40 Day Spiritual Growth Challenge

As I was typing up all the Information for my November fitness challenge a light bulb went on in my head...
Why not run a parallel Spiritual Growth challenge?

So again, I have not filled out my section on my Faith and Religion but I figured what better time to start a spiritual growth challenge than when I am trying to set goals for myself physically? To grow as a whole, we must feed the mind, body, and spirit. Every time you starve your physical body, it suffers and you cannot function properly. We must recognize that It is the same thing with the soul!!

 This Challenge is going to be fairly simple. I didn't want to do something that required any extra money being spent or a book people had to buy. In fact, I want to start at the Source- The Bible. I have always been one to find out what It says and research and make sure what I believe is truth and not what someone else is telling me.

Fortunately, I have a great tool which anyone who has internet can access. What makes it easy is the fact that it is an audio challenge! I found this App Called Bible.is Faith comes by Hearing and you can find it on the internet, and on android and apple operated devices. It has the whole Bible with several versions to chose from AND and audio accompaniment. Sometimes I find myself being very busy during the day so this app makes things easy cause I can listen to the Bible when I am getting ready in the morning or getting ready for bed at night.  All you have to do is search Bible is OR Faith comes by hearing on your phones, ipods, itouches or computers and you will find a maroon icon with Bible.Is written on it.I will link the site here: http://www.bible.is/ENGESV/Matt/1

The other good part about the audio aspect is I find myself paying more attention to all the details. There are certain things that you pick out with hearing something out loud that you might not necessarily catch when you are reading it to yourself. The whole story comes together in my head.

The final benefit to audio is the fact that you can go through a lot more of the Bible a whole lot faster! Did you know that if one read the Bible through  non stop it would only take 3 days? Think of how much you can get through if you really put your heart and mind into it? Each chapter really only takes 3 to 4 minutes on average!

I decided that we should start with Christ as He is the most Important part of our Christian lives. Knowing more about His walk on earth and how loving, compassionate, and forgiving He is will not only increase our faith, but encourage us to be more like Him.

The Challenge : The Bible.Is has a section with daily devotional Programs  and I have chosen the 40 Day Walk With Jesus Program to kick us off!! All you have to Listen to the Chapters allotted for each day for forty days Starting on November 1st!

The other aspect of this challenge is of course spending time in prayer meditating on the things you have heard and asking the Holy Spirit to help you apply what you heard personally in your life. That seems simple enough right?

Don't know where Programs are located? Once you open up the App go to Menu, then Programs and you should find 40 Day walk with Jesus.

If you still have trouble and you are on your computer, you could always listen to the audio on the website from there. If that is an issue as well, I will include all the chapters over here for the daily reading :) biblegateway.com is also an audio website so you can refer to the chapters below and join in.

I will come back and update this post from time to time with updates! This is a personal journey so please make an effort to advance Spiritually in your own life!  Don't hesitate to comment on this post and tell me the Awesome things God is revealing to you! God Bless :)

Days...and Chapters to be read...

1- Matt 1-6
2- Matt 8-12
3- Matt 13-18
4- Matt 19-24
5- Matt 25-28
6- Mark 1-6
7- Mark 7-11
8- Mark 12-16
9- Luke 1-4
10- Luke 5-9
11- Luke 10-13
12- Luke 14-19
13- Luke 20-24
14- John 1-5
15- John 6-9
16- John 10-14
17- John 15-19
18- John 20-Acts 4
19- Acts 5-9
20- Acts 10-15
21- Acts 16-20
22- Acts 21-26
23- Acts 27-Romans 4
24- Romans 5-10
25- Romans 11-16
26- Romans 17- I Corintians 1
27- I Corintians 10-15
28- I Corinthians 16- 2 Corinthians 5
29- 2 Corinthians 10- Galatians 2
30- Galatians 5-Ephesians 4
31- Philipians 2-Colossians 3
32- 1 Thessalonians 3- 2 Thessalonians 3
33- 1Timothy 6- Titus 1
34- Hebrews 2-7
35- Hebrews 11-James 3
36- 1 Peter 1- 2 Peter 1
37- 1 John 1- 2 John 1
38- Revelation 1-6
39- Revelation 8-13
40- Revelation 16-21

And that is the End of the challenge!! Happy listening!! or reading :)

November Fitness Challenge

I know I have not put up any information about my health and fitness story and routine yet but I just wanted to put this challenge up just in case you would like to join me. Health and fitness has become a critical part in my life and I am going to continue to set goals for myself to keep my motivation. I will put all the details of my exercise and food on the bottom. You don't have to use the same exercise program I am using (anything you choose will work.) The most important part is the food. Believe it or not, the quantities and when you eat  play a HUGE role.

Exercise : For 30 days I will be using the Insanity DVDs. I will use the Max program (second half which is more intense ) because I want to push my body a little more. Since the program is an hour long, I will be working out 5 days a week in the afternoon after work and Saturday Morning (6x a week in total) with Sunday as my rest day. I am also going to Sprint on my tread mill in the morning when I wake up for 10-15 minutes (in intervals) just to get my blood flowing. (two workouts a day is OPTIONAL. It just depends on how advanced in your fitness you are.)

There is an Abbreviated version of the Insanity workout on this link if you need some help comming up with high intensity exercises and you don't own Insanity:

http://www.self.com/fitness/workouts/2012/02/insanity-workout-slideshow#slide=1

Also I like Body Rock TV. It has simular high intensity workouts you can follow for all body parts!

http://www.bodyrock.tv/category/daily-workouts/all-workouts/

Food: As far as food is concerned, I will be eating ONLY these things that I list in the bottom and I will explain how I eat them.

Note* This meal plan is for losing FAT and gaining Lean muscle as you will notice by the Injection of protein several times through the day. Please Keep your portions to the size of your fist for every meal!! :) 

Brown rice, Protein (powder for shakes), Egg whites, Plain Shredded Wheat (cereal), Sweet Potatoes, Organic Chicken (breast only) Turkey (breast or ground), Byson (no hormones), Fish,  Soy milk, Raw Almonds, Fruits (more apples, grapefruits and blue berries than the rest)  and Vegetables. I will also by cutting off all artificial sugar (INCLUDING Salad DRESSING!!) and Limiting my salt intake. 

The format of food intake is Crucial. Having many small meals a day will keep your metabolism up and you will find that your body will stop holding on to the fat. It is very important that you DO NOT SKIP BREAKFAST. It truly is the most important meal. The sooner you eat in the morning, the sooner your metabolism starts working. Also keep in mind that starving yourself is not an option. You have to eat to lose weight OR gain proper tone. If you starve yourself, your body will hold on to all the fat you are trying to lose and eventually will shut down. 

One other Key factor is eating either a half apple, 3 tablespoons of brown rice or 2 oz of sweet potato Immediately after your work out. Either one of those is great for your body's recovery

Make sure you drink at least 8 glasses of water through the day (DO NOT SKIP THIS!!) and get enough sleep. Take a multivitamin to ensure you are getting all your nutrients and a probiotic to make sure your digestive system is working properly. 

Morning:

1/2 apple after workout. Vitamin and Probiotic

Protein shake with blueberries OR 4 egg WHITES with blueberries OR shredded wheat with soy milk and fruit. 

Snack: 1/2 Grapefruit (OR Protein shake with no fruit)

Lunch: Salad or veggie or fruit  with a protein- Chicken breast, ground turkey, Fish and 6 amonds

Snack: 1/2 Grapefruit, Protein shake(no fruit,) OR I have 3 tablespoons of brown rice or shredded wheat as a carbohydrate if I am working out after work. 

1/2 apple after workout

Dinner: Protein and veggies. No Carbs!! Veggies (spinach, beans, broccli or any other)  and a protein like Chicken breast or fish...

Those are the basic guidelines for the meal plan. If you find yourself hugry i would suggest more water and a blueberry or grapefruit snack. 

I hope I made everything clear enough and I am excited to get started. I will post weekly updates at the top of this blog post ( so I should have 4) so check back with me and let me know how you are doing!! 

Birchbox October 2012

My October Birchbox finally arrived! I am always so sad when it takes a couple of extra days to get here cause I am so impatient to see the goodies I got. I opted for the Goop Box this time and I wasn't disappointed. For me, any box that involves nail polish is worth it! I think I might do a nail polish collection post at some point in the future. Anyway, I'll go ahead and show you what I got this time.

Lifestyle Extra: Luna Fiber | Chocolate Raspberry.  This bar was delicious!! I can never actually contain myself... I usually eat the treats as soon as I get them. I am all about healthy living and eating so anything that can combine fiber, raspberries and chocolate is great in my book! Gives me another option for a great snack!

Kiehl's Aromatic Blends: Orange Flower & Lychee- Liquid Body Cleanser. This Body Wash smells AMAZING! Just what I need to wake up to in the morning.  It claims to be mood boosting and I would agree! I am also very satisfied with the size of the sample. It gives me enough to try out the product and be able to form an opinion. I have only used it once so I have not noticed a difference in my skin (obviously) but the amazing scent definitely lingers on the skin! Looking forward to my next few showers :)

Naked Princess Naked Shine Luscious Lip Gloss- Supposed to be a nearly bare sheer lip gloss which apparently has subtle lip plumping abilities. I don't get any tingling so that is a great thing. I actually have fuller lips so I don't need any lip plumping but I am not against it. I got the Barely Coco "flavor" which actually smells and "tastes" delicious. It is a gloss but it is very moisturizing. I thought the sample size was a little small but I definitely enjoyed trying it out.

Joanna Vargas | Daily Serum. This is a Brightening serum with many vitamins that are supposed to be good for the skin and hyaluronic acid which I know is very moisturizing. A healthy glow is promised. I will wait a few weeks before trying this out simply because I am in the beginning stages of a new skin care regimen. I want to get settled in it before I make any changes but this looks like it would fit right in! Check out my skin care tab if you want to know more about what I am doing and my skin care journey :)

Essie Nail polish! Full size.  Power clutch. I have been LOVING the milky grey-ish nail polish lately. Very Fall-esque. I have it on my nails already. I just had to show you exactly how great this nail polish looks. It only took 2 coats to get it to this opacity. The only thing I would change about these nail polishes (especially for the price) is the brush! I would LOVE Essie to make a thicker brush for easier faster application. Or maybe I have just been SPOILED by Wet and Wild Mega last. Anyway, I love the color and I am always happy to receive a polish in my box!

Overall this has been another great Box. I look forward to what the next month will hold. Thanks for reading and don't forget to subscribe :) 

New Hairstyle!

 

So here is a little preview of my first "winter" protective hairstyle! Senegalese twists! As the days get cooler it is important for me to keep my hair protected from the cold and the dryness it brings. I have Included a few more pictures with my hair down... I had some fun taking those! I have also included the video of me talking about how I plan on taking care of them for the next 2 months :) I love them so much that I think I will do them again using a different type of hair and I will make a tutorial with tips and tricks that I am learning along the way, especially with dealing with your natural hair texture underneath.

                       

More Pictures...

   

  

Thank You BirchBox!

I was surprised today to see a little Birchbox Logo envelope in the mail today. I thought to myself, "Did I order something that I forgot about?" I got really excited when I opened the package and I found a great "thank you for your loyalty" key chain. I love it! Thank you Birchbox!! ... It has space to slip in a lipstick and it is really good quality! I already attached it with my keys!  I have enjoyed Birchbox for an entire year and I am looking forward to what is coming in the future.