On Our Knees

I’m in Abilene, Texas, this week, helping my daughter as she recuperates from knee surgery. Arthroscopic knee surgery, ACL replacement and meniscus repair, to be exact. Christina is only 27 years old and this is her second knee surgery.

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Fortune for Good Health

Can you picture a Chinese fortune cookie that you’ve snapped it in half to get the message out?

That’s what many people’s approach to health looks like. Two separate pieces.

We go to church for spiritual inspiration…we go to the gym to work out.

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The Truth About Snacking After Dinner
 
Many people think eating late at night causes weight gain. Actually, it’s not when you eat that matters, it’s what and how much you eat.
 
It’s fine to snack on small portions of crackers and low fat cheese, yogurt and fruit, cereal and milk or peanut butter and apple slices. Cake and ice cream, on the other hand, are empty calories that over time will add pounds to your frame.
 
My downfall is cookies.
 

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Take a Two-Minute Time-Out

In my line of work—as a Christian fitness instructor—I often exercise and pray at the same time.

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A Skeleton Story—Not Just for Halloween

This is the time of year when skeletons decorate windows in neighborhoods across the country. Use them as a reminder to take care of your bones!   

Bone is a living tissue that is continuously changing. When you are young, your body makes new bone faster than it breaks down old bone. In your mid-thirties this cycle slows down and you begin to lose slightly more than you gain. It slows further after menopause, when women are most at-risk for osteoporosis, a bone thinning disease.

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Cardio Soul
 
My fitness classes are filling up with new faces since the cooler weather has blown in. Seasoned runners are doing step aerobics in my cross training classes and those who have enjoyed walking and gardening all summer are coming for Pilates.

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Bible Study on Balance Balls

After my Thursday morning Cardio Power Pump class at a local church, my friend Tania and I often stand outside the locker room and catch up.

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Thin Does Not Mean Happy

Earlier this month I was interviewed on Nancy Turner’s This is the Day, a show syndicated on several Christian radio stations. A listener in Indiana contacted me afterwards with a problem that is sooooo common I want to share it with you.

Let’s call this woman Laura. She describes herself as a church-going Christian, 53 years young. She exercises but eats too many carbs and sweets and drinks diet sodas, and is about seven to ten pounds overweight.

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Walking the Dog

My husband and I gave each of our twin sons a Beagle/Lab puppy for Christmas two years ago when we moved to our 100-acre farm. It was perfect, we thought—the dogs could roam the woods while we were out all day.

Every morning, as if heading off to work, Charlie and Rascal would rush out the door and then return home in the evenings hungry, filthy and tired.

But one day, the pups didn’t come home. Finally, after a week, Charlie showed up. He had puncture wounds all over his body. We never saw Rascal again.

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Circle of Life

My heart is leaping with emotion—my daughter has just had a beautiful little baby boy!

I hadn’t told that many people what was happening in our family because my daughter is not married. It’s a situation I would not wish for her, but, honestly, an unhappy marriage to a dishonorable man is worse. I know—that was me when I was her age.

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