time to get serious

It used to be so incredibly easy to drop a few pounds or fly through the day without getting tired but then something happened to me called 30.

After I turned 30 (yes that was a year or so ago...), it got harder and I didn't have the energy I once had.

Someone gave me a product from advocare called "spark". This was before the big energy drink craze hit so we didn't know what to expect.

WOW - I thought I could run through a wall. I was focused and didn't feel tired or run down. Deni tried it and we wondered if this stuff was legal. Not only is it legal, it is good for you - COME ON NOW!!!!

I gave some to my dad and he has been drinking it for years. He gets up about 4am and when he gets home he used to have to take a nap. Since he started drinking spark, he said my mom loves it because he gets home and does the "honey do" list instead of napping... it was a win for the whole family.

Over the years Deni and I have tried some more of their products and LOVED them. So after some thought and prayer, we decided to talk to someone about making an investment into the company, so we did.

We ordered some product and are gonna give it a shot. We are starting off with a 24 day challenge to better health.

This 24 day challenge gives you enough product to complete a full 10 day cleanse, meal replacement shakes, energy drinks, appetite and sweets control, vitamins...

It is guaranteed to help you lose some weight and have more energy. Who wouldn't want that?

The cost is around $7 a day (do the math and it comes out to $190), but you are not going to have to buy your coffee or lunch on those days not to mention the energy drinks and vitamins, so you get plenty to justify the cost. Go without the morning Starbucks & your combo meal at lunch and you are there.

We have a few people already taking the challenge with us so it should be fun. I will keep you posted.

My point: I can't put a price on health. I am tired of being tired and not getting maximum results from my workouts. I need a plan and accountability - partnered with some great supplements.

If you are interested in the challenge, let me know. If you want to take a look at the site it is www.advocare.com

If you already take supplements, vitamins, energy drinks... give the advocare brand a shot & let me know what you think.

MayChallenge List

If you have the email address of a person that is underlined, please forward this to them and get me their email so I can add them to the group list.

EVERYONE has to avoid the main list + one more item. I have listed your item. If you want to change it or if you have a blank, (listed in blue) please email me the additional item you will avoid. g3fowler@gmail.com

If you eat ANYTHING from the main list or the item specific to you, you will owe the penalty.

Please ensure you have read and understand ALL the rules. The rules will be strictly enforced starting Monday May 4th.

The contest officially ends on May 31st and the results will be posted

The Main List
1. Pizza
2. Chocolate*
3. French Fries
4. All Potato chips
a. Including Doritos
5. Ice cream
6. All Pop / soda
7. Candy**
8. Cookies
9. White bread
10. Fried chicken (fingers)
11. Donuts

* choc protein drinks or protein bars are acceptable
** breath mints are not considered candy

Gary Fowler – cheese crackers
Heather Z – McD’s fish
Yousef – Fried food
Amanda D – Mac n cheese
Lori Z – Cake (from a box)
Chris W – red meat from McD’s
Krista – sour cream
Katie – popcorn
Ally – panda express or cream cheese
Tiffany – peanut butter or cheese
Liz Meloy – fast food breakfast sandwiches
Jamie Bowman – Tuna/chicken salad
Charlene Schwinne – Chinese food
Mike (sent from Judy) – all bread (white bread is on the list but you can avoid all bread)
Lis Dicuirci –
Betty Stewart – Chai tea latte’s
Ericka Tuckett – Sweet tea
Deni Fowler –

Dawn Dee –

Jeff Wilson –

Judith Mair –

Nikki W –

Megan –

Derek Ciapala -

Sandra Crosson –

Danielle Dickerson –

Jessie –

Sarah Stupak –

Judy Stupak –

Tina Wilson –

Julie Kroll –

MayChallenge

The Goal:
To break away from certain food/beverages that are not promoting a healthy lifestlye. A bonus would be to lose weight.

The food:
Each participant will submit 2 things that do not promote a healthy diet. (Names will not be attached to the item so you won’t know who you want to kill.)

DO NOT submit things just because you think it will be hard for others. This is not to make it hard for other people, it is to help you develop self-discipline and break bad food habits.

The workouts:
Each person will be required to workout at least 3 days a week for a minimum of 40 minutes.

A “workout” can be with weights, cardio, wii fit… it must be an intentional workout. This doesn’t include housework, or physical work that you already do. It must be a time set aside to workout.

Please don’t make this more difficult than it has to be. You know what a workout is, don’t look for loopholes or try to find a lazy way to get credit – do the workouts!!!

The penalties:
I will compile a list of the top 10-15 things mentioned. You have to pick one other item that YOU will go without. Once the list is compiled, NO ONE will be allowed to eat anything from the list.

For example: cheese may not be on the list that everyone has to go without but it may be something you want / need to give up. So you would do the list + cheese.

If you eat anything from the list, or your other item specific to you, then you owe a $5.00 penalty. I think the penalty has to hurt. If it were only a quarter or dollar – you may think it is ok to cheat. The penalty has to be painful.

There is a $25 “I am a loser without any self control, so I quit” fee.

In other words, if you quit, you still owe all the penalty money AND a $25 fee. This is all “honor system” so if you think you may have cheated, YOU DID!!!

The Honor system:
You are responsible, under the “honor system” to report to me g3fowler@gmail.com if/when you cheat.

I will keep a running list and blog the results at the end of each week (more if necessary) www.garyfowler.blogspot.com.

You need to email me as you cheat and I can keep a running total of what you owe and will keep everyone updated on the total in the “penalty pot”.

The Deadlines:
If you know anyone who would like to participate, please tell them to email me their 2 items by Friday May 1st so I can have the list posted to my blog by Sun the 3rd, to begin on Monday May 4th. Please let me know what questions you have before we begin. I will post the list and your personal item on my blog by Sun May 3rd.

The Rewards: I am sure it will benefit you physically and mentally. Your emotions are up to you… again, if you think you can’t do it, that is one of the very reasons you should try it.

The winner: The person who wins (cheats the least amount of times) wins all the penalty money. If there is more than one person that “wins” – they will split the money.

The guilt statement: I swear, with God as my witness, that I have read and understand every word of this agreement.By “e-signing this”, I agree to all the stated terms.

__________________________/________________________________
Name (type your name & email back) Date

LifeChange

check out this video about LifeChange... there is some idiot trying to be funny

praying tiger

We have had some incredibly stupid things happen in our local schools lately. There have been bomb threats, vehicles set on fire, a gun found in the H.S. & "hit lists" found. The Jr high and high school went on lockdown a few times last week.

This is absolutely crazy. I am definitely one of those people who thought "pickerington - really", this stuff doesn't happen around here... but it did.

With incredibly stupid things comes the opportunity for incredibly awesome things. My daughter Shayna is in Jr high. She texted me to pray because the school went on lockdown Friday. Of course I prayed & asked others to do so as well.

Here is the awesome part: Shayna didn't just ask others to pray, she prayed too. I was so proud of her when she said other people were freaking out but she remained calm. At least outwardly she was. She said she was nervous on the inside but what good would it do to show it. It would've just added to the chaos and feelings of fear in others.

Instead of panicking, she chose to be a voice of calm to her friends. During one of her classes, a group was talking about the "what if" scenarios. She stopped them and led them in a prayer. I almost cried when she told me this (I am almost crying now...).

When I was in 7th grade, I would've been one making jokes outwardly and silently praying and freaking out on the inside. I would NEVER be caught praying with my friends. I was too cool (or so I thought).

My little girl is a proud member of the Pickerington Tigers, and that day she became a "praying tiger"...

My point: you find out who you are when things get stressful. What is on the inside comes out. Who you are is made clear under pressure.

I am so proud that Shayna was able to call upon help from the One who has all the answers. I am so excited that she wasn't embarrassed to pray in front of her friends.

I am glad that she didn't get in trouble for praying in school...

I am back

I have been gone from the blogosphere for awhile. I am sure both of you missed me...

I put blogging on hold while we took part in the C3 ManUp challenge. It was based on the movie "Fireproof". We grabbed about 50 guys and participated in the "love dare" from the movie.

Part of the challenge was to journal. Since I was journaling, I chose to pause my blog. Call it lazy or focused but I didn't want to do both.

C3 decided that we wanted to put an emphasis on the marriage relationship and that started with the men. We divided them into 2 teams, Konan had a team and I had one. We had to track the challenges daily.

Each day we could get up to 3 points. 1 if we read the devo. 1 if we accomplished the dare and 1 if we journaled. We could get anywhere from 0 - 3 points per day.

I was responsible for making sure my team was not only doing it but tracking the results. After 40 days, we have heard some AMAZING stories of LifeChange.

I will share some of the stories in the coming days. I will say this was an awesome journey that I will never forget.

My point: it is amazing what happens when you make Godly principles a priority in your life and marriage.

Oh, and before you even have to ask - of course my team won!!!

spiritual decay

I was reading "the tale of 3 kings" by Gene Edwards (GREAT BOOK) and it motivated me to start reading 1 & 2 Samuel.

As I was reading this morning something in the study notes really hit me hard - in a very good way. Here is what it said:

Poor leadership is not the result of personality traits but of decaying spiritual character. What we do is often a direct result of our spiritual condition. We cannot ignore the importance of spiritual character in effective leadership.

When I think about the times that I get frustrated, easily offended, overly critical, sarcastic or just in a bad mood, I can honestly say those times happen more often when I am not spending time in prayer & reading my Bible. 

Every relationship I have, whether it is my spouse, kids, co-workers or friends, is directly effected by my spiritual health. If I am not growing, I am decaying. How I respond or react is a direct result of my spiritual health.

I would challenge you to see if this is true for you as well. If you are constantly in a bad mood or easily frustrated, look at how much time you spend with your creator.

My point: it seems so simple & obvious but we often neglect THE single most important thing in our lives - our personal relationship with Christ. If we are filling ourselves with the wisdom and knowledge from God’s word, we will look & sound a lot more like Him.

What is your spiritual condition? I am sure you can ask those closest to you if you want the brutal truth…

Your spiritual condition is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

feel free to comment