Part 3 of 4!
As our #journey with the principles, concepts, and #strategies we learned through #75Hard came to an end (mine in August and Courtney’s in September), we were #determined to keep building upon the characteristics and traits that had brought our lives #balance. #Faith. #Family. And #FarmersMarkets. These 3 areas, we like to call “the foundational #pillars” of our family’s “pivot”, have become the driving force behind the success we’ve had over the past 6 months.
What’s crazy is how that #mindset has extended beyond #health and #physical wellness. As we’ve come to terms with the fact that we can do anything we put our #mind to (y’all…I was 450.6 pounds and as of this writing I’m down 140+ pounds) we are now #focusing not only on setting (and breaking) #health and #wellness #goals, but also life goals like growing a #ministry…starting a #business…and helping other people live their #bestlife.
FAITH
The area of our #lives that has been most impacted throughout our #journey has been the #Strengthening Of Our #Relationship With #Christ. We’ve been intentional about maintaining communications with #God through steadfast #prayer, and we’ve been diligent about reading, studying, and reflecting on His #Word.
“Alexa” now fills our home with #praise and #worship #music (as well as Classical music), and we’ve spent countless hours doing deep dives in our #bibles and YouVersion “bible app”. I’m not bragging by any means…I’m letting you in on what we #believe to be an area of our life (all our lives) that needs to be #cultivated so that we can discern what is truly important in life from the distractions that Satan throws at us on the daily!
Our #pursuit of #God and our desire to know His will for our lives has opened our eyes (and hearts) to see the many #opportunities for service within the various communities we are part of. We are desperate to be #obedient, and we are constantly looking for ways in which we can help people.
We are growing more and more passionate about Helping Others #Succeed. I #teach graphic design and #technology applications at a local middle school. One of the things I #teach my #students is how they (and their #families) can take the digital #art we make in class and sell it #online via various print on demand platforms. For years I’ve been taking the lessons I teach in #class and recording them at home through ScreenCastify and turning them into “how-to videos” for students who might be absent the day we covered a certain lesson in class (and for those students who might need a video resource to go to in case they forget a process or strategy). Currently I have 100+ #instructional #videos that teach graphic design #skills AND teach folks how to #sell designs on websites like Redbubble.com and Amazon.com.
I’m currently in the process of taking those #digitalart and print on demand lessons and tweaking them specifically for #teachers. If ever there were an underpaid, underappreciated, and undervalued #workforce…it’s our teachers. I’m passionate about helping teachers gain confidence (during a time when they are being beat down), find a healthy lifestyle pathway (in a time of stress unlike any other in education), and helping teachers bring in some much needed #extraincome (teachers make squat y’all) and #discover a fun and rewarding #hobby that will help them chill and relax at the end of a #stressful day.
Courtney and I are walking through how to add a health component to this “teacher program” will be #strategies, #inspiration, and #encouragement that Courtney and I have experienced and utilized on our journey to live a #healthier life. We are passionate about the wellbeing of teachers and school staff across the globe. This is definitely something that #God has placed on our hearts.
There was a time when I would have convinced myself that launching such an #endeavor would be hard and complicated. Then I’d quickly get bored with the #idea and it would simply fall by the wayside. But now there’s a fire inside me that wants to see this #teacher #community idea come to fruition. I don’t care if I never gain one member…it’s gonna #launch! I have no doubt that this #grit and #determination is a result of my experience with 75 Hard and our continued desire to succeed in the areas of #health and #wellness as a #family. Families that workout together breakout together!!!
We love #Sharing Our Healthy Journey Experience! Since starting our #healthy #lifestyle #journey, Courtney and I have had tons (I mean TONS) of people reach out to us and ask us how we’ve accomplished what we have. We love taking the time to talk about what we’ve done to build a #sustainable #lifestyle of #health and #wellbeing. We can talk for hours on the subject. We even talk to people on the street (literally) who have noticed our #weightloss and stop us to ask questions. We love it! AND…we love offering as much #information about what we’ve done (our personal #experiences) as we can in hopes that the person listening will find something in what we share that will help them start down their own #healthy #living #path.
I recently had a conversation with my #pastor and expressed to him a stirring in my heart to share our #journey with members of the #church who want to #pivot and start living a more healthy life. He agreed that it’s something the church needs…something the world needs right now. Courtney and I are #praying through what a #ministry like that looks like and how best to #minister to people who want to change their life for the better.
FAMILY
It goes without saying (or maybe it should be said) that Courtney and I have grown closer together during this pivot to overall well being. We now have newly discovered “things in common”. We both want to #honor #God…even more than we did. We both want to be #mindful of what goes into our #bodies in an effort to stay #healthy. We both want to help others who are struggling with #unhealthy #habits. We both want to be more #financially #responsible so that we can enjoy #retirement AND so that we can partner with our church in an effort to minister to #folks in our #community who need help (spiritually, relationally, financially, etc.).
We’ve also had opportunities to #workout with our #daughters from time to time. That’s precious time that allows us to reconnect with our #kids and find out what’s happening in their lives. They’re in their 20’s and we rarely get a chance to see them due to their busy schedules. It’s nice to have chances to get caught up with all that’s going on in their lives, and it allows them the opportunity to ask us for #advice. It’s the little things in life that can bring the most #joy.
In addition to #strengthening #relationships within the immediate #family, we have opportunities to strengthen relationships with other family members and #friends (friends are family y’all) as well. Once they hear about the health #choices we’ve made and they see the #benefits of living a more health conscious lifestyle, they want to connect and ask tons of questions and ask for advice. We love to #share what we know (which is only what we’ve experienced). As stated earlier, we can speak for hours on the topic of God, working out, healthy eating, and buying #freshfoods from local #farmers and #ranchers.
FARMERS MARKETS
“Farmers Market” is our code word for “healthy living”…be it our daily #food intake, daily #workout #routines, #mindfulness and #stress #management. Fitness is another area of our lives that continues to evolve and grow is our desire to become even more #fit. We’ve joined a #Gym y’all! We’ve joined a gym…and as of the writing of this post, we’ve had our first #upperbody and #lowerbody workouts…AND I’M FREAKIN’ SORE!
To sum up this current chapter of my life, as it relates to #fitness, I like to tell folks, “I was fat at 50, fit at 51, and I’ll be “physiqued” at 52! In other words…we’re going to focus on “toning up” this coming year.
(*We’re also going to focus on #Financial Harmony…but more on that later.)
Courtney and I feel comfortable enough with our #healthy #eating and fitness habits that we can now begin to turn our focus toward building stronger and more efficient bodies. Adding #muscle and #toning will be major #goals this coming year (2023). It’s been over 25 years since I went to a gym with a plan to get #healthier. We’ve consulted with a trainer and he’s identified the specific exercises and #weightlifting equipment that we need to use to meet our current, and evolving, #goals. We did opt for the “premium” level at our local Planet Fitness so that we can take advantage of the “aqua-massage” and #massage chairs. #Spoiled This next part of our #health and #wellness adventure is gonna be a trip y’all…stay tuned for that!
Farmers Markets (and produce stands) encompass all of the above…and more!
We love actual #farmersmarkets is another area of our lives that we will continue to pour time and #effort into. What started off as a way for us to get access to #allnatural #foods has turned into an obsession. We want to take the farmers market #hauls we make…on the road! We will be visiting popular (bigger) #farmers markets throughout #Texas and beyond. The hobby has evolved into a passion that we want to document and share with the world.
The relationships we’ve built with our local #suppliers (#farm and #ranch owners) have been phenomenal, and they will forever be our source of amazing #meats, #vegetables, #fruits, and of course #coffee (as well as homemade products that everyday mom and pops pour their heart and soul into)! Our idea of “grocery shopping” and the impact it has on our #bodies has changed. Thanks to #roadside #producestands and pop-up farmers markets, we now know what to #shop for and how to shop as it relates to buying foods that benefit “the temple”(i.e. our bodies)!
Which reminds me. If you have a favorite Farmers Market or small roadside produce stand in your area…let us know. We want to find time to visit them ALL.
#Faith, #Family, and #FarmersMarkets have been crucial parts of our success. As stated in the opening of this post, they are the foundational pillars of what has become a well #balanced life. In our case, it all starts with faith…then all else falls into place. If we’ve learned anything through the early stages of this #lifelong #process, it’s that on our own, we can’t succeed…but by God’s #grace…we can!
Which brings us to our more recent #pivot…the future of “butGodcan.com”.
(To Be Continued)
~Mitch
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Pivot Then Live It 