 - Exercise One - Side Stretches: To help whittle your waist and keep your spine aligned and supple, side stretches are excellent exercises to do at your desk. With your arms raised over your head or akimbo with your hands on your hips, lean gently over to each side as far as you can safely go. Please use caution if your chair is unstable or if it is on wheels. You can do this a few times on each side at several times through out the day.
- Exercise Two - Arm Raises: In order to help protect against carpal tunnel syndrome, poor circulation, and weight gain, you should do arm raises several times a day. There are different methods of doing these simple exercises: raising your arms straight over your head, raising them to the sides, or even behind you. Each method works a different set of muscles, and all will temporarily increase your heart rate, keeping your metabolism revving.
- Exercise Three - Butt Squeezes: The easiest exercise that you can do at your desk is butt squeezes. You can even do them while you are on the phone or typing up a report. Simply squeeze and release your buttocks muscles several times. This is the number one exercise that will help prevent "office chair spread" of your hindquarters.
- Exercise Four - Leg Lifts: Of course, these are not the type of leg lifts that have you lying down on the floor and swinging your legs around. At your desk, you can easily straighten your knees and lift your legs out in front of you. You can also march with your feet in place. This will exercise the large muscles in your legs. For easy calf exercises, you can raise your feet up on the toes and lower them. Be sure to use your muscles when you do these exercises for maximum effect.
- Exercise Five - Stress Relievers: Many of the exercises already described here will really help to relieve the stress of your desk job. However, there are some other great stress relief exercises you can do at your desk.Gently stretching your neck, or rolling your head around, will reduce neck and upper back stress. Lifting your arms in front of you and bending your hands up and down at the wrist will help to relieve the stress of typing and help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome.
As you spend year after year hunched over your desk for eight hours every day, you may find your muscles atrophying, and your hips and waist spreading. Not only can you help prevent that weight gain and loss of tone, but you can alleviate stress with these five quick exercises. Exercising at your desk only takes a few minutes, and will do your body and mind a world of good.
No matter how many times I read Captivating I always pull something different from it each time...
Haunted by a Question Chapter 3 of Captivating
This Chapter discuses 2 types of women and our indulgences we run to instead of God.
Type 1. The Dominating Woman
“She needs no one. She is in charge- ‘on top of things constantly.’ She is a woman who know hot to get what she wants.” (pg 51)
“If she cannot secure her relationships, then she kills her heart’s longing for intimacy so that she will be safe and in control.” (pg 52)
“Controlling women are those of us who don’t trust anyone else to drive our cars. Or help in the kitchen. Or speak at our retreats or our meetings. Or carry something for us.” (pg 53)
Type 2. The Desolate Woman
“She is naive, lost, bereft of any sense of self.” (pg 53)
“Desolate woman are ruled by the aching abyss within them… They are consumed by a hunger for relationship.” (pg 54)
Regardless of which category we might fall into, our “question” remains unanswered, and we allow ourselves indulgences to try to fill the void. Be it food, daydreaming, gossip, unhealthy relationships, shopping whatever- we turn to other sources instead of God.
What do you turn to?
Ever heard of retail therapy? My husband will tell you that I have and I never miss a session. If I have a bad day I don't turn to a tub of icecream like most people. I go shopping, for some reason this makes me feel better. Even if I go out and come home with nothing the wasted time kind of clears my head. Its not like Im going on a shopping spree or anything but that time that i'm spending shopping Is time I could be spending praying on what ever made my day bad. No matter what type of woman you are turn to prayer when you need to indulge in something positive (=!
 Today I had to look backwards in order to see forward. In a moment of hurt feelings, and wanting to write something awful and angry, I looked back to a post I wrote about 4 years ago....
"Betrayal cuts deep. Penetrating deeper than any imaginable physical abrasion. Wounding us from the inside out leaving us un healable, forever changed and untrusting to the world around us. The wound of betrayal is sharp and precise, piercing right through the heart leaving no traces behind of its clever fraud. It will leave you feeling foolish and enraged, hurt and disgusted; but after all even Judas betrayed Jesus. Yet even in the midst of the deceitful pain you have caused in my heart I will pray for you"
I posted this when I had given my life to God and it seemed as if those who I thought were my closest friends no longer accepted me for the person I had became. And though it hurt this experience was a life lesson I will never forget. It taught me there are so many people who are going to impact my life for the better and even for the worse. They may be the one doing the actions of impact, but I am the one who chooses just how this impacts me. Do I take a bad situation and pray on it? Do I grow from it and learn from it? Do I take a good situation and thank God for it. Do I cherish it more for what it is? Without the bad we would never appreciate the good in our lives.While we all feel those feelings when we are hurt and betrayed I look back and I think of how much Ive grown since then... the person I am today. And I feel thankful. People are always going to hurt you and bring you down. Make you feel like you are less than you are and make you feel like you arnt good enough. The truth is those people arnt good enough for you. Learn from this, grow from this, pray on this.
There are going to be people in your life who disappoint you, and when that happens you can sometimes feel all alone on the boat of WHY ME ? But don't set sail just yet, look around you your not alone. Instead of focusing on who let you down, focus on who picks you up when your down. Your spouse? Your friends? Your family or Co-workers. Think these people were placed in your life at this time by chance? Think again. Throw that anchor back in ... The suns coming out and the water has never been more clear.
We have all heard the saying "You are the company you keep". I've disagreed with that my whole life. Do to the fact that for the majority of my life I've known exactly who I was, and who my friends were. I've also known the exact things that set us apart from one another. However lately I've noticed a different side to "You are the company you keep". I've noticed that my day can completely take a turn for the worse and I can be in a horrible mood if those around me are in a horrible mood. When in fact I have no reason to be in that mood in the first place. I've also noticed that I can come to work in the morning indifferent, and be surrounded by co-workers that crack jokes, ask how you, and your family are, or do things with a smile on their face and it becomes contagious. Or when my husband comes home from work and I see him for the first time in several hours and he walks through the door with a smile, I am instantly in a better mood than before he walked in the door. The people around me have so much more impact on my day than i truly realize. If your "Company" around you has so much impact on your mood. Think about the impact you could have on theirs. Are you boosting them up or bringing them down?
 “Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.” - Francis Chan We are all guilty of it. Me especially, when I was growing up I never wanted to get married or have a family I just wanted a career, something I enjoyed something I was good at. Something others would look at and think "Wow she really made it". Whether that be in Biology, Criminal Justice or Art I knew I wanted a job I loved and 2 dogs and a cute little flat or house of my own, and that would be all that mattered. It wasn't until my Sophomore year of College that I lost that naïve dream. I was interning for a very large very respectable Defense Contracting Company and making a great pay check while doing so. I was interning under a woman who was ideally what I had thought I had always wanted to become. Looking from the outside in she was the definition of success she had rose from the bottom to the top and had 2 dogs and a very cute little house and garden. She was important, people relied on her and looked up to her. And she was happy?.... no...... that's a lie, you see she wasn't happy at all. In fact she was miserable because being at the top is a lonely place when you have no one to share your success with. As I worked closely by her side for the summer I got to know her as a friend, and a Boss, and the false idea I had of this glamorous, successful, happy life was shattered into pieces. Here was this woman who I thought had it all but really she felt as if she had nothing. She wanted love and a family and friends. Sure her job was important to her but a job is only 40 hours of your life a week, what did she have to occupy the rest of her life? I remember when I first told her years later that I was engaged she was so excited for me but at the same time it was almost a bitter happiness. And that made me sad, because whether she realized it or not she had changed so much in me that summer she showed me how much being successful really doesn't matter if you are after the wrong things in life. You cant take sucess with you when you go. Sure you should give it all you've got when your at your job, but your job shouldn't be all you've got. I love my job and the people I work with, but I also love my Husband and my family and God, and I think those are areas we should focus on being successful at the most. I want to be incredibly successful in my marriage, I want to be the best wife I can be, the best daughter, the best sister, the best aunt, the best friend that I can be. (This is beginning to sound like a bad Army recruiter commercial) When we think of success we think of making the big $$$$ and Driving the fastest car and having the biggest house or being better at our job than others. Success shouldn't be defined by comparison to others, We should compete with ourselves not others, because when we compete with others and we are trying to be "better" than them. . . are we achieving our personal best? Or just settling to be better than they are? So today I encourage you to not strive to be the better than anyone else or be more successful than anyone else, but to strive to be the best version of yourself! Be successful in your relationship with God, in your relationships with others, such as your family, spouse and friends. When you strive to be the best version of yourself, then you will be successful in all aspects of your life that truly matter.
In a world of instant tans, instant message, and having more available at our finger tips, easier and faster than ever before why is it that instead of feeling that this is a blessing we treat it as a entitlement. Are you guilty of popping something in the microwave and standing in front of it impatiently waiting for it to "cook faster". Cook faster! Its taking 2 minutes to cook something that if you made it from scratch would mostly likely take 2 hours. Why are we so impatient? Has todays technology and society turned us into spoiled brats? We loathe the idea of actually waiting and working for something. Today I found myself frustrated that peeling a boiled egg was taking me "soooo long" really it took about 40 seconds but it seemed like all morning at the time. I even caught myself thinking I'm going to start buying the eggs that are already boiled and peeled for you. Realistically those eggs are twice the price of a dozen and only come with 6 eggs. That's beyond foolish, my mother grew up on a farm where she had to actually take care of the chickens, collect the eggs, etc. All I have to do is buy them at the store put them in a pot of water and take the shell off. Its not that hard, but I am spoiled with an instant world. We all are we take advantage of so many things and so many people in our life because...well because we can. Stop living like this! God gives just as easily as he can take away. Count your blessings because they were once hopes and prayers. I prayed and prayed for God to give me an amazing husband. With all of the toxic relationships I had seen throughout my life and participated in myself. I had this idea in my head of all the things I didn't want in a husband. He would be this ,and he would be that. With all of my expectations you would think id never get married! But God knew what I NEEDED in a husband and he blessed me with that. And I can tell you now I am so thankful for that. God answered my prayers. Yet I don't thank God for him nearly enough, and I don't tell my husband how much I appreciate how he treats me, and how he is everything I NEEDED in my life nearly enough. I act as if I deserve the way he treats me. But in all honesty I don't, do any of us really deserve the love we are given by our families? By our friends? By our husbands or wives or kids? We all fall short and yet God blesses us over and over. Why should we act as if we are entitled to these things? To these blessings? We arn't. So this is a wake up call to me, and hopefully to you as well. Stop living for an instant world. Be thankful for what you have, and be thankful for those around you. God knows what you NEED and he will provide it to you. It may not be instantly, but your prayer is not a instant message you send to God so that he will instantly give you what you asked for. #Be patient, be thankful, be blessed.
God gives every bird its food,
but He does not throw it
into its nest.
- J G
Holland
You wouldn't fill up a high performance sports car with garbage would you? No, this
would cause unspeakable damage to something you have invested so much time and
money into. Why would you ever purposely harm it? Why would you purchase
something with such great performance unless you wanted it to live up to what it
was made for? The obvious answer is no, I would never put garbage into my
car.
So why is it that we put garbage into our stomach? Is the stomach not the gas tank
of the body? Do we not produce energy by breaking down food you eat ? Yes, we
do, the food we eat is broken down into glucose molecules which are then broken
down into a substance called ATP which is used around the body as energy. Eating
the right nutrition that our body needs is like giving your gas take premium
gasoline. Eating food we all know is bad for us is like putting garbage in your
tank and wondering why you broke down after only driving a block.
If you want your body to live up to what it was made for, or to just have more
energy and live a longer healthier life nutrition is key. While I am a huge
advocate for exercise, you can run and lift all day long but if you are
re-fueling your body on garbage don't be surprised when you find yourself sick
or not getting any results from your workout.
You'll be happy to know eating healthy isn't as expensive as premium gas! However,
eating organic can be quite expensive if you don't know what to look for, so
here are a few tips on what to look for when you're at the grocery store next
time.
Foods to buy Organic:
1. Apples 2. Blueberries 3. Celery 4. Potatoes 5. Peaches 6. Lettuce 7. Spinach 8. Grapes 9.Strawberries 10. nectarines 11. Sweet bell peppers 12. Cucumbers
You don't need to buy EVERYTHING organic. Just because it says organic on the label
doesn't mean its good for you. However here is a list of the dirty dozen, some
of these foods contain over 40 different pesticides on and inside the produce. (
so washing with water does not always do the job) Look for foods labeled
Non- GMO project. This means they contain no genetically
modified organisms ( so basically they weren't produced in a lab ).
Also 99% of farm raised fish eat horrible feed that is not even safe for human
consumption. You may think oh well im eating the fish not the feed. Wrong. if
you are eating the fish you are eating the feed. And lets just say you wouldn't
even feed this feed to your dogs. Another tip is buy in bulk! Go get yourself a
costco or Bj or Sams card! You will save on meats and produce I promise you.
While eating healthy can be very expensive it can also be cheaper than what you
already spend on fast food. You just have to budget yourself and know what to
look for. Don't waste your money on “Diet” products that have ingredients the
manufacturer’s can't even pronounce. Those “diet” meals are also commonly high
in sugars or sodium. Read the nutrition labels. Even if you detest reading, a
nutrition label isn't a novel it's what you're choosing to put in your gas
tank! Think about it!
Hebrews 12:11-13
"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees."
Ahh Discipline a word we all learned at a young age, yet all struggle with. Whether its discipline to not eat this or that. Discipline to get into the gym everyday. Discipline to quit a bad habit, or refrain from saying things you know need not to be said. We all struggle, but when we practice discipline are we not rewarded in some way for our commitment? Do we not reap what we sow in the end?
I've always been the athletic type, I love the competition of sports and I love staying in shape. However I also love food and sleep... a lot. Once I graduated college and sports were done with I found that I could no longer eat the way I did when I was running after a ball or throwing people in the air everyday. I didn't get "fat" but I noticeably lost muscle and my stomach started to transition from fit to please don't wear that bikini outside. My life had relativity stayed the same except I had removed the discipline from sports and continued to eat whatever I wanted. And boy did I reap what I had sowed. So I started eating clean I gave up "bad" foods here and there. little by little.. I started replacing 2 meals a day with nutrition shakes and immediately noticed a difference in my energy level and the shape my body was in. I started to become more serious about my time in the gym and what types of workouts I was doing. It was hard, its still hard I still crave "bad" food and I still feel like not giving it my all in the gym some days. We all get discouraged sometimes and we all fall short, but you cant give up. After all no discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful. Later on. however it produces a harvest. #Don't give up#
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