The State of my Union with God & a Testimonial for friend Matt Trainer

Amish Shah & Matt Trainer changed my life!

In 2008, I was running a 7 figure Affiliate Marketing company. My personal life at the time was in turmoil (understatement) going through a horrible (another understatement) Divorce. I took time away from my personal nightmare and attended an event at that time my friend Amish Shah put on. I owe Amish Shah the credit for getting my bum down there and to him, for that I will always be grateful. It literally changed my life. At that time in my life I was at the bottom emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. It was so bad, I let all my employees go to pursue other paths and let my business, which I could have sold (I had several dozens of offers), just dry up and die.

Over the best sushi I’ve had in my life (I’ve had tons) I met Matt Trainer for the first time. Thanks Amish Shah for footing the bill that night by the way. 🙂

Call it serendipity, divine intervention, or the Universe coming to a place of convergence, either way I’d like to thank God for introducing me to Matt Trainer back then. When I had hit rock bottom and turned back on course for where I am today.

It’s more of a point of reference in my life where my life took a turn upward.

Amish Shah, Matt Trainer, and I went our separate ways, but I reconnected with Matt Trainer earlier this year (2014) with help from another gentlemen I hold in fairly high esteem. Greg Davis. Thanks Greg Davis for reconnecting me with Matt Trainer.

I went on to help build a brand new start-up company (3 of us founded) to an 8 figure business in three years with a 100+ employees.

So, this last weekend 8/9 through 8/10 (2014) I had another turning point when attending the “The Marketing Moron Conference” held by my older now much wiser (and enlightened) friend Matt Trainer.

I can’t give all the credit to Matt Trainer or the speakers etc, but it was a turning point in my life. One I have not had since 2008 (with the Amish Shah event)

This event is another a point in time, one I will look back and can honestly say it was a point when my life took another turn (like the 2008 Amish Shah event) and placed me on course for an exponential growth in abundance & prosperity.

So, even though most people on the outside looking into my current life before, hanging out with Matt Trainer this last weekend, would say I am already at a great place in life. I now realize that I’ve been thinking too small and limiting the amount of God’s wealth and abundance that could/would enter my life.

I now have a degree of clarity and focus that makes me feel attuned to what God’s purposes for my life are. Allowing me to operate in a place where I am truly and genuinely 110% me and 110% present in the moment. The person who God wants me to be and allowing myself to be used by him to change the world we live in.

I feel like I’m on fire now, in a permanent state of “flow” like I’ve been possessed by God and just need to step out of his way and let him do absolutely amazing things. Things I could never do myself.

I will be my only limitation, getting in the way of what he has planned by letting my “self” or ego get in the way. I am committing to God and anyone reading this to never again allow myself to operate at the ground level of life and only operate in a place where I am flying high in the clouds on God’s coat tails and having a significant impact on humanity by being 110% present at all times and 110% surrendered to the fact that God is my source and supply and guides me in all my steps, if I’ll let him.

Thank you Matt Trainer for being the vehicle of change that brought me to this place. You are a true brother and I will be forever indebted to you.

Anyone who has the opportunity to attend another event Matt Trainer puts on, should reflect back on their current state of life and ask themselves…am I thinking to small? Am I ready for some more abundance & prosperity? Am I ready for a turning point? One that would elevate me to higher plane of abundance & wealth exponentially greater than where I am at today? If your inner “still small voice” says yes. Don’t hesitate to go. Just go…

Sincerely with immense gratitude and appreciation,

Pastor Dan

You Are Vital in God’s Mission & Purposes!

You’ve probably heard before the term ‘vital organ’ in reference to organs in your body that you could not live without. What about your importance to the body of Christ? Do you feel vitally important to the function of the body of Christ and its fulfillment of God’s purposes on earth?

You should? Here’s why:

One Body with Many Members

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body,so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves[d] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts,[e] yet one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way.

1 Corinthians 12:12-31 ESV

Well, I think in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he makes the point that their really aren’t any parts to the body of Christ that are not vital. We all drink from one spirit and are called to fulfill his purposes on earth. We are all vital and working together as one body (if we are all running a full capacity) we can help God acheive his purposes here on earth in bigger, better way.

Vitality as defined by Merriam-webster.com

1 a : the peculiarity distinguishing the living from the nonliving

b : capacity to live and develop; also : physical or mental vigor especially when highly developed

a : power of enduring

b : lively and animated character – Merriam-webster.com

One of my goals for you friend is that you achieve Christian Vitality™.

A Christian that distinguishes yourself as one of God’s Living and not one of the non-living (spiritually dead or not growing) and also physically working towards that end as well.

I hope that you grow spiritually & physically in a way that is better developed with a higher capacity to live life to the fullest. A life full of the power of God and one that has been physically better developed to endure…a life that would allow God to use you for a longer period of time.

My hopes are that you are a lively and animated Christian that leads life in such a way that you are a light that shines bright and points toward Jesus as the way for others to live like you.

Here’s a challenge from me to you today…

Do you feel you are serving in a way that makes you vital to the body of Christ? If not, please takes some steps today toward getting more plugged into how you can serve.

Start small if you have to, but get started. Even serving every other Sunday in the 1st graders class can make you vital in the life of children learning about the love of Jesus.

Those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength & power

Growing wearing when on an exercise and weight loss program is often a setback. If we keep the right mindset and perspective however, we can renew our strength and continue building fat loss momentum.

When I went out on my bike ride today this song came to me. It’s sung in various circles performed by different people, but they all get the words from the same scripture verse.

31 But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired. Isaiah 40-31 Amplified Version

Though many take the words from the King James Version, I looked at several versions and the Amplified Version struck me as applicable to you and I on our journey towards weight loss (and long-term fat loss). Wait in the Amplified Version is defined as [who expect, look for, and hope in Him], which we should definitely do. We should tie our expectations & hopes in the Lord and look for evidence of his prescience in our lives.

One of those God moments where he shows himself through those odd (what secular people would call coincidence) circumstances happened to me today.

One of our key Bible verses in my small group at church today was this scripture verse and as we had a dialog about how it applied to our lives a friend of mine, Jenny, was sharing some difficulties she was having letting go of a situation between her brother & mother. She admitted to being a worrier her whole life and that she just couldn’t let go.

I felt like the Holy Spirit was reminding me of a close friend of mine (who is the Pastor of thriving church in Oregon) once told me that the Greek word for the word wait in the verse from Isaiah 40:31 is actually better defined as someone who waits on you. Like a waiter. Always there asking “is there something I can do for you? Do you need anything? How can help you?” I shared this with her and told her that every time she feels compelled to worry she should take it to him…let it go and ask…”what do you want from me Lord in this situation? How can I serve YOU? What do you want me to do Lord? That way she can transform herself from worrier to warrior for Christ.

I pray friend that today you would wait on the Lord. For everything. Renew your strength and not grow weary as you pursue Christian Vitality through exercise and better eating..

Rest on his word and you can rest assured…

Take some quiet time today and go through the exercise we’ve done before, where you take serious God’s scripture where he says to be still and know that I am God.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

There’s a song I learned about 30+ years ago that turned that scripture into a little worship song. I couldn’t find who wrote it, but here are the very true, but simple words:

Be still…and know…know that I am God. Quiet your heart and steal away…rest on my word…and you can rest assured…be still…and know that I am God…and know that I am God…and KNOW that I am God! – unknown

A simple command and some simple truth in that great little song.

Steal away…I believe, refers to you stealing yourself away from everything…taking some quiet time. Some Jesus Time (JT) And rest on my word because you can rest assured…what truth! Jesus loves you, his word (the Bible) tell us so. He died and rose again, so that we can have everlasting eternal life…not only that, but a life that is lived to the full while we are down here on Earth. A John 10:10 kind of full and abundant life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NIV

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10b NIV

So, once you’ve stolen yourself away and had some quiet time with your best friend here on earth and throughout eternity…let’s get you a new state of the YOUnion address. 🙂

How to experience God smiling on your life. You are Blessed to be a Blessing!

Your are blessed to be a blessing — Put a smile on God’s face by being a blessing today!

You might have heard this before and it’s used quite often in church circles to the point that I think it may have lost some of it’s true meaning. Today I want bring back some of the true meaning by sharing an experience I had while serving on a short-term mission trip to Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico. We were in the barrios (severely impoverished areas). I think it will give you some context on what “Blessed to be a blessing” truly means. The family we were serving, by building a new house for them, was Don Juan and Alejandrina and their grandkids. They are two grandparents do their best to take care of their two grandchildren, who lost their parents.

6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,

“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”

10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 6-11

God's Grace is amazing experience it by serving others — God’s Grace is amazing experience it by serving others

When I was serving today, the thing I noticed the most, was an overall feeling of God’s Grace. I’ve not experienced this level of overwhelming Grace before. While I was working today, there were several times that I was interacting with a 6 year old little girl named Liliana and her 60+ year old grandfather, Don Juan. I felt such great joy and peace with every interaction. The only way I could describe it is, if you could feel God smiling on your life, than that’s what I felt. I felt proud in a good way. I felt Jesus was pointing his finger and saying “see…this is the way to love others…the way I’ve loved you.

I felt this and knew it deep in my soul “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”

Grace has defined a times to me, as God’s unmerited favor. I felt that my actions were favorable to God and that this was pleasing to the Lord. I felt that I was in his favor at that moment.

This older couple went from unknown strangers, to a brother & sister in Christ. The kids of the home and the entire neighborhood (15 or so we there at times) went from strangers to dearly beloved ones.

My heart broke for them all…in a good way. In the way you feel your heart break when you fall in love with someone. All of this came from a simple act of obedience…showing up to love on these people in the name of Jesus.

I believe this gave me the biggest gift. I felt so blessed with peace, joy and love.

In the scripture above it talks about God enriching us. I think this is the promise that is given to us as our reward for being cheerful givers. “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way.”

So, today. Take the time to ask God in prayer. Lord, I’m here. I’m available. What can I do today in the name of Jesus that would be pleasing to you? I want to feel you smile on my life today Lord. Show me what to do and how to do it to bring joy to you Father.

Your goal today is to be a blessing to someone else in addition to staying on track with your eating and exercise.

Have a blast today friend and may the Lord Jesus put a smile on your face and on your life today!

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Some photos of Don Juan & Alejandrina’s house and neighborhood.

Missions trips are a blessing — Little barefoot neighbor boy helping us (Jesus) & Corrine

Realign with your reasons why to conquer the doldrums in your life!

Imagine for a moment that you’re on an old sailing ship out on the ocean. You hear the gentle creek of the ship from the very small waves that rock it back and forth ever so peacefully. The sun is high in the sky and the temperature of the air is perfect. There’s just a very gentle breeze across the bow of the ship. Sounds peaceful and relaxing doesn’t it?

We’ll imagine that you are in the middle of the ocean on your way to America, half-way across the ocean and you’ve had these exact same conditions for days…even weeks. Conditions that are not suitable to set your sails, due to the lack of wind, and you are basically stuck. Stuck for days or even weeks, drifting.

That’s where the term doldrums came from.

From Wikipedia we also see that it is defined as:

Colloquially, the “doldrums” are a state of inactivity, mild depression, listlessness or stagnation

I was hit with a mild case of the doldrums this morning. For me it was more likely best described as mild depression and a feeling of discontent.

Physically I think it could have been explained as a combination of mild physical exhaustion and emotional exhaustion. The two combined together, brought me down a little. Also, a mild feeling of discontent combined with the desire to do nothing started to overwhelm me a little this morning. I started to doubt why am I doing this, writing all this content here? Will anyone care to hear from me? Will my work on the Christian Fatloss™ Program & Christian Vitality actually help anyone?

I think somewhere through the fog, I heard the Holy Spirit say remember your reason why.

I quickly listed some of the reasons why I was doing this:

100s, 1000s, and maybe even 10,000s of Christians will use the knowledge and Biblical wisdom to live a better (more spiritually & physically healthy life) It may even save some of their lives from the misery and unhappiness I experienced.
A quest to help cure people of obesity is an admirable quest with God’s stamp of approval. Doing so and giving Glory to Jesus along the way should be doubley-blessed.
Over time I’d like to work on this online business full-time and have it provide a hugely valuable service, which in-turn my customers will be pay me a small fee & gladly to do so.
God has blessed me with the knowledge and wisdom (from the Bible) and I owe it to him to be a blessing to other believers and show them the way.
Going through this process myself is moving me personally from a state of Obesity to a Healthy one and will help me live a happier healthy life.

Realign with your reason why — What’s your reason why?

So, what are your reasons for starting a weight loss program? Did you start the Christian Fatloss™ Program because:

You know that staying on the path of obesity is a short-lived one and your tired of struggling through life being over-weight?
Are you afraid you won’t get to see your kids and grand-kids grow up if you stay on your current path?
Do you have family members that are obese and you’ve decided that you want a different path for yourself?
Are you tired of shopping for your clothes in the big girl or big guy section?
Are you tired of feeling embarrassed over you weight at public pools, beaches, and gyms?
Do you feel that God has called you to live a healthier, happier life without the physical challenges that obesity & an unhealthy lifestyle bring?

What are your reason why? They’ve got to be strong. They are going to have an element of pain or pleasure associated with them. Because as humans we are really motivated by only two things. The avoidance of pain or the desire for pleasure. Pain seems to be the leader in this camp.

So, if you’re feeling a bit discouraged or start to sense that you’re feeling like you should quit. Realign yourself with your reasons why and get motivated again to succeed. Then set your eyes back on the goal.

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Phillippians 3:14 ESV

Celery cures: Cancer, high-blood pressure, stress, bad cholesterol, acidity, inflammation, weight management, & improves your sex life?

Celery: another miracle with many healing qualities

This evening I pay homage to Celery my childhood nemesis of sorts. It’s fine time that I pay a little retribution to a vegetable that I so thoroughly loathed that it was second only to brussel sprouts as a vegetable that I would much rather throw away (or at someone) than put it in my mouth and eat it.

Celery Helps Cure for Cancer: Yep, it has bee proven that the Flavanoids Apigenin & Luteolin (in celery, artichokes, and herbs especially Mexican Oregano) kill human pancreatic cancer cells in the lab by inhibiting the cancer growth. You can read the details of the studies here and even though you likely couldn’t eat enough celery to cure cancer by itself, the simple fact that the flavanoids in it could do this in high concentrations could be argument enough for you to make this vegetable one of your regulars on the plate.

Celery May Lower Blood Pressure: Phthalides are active organic compounds in Celery that have been proven to increase your circulatory health benefits. Eating whole (raw) celery can help reduce high blood pressure over time.

Celery May Lowers Stress/Hypertension: Celery is rich in Magnesium (and other minerals) and an essential oil that soothes the nervous system. Have the late night munchies? Make a celery snack, it may help lower your stress level and may even help you sleep better at night.

Lower Bad Cholesterol with Celery: Butylphthalide is one of the chemical constituents in Celery Oil that gives it its aroma and taste. Studies have shown that it may be useful as a treatment for hypertension and have neuroprotective effect in addition to lowering cholesterol. A Chicago University research shows that eating two stalks of celery a day can lower your bad cholesterol (LDL) by up to 7 points.

Lower Body Acidity With Alkalizing Celery: In the average modern persons diet, there are many things eaten that can throw our optimum acid/alkaline levels out of balance. A neutral reading of 7.0 (or slightly higher and alkaline) is optimal. Eating acidic foods can cause a series of problems in the human body and Celery can offset them with it’s alkaline pH and its alkalizing affect on the body. For more information on how pH can have an impact for weight loss go here.

Celery Can Help You Battle Inflammation: As we’ve discussed numerous times here before, Inflammation can hinder your weight loss and actually make you gain weight. If not addressed, it can actually lead to systemic problems with permanent ramifications. Anything to help combat inflammation is a great addition to your diet. Celery is one of these and may help reduce inflammation in joints, minor infections, asthma, acne, gingivitis or many other inflammations that are holding you back from your weight loss goals.

Celery Can Improve Your Sex Life: This is not an old-wives-tale or urban legend. Dr. Alan Hirsch, famous for his invention of Sensa (the popular weight loss supplement) and founder of www.smellandtaste.org says that there are two pheromones in celery that can contribute to an increase in arousal: androstenone and androstenol. They are released when you chew celery and could be a nice addition to your diet to spice up your love life.

Celery Can Help With Weight Management: Whether eaten fresh, with some almond butter, chopped and thrown into salads, cooked up with your other favorite veggies in stir-fry, celery is super low in calories (about 10 calories per stalk) full of fiber and all the other nutrition we’ve spoken about above.

So, make sure celery is on your go-to list of veggies to have on hand at all times. Your body and your weight loss coach will be glad you did.

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Side note: After dealing with a little doldrums this morning I’ve ‘realigned with my reasons why’ and I am back on track. Praise God for reminding me why I’m on this path and giving me the strength and courage to stay on it. May God also bless you with resilience and perseverance as you stay on your weight loss path. In Jesus Name, Amen!

If you find yourself in a place of the doldrums in your weight loss program or in your spiritual life, maybe it’s time you also realign with your reasons why? Look around you, God will point them out to you if you ask.

The celery salad I had with dinner helped me too. It’s just some chopped celery with rock salt & virgin olive oil. A new favorite of mine. Try it. You’ll like it!

Be blessed my friend.

Pastor Dan

P.S. Please comment, share, or like if you find this a blessing to you. Thank you!

Set sail for continued weight loss & spiritual growth with routine!

Set sail for weight loss & spiritual growth — Routine can be the key to new growth towards your weight loss & spirtual growth.

With the weight loss doldrums behind us lets set our eyes on Jesus and set our eyes back on the goal of Spiritual & Physical Recovery. Press on by looking forward so to speak.

Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Proverbs 4:25 ESV

“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” Hebrews 12:2 ESV

Routine can get you out of the doldrums — Lose more weight & grow spiritually with routine

Get back to a routine. For me this meant get back on the bike yesterday even though I didn’t feel like it. It meant starting my fast again the night before last, even when I was hungry. It meant get back on the supplements I was taking. It meant jumping back on the scale yesterday and today (which I was blessed by seeing some additional weight loss). It means doing what is right as far as eating right, exercising, and spending quiet time before the Lord. Doing so consistently. That’s the key. Routine will help you build momentum and help you power through the ups and downs of life that are thrown your way.

Look back on the last few weeks and analyze what routines have been working for you. What are some routines (maybe a new exercise routine or reading the Bible everyday) that you can add to your life that would help you become a more physically and spiritually fit person.

Do so and you’ll find that you’ve set sail again on the weight loss voyage of a lifetime. Remember all things are possible for him who believes.

ALL things are possile! — “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” mark 9:23 NASB

Setting the Record Straight About Tomatoes Once & For All!

Tomatoes are full of nutrients. Who would of thought you could turn such a simple fruit into such a complicated thing — Tomaytoe vs. Tomotoe

Well, first of all, I bet your wondering what the big controversy is. There are 2 that we’ll address today, in addition to listing some of the nutritional benefits & reasons why you should be eating these beautiful vegetables (or are they really fruits?).

Ok. The first controversy that I already hinted at, is whether or not Tomatoes are fruits or vegetables.

Scientifically they are…fruits! There you have it you can finally with confidence & conviction tell your friends you absolutely know the truth. If you are a cook and only interested in whether you are working on a savory dish or not, they are most often (by 99% of the Chefs out there) referred to as vegetables. So, if you want to be scientific, tomatoes are fruits not vegetables.

The second controversy, that has gotten press more recently, is the fact that tomatoes are in a family of fruits (or vegetables) that are called nightshades. There’s a great article written by my long-time mentor Mark Sisson here if you want his take on it, but basically nightshades are in a family of produce that can cause some minor reactions to a portion of the human population.

So, if you are not one of those people that are technically allergic to nightshades, the benefits outweigh any of the risk of minor reactions that you could have. If you are not certain whether you do or do not have an issue with them, try a 2-4 week hiatus from them to see if you notice any difference on or off of them. This is admittedly difficult to determine because how can you be certain that it’s not the tomatoes that made you feel funky that day or the Sushi you had with your friends. If you have any doubt, try a little bio experiment out.

Assuming you are not allergic to them, here are some great benefits and unknown facts about tomatoes that I think you’ll find valuable and interesting.

Tomatoes are a great source of Lycopene which may help prevent several types of cancer in humans
Fun Fact: Studies have found that tomatoes do not have to be dark-red in color to have high levels of Lycopene and researchers have also determined that paler tomatoes (orange & tangerine colored tomatoes) have a form of Lycopene that is easier for our bodies to absorb. This is definitely counter-intuitive to this certified nutrition counselor.
Tomatoes are a great source of numerous antioxidants including Lycopene which have been proven to help prevent bone loss (and osteoporosis) in post-menopausal women.
Researchers who compared conventionally grown tomatoes versus organically grown found that the growing method made a less overall difference than the actual variety of the tomatoes when looking at antioxidant capacity. While all tomatoes showed great antioxidant capacity the better varieties are: New Girl, Jet Star, Fantastic, and First Lady. Further research is needed, but these findings are interesting to say the least.
Researchers are only now starting to identify some of the phytonutrients in tomatoes. Several of the heart-health benefits that come from tomatoes are: preventing atherosclerosis, lowering total cholesterol, lowering (bad) LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. A couple of the phytonutrients in tomatoes that have these benefits are esculeoside, which is a glycoside (for you techie types) and also a flavanoid called chalconaringenin. Another one they believe to have significant health benefit is 9-oxo-octadecadienoic acid a fatty acid. Needless to say, you should put tomatoes on your heart-healthy list and stay tuned as the research catches up to our belief that tomatoes are great for you.

After going through this list, I’ll stop looking at pale tomatoes as the less preferred choice. I’ll definitely keep them on my list of go-to fruits (or vegetables for you die-hard cooks) and not feel guilty about buying the hot-house (non-organic) variety.

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Excerpted from the soon to be released Christian Fatloss™ Program

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My Journey Alongside Yours: A fairly normal day along the path of weight loss for me. I hit the mountain today and completed my 11-mile out-and-back mountain bike ride, even though it’s starting to get pretty warm here in Scottsdale, AZ. It was 83 degrees F when I started my about 1 hours bike ride. I’m not complaining about the heat in any way, as some of my friends in Canada right now are seeing -1 degrees C and snow at the time of this writing. I feel blessed to live where I do and don’t even mind when it hits between 105 deg F and 115 deg F on a regular basis in the summer.

I finished out the night right on my calorie budget and am thankful to have the opportunity to share this journey with you. Thanks for joining me on your own Christian Fatloss™ Journey.

Don’t Forget: You’re an awesome Victory in Progress™!

I’m glad we are in this weight loss program together. You’re often my motivation to keep on keeping on and I hope & pray that I am the same for you. Amen!

Empty calendar days are good for the soul & weight loss!

Booked calendars are not good for the soul — Booking empty calendar days lower stress & help make weight loss gains

Running the calendar for five kids and two adults could overwhelm the average person, but my wonderful wife Diana is gifted with organizational skills & talent and runs our family’s calendar. As you might imagine our family calendar is usually filled with baseball & softball games & practices with three kids playing on teams…one of which is playing for two teams in two cities.

Well, this morning Diana let me know that we have nothing on the calendar. “Nothing?”, I asked. “Yep, nothing”, she said. I was in shock when she told me. Sadly, I can’t remember the last time we had nothing on the calendar. Are you in the same boat with me? When’s the last time you had nothing on your calendar?

What a blessing it is to have an empty calendar, eve if it is only for one day. I have to work all day, but that means that my evening has no commitments. My wife isn’t off to run to a meeting somewhere (which she often does) and I don’t have to drive across the state of Arizona to get a child to a practice or a game.

are you stressed out? Not good if you want to lose weight. — Reduce stress on purpose by scheduling empty calendar days. It may help you lose weight or prevent weight gain by keeping your hormone (cortisol) levels in check.

Discovering you have nothing on your calendar may seem an opportune time to plan something. Don’t do it. Don’t kill the blessing of an empty calendar. Instead, surrender this chunk of time to the Lord and ask him what he’d like you to do.

Get yourself in a still, quiet place away from distractions and listen for the “still small voice”.

11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper (still small voice in KJV). 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

You’ll hear the Lord speak to you ever so softly. It’s almost like a gut feeling.

Then do what he says and look for the opportunity to serve him…to fellowship with him…to worship him.

This could mean you use the time to go to your favorite coffee shop with your Bible and open up your ears to allow God to speak the word of life into your life. This could mean you surrender your time to ministering to your wife & children. Whatever it is, do it without hesitation or guilt.

Why not schedule days on your calendar that have no plans…doesn’t that sound silly. Choose a day (for me its Thursday this week) where you refuse to schedule anything and let God take the lead on what you do.

It’s my belief that having a day every week that has no scheduled commitments will reduce the stress level in your life. Surrender that time to the Lord for whatever he chooses and be obedient to his calling it will open the doors of heaven for God to pour himself into your life. As I’ve often discussed before, lowering your stress is a good way to help keep your hormone levels normal and help keep you on the path of gradual and continuous (sustainable) weight loss which is the goal of some of the readers here.

On the opposite end of the spectrum if you keep yourself stressed out all the time its the quickest way to start putting on the unwanted pounds. Unhealthy pounds at that. Combine that with not enough sleep and you have a perfectly ugly storm brewing. Don’t do it.

Be blessed today my friend in the name of Jesus Christ!

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What do you think? Will you take on my challenge to have an unscheduled day in your calendar? Share your victories and struggles in the comments below…