At the Gym: To Sneeze or Not to Sneeze

While we are still in the middle of cold and flu season, one of the main questions I'm asked is: Should I work out even if I am sick?

The answer is no...and yes. It depends on what kind of sick you are.

General rule of thumb: Listen to your body. If you are sick, your body is telling you that something is wrong.

You should definitely skip your workout if you have a fever. It puts too much stress on your heart, which is already beating faster because of your higher body temperature. If you have chest congestion and shortness of breath, you should also forgo the gym for a day or two. And this may be common sense...but if you exercise with a stomach ache, you will feel worse after.

In these situations, working out may prolong the illness. Plus, some viruses are capable to actually damage the muscles of your heart. There are a lot of myths about "sweating out" germs and toxins. While low intensity exercise may increase endorphins, you can also wear down your immune system. Be smart. Don't count on your endorphins to heal you.

However, if you just have the sniffles or milder symptoms of a cold, moderate exercise should be okay. Just don't push yourself to do your normal routine. Take it easy until you begin to feel better. Gradually increase your workout as your body heals. If you jump right back in at 100% the second you start to feel better, you're likely to relapse. Give your body time to recuperate.

One more thing to keep in mind: A little courtesy never hurt anyone. You may want to skip the gym is to keep from spreading the germs to everyone else. You can always take a walk outside or do a video at home until you are back to normal health.

If you do decide to head to the gym for a low intensity workout, just be considerate. Wipe down machines, wash your hands, etc.

So there you have it. Just be smart! (And if you're sick, feel better!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

On February 14, there are lots of gifts exchanged between people who want to show their love. Many of us use this day as an excuse to over-indulge in chocolate. Remember: everything is okay in moderation. So here's your healthy alternative: DARK chocolate covered strawberries.

Chocolate and strawberries both contain antioxidants. Antioxidants are thought to improve immune function and lower the risk for infection and cancer. Antioxidants help protect our bodies from damage caused by free radicals. Free radicals are formed in simple body processes and can increase upon exposure to environmental contaminants such as cigarette smoke, air pollution or chemicals. Free radicals can damage cells and increase the risk for cancer, artery and heart disease, cataracts, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

Strawberries are a good source of vitamin C. Just one-half cup of strawberries provides 50 milligrams of vitamin C. The Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin C is 75 milligrams for women and 90 milligrams for men. Vitamin C helps produce collagen which helps hold muscles bones and other tissues together, helps keep blood vessels firm to prevent bruising, helps keep your gums healthy, helps heal cuts and wounds and helps protect your body from infection.

Make sure the strawberries are dipped in dark chocolate - that is the key. NOT milk chocolate, and absolutely NO white chocolate! Dark chocolate contains more flavonoids. Flavonoids are naturally occurring compounds found in plant-based foods. The source of antioxidants in chocolate is flavonoids. Flavonoids may also reduce the risk of blood clots and heart disease by expanding the arteries and increasing blood flow.

And remember - just because it contains fruit, that doesn't mean you need to eat the whole box in one setting. Just one or two should do it. :)

got Calcium?

First of all, I hate to take pills.

Second, I hate when people try to get me to buy things.

But I'm throwing both of those out the window because of the great health benefits I have seen from taking Beachbody's Core Cal-Mag.

Studies show that most people don't get the recommended amount of both calcium and magnesium. (This is especially a problem for me since I am lactose intolerant!) And that's a BIG deal! Together, these two elements are required for over 300 metabolic and biological processes. If you body doesn't have enough calcium and magnesium, your body takes unhealthy shortcuts, taking away from other needed minerals to do other jobs in your body.

Core Cal-Mag contains 100% of the recommended daily value of calcium and 125% of magnesium, with added vitamin D so the calcium is absorbed for optimal bone health. Plus - it contains no lactose, protein, or milk allergens, so it’s easy to get an adequate supply of calcium daily, even if you don’t drink you aren't supposed to eat/drink dairy!

Together, these minerals work together to help support normal blood clotting, regulate blood pressure, support the functions of the immune system, and also contribute to increased bone strength and heart health.* In fact, it's an important mineral in regulating the entire cardiovascular system.

ATHLETE’S ALERT: There’s even more to magnesium. It also aids in nerve and muscle function! With added vitamin D and phosphorus, Beachbody's Core Cal-Mag gives you the important support you need to build and maintain bone mass and optimal health.

If you are interested, head over to http://www.teambeachbody.com/chellemyers and check it out!

A Day in the Life

I came across an old journal this morning, and I was reminded of this lesson God taught me about two years ago. It's one that I forget often. As a reminder to myself, I've decided to pass along this story to you...

September 19, 2007

This morning, I woke up in a panic. As you know, I’m a little crazy, and I work out really early in the morning. Well, on Wednesday mornings, I actually teach a class at the gym that starts at 5:30. Normally, I wake up 30 minutes before the class starts, and that gives me plenty of time to get awake and get to the gym. But when I woke up this morning, I didn’t see the :00 that I am used to seeing. I saw :18.

Needless to say, I wigged out. (Again, no surprise there. Interruptions to my routine are not welcome.) I jumped out of bed, threw on my gym clothes, ran to the bathroom, put my contacts in, put some Scope in my mouth that I assume I spit out at some point, but come to think of it...I might have swallowed it...and flew out the door. It was record speed for me, no doubt, but I was still going to be pushing it to get there on time.

I drove to the gym and immediately began praying upon getting in the car. You know the prayer drill that you go through when you’re late for something. “Please give me all green lights. Don’t let me run into any cops." Plus, there's my all-time favorite: "God, if there’s a front row parking spot, it won’t hurt my feelings." The entire time, I kept glancing at the clock, watching as :23 turned to :24...to :25. (You get the picture.)

I rolled into the gym (and into my front row parking spot, I might add) just as I watched the minute turn to :29. Puzzled, I ran into the gym. The parking lot sure was empty, and mid-week at that time of the day, the gym is usually already bumping. The 5 am crowd is hardcore. Seriously. They don't play any games. Usually when I get there ten minutes before my class, there’s already a line waiting to get in the door.

There wasn’t anyone at the front desk, but I went around to the back and got the key to the Cycle room. I walked (OK, OK, you’re right, I ran!) up the stairs, and found that there was no line. There was one lady on the treadmill and a few guys doing weights. Where was everyone??

I searched around for the nearest clock, and that was when I saw it.

12:29.

Yeah, I got up and drove to the gym at midnight.

Now, in my defense, the security alarm at the house I am living at is acting up, and it beeped at 12:18…sounding very much like my alarm clock. But it was still very much a security alarm and not an alarm clock.

On the way home, (Yeah, I mean, I’m a fitness fanatic and all, but I DID have to come back to the gym and teach just 5 hours later. I was NOT going to stay and work out at 12:30.) I began making excuses much like the one above as to WHY I had done this:

"I didn't have time to double check the clock."

"I didn't feel any more tired than I normally do when my alarm goes off."

"It's just as dark at 5 am as it is at midnight."

"At least I wasn't late."

Etc., etc., etc.

Then, I began to get mad at myself. Why in the world did I not look at the hour and just focus on the minute? If I had just examined the clock a little closer, I would have saved myself a lot of stress, some gas in my car, and definitely gotten a little more sleep.

Before laying down to go back to sleep, I had a realization. I do the same thing in my Christian life.

How many times is what God really wants me to do right in front of my face, and I continue to ignore it? I focus on the details (just like I narrowed in on the minutes) rather than the big picture. I wonder if I'm sometimes too busy studying God at seminary to spend time with Him. Or if I'm more concerned with having enough food at a college event than I am making sure that every student who shows up get some love and attention.

Here's the big one though:

And just like the beeping security alarm sounded like my own alarm clock, do I listen to the wrong voice and mistaken it for God’s voice? Do I listen to the things that I WANT to hear God say rather than what He is actually saying?

I got up that morning again at the right time when my alarm went off. I taught my class, letting them laugh at me for what I had done at midnight. I listened to the right alarm, got up at the right time, and I was on time and prepared for the task ahead.

After getting back from the gym, I sat down to have my devotional time with God and read in Proverbs 19.

Proverbs 19:21 stood out. It says, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."


So here's our lesson: Let's not get so caught up in the craziness that we call life that we miss true Life and His purpose for us.

Aren't you glad that you didn't have to get up twice this morning to learn that? :)

I Belong to You

This Sunday before we left for church, James and I were talking about crime rates in the city I grew up in, Memphis, Tennessee, which ironically has consistently been one of the nation’s top crime-infested cities. My sister and I weren’t allowed to go to the Mall of Memphis (“affectionately” nicknamed the Mall of Murder for the near daily deaths in the parking garage). We couldn’t play in the front yard without our parents present, and we could never be alone.

I remember my mom’s ritual of getting in and out of the car. We would exit out the door of our home with the garage door down. After we were settled in the car, my mom would lock the doors before raising the garage door and backing out. Similarly, when we returned home, she wouldn’t unlock the car until the garage door was down. Just as I had done earlier, she would lock and set the alarm on her car, head inside, lock and deadbolt the door, and set the alarm on our house. (Our house alarm had a tap or break alert, so it would go off if glass broke or a door or window opened.)

We went through so much effort – but for what? To protect what? A couple of TV’s and furniture? Our clothes? Sure, I know a large part of it was to protect us, but we took all of these precautions when we weren’t home. These steps were imprinted in my brain to protect our possessions.

If someone asked me what the most precious thing in my life was, what would my answer be? Without hesitation, it’s my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Hands down. No questions asked. That thought led me to another question:

Do I go to as many great lengths to protect my walk with Christ as I do my “stuff?” And if I don’t, what are my true priorities?

It hurt me to think I’ve been more careful protecting our Wii than the royal position I have inherited as an adopted child of God. Instead of placing locks, barriers and alarms on the priceless gift of my salvation in Jesus Christ, I have spent more of my life trying to figure out exactly where the boundaries of sin were so I could go as far as I possibly could without crossing over to Satan’s side.

Would I ever be careless with my material possessions? Would I leave the doors to my car wide open in the Target parking lot with my iPod in the passenger seat? Would I go out of town for a week with my home’s garage door open and doors unlocked? Of course not.

Bottom line: My life should be spent trying to be as close to God and His holiness as possible. Think of balancing on a tightrope that is the boundary between God and Satan. You’ve got a good chance to fall either way.

I went to church feeling pretty down on myself. Here I am – in seminary, a pastor’s wife, pretty much a professional Christian – and I’m still consistently looking for the bare minimum. As if she could read my mind, Ashley Nelson shared a line she heard on a television show: “Feeling inadequate has a universal zip code.” She summed up my morning.

It’s true. Everywhere you turn, you can find a woman who doesn’t think she’s skinny enough, a man who doesn’t think he makes enough money, a college guy trying to figure out who he is without his high school football team, or a girl who just knows that if she makes one B, she’ll never get into graduate school.

But for us, it doesn’t end there.

Ashley went on to say, “But God loves us and works in us regardless of our perceived inadequacies." She sang a beautiful song called “I Belong” by Kathryn Scott based on Romans 8:35-39. (To listen: http://www.independentbands.com/cd/kathrynscott.html)

Not angels, nor demons, no power on earth or heaven.
Not distance, nor danger, no trouble now or ever.

Not hardship, nor hunger, no pain or depth of sorrow.
Not weakness, nor failure, no broken dream or promise.

Nothing can take me from your great love.
Forever this truth remains.

I belong, I belong to You.
I belong, I belong to You.

As she sang, God reminded me of two things:

First, Jesus commanded us to be perfect. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Instead of barely trying to get by in our Christian walk, we should “walk as Jesus did” if we claim to live in Him (1 John 2:6). We should put up barriers to protect us against temptation and sin. I belong to Him, and I should act like it.

Now, this is not the pop Christian belief. In fact, in today’s world, making the statement I did above will categorize me as a legalist or a fundamentalist. I’m saying that everything about Christians - our language, our behavior, our dress, our habits – should look different from the world. If there’s a chance that a movie or going to a certain place could possibly interfere with what God is doing in our lives, our guard should be up to protect what is most valuable.

Secondly, He reminded me that I’m not perfect. I will slip. I will find myself on that tightrope. But no matter what, I still belong to Him - because I have confessed with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believed in my heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

Ask yourself these questions today:

Do you belong to Him?

Can others tell that you belong to Him?

Do you value that you belong to Him?

Because I Love You

Humbling moments. We all have them. Whether they come at the perfect time or couldn’t occur at a worse moment, it is in our most humble moments that we sometimes get the best perspective.

My latest humbling moment - and they DO happen frequently – took place this morning. This is going to be an extremely busy semester, and I’ve been trying to mentally prepare for it since around Thanksgiving. Frantically attempting to cram our crazy life into seven 24-hour days looked as jumbled in my planner as it felt in my mind.

Full-time job, pastor’s wife, seminary student, fitness coach…where does it all fit? Not to mention my husband’s insane schedule. James and I don’t even have kids in the mix (unless you count the 70+ in the college ministry), and we already feel time collapsing around us. I can hear the same advice I’ve heard from a million sources in my life echo in my head: “Your life will never be any easier than it is right now.”

That advice makes me sick to stomach.

I think I have equal respect and resentment for the women in my life who have modeled being a pastor’s wife well for me. How did they make it look effortless? As many times as I have seen this selfless life lived out through countless staff wives, (And as a pastor’s kid, I’ve even seen it in my own home), I never realized how challenging it is.

Most of them have full-time service-based jobs (teachers, nurses, secretaries, etc.), and come home to endless tasks including cooking, cleaning up after dinner, laundry, and helping kids with their homework. Maybe a couple in her husband’s ministry needs some counseling, so they might come over after the kids are asleep. Or she might cook a double recipe to take dinner to a church member who had a relative pass away. Finally, when her work is done, she lays down to sleep – only to get up the next day and do it all over again.

I never knew how exhausting it must have been for my mom to rush in from work, quickly change her clothes, and jump back in the car to take me wherever I needed to be next. I know there were a few times that I thanked her, but I know it wasn’t every time. Not even close.

I was sitting at my desk at work about to begin my next task when I saw I had a new email. It was from my mom, and the subject simply said: Because I love you! At the sight of my mom’s email address, I felt water form in my eyes. Speaking of incredible pastor’s wives, here’s the queen herself. I’m not sure that little girl in me will ever go away. My mother may have transitioned in my life to be one of my best friends, but she will still always be my mommy too.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the message and read:

My dear Michelle,

I know you and James are extremely busy right now. I wish I could just sneak in your house and clean it from top to bottom, get all the clothes washed and back in the closets and drawers, strip the bed and get fresh linens on it, go to the grocery store and get all your favorite foods and stock your refrigerator and pantry, gather up the trash and organize the garage, set the table and have the house filled with the aroma of a home cooked meal, fluff the pillows on the couch and have a bottled water sitting on the side table for both of you, have a few lamps lit and a candle burning and leave a note that reads, "Because I love you!"

Love,
Mom

My damp eyes turned to waterworks. Guilt washed over me as I realized the difference between me and the pastors’ wives I admire: Serving isn’t a responsibility to them. It’s not a task to be completed, a line to check off their to-do list. It’s a pleasure.

II Corinthians 9:6-15 says, “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And 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. As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.” 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. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!”

It isn’t my schedule that needs to change. It’s my heart. I am worthless on my own, but God can do all things through me. It’s not about people seeing what I am doing for others, or where I am serving or giving of my time – it’s about others giving recognition to the God I am serving.

My mom challenged me today to truly be Christ to those I am around – to serve as Jesus did. My prayer is that God will work through me, and no matter how big or small I am able to serve, rather than seeing a 24 year-old still seeking to grow in her faith, that a lost world will hear our Mighty God whisper, “Because I love you.”

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