original photo:© littleny – Fotolia.com
To start with our 2014 TRIM THE FAT CHALLENGE, we need to identify the area that needs trimming. It’s all well and good to think we need to trim an aspect of our life, but unless we can get down and dirty with the details of where the trimming needs to take place, we aren’t going to make much progress.
Change from the inside out!
Have you ever tried to change something and only worked on the cosmetic aspect of what needed to be changed? Think about washing only the outside of a teacup that is still dirty on the inside? Or following rules that affect outward behavior but don’t change heart attitudes?
Can you imagine a parent who constantly insists on having their children follow rules of good manners even to the point of apologizing to each other when they are mean to each other, but is never concerned when they demonstrate only hateful behavior toward each other and don’t show any attitudes of love or care?
This is what I’m talking about. Sometimes we focus so much on keeping outward rules of behavior that we don’t stop and pay attention to the fact that there seems to be no evidence of a heart of love for each other (whether it is children in a family or adults in a church family).
My goal for the 2014 Challenge
So, my trimming is in the area of losing weight. For starters, I need to lose a good solid 25-30 pounds. But that is stating my goal in more negative terms. Stated positively, I want to start eating healthier in such a way that my eating and exercise will result in a toned body and the loss of at least 25 pounds. My focus is not so much on losing the weight, but on developing a healthier lifestyle when it comes to eating. This may result in a slower weight loss which will be harder on keeping me motivated!
I am a lifetime member of Weight Watchers but the changes in the diet have confused me so much that I don’t know what I’m doing! I think I’ll have to try a new method.
What about you?
Join us below. Link your post on facebook or your blog to the linky. Stop by and check with the others who join us as they trim down their personal style, their stuff, their mess, their excess, their whatever!
Ask GOD to help you figure out the specific area where you need help. Make some time to pray for wisdom in figuring out the area you need to work on.
This also includes figuring out how much to bite off when it comes to choosing your goal. It needs to be realistic. You may want to divide your goal into bite sized pieces so you can stay motivated. That is fine. You know yourself.
One big goal includes many small ones
For me, I still haven’t figured out my diet and I know I’m traveling again next week so I’m going to take a small step of keeping track of what I eat (which is supposed to help a person lose) AND take a book with me to read in the car to learn about an eating plan I have been introduced to that moves you along a step at a time. I want to learn more about it over the week I’m traveling so I can get ready to put it into practice.
That doesn’t sound like much does it? But it is realistic for me when traveling AND it is moving me in the direction I’m trying to go. Don’t minimize those apparent baby steps…or the time you spend planning your strategy. In order to move in the direction we need to go, baby steps are part of the process.
Now, I’d love to hear from you! I’m attaching a linky tool so you can join up with your facebook or blog page and post about where your TRIM THE FAT CHALLENGE will be used in 2014.
