Prepping the Body

We have just returned from a few days in Flu Central USA, that's right: Atlanta GA. We were visiting family and friends. It was a great visit and I got to see my grandfather, perhaps for the last time. It was bitter sweet. He is an amazing man, who has not had a bump free relationship with my mother. He's always been someone I, not so much looked up to, as somebody who I thought was doing life, if not "right", at least on his own terms. I have a million stories I could relate; but one that cropped up on this most recent visit was that he had brought up at his church meeting that his community ought to stop celebrating wedding anniversaries and birthdays in the worship service because their chief function as the church is to worship God. You have to admire that kind of single focus. He was voted down, overwhelmingly. My grandfather must also be the last living New Deal Democrat in all of Texas.

Anyway, we are back and, as much as I love my family, it feels like the first day off in a long long time. There is a looming prospect of the arrival of another set of family "just dropping by" and I admit to feeling like I want to cry. We are just laying low today, in fact the wife is positively sick, so we are just playing video games, doing legos, playing play-doe, and puttering. Puttering is very healing for me. This morning I just did dishes, some laundry, helped with legos, made breakfast and coffee, and cleaned out the fridge. Last time the wife and I did the whole 30 we did it upon return from a long vacation so the fridge was empty. We are in the same boat this time. We don't have to throw out much. It is satisfying to know that when we get back from the store, our house will be teed up for optimal nourishment. Did I mention that the kids are doing a sugar break during this whole 30 deal, except for their birthdays. So today is a prep day: making lists for buying, figuring what store has what, cleaning out. Generally we are preparing for our optimal health. It's funny, I'd wager that alot of folks would think that all this effort and focus would be a waste of time. But aren't we worth it? Isn't it worth it to be feeling very good? I'm seized by a sense of adventure. I just know that my body, mind, spirit, and ministry are going to feel the positive impact of this..

Beautiful is an option

http://www.frcathie.org/?p=182

Please see the above article from one of the canons of my diocese. 

Holidaze

The holidays have been pretty ... full. Since I am a rector now, I felt, rightly or wrongly, that I should accept most of the invitations to Christmas and Advent parties. All told, between Thanksgiving and Christmas we went to no less than twelve events; this included a staff party, various parishioner events, etc. At each other these I ate very extravagently, had a drink or two, and had desert. The weird thing is that I knew the way that I was eating was not going to sustainably support the extra work that I had to take care of in December, namely, the creation of the 2015 budget, the approval of that with the vestry, the creation of a new position at the Church, and the planning, execution, and preaching of all the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services. Now add to that no exercise. Add all the stress of the above work load, plus the normal anxieties that come with holidays with the extended family. All this equals a newly minted 39 year old man who is feeling pretty bloated, weak, and ready for a change. Soooo...since I can't really do moderation (I'd love to figure that out, perhaps later), my Good Wife and I are embarking on what I am calling a Whole40, it's the Whole 30 +10: here's a link to the WHole 30:http://whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/ We had great success with it last time, so we'll try it again to more solidly work in the habits of good gene expression etc. Last time I did the Whole 30 I didn't exercise but once and we got kind of lazy with the food prep, so I am planning to exercise alot more and learn new recipes. I received the amazing Nom Nom Paleo book for Christmas so this should help. As to exercise I will do Mark Sisson's plan found here. Basically: lift heavy things twice a week, run fast once a week, and walk/play/ride 2-5 hours per week. I'm a little concerned about jumping into exercise with such a long time off, so I'll be doing some warm ups to get me back into it. I don't want to injure myself, but I don;t want to limp along either. SAs I write this I feel like a whiny little dude, I'm just sick of not feeling good. I look forward to felling great soon and moving toward some goals. I'm also excited to have alot of energy for ministry. Lately I feel like I've been bringing my serious C+ game when it ought to be my A game. That's all for now, a quick trip to Atlanta to visit the family and then back home for a last meal with a parishioner (she is the food writer for our local paper, it should be great!), and then the Whole40, here we go!

Whole 30 and all that.

So I know I haven't posted on here...really at all. My idea: keep an old school blog, web log, of my eating and exercise, also thoughts on body and Christ. The last year: lost 25 pounds doing about 90% primal. Here is the plan. I loved it, but ultimately got a little lazy. I think I gained back a little weight, maybe five pounds. That all started in September. I just spent two weeks up in Michigan on vacation: lots of alcohol, cheap food, doughnuts everyday. Not sure how much weight I gained in those two weeks, though I can actually feel that my pants are tighter. So this week we have returned to Charlotte and the Darling Wife and I feel rested and renewed, except for the food. We've both been feeling pretty lousy this week. So we have been talking and decided that now is a good time to do a Whole30. I'm feeling pretty pumped for it. We actually decided to do it in the month of August, but we both feel so bad we decided to start a day early. I felt so nasty this morning I couldn't eat; this is not recommended to skip a meal, but I seriously felt bad. Breakfast: black coffee Lunch: a staff lunch at a restaurant: two three oz. fillets, double helping of steamed veggies, salad with oil and vinegar. Water with lemon, and a double espresso while everyone ate GIGANTIC deserts. While desert was delivered I just thought, "Man, that's like 800 carb calories I'm missing out on." Hate to be smug, but... I'm currently writing this at 2:30 which is a time that I would normally start to fade. But I'm not. ___________________ Part of the deal with the whole 30 is that they like you to think a month out and determine where the obstacles are and strategize ways around them. So I have a trip to Atlanta planned and I have made my mom aware of what we are doing. I've also let my brother know that I won't be drinking with him; one of the main ways we connect. That should be interesting. It's funny how food connects, but also masks. I guess we'll have to talk sober, or at least one half of us.It's the same deal with another family member visiting. Beer is, not exactly central, but a real connecting variable.

The Great Fifty Days

It's been a while but I have things to say in way of an update. I lost about 20 pounds doing the primal thing. Here's a link . It was really good for a couple of months and then I got kind of depressed and slacked, still doing about 50% primal but little exercise. During Lent I tried going 100% and doubling down and all that, but it just didn't take. I think that I resist drama like that, especially when it is tied to spirituality like the Lenten disciplines: if we make it spiritual then the stakes are super high, because if we fail then we have failed God in some way. Just a great way to make shame happen. I think I'll try a different tack. Why not celebrate our bodies? As I write this the Easter Vigil is one hour away. We will celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It s a game changer because in part we now learn that God loves bodies enough to resurrect them. So for the Great Fifty Days I will celebrate my body, be kind to it, take measures so it can heal itself, and move it alot. 1.) Walk around, play, and move 2-5 hours a week. 2.) Lift heavy things twice each week, be pretty sore the next day. 3.) Run real fast once a week. 4.) Progressive burpees adding one a day for the great Fifty Days, doing 50 burpess at once on Pentecost 5.) Adequate sleep 6.) Stress reduction, mediation and stretching at night before bed. 7.) Really limit alcohol to very occasional red wine. 8.) Aim for 100% primal

In and out

Part of the blog will actually be a web log; a log of what I eat, my weight (which I will record about once a month, because I'm trying to get healthy and not obsess), and my physical activity. In: black coffee, sauteed kale and spinach with olive oil and butter, two soft boiled eggs with salt, lots of water, tuna with honey mustard dressing, carrot, 20 grapes, a cashew-sugar-honey cluster. Out: moderately fast walk with the wife on a glorious day (45 minutes). Other things to consider for health: stress management and prayer: I will address both with contemplative prayer daily, more on this later.

...In the beginning...

A lot happened before God began to create, but since time is a creation it's hard to conceive of what that might have been. A lot has been at work in me and around me leading up to this blog. But here's the rundown. Since becoming a priest I've put on some weight. Not a ton, I was already overweight so the priesthood is not necessarily causative. I'd like to be much healthier than I am. This blog is partially a way for me to reflect on getting healthier. But it's a lot more than that. I'd like to begin to develop a theology of the body here as well: collect resources, reflect, but most of all, to live a theology of the body. Not think about, though there will be plenty of that, but to literally embody a theology of the body. So: What does it mean to have a body, be a body, be a creation? Before we can go any further with this we have to begin to look at the Scriptures and what they say. The starting point is obviously in Genesis. The refrain of Genesis 1 is clearly that God creates and the creation is good, period. Our bodies are good. The creation is good. This will be complicated later by sin but in the beginning creation is good. I guess I could go on record in saying that it is the creation that is good, but later the thing that makes us human is what also leads us away from God. Therefore, the body, in and of itself is good, and not broken. Here is a really good podcast that takes the stance that, "humans, by default are not broken." The presenter on the podcast is not making a theological statement, he is talking about the beautiful bodies that humans have which evolution has honed into an intelligent, healthy part of the ecosystem. I think that the Bible presents the human as a beloved creation first and foremost, we have to start with the amazing lovable body. It's a very good place to start.