Fitness Apps I Love

This will be a VERY short post.  I just wanted to let you all in on a couple of fitness apps and sites that I've been using for a while now and I LOVE EM!!!  I highly encourage you to get on them and put them to work for your fitness.

Humanity

Are We Loosing a Vital Part of Our Humanity?

I was sitting in a Church meeting the other day and I had a chilling thought:

You see, Santa brought me a tablet computer for Christmas and I love it!  It has replaced a large book bag that I used to have to carry around with me to Church to fulfill my calling.  Handbooks, notebooks, binders…all gone and stored on the memory of the small 7” tablet.  Which also has access to the entire gospel library, videos, web sites and more.  It is incredible and I love to use this tool. (you should see the looks of shock and amazement when I tell people that I don’t have any games on it).

But as I typed out some notes on the this device in my meeting, I felt like I was missing something, then it dawned on me what it was.  You see, part of my note-taking process includes doodling, and making notes of ‘inspirational thoughts’ that come to me. I use color and graphics to highlight different notes or to emphasize an idea.  I’m very visual in my style.  It occurred to me that I can’t do any of these things on my tablet very well.  Sure there is a sketching app on there, but I’d have to exit the notebook, open a second app, and then get frustrated with how slow the sketching occurs.  It isn't worth doing. 

The Battle

(The following article is Part 1 in a series on the spiritual battles we fight and how to win them.  There is a presentation that goes with it, and when I finish the series I'll make the presentation available)

THE BATTLE - Why We Fight!

LDS-SOF - Becoming Warriors 

Every day, we are faced with personal battles. Struggles, difficulties, choices and consequences.  We have options to control our destiny, or to be blown about by 'circumstance'.

Daily Battles 2013

As I've entered this new year, I've had many thoughts about what I can do to be a better Man, Husband, Father and servant of the Lord.

I'm sure that many of you have had similar thoughts and you've begun to implement them in your daily lives.  I wish you the best of luck in these endeavors!  I hope that 2013 is the year that you accomplish your goals!

Today, I've had to put a lot of my goals on hold, because I'm lying in bed with the flu. It's amazing to me that no matter how strong you are, or how much you try to stay well, a tiny, microscopic bug can knock you flat. Every time I get out of bed it feels like I'm dragging around weights tied to my arms and legs.  My body hurts  like it hasn't hurt in a long time and I just want to be well!!!

One thing it has shown to me is the vital role that Dad plays in the home.  I've been sequestered from my family in hopes of not spreading the disease.  My kids come in and blow me kisses as they go to bed and I can see that they long for a hug as badly as I long to hug them.  I can't wait until this period of contagiousness is over and I can be DAD again!

Family, work, exercise, Church callings, everything is on hold.

This really stinks!

The Spirit of a Warrior

My son is a runner, actually he is a very talented runner.

The other night he came to me with a very serious question, I could tell that he’d been thinking about it for some time.  He said; “Dad, why is it that here I am, tall, lean and running hard, exercising, eating right and really trying, and yet I’m struggling to achieve my goal times…I’m only going so fast…but yet,  I know that somewhere in Ethiopia or Kenya, there is a kid, the same age as me, same build, etc. but with less advantages…and he can probably run faster than me?  What is the difference?”

WOW…what a thought provoking question.  It was one that I really had to think about.  You see on the surface it doesn’t make any sense.  In the USA we have more money, state of the art science, excellent coaches and training facilities…but yet we still can’t seem to churn out world class distance runners very effectively…why is that?

To understand, you have to turn what makes sense on its head.

Here is what I told him:

Stoicism...

OK…so I’ve been mulling this around for some time…Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s talk from General Conference (Brethren We Have Work To D) was a very powerful one to me.  It echoes many sentiments that I’ve written about here on my blog.  It was thrilling to me to hear his words and feel a small sense of validation.  I can’t tell you how many times as I’ve tried to talk about these very issues, and people have said “If this is so important, why aren’t the brethren talking about it?”…WELL…

One thing in particular that I can’t seem to get out of my head, was this quote:

“Today, however, with women moving ahead in an advanced economy, provider husbands and fathers are now optional, and the character qualities men had needed to play their role—fortitude, stoicism, courage, fidelity—are obsolete and even a little embarrassing.”

Those four attributes that he lists piqued my curiosity: Fortitude, Stoicism, Courage, Fidelity.  What do these words mean? Why do they matter? How do they define men? And ultimately, how do we put them into practice?

What Does Being Healthy Mean?

This is a "FUN" post.  I was reading the News the other day and stumbled on an article by James Fell titled "What It Means To Be Healthy - Hint: It Doesn't Mean Looking Like A Fitness-Mag Model".  In the article Mr. Fell outlines some points of what it means to him to be Healthy, here is his list:

-It means finding my own personal “good enough.” I don’t pay attention to what the media says about the way I should look, get jealous of fitness models with rippling abs or bemoan the fact that I never won an Olympic medal. The only person I’m competing with is myself.

-It means harmonious instead of obsessive passion. I run because I love doing it, not because I have some number-crunching minimum of calories to burn.

-It’s about having a life that I enjoy. My diet doesn’t feel deprived, and I don’t feel like my time is eaten up by exercise. When I want pizza and (root) beer, I have pizza and (root) beer. When I don’t want to lift weights, I don’t lift weights. Conversely, when I’m in the mood to exercise, I relish going hard.

-It’s about finding out what I’m physically capable of.

-It’s about having kids who say things like, “Daddy, you’re really strong.”

-It’s about having a loving wife who thinks I look hot.