I believe that you can accomplish anything you choose to.  The Bible is clear that “ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE”.  Because of the Power of God that lives and is alive and well inside of you, you can succeed in your health and life.  Yes there are the literal and consistent natural steps you have to take, but it is the “faith” inside of you, given by God, that is the start of it all.  ANd like the Word makes it clear, our Works / Actions prove and make “mature’ our Faith. 

YOUR HEALTH, YOUR LIFE, YOUR CHOICE  Godbless u kj

This pic has nothing to do with what is on my heart to talk about, I just thought it was worth sharing with you.  I want to talk about youth, kids, younguns.  It is amazing at how fast they pick up on stuff they hear and see from others and from t.v.  I have told you several times in the past about how we try to stay very proactive and fill our boys with God’s Word in our talk and actions with them.  And we see the fruit from them both.  The other day we caught something Joshua Paul was saying that was not good.  We of course addressed it real quick.  We reminded him of how oh so powerful his words are.  We told him that everyone’s words are extremely powerful in how they affect others, their environment around them, and themselves.  And we told him that since he had “the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead” living on the inside of him, his words were even more powerful. 

There are a lot of things that our kids pick up on as far as words, attitudes, expressions, etc.  And unfortunately many of these things are flat out negative.  I understand taht we cant totally shelter our kids, but at the same time we can control some of this.  ANd of course what we cant control we have to make sure the are filled with “good stuff”, mainly love and the right core teachings which I always believe come from THE WORD OF GOD. 

Some would probably think I go overboard on what I allow my boys to watch on t.v.  I am not perfect on this and maybe should get even better, but at the same time I do monitor it pretty close.  Even with the Disney channel and the little teeny bopper shows.  I mean, that should be pretty clean and positive.  But that has not been my experience in the few times I have checked to see what Joshua Paul was watching on Disney.  Again you may say I am going overboard,but to me it is literally way to much “drama”, very negative and disrespectful behavior, and very negative language.  The Bible is clear that there is 1. Life and 2. Death in the power of the tongue.  It doesnt say anything about any “gray” area in between.  Again, I am far from perfect in my life, and in raising my kids.  But I do challenge you to really watch what you kids are picking up on t.v. and other places.  Yes I know we cant shelter them completely, but we can be very proactive.  And I guarantee you just like any other thing you do that takes time and effort in order to produce good fruit in your kids health and lives, making sure they “see” and “hear” the right words will produce a great harvest.  And for those things you know they are going to be around no matter what, just keep them full of HIS WORD, keep them prayed over (that’s your authority) and always ready to “teach” from His Word to come against any negativity them face.

YOUR HEALTH, YOUR LIFE, YOUR CHOICE  Godbless u kj

We were extremely blessed to have one of our good friends give us tickets to the Braves Game last nite.  Man the boys were so excited about going, and boy did they ever have a BLAST at the game.  We ate at the 755 club, hit in the batting cage, thru baseballs, run the base path up top, and got to sit field level to watch some of the game.  Of course sitting and watching the game was where we spent the least time since we had to keep the boys busy.  To my suprise though as we were leaving David Ben got pretty upset and started pulling me back towards the seats saying “But Daddy I want to see the game again!”  It was awesome to see them have so much fun.  And again what a blessing it was for our friend to give us those tickets. 

I tell you this, and please take heed to this truth:  It is better to give than to recieve.  God says that “whatever you do for another, HE will do for you.”  When you bless others with the right heart, it does something on the inside of you that all the exercise and good nutrition in the world cant duplicate.  There is an actual physical response you have from doing this.  It is just like being “Thankful” and what that does for you physically, not to mention mentally and emotionally.  This is powerful stuff, and God set it up this way so as we choose to take the focus off self and put it on others, we end up getting our desires met and reap many benefits, including physical improvements.  Be a GIVER.  Be THANKFUL.  This are very important components of any true health improvement plan!!

YOUR HEALTH, YOUR LIFE, YOUR CHOICE Godbless u kj

I went down to Garfield this weekend to take my mom out to lunch for Mother’s Day and to get some work down.  Me and Mom had a great time and some good country cooking at a local restaurant.  I dont get to spend much time with my mom by ourselves so that was pretty special.  On that note, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all you great mothers.  If you are a mother, then you are something very special. 

ONe thing that I am pretty sure of is that Mother’s are very special.  I know too that one thing that all good mothers’ have in common is this: THEY NEVER GIVE UP.  They Never Give Up on the hope for Good in and for their kids.  They never give up and being a “true mother.”  They never give up on seeing God’s Best in their kid’s lives.  They never give up on being good to their kids.  They never give up on allowing God to guide them in raising their kids.  They never give up on seeing that “fruit” from their “seed”(time, love, money, patience, discipline) planted. 

This is a powerful lesson we all should take from those “good” moms.  Just like them “being perfect” should not be the goal.  Yes we will make mistakes in our lives just like them, some big, some small.  At the same time though we have to have it settled in our heart that we will accomplish our GOALS in our health and life no matter what.  And knowing deep down inside that quitting is absolutely not an option.  Like the saying “REMOVE THE QUIT OPTION.”  I am reminded of this many times in my own life when it seems that I am not making progress in a particular area.  I remember the goals I have, the high emotions when I first started, and the conquering attitude.  Then in the midst of those tough times when no progress seems to be made I have to remember this one and very powerful thing: I WILL NEVER QUIT!!!

You settle it in your heart and mind too.  If you are a good mother then you already understand this for sure.  Just take that same consistent tenacity with that “Once and For All” mindset and just NEVER EVER GIVE UP.  IF you are not a mother then take a lesson from them and apply their principle to any health and life goal you have.

YOUR HEALTH, YOUR LIFE, YOUR CHOICE  Godbless u kj

SUMMER YOUTH CAMPS  2012

GAME SHAPE CAMPS – Improve overall fitness and Performance for sports.  We work on full body strength and power movements, speed, agility, and athletic mobility.  This camp is for boys and girls ages 7 and up.  We also teach the youth LIFE PRINCIPLES that come from the Word of God.

SOFTBALL PERFORMANCE CAMPS – Our trainer / coach Arielle Garner will lead this camp.  She will be teaching the young girls ages 8+ exercises and drills to improve: Speed, Agility, Mobility, Strength, Power, Conditioning; Basic mechanics for throwing, hitting, and running.  *Arielle played Travel “Gold” and college softball.

GOLF PERFORMANCE CAMPS – Our trainer / coach Jack Wall will lead this camp and he will teach the young golfers ages 10+ how to improve their golf performance through strength and power exercises and drills for golf.  He will also teach golf mechanic basics.  *Jack played collegiate level golf. 

If you want the specifics with dates and times for any of our camps please contact us. 

YOUR HEALTH, YOUR LIFE, YOUR CHOICE  Godbless u kj

This also got me to thinking about “projects” or goals in our lives.  First we have to know what it is we want.  Then we have to find a plan.  Now lets talk about this for a minute.  I do agree you need to find a good plan, but dont spend a whole lot of time looking for the “perfect” plan.  You will end up never doing anything.  Find a good plan and be willing “To Make It Work“.  Next you have to put ACTION to that plan.  As with our Sandbox, we actually went out and got Prepared by buying the right supplies, and we picked out our Start Date. 

We got started.  Now here is one of the biggees.  As you can see in the pic, the boys were there helping me and they had a big time.  And that is what you need to do also with a health improvement plan.  GET OTHERS INVOLVED.  And remember, ENJOY TO PROJECT!!  Remember that once you reach your Desired Result, you probably will have another “project” or goal.  If you dont enjoy the journey, you most likely arent enjoying LIFE.  Most of your life is made up of the journey.  Use this SANDBOX BUILDING project as a guide for your health and life improvement goals!

YOUR HEALTH, YOUR LIFE, YOUR CHOICE  Godbless u kj

I had a request for the recipe of the “carbless lasagna” that our guest star from yesterday mentioned.  I dont think it is actually “carb free” but much lower in carbs than normal lasagna.  And the biggee is that you are replacing the “refined and processed” noodles with “good for you” substitutes.  so here it is and once you cook it and try it come back and comment on this post so we can all see different views from this one.:

Basically you substitute the noodles for veggies; such as below but you can use whatever you’d like.

 1-1.5# ground beef (optional)

1 jar Marinara Sauce (see below)*

1 to 2 packages of sliced mushrooms

1 med sized eggplant

1 med sized zucchini

1 to 2 carrots

1 bag of baby spinach

About 2 cups cheese – I use skim milk mozzarella Fresh grated parm Sm container of ricotta or cottage cheese**

 *I start with a good Marinara sauce but I doctor it, I sauté finely chopped onions, garlic, celery and green pepper with seasonings, salt and pepper.  Add tomato paste mix with the ground beef before adding the sauce.

 **For the ricotta mixture I use ricotta, 1 to 2 egg whites, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, fresh grated parm and crushed garlic

 heat a pot with EVOO and sauté the mushrooms, put in bowl and set aside; then brown beef in same pot.  Then I make my meat sauce (with lean ground beef and some of the marinara sauce plus some veggies tossed in the sauce) in the same pot I browned the above.  Once sauce is simmering for a little while I start on the actual lasagna.  

 I use a mandolin and slice a few slices of eggplant enough to cover the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan.  Spray a cookie sheet with EVOO, put the eggplant on the cookie sheet and bake a few minutes.  Didn’t actually pay attention to how long, just a few minutes.  While the eggplant is in the oven, I slice the zucchini enough to cover a 13 x 9 pan.

 Pull the eggplant out of the oven; cover the bottom of the 13 x 9 pan with sauce put eggplant on top.

 Use the same cookie sheet for the zucchini, no need to use more EVOO, and bake a few minutes.

 While zucchini is baking top eggplant with ricotta mixture than sauce.  Slice more eggplant.

 Pull zucchini out and repeat above process.  Using the eggplant and zucchini instead of the noodles. 

 In between the layers of zucchini and eggplant I add a layer or two mushrooms, spinach and carrots.  For the carrots I use a potato peeler so they come out thin.

 About half way up I add a layer of mozzarella cheese.

 I finish with a layer of eggplant cover with sauce, mozzarella and fresh grated parm bake for 45 minutes.

 The great thing about this lasagna you can use the veggies you/your family enjoy.

YOUR HEALTH, YOUR LIFE, YOUR CHOICE  Godbless u kj

I have another great testimony here for you from a lady who follows us on godbuilt.com and through email.  It is actually one of my wife’s good friends and co-workers.  And her story is one not of “quick” success, but of success through consistent actions and a persistence to keep on, even through many tough times i am sure.  Here is what she wrote to LeAnne, as LeAnne and her have been “accoutability partners” through all this.  By the way she lives in Ohio, so they keep up mainly through email.

“Okay, I had to share.  You know I have been eating healthy and what not for a while now, cut way back on pasta, breads and tatos.  I made the carbless lasagna on Saturday, btw parents loved it even my meat and tato father.  Anyway, can I tell you how much better I feel since I have been eating right?  I don’t feel so weighed down any more.  Just wanted to thank you for being a big part to my support group, you rock.  I also hit the 40 lb mark, another 40 to go.  My next mini goal is 7 pounds away and the next big goal is 17 away.”

She actually started back last September I just found out.  So she has been at this for about 7-8 months now.  Notice towards the end of her testimony how she listed her next “mini” goal, then her next “big goal.”  That is an awesome plan there and apparently she has used this “successful” strategy for at least some portion of this whole process.  The biggest thing to me that just stands out and makes me so “pleased” and excited for T is that she has stuck it out for what most people would consider a “long time”, 7-8 months.  And she is determined to keep going until she reaches her goal.  Most people do not start off with 8+ month goal.  Most want that quick 2-3 month success or quicker!  And she probably wanted that too, but it doesnt matter if she started that way or not, apparently at some point she decided to keep going.  Take a few notes from “T” here and learn from this:

She set a goal/s.  She started.  She surely got frustrated and discouraged many times.  She decided to keep going.  She decided to stay in it for as long as it took.  She continued with CONSISTENT actions.  (I know she wasnt perfect, but she “did the right things more than not.”)  She made great improvements.  She is using short term small goals to keep motivated.  She keeps her long term goal in front too, never giving up on it. 

Man i am very excited for ”T” and appreciate her commitment to literally “TAKING CONTROL OF HER HEALTH AND LIFE.”  You can do it too.  Just GET ON IT DOG’ON IT!

YOUR HEALTH, YOUR LIFE, YOUR CHOICE  Godbless u kj

If you have kept up with godbuilt.com and or been a part of what we are doing here at God-Built then you know well that we highly recommend short, high intensity (always relative to each individual) workouts, even if they are only 3 or 4 minutes long.  The main thing is to do something, do it correctly, and do it at a pace that “pushes” you.  Well my brother in law has taken me to heart on this and I want you to see what he wrote to me yesterday: “By the way, I’ve adopted your 5 minute workout regimen; well, sort of.  3 times a week I go upstairs, take my 15 lb. dumbbells (per) and do 25 squats, 15 curls, 12 shoulder presses, and 10 pushups all without stopping.  That’s it–i know it’s not much of a workout, but I swear it makes me feel better and my lower back doesn’t seem to hurt as much when I stick to the routine.  Wish I had the discipline to do more, but at least it’s something I’ve managed to make myself do on a regular basis.”

Wow, that is all he does and he can tell a difference.  If he did more, sure he would probably get more results, but that is not the point.  The point is he caught on to the truth that doing something is better than nothing.  ANd in many cases what we do term as a little can produce pretty big results.  One thing that is very important also to see here is the fact that he said his lower back doesnt seem to hurt as much now.  He has had pretty bad lower back problems for a while, and just staying consistent with a very minimum volume workout load has produced good results for him in that area also! 

Take this to heart and use it to encourage yourself.  Do SOMETHING!  If you know even a little about working out you can figure out pretty quick that he, and you, could finish that workout in less that 5 minutes, easy!  I am just trying to reinterate the fact that you literally C AN SEE IMPROVEMENTS IN YOUR HEALTH WITH ONLY 5 MINUTES PER DAY, FOR 3+ DAYS during the week.  It is so simple, and really kind of easy.  GET ON IT DOG’ON IT!!

YOUR HEALTH, YOUR LIFE, YOUR CHOICE  Godbless u kj

I was eating some “left overs” yesterday and I was thinking about you.  I was thinking of how simple, and poweful of a “tip” that is: To eat “good quality” left overs. 

I love have some good leftovers from the nite before.  And over the years this has been one of my keys for having good quality lunches.  There is not much to it other than: 1. Make a good quality dinner at nite; 2. cook enough so that you can have leftovers for the next day at lunch.  And that is it.  An easy 2 STEP PROCESS for eating better quality food in a very easy way. 

My Dinner recommendations are simple:

Lean meat choice – turkey, chicken, red meat (locally grown cow best, deer), pork (i recommend no more than 1 -2 serving pork per week.

2-3 servings of “rich colored” vegetables and  - brocoli, turnip greens, kale, asparagus, zucchini, squash, etc

max. 1/2 – 1 serving of grain (bread, pasta, cereals, rice) and or beans

And it really is that simple.  You are cooking anyway, so just make a little extra to take to work the next day.  THat way you will end up saving money, plus you have a good quality and clean source of food for lunch.  GET ON IT DOG’ON IT”!

YOUR HEALTH, YOUR LIFE, YOUR CHOICE  Godbless u kj