For Candy Cravers...

Halloween is right around the corner.... candy cravers, take your mark! But is indulgence a trick or treat when it comes to good health? Neither! It all boils down to moderation. Below is registered dietician Carol M. Bareuther's scoop on some top-selling halloween candies:

Candy	Serving	Calories	Sat. Fat	Sugar	Dietitian's Tips
Tootsie Rolls	six pieces (40 g)	140	0.5 g	20 g	With less fat and fewer calories than most candies on this list, a Tootsie Roll's downside is its sticky factor. The longer sugars stay in contact with the teeth, the higher the risk for tooth decay, according to the American Dental Association.
Brach's Candy Corn	22 pieces (40 g)	140	0 g	28 g	Fat-free is the plus here. But the stickiness and sugar means munch, then brush.
Kit Kat	one package (43 g)	210	7 g	22 g	The light wafer makes this bar less dense and therefore lower in sugar per serving than many of its counterparts.
Hershey's Milk Chocolate Kisses	nine pieces (41 g)	230	8 g	21 g	Choose Special Dark to cut calories by 20 per serving and add flavonoids (antioxidants linked to heart health and cancer prevention).
M&M's Milk Chocolate Candies	small bag (47.9 g)	240	6 g	31 g	Sort into single colors and store in portions. Small studies have found that people eat more candy if you offer them different colors.
Milky Way	one bar (58.12 g)	260	7 g	35 g	Eat one, then freeze the rest (a good idea for just about any candy bar).
Butterfinger	one bar (60 g)	270	6 g	29 g	Beware the King Size. On the nutrition label, one serving is only a third of the bar.
Snickers	one bar (58.7 g)	280	5 g	30 g	Opt for the Fun Size, and sugar, calories and saturated fat drop by two-thirds.
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups	one package (51 g)	280	6 g	26 g	Like other bars with nuts, these aren't a total zero for nutrition. They contain a little protein and iron. However, I sure wouldn't recommend eating candy to get your nutrients!

If ghosts and goblins don't scare you, maybe the tital wave of high-fructose corn syrup will... enjoy your halloween candy for a few days, but don't make choices that will haunt you- and your hips- for months to come.

Moderation, moderation, moderation!

Do It Anyway

People are often unreasonable,

illogical and self-centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind,

people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful,

you will win some false friends and true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,

people may cheat you;

Be honest anyway.

What you spend years building,

someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,

they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,

people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,

and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and God;

It was never between you and them anyway.

-Mother Teresa

Preach to Yourself

Have you ever had a morning where you just wake up feeling down?  I'm having one today- and when I woke up this morning I was reminded of a book I read awhile ago that taught me to "preach to myself."  

When I woke up feeling "blaaaah" today I immediately began taking my negative thoughts captive (lonely, overwhelmed, sad, or whatever else you may be feeling at that moment) and replaced those negative thoughts with positive truth from Scripture.   My outlook was completely changed by a conversation that took less than two seconds and was finished before I had even climbed out from under the covers:

"Self, you say you're lonely?  God is always with you!"

"Self, You say you're discouraged?  Take hope in the Lord!"

"Self, You say you're overwhelmed?  Cast all your cares on Him, He cares for you!"  

In his book, Jones calls us to recognize that most of our unhappiness in life is because we are listening to ourselves rather than talking to ourselves.  We are in control of our own thoughts!  If you catch yourself thinking something that is negative and not in line with God's word, stop yourself!  

Instead of allowing your self to talk to you, start talking to your self!  

"Preach to Yourself"

“Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc.

Somebody is talking. Who is talking? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul?’ he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: ‘Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you.’…

The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: ‘Why art thou cast down’– what business have you to be disquieted?

You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope thou in God’– instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do.

Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: ‘I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God.’”

–D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cure (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965/2002), 20-1.

Face Your Fear

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do." -Eleanor Roosevelt

Life = Risk

If you've never failed, you've never lived.  Dream big today!

Words to Live By

Check out these incredible words to live by from the oldest man in the world... 114 years YOUNG! From healthy eating & exercise, to education, hard work, and helping others, I think we could all take a lesson from Walter Breuning!


In his own words, "Every day is a good day..." 

Dare to be Great!

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place, and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! 

Cause if you're willing to go through all the battling you got to go through to get where you want to get, who's got the right to stop you? I mean maybe some of you guys got something you never finished, something you really want to do, something you never said to someone, something... and you're told no, even after you paid your dues? Who's got the right to tell you that, who? Nobody! It's your right to listen to your gut, it ain't nobody's right to say no after you earned the right to be where you want to be and do what you want to do!

Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and that pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!"   -Rocky Balboa


You are powerful beyond measure.... Dare to be great!

No Excuses!

Excuses are like butt-holes: we all have them & they all stink! No matter what goal you have, it is never impossible for you to achieve it.  Everything is possible, only your mind limits the possibilities.  Therefore, to achieve your goals, you need to think differently!  That means that today, if you want to reach your goals, you have to change your thinking.... *NO EXCUSES!*

God Chose Us!

Lately I've really been challenged to live a radically God-centered life. For the past month I've been working through Henry Blackaby's book, "Experiencing God." The whole premise of the book is to come to know God, to recognize His voice, and to understand His will for our lives. God has revealed a lot to me lately, but one of my most favorite and precious revelations during my quiet time with Him is the fact that it is GOD who pursues a love relationship with us.

God always takes the initiative in our love relationship. The witness of the entire Bible testifies that God pursues us and orchestrates ways for us to experience Him. He came to Adam and Eve in the garden. In love, He had fellowship with them and they with Him. He came to Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the prophets. It was GOD who took the initiative for each person in the Old Testament to experience Him in a personal fellowship of love. In the New Testament, Jesus approached His disciples and chose them to be with Him and to experience His love.

In our natural human state, we do not seek God on our on initiative.

Romans 3:10-12 says, "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." How many people are naturally righteous? Not one! How many people understand spiritual truths on their own? Not one! How many people naturally seek God? Not one! How many people instinctively do good? Not even one!

The bad news is that sin has marred us so deeply that no one seeks God on his own initiative- if we are to have a relationship with Him and His Son, GOD Must take the initiative. But the good news.... is that this is exactly what God does!

In John 6:65 Jesus says, "No one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." Who can come to Jesus without being drawn by the Father? No one. The only way a person can come to Jesus is if God enables them.

Jeremiah 31:3 says, "The Lord appeared to us in the past saying: 'I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." The love that God focuses on our lives is an everlasting love. From that love He has pursued us. He has drawn us to him and even gave His own Son to die for us. It has nothing to do with what we've done and has everything to do with what GOD has done out of LOVE for us!

John 15:16 says, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit- fruit that will last." I do not choose God. He chooses me, loves me, and revels His eternal purposes for my life. It is GOD who pursues me and orchestrates ways for me to experience Him each and every day. In the same, way it is God who chooses and loves you. It's nothing that you can do, have done, or need to do on your own- it is GOD who pursues a love relationship with you!

Tonight, lets remember how blessed we are. We are chosen! Despite our sinfulness, God is pursuing us.... We are loved!

What are You On?

What is the key to reaching your fitness goals? It's not about the supplements, there's no magic workout, and there's no miracle diet pill.  It's about listening to and pushing your body.

What is Lance Armstrong on? HIS BIKE! Working, pushing, and training hard....

There's no quick fix.... It's time to get moving!  

What are you on?