Pack a Heart-Healthy Lunch

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.—Psalm 28:7

After three straight classes, I need this time to relax and refresh—before the next group arrives in 45 minutes. It’s called a planning period, but I find myself doing every other thing but planning—I'm grading papers, writing discipline referrals, reporting on students with special needs, and answering emails from parents.  My desk is littered with paper and my electronic inbox is bursting at the seams. How will I ever get it all done?  And what can I do with my most challenging class—soon to arrive? Just thinking about makes my heart palpitate--despite rhythm-regulating medicine.

Fit 4 Service

Have you heard of Fit-to-Fat-to-Fit (aka Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit), an experiment by fitness instructor Drew Manning who wanted to relate to his clients' struggles to lose weight?  According to The Blaze, Manning gave up exercise and ate unhealthy food from May to November 2011 to gain 70 pounds on purpose.  Now back at his original weight, Manning describes how difficult it was to get back into a fitness routine to take off the excess pounds.

I could’ve saved Manning a lot of trouble, if he’d have just asked me about it.  I know how difficult it is! Two years ago I began a healthy-living group at my church.  Over this two-year period I shed 20 pounds through eating healthy and incorporating daily physical activity.  Straying from my healthy lifestyle for the past few months due to emotional issues put me right back where I started two years ago.  Getting back into the fitness routine seems even harder this time around.