The Power To Live

Guess what I did recently? I ran my very first trail-- 7 miles even, and had tons of energy the whole time -- even at the end I felt like I could keep running. My breath was good, my feet were good and my legs felt good. I did it in 1 hour and 40 minutes, but could have done it in 1 hour 20 minutes (my guess) if not for the admitted exhausted "plodding" of my husband who was with me (on any given day, that could have been me!). He is such a good man to join me in my fitness antics!

What's more, I did the 7 mile run AFTER running 2.25 miles placing station flags for my "Bootie Camp," AND walk/running the 2.25 trail again with the group.

I've put in over 11 miles -- and over 25,000 steps on the pedometer again. And I felt fine -- just fine -- great even.

Who would have ever thought that the girl who always struggled to keep up would be kicking her 6' husband's butt, and would be strong and have power to spare after a 7 mile run that came after two 2.25 mile courses? I am simply amazed, and I owe it to...you guessed it -- NUTRITION!!

I cannot emphasize enough how powerful a role what goes into your mouths plays in every single thing that you do and in who you are -- your emotions, the health of your tissues, how well you sleep, your ability to ward off cancer and disease, and yes, your ability to go for miles and miles easily and enjoyably!

I had a medical researcher on the "Bootie" Camp trail the same day that I ran the 7 miles. She was a researcher of breast cancer and do you know what she said? She said that "medical science has pretty much determined that the reason why the level of occurence of breast cancer in the USA so far exceeds the levels in other countries is because of the USA's adopted nutrition practices."

Let me tell you how I ate in preparation for my day of endurance! I ate lightly the night before so that I wouldn't be bogged down the next morning. I ate 1/2 a beef/bean burrito at 1pm, the other 1/2 at 4pm, a turkey and green bean dinner at 7pm and a chicken and yellow squash dinner at 10pm - all small servings. Then in the a.m. I had scrambled eggs and oatmeal with blueberries at 7:30am, then a scoop of Accelerade at 8:30am, then I ran a 2.25 mile course, had another scoop of Accelerade, then ran the course again with the group, and had 2 scoops of Endurox at 11:30. At 12:30 I had 170 calories of peanuts (fat is a great source of fuel) and 1 small trail mix bar (simple sugars and fats for fuel) in preparation for the 7 mile run which began at 1pm. And then we had 1 scoop of Accelerade at 2 points along the run -- at 40 minutes and 30 minutes later. The purpose of each one of these meals was fuel for endurance activity -- and it worked!

So as I was running the 7 mile trail, I found myself listening to my breath. I discovered this summer how incredibly peaceful it was being face up in a cool swimming pool looking at the blue sky and clouds above with no sound below except the water-muffled sound of my breath -- in and out, in and out -- it was absolutely calming somehow. I found myself feeling the exact same way on the trail. Peace. Breath. In and out, in and out. Cool air, blue sky, dappled sunlight on my shoulders, my husband's more labored breath behind me, the crackling of the pine needles, the beautiful smells of pine and water and mud and the sound of my feet slapping the ground. All peaceful. So peaceful. So enjoyable. And so sad.

Why sad? I was sad because no one signed up for my first trail run. My 7 mile run was a scheduled gropu trail program and no one signed up. Why? Outside of those who are truly unable to accomplish this task due to disability and the fact that I haven't begun publicizing the event in "Endurance" Magazine yet (coming in October), but given the fact that folks are finding their way to every other new event, I suppose there was fear about the length. I suppose there was denial that it could be accomplished. I suppose that most everyone decided that it was more than they could handle. And they were probably right. That's what I find sad. This beautiful, natural, peaceful, healthful process is too much for most people to handle because we are so out of health and so out of shape that our bodies and minds can't grasp how meaningful and healthful a 7 mile nature run is. Instead we find it overwhelming -- crippling even.

And stressful. We worry about how much faster everyone else will be and how we will look bad rather than simply caring about performing it for ourselves -- for our health and well-being. Believe me, I only run a 9-10 minute mile. I'm not a fast runner -- not with these stumpy little legs. As the group leader, I worry about holding my clients back, not the other way around. I wish people would live beyond their fear and move on to challenge and acceptance of self and faith and patience.

Our bodies were made to move. We have joints that move in all sorts of ways, and muscle to give us strength, and eyes in the fronts of our faces to analyze terrain and make decisions on foot placement. We find more perfect health when we move intensely on a regular basis -- peace and strength abound. Pulse and breath quicken and give us life -- more abundantly than we remember having. It's amazing how we don't realize how out of shape we are until we discover how in shape we can become. I wish more people would discover that.

I've put together some walking clubs, some running clubs (short runs) and some "bootie" camps and trail walks and runs -- all at incredibly affordable prices so that the general public can participate and discover what it is like to have their bodies work -- consistently and moderately-to-intensely. I want people to have the giddy joy that I had when I got to the end today and realized that if it weren't for my trail partner I could have run harder and longer, that after 11+ miles I still had energy to burn -- literally. I did the "Rocky Dance" with my hands over my head and jumped up and down and around and I felt like I was amazing. And do you know what? I am. I am amazing. I am 39 years old and I am amazingly better than I ever dreamed possible.

That's my wish for you. Be better than you ever dreamed possible. Be inspired. Find some mountain in your life and become committed to moving it. Set a date, make a slow-to-moderate plan to give your body time to adapt and begin to chip away at it until you, too, find that you are simply amazing.

My Husband's Business

My New Personal Chef Service
Get The Body You Desire By Eating
Delicious Gourmet Food!

I keep hearing about how my clients are not able to eat as they should because they are either unable or unwilling to cook, and because they are very busy professionals. So, I decided to bring back my "Skinny Mini-Meal" chef service. Although I am completely booked through October, my husband, who is an amazing Italian chef, will be filling other orders. And...we have a business partnership that is working toward expanding these meals on both an in-home and delivery service. Stay posted!

The month's menu is all ready for you, as well as more information on how it works.

Meet Kathy Murchison

My name is Kathy Murchison. I am a 53-year-old woman who is President and CEO of a digital printing company. When I was shopping for my outfit for my company’s Christmas party last year, I bought a beautiful black suit that was size 14. After the Christmas Party and the Christmas Holiday, I spent a week at Wrightsville beach with a lot of my friends. We cooked, drank a lot, celebrated New Year’s together and had a great time.

When I got back to Raleigh and was getting ready for work, I looked in the mirror and what I saw was shocking. I had grown from a size 10 in January 2002 to a size 12 in January 2003 to a size 14 in January 2004 and all I had done about it was buy another size of clothes. (I had rationalized that this was fine since during that time I had lost my job, my 16 year old dog had died, I had had a full left hip replacement and started a new company.) But, alas, there was really no excuse!

I made my New Year’s resolution right then – get back to 135 lbs. (I was at a startling 158 lbs.!) My plan was to do the South Beach Diet, have no beer and to work out. I bought the book, read it and started with my two weeks. Since I had never been successful with diet alone I knew that I also needed to work out, but had no idea what to do.

Coincidently a person that works for me had been working out with a trainer and had good results. That trainer was Angela Ursprung. I contracted with her in February for a 90-day, two-night-a-week stint. By that time I had finished my two week carbohydrate cleansing, had stayed off the beer and had begun eating five to six small meals a day. Of course, I had seen no appreciable change in my size.

My, what a difference 90 days can make. I found that I loved working out with Angela – she was inspiring to me – made me do things that I never thought I could do. My body was rapidly changing: I had gone from 23% body fat to 16% body fat; all of my clothes were falling off me.

At the end of my first 90 days, I knew that she would be a part of my life for the foreseeable future. Before beginning with her, my hip, which has just undergone hip replacement surgery was very weak, I had no balance, I had no stamina and my golf handicap was about 30; now I have muscle all around my prosthetic hip joint, I can balance on each foot while pulling the other one up behind me, I can outlast all of my friends when walking and my handicap is 19. I find that I don’t need the beer to be the life of the party; I even volunteered to be the designated driver last weekend.

I was so excited about my metamorphosis that I contracted with Angela to work with my General Manager on his body. From there, I hired her to work with all of my employees. All 30 employees get the opportunity to work with her for four sessions that are paid for by the company. We are all healthier and have more energy; our meetings are more upbeat and positive with more participation; our error-rate is down and production is up. We have added a weight room and an aerobic exercise room at work for Angela’s training and for our employee’s use. My business partner has also contracted with her.

She has caused an epidemic of health, happiness and excitement! I am now at the end of my second 90-day period and I weigh 133 lbs., my body fat is 14% and I wear a size 6 in slacks and, because of my shoulders and back, a 12 in a jacket. My life is forever changed and I will forever be indebted to her for helping me reach my potential and making my company a much more positive and fun work environment.

What are YOU waiting for?

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Your Spiritual Health

Kenneth Copeland
Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Failures and disappointments. Aches and pains from the past that just won't seem to go away. Most of us know what it's like to suffer from them but too few of us know just what to do about them. So we limp along, hoping somehow they'll magically stop hurting.

But it never happens that way. In fact, the passing of time often leaves us in worse condition--not better. Because, instead of putting those painful failures behind us, we often dwell on them until they become more real to us than the promises of God. We focus on them until we become bogged down in depression, frozen in our tracks by the fear that if we go on, we'll only fail again.

I used to get caught in that trap a lot. Then one day when I was right in the middle of a bout with depression, the Lord spoke up inside me and said:

"Kenneth, your problem is you're forming your thoughts off the past instead of the future. Don't do that! Unbelief looks at the past and says, "See, it can't be done." But faith looks at the future and says, "It can be done, and according to the promises of God, it is done!" Then putting past failures behind it forever, faith steps out and acts like the victory's already been won.

If depression has driven you into a spiritual nosedive, break out of it by getting your eyes off the past and onto your future--a future that's been guaranteed by Christ Jesus through the great and precious promises in His Word.

Forget about those failures in the past! That's what God has done (Heb. 8:12). And if He doesn't remember them any more, why should you?

The Bible says God's mercies are new every morning. So if you'll take God at His Word, you can wake up every morning to a brand-new world. You can live life totally unhindered by the past.

So, do it! Replace thoughts of yesterday's mistakes with scriptural promises about your future. As you do that, hope will start taking the place of depression. The spiritual aches and pains that crippled you for so long will quickly disappear. Instead of looking behind you and saying, "I can't," look ahead and say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"

Scripture Study: Philippians 3:1-14

The Body Sculptress says, "Having too much weight to bear often manifests itself physically, when the root of the "weight" is actually psychological and/or emotional. If you have too much weight to bear, take your pain to God and ask Him to show you what the root of the problem is. I'll bet that once you begin letting go of your painful past, guilt, embarrassment, and shame, your physical weight will miraculously begin to drop as well."