultraendurance I: Going from 5K to 50K in 12 Weeks—Phase I and Phase II”

And then, who knows? The book has LOTS of fun stuff in it and while some of it doesn’t appeal to me, much of it is fascinating! I highly recommend getting yourself a copy if you’re even partially interested in living your best physical self.

In fact, next week I’ll be giving away a signed, hard-cover copy! Watch for news on that!

Otherwise, I’m in a good routine with my exercise, and I’m enjoying the treadmill. Good stuff.

Darlene

So here we are, finally, after being gone for a few days – the site, that is. An issue with the template caused the site to crash, and it took a while to get a new template to work.

But I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new look – don’t you?

There are things that still need tweaking. We had to re-install everything, and I have to insert pictures differently, so I need to go back and correct 14 pages of images…not fun! But oh, so worth it! If you see a page with an image that’s not right, don’t worry. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll have all of them fixed.

The treadmill is up and running. I’ve figured out how to get it to work according to my training schedule/goals, and I’ve begun my training again, in earnest. There’s something wrong with the timer on the treadmill, so they’re coming to fix that, but otherwise, it’s great. SO much nicer than trying to pick my way through ice and snow on the badly maintained sidewalks here in my neighborhood. By the time the snow melts, we’ll be in GREAT shape!

If you want to track my progress, take a look at my “Daily Mile” widget on the sidebar.

If you want to join in the challenge, click the “Twit2Fit” icon, and join me there. I’m posting my step-by-step program over there for people who want to get a head start on their fitness goals without compromising the celebrating over Christmas!
Check it out!

Oh, and the results?

Lookin’ good, baby, lookin’ good!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Conversational anecdotes? Post them in the comments below!

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