It is day 19 of my 30 day health challenge.  This has been a difficult challenge but with prayer and accountability I am seeing results.  After 19 days I have lost 7 lbs and I have more energy than before.   I have reduced the amount of calories I eat in a day by 700.  Plus, I have only eaten fast food once and drank soda a few times.  I did notice that the McDonalds I ate (that one time) didn't taste as good as I remember it.  This is wonderful thing for me!  As far as exercise goes I have recently been limited to only walking.  I hurt my right arm, shoulder, and back several weeks ago and am in physical therapy and seeing a chiropractor.  Here are three things that I have learned so far in this challenge.

1.  Prayer and accountability are crucial.   As funny as this may sound, I have had to ask God to help me to not eat that extra slice of pizza.  It works!  Also, checking in with my friend and accountability partner, Mike has also been a great help.  I am encouraged by his effort in the challenge and it reminds me that I am not alone.  If Mike can do it, I can too!  

2. Our stomachs can be our god (Philippians 3:19).  Food can easily become an idol that we worship.  I keep asking myself this question, "Do I really need to eat that much?"  So many times I find myself wanting to eat more food not because I am hungry but because I desire comfort.  When we turn to food to solve our problems, or to make us feel better, we are making food an idol.  I don't want food to rule my life.

3.  Moderation in all things.  Pizza is one of my favorite foods.  If I were to remove pizza from my diet I would completely fail.  However, under the moderation principle I still eat pizza, but I choose to eat two slices instead of four.  It makes all the difference.  Moderation is a powerful asset. 

I look forward to filling you in after the 30 days are up!  

In January 2012 DVCC will be encouraging members to take a thirty day challenge.   We will have a web page with descriptions of all the challenges you can take.  The point of the 30 day challenge is to see what God can do with thirty days of positive habits.  We are going to try to accomplish a beneficial challenge (asking God and others for help along the way) for thirty straight days.  Hopefully, after thirty days we will notice a change and perhaps be encouraged to continue our new found habits.   We are not wanting to pursue legalism during these challenges.  We may struggle at times with the challenge but we can encourage each other to keep on trying with God's help.  I started my challenge early because I wanted to try this out before I asked the congregation to do it in January.    

For my first challenge I picked a 30 day health challenge.  It is as follows:

Challenge:  Health
Challenge Partner: Mike Spitale
Objectives:  
  a.  Exercise everyday (either walk, run, or workout)
  b.  Avoid most fast food joints
  c.  Avoid all sodas
  d.  Eat only one snack a day. 

My first day started with some major temptation.  I was at the mall and had to find a place to eat for lunch.  The healthiest choice I could find was Subway.  The problem with Subway is they have amazing chocolate chip cookies.    I said a prayer and resisted temptation.  My wife was with me so she was able to give me a quick pep talk before ordering my sub.  For dinner I went out to a local Mexican joint with a church couple.  I wanted to drink a pepsi so bad with my amazing tacos.  I told the church couple about my thirty day challenge and they helped me choose water.  Accountability really does work! After dinner I was able to spend about 20 minutes working out with Mr. Tony Little (on DVD of course).  Once done my wife let me know that she was proud of me.  Nothing like some encouraging words.  Day one is under the belt!!