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. 🙂

Christian Vitality Prayer – It’ll change your life inside and out…if you let it.

There was a time in my life where I spent about 30-50% of my life traveling for a living.  I was a regional sales manager for a high tech company in the electrical & electronics industry.  What I did for work is not what matters, it’s what I did during all that down time on the plane at 33,000+ feet high and in airports and hotel rooms.

I spent those five years diving into every self-help & success book I could find.  I also spent that time going through the Bible 5 times (The New Testament 10 times) and really getting to know the character of God and how he shapes how humans succeed in life.  I’ll admit a lot of the authors of books I’ve read are secular (many are also strong Christians), but what I found to be true after all that research & study is the there is a:

Universal Conspiracy For or Against Your Individual Success, You Decide! – Dan Matejsek

26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:28 The Message

Putting it a different way, you get to decide whether you have a successful life or an unsuccessful one…a happy one or unhappy one…either way that you choose what kind of life you’re going to have, you’ll get it.

Once you decide & commit (submit) your plans (long-term & short-term) for your life to God and have his blessing you will succeed (Proverbs 16:3).

Whatever you do, do it as service to Him, and He will guarantee your success. Proverbs 16:3 Voice

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16:3 ESV

Another by-product (or extreme blessing to me and hopefully you) of that time of self reflection, Biblical Study and Science of Human Success studying, is a prayer (with some affirmation built into it) that I’ve prayed for literally the last 10 years straight.  Some days it’s first thing in the morning and then again at night.  Some days it’s a portion of the prayer to remind me of God’s promises. Sometimes it’s a portion right before I jump on the scale or after an apparent problem in my life.

This evening when you have time (and if you’re game, do it every day) please pray this prayer with me.  Own it. If you can commit to memorizing it and praying it every morning and/or evening before you go to bed.  I faithfully & firmly believe that God will use it to change your life on the inside & outside.  It will likely help you believe different things about yourself, which will lead you to lose even more weight & fat off your body. It will touch areas of your life that you could not have ever imagined.

My prayer is that this prayer that God helped me craft, is a blessing to you and helps bring Spiritual & Physical Healing to you, that will result in a closer walk with the Lord Jesus and a Healthier, Happier You that has a longer stay here on earth as a result. In Jesus Name, Amen!

Oh God, Creator and Sustainer of the whole Universe.  You are my loving Father and interested in every detail of my life.  You only have good for me and desire to give me healing, wholeness, and forgiveness. Therefore, I place myself at your feet under your authority and your control & protection for your will to be done in my life.

Everything over which you’ve given me authority, I place at your feet…my family (name them), my loved ones (name them), my blessings (name them), my gifts, my talents, and my life experiences. Everything over which you’ve given me authority Lord I place at your feet…

[I often do this kneeling and physically act out (with my hands) laying things at his feet]

In Christ, I deserve, desire, and willing receive the abundance & prosperity of the Universe. It flows to me, is promised to me and is mine to keep.  In return for my obedience to the Lord by fully utilizing the gifts he has given, the Universe benefits directly and indirectly by the value added by my obedient actions and prosperity.

All my debts have long since be paid for and forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ and I honor the Lord by forgetting them and learning from them.

I retain focus and gain strength with help from the Holy Spirit of God and overcome all obstacles.

For yours is the Kingdom, the Power, and Glory forever and ever. Amen!

Christian Vitality Prayer – Dan Matejsek

What do you think? Awesome isn’t it.

I’ll spend the time in another post and go over the dozens of scriptures that were pieced together to help construct that prayer.  I’m sure it resonated with you as most of it is right out of the Bible.

If you like it, print out this prayer and use it…daily…morning and night if you can.  Pretty soon it will become a part of you like it has for me.  Welcome Jesus & the Holy Spirit of God into your life as these truths become a reality in your prayer life and real life.

Fasting for Fat Loss!

Fasting for Fat Loss & Spiritual Growth

In modern-day church circles, at least in the USA, fasting seems to be an almost dying art.  A mysterious custom from the days of yore, which most if not all Christians don’t practice and may not even understand the concept behind it.

I don’t kid myself to think that I know all there is to fasting, but I thought I’d do a little Bible study on fasting to give you the Biblical perspective of fasting and also give you a brief overview of all the benefits that modern science has determined in recent research.  Turns out God has it right, fasting is good for you. :-)

Biblical Wisdom about Fasting

Isn’t fasting only Old Testament stuff? It’s truly not for people in this day and age, right?

Wrong. There are almost as many references in the New Testament as Old Testament about fasting. Since we take most of our current Christian customs and practices from the New Testament to model the early church…it is absolutely for our day and age.

Why, Biblically, should we fast?

Fasting is a sign of submission to God’s authority and a way to honor him by following his commands. It is a way for us to also humble ourselves before him. James chapter 4 has a great promise that comes as a reward for humbling ourselves. “God will raise (exalt) the humble”.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:10 ESV

Jesus went without food for 40 days in the desert. So, if you want to know what Jesus would do. If he was around today, he would be praying and fasting.

The early church is also an example for us as they often “prayed & fasted” during important times in the church.

Fasting is absolutely something for the Christian in 2014 and beyond from a Biblical perspective.

How should we fast? It’s a personal one-on-one (secret) expression of your faith and God will reward you.

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:16-18 ESV

Why should we fast? To humble ourselves before the Lord. For a sign of repentance when we return to his ways.

When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. Psalm 69:10 ESV

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; Joel 2:12 ESV

When should we fast? In times of preparation. During times of prayer.  When we are trying to get closer to God. During special times of commitment to God and asking for God’s mercy and blessing.

I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks. Daniel 10:3 ESV

And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Acts 14:23 ESV

Modern Science Backing the Benefits of Fasting

Why should we fast from a modern science perspective?

Fasting has been researched significantly for many years and some of the findings and positive ramifications it can have for our long-term health is astounding.

I could right volumes of books just going through all the research, but I’ll just ask that before you do any fasting that you research it yourself and absolutely, before you engage in longer-term fasting you consult with your doctor. For the most part, fasting in the Christian Vitality program and Christian Fatloss Program means skipping a meal, or refraining from eating after 8:00pm which is a commonly a held belief and encouraged practice by even the most conservative health practitioner.

For people in their later Christian Fatloss Cycles an option to increase the amount of fat loss is to implement what is commonly called Intermittent Fasting. It is typically refraining from eating for 12+ hours. It’s typically not recommended to fast for longer than 24 hours in most circles, but in VERY recent research it is deemed okay to go longer. Do your research and consult your doctor before doing so.

I implemented Intermittent fasting for 6 out of 7 days for cycles 2 – 5. In cycle 2 I was a little hit and miss, but was able to train my body to adapt to it and consistently, without fail, fasted for 16+ hours for 6 days per week in cycles 3-5.

There are several ways to implement it, that have been proven to be effective, both for increasing health and for increasing fat loss.

Some kinds of fasting can be every other day (called alternate day fasting), every day for short periods, fasting after a workout or exercise to help increase growth hormone production (to keep you young and vital) and variations. A popular one recently was called the 5/2 diet. Where your fasting for a couple of days and ate normally for the others.

The Christian Vitality Diet & Christian Fatloss Program is typically 12 hours or more if you are in later Fatloss Cycles. Some mainstream people would call this a “condensed eating window”. So, that’s the sustainable and practical version of what I did.

Here are just a few of the scientifically documented health benefits of fasting:

  • Longevity: It can help you live longer
  • Blood Lipids: It can help with you bad cholesterol levels.
  • It has been proven to be as or more effective than calorie restriction in overweight women to help repair damage from metabolic syndrome
  • Every other day (alternate day) fasting has been proven to lower LDL-c numbers and also reduce LDL particle size.

Celebrate & Rejoice your Christian Weight Loss Victories

When we are on weight loss program or just living life in general, it’s easy to forget to celebrate the small victories and rejoice & be glad.

Feel free to download these Christian Wallpapers for your phone or desktop and share them with friends and family.

Be blessed my friends.

 

Give thanks to God for your weight loss victories with these wallpapers
Give thanks to God for your weight loss victories with these wallpapers

Psalm-118_24-rejoice

Find your place in life & power yourself into your work!

Find your place in this world and pour yourself into your work
Find your place in this world and pour yourself into your work

Ever feel out of place?  In strange surroundings? Not sure where to start or what to do next?

That was the case when we rolled up this morning at the home-site of Don Juan (Juan) and Alejandrina this morning.

Roughly 25 people of all shapes, ages, and sizes (all loving the Lord Jesus) showed up this morning to serve him by serving other people.  These folks were in desperate need of a real home.  Their existing home was a mish-mash of pieces of scrap wood found slapped together to form walls and a roof made up of overlapping scraps of tar paper Juan  found.

There was a thin concrete  floor for only one portion of the home the rest was mainly covered (rags & rugs) dirt floors.  The dirt in this part of Mexico is mostly sand and fairly dusty, so it gets just about everywhere and in some places forms sand-dunes from the wind storms they often get.

These folks have to serve their communities for a large portion of hours with the 1Mission people and with regional and local church pastors in order to get these homes.  So, this is no random chance free home for these folks…they’ve earned it by spreading the love of Jesus in their local community.

I digress…back to the finding your place part.

Well, there were a few of us (me included) that had some construction experience. Several who had no construction experience and five kids whose sole purpose was to be there to have fun with the neighbor kids (we had 15-20 at our job site the whole week).

For the first 15 minutes on the site there was a little bit of standing around each of us was wondering what to do.  After that, everything seemed to fall into place and everyone found their place and poured themselves into it.

Find your place in this world and pour yourself into your work
Find your place in this world and pour yourself into your work
Find your place in this world and pour yourself into your work
Find your place in this world and pour yourself into your work

All things work for the good of those who love them (in my name) and are called to his purpose, seems to be the theme for this trip.

When your are called to his purposes and are obedient to his calling, you don’t need to have all the answers or the entire plan…you just need to take action (active Faith in progress) and God will sort out the details.

Looking back on it later in the day I could see that God slid people into there proper places based on their giftings and talents…just as you would expect him to do. I could give you  case-by-case examples that would be an entire post by itself.

We each have a place and a purpose for our lives and God has gifted us with different Spiritual gifts, different talents, skills, and life experiences to do his will here on earth. We just have to surrender to his calling on our life and take action when he presents opportunities to serve him.

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 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, 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. 1 Corinthians 12: 21-26

God will show you your part if you say “Yes, Lord. I’m listening!” Then do whatever it is he tells you to do next.  Just do your part to best of your ability as if you are serving Jesus Christ personally in the flesh.  You’ll start to see the people you serve the way he does and they’ll win over your heart.

23Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24 ESV

What a beautiful thing our lives can be if we’ll surrender our lives over to Christ and let him use us to love the world the way his Father loved us when he sent Jesus to die for us on the cross.

Be blessed today friend…but more importantly surrender to him and be on the lookout for opportunities to serve Jesus personally.

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 giver8And 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.

Be Blessed By Blessing Others
Be Blessed By Blessing Others

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!

==================================================

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

Missions trips are a blessing
Little barefoot neighbor boy helping us (Jesus) & Corrine
Missions trips are a blessing
Their existing home with new foundation poured in front of it.
Missions trips are a blessing
Side of their existing house. Daughter Rachel with one of many stray Chihuahuas
Missions trips are a blessing
Looking east down their street from in front of home
Missions trips are a blessing
Looking west down their street from in front of home
Missions trips are a blessing
Abandoned house(?) next door
Missions trips are a blessing
House dedication & presentation to family with Bible in Spanish

 

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

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

Realign with your reasons why to conquer the doldrums in your life!
From peaceful cruise to doldrums. 🙂

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:

  1. You know that staying on the path of obesity is a short-lived one and your tired of struggling through life being over-weight?
  2. Are you afraid you won’t get to see your kids and grand-kids grow up if you stay on your current path?
  3. Do you have family members that are obese and you’ve decided that you want a different path for yourself?
  4. Are you tired of shopping for your clothes in the big girl or big guy section?
  5. Are you tired of feeling embarrassed over you weight at public pools, beaches, and gyms?
  6. 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
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!