Lately I’ve been realizing something.   I’ve been seeing how much fitness ‘before’ and ‘after’ and gym photos affect me on Instagram.  It’s not that they’re all bad, but I think that they can be unhelpful.  

This may sound a little like a rant, but please bear with me and read through in order to give me your thoughts on this subject, because it’s one I’m pretty passionate about discussing.  

I’m going to kind of ‘intersperse’ my #balancednotclean WIAW diet with Laura and Arman throughout this post along with a few thoughts on ‘flat abs’ and why I’m not exactly a fan of fitness being about ‘flat abs.’    

There is no ‘one size fits everybody’ for eating.  We’re all different, and this is just the way of eating that keeps my body functioning well!   

Tuesday Breakfast at Grandma’s – Bowls of Cereal at Grandma’s are always nostalgic.. 

One of the pictures that affects me the most is one of the most iconic items in the fitness/modeling/workout ‘inspo’ industry.  It’s the picture of the flat midsection.  

Have you ever seen the workouts that promise to tone your love handles?  Are love handles a terrible thing?  What’s more important?  The heart or the love handles? 

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Trip Snackage Essential: I admit… On the last two trips, I haven’t gone far without nut butter.   Maybe that’s why I don’t have flat abs?  

I actually wanted to see what God says about our bodies. Psalm 139 is amazing!    

Psalm 139:13-16, ‘For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of  them.’    

 

More Trip Snackage: Nicole is doing an amazing job at releasing healthy snacking on the world.  No one could dislike this granola, and you must buy the ‘No Nutty Chocolate Chip.’  

I think we’ve lost the wonder of how God made the body and redeems it, and He didn’t make it for us to be obsessed with flat abs.

Monday Sushi Buffet – Maybe this isn’t abs food, BUT… sushi with family is always fun.   I hadn’t had sushi in a while, so I might have this plate times 4.   

What do I tell myself when I struggle with wanting to have those flat abs but knowing that I would have to be ‘unhealthy’ to get them?  

(Working Out on Vacation:  The fun thing about moving is not so much getting toned (although toning is NOT a bad thing).  I love the freedom of moving and just being out there.) 

1)  It does not matter if you have love handles or not, because God makes everybody different. Let’s talk to the heart of people, not their outside.  

The abundance of the heart is what changes the outside into the new creation that God wants them to be, and that transformation doesn’t always look the exact same. But it does turn into joy and peace and patience and more and more love.   

2)  Life isn’t about staring in the mirror.  Often we go naturally to fixing the outside when the hearts are what need the healing and redemption.  

Psalm 51:10, ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.’   

3)  An over fixation on what my body looks like is really draining, but do you know what’s really fulfilling?   John 6:35, ‘Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’   

When God focuses my heart on Him, food and everything else takes back seat.  I don’t starve myself.  I don’t eat too much. I enjoy everything, because they’re all gifts.  They don’t rule my life, but they are sweet blessings in my life.

4) Man truly does look at the outside, because we CAN’T see the heart.  The awesome thing is that  God can and does give us eyes to look beyond and see the good work that God is doing on the insides of individual people.  

God does the real transforming, and it definitely does not center on six pack abs.  

Ezekiel 36:26,  “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

5)  Seeing that body in the mirror NEVER made me lastingly joyful.   The joy of a nice looking ‘body’ by the society’s standards is a false and empty joy, and it always leaves me wanting more.  

 But the everlasting joy of Jesus does fill me all the time!   

6)  I’m not caring for this body so people can tell me I look ‘good.’  I’m doing it because it’s God’s possession that He bought.  He’s my Father.  He bought it with a HUGE price, and why would I destroy it?  

Maybe we should be a bit more like the little animals who don’t worry about these things?  

(Cutest little dachsund I’ve ever seen)  

Tuesday Breakfast: Adding more fat your breakfast is always tasty, and I have been really adoring this jar of Essentially Coconut one of my friends sent me.  

Guys and Gals, this stuff is GOLD.  It’s the best coconut butter I’ve ever had.  (I’ve only had 3 different brands so let me know if you have any other recommendations.)  

Grandma’s Desserts: Who else loves Grandma’s desserts like me? This apple crisp + icecream + Naturally Nutty.  It was the BEST combo EVAH!!!  

Sunday Dinner: I don’t follow a specific diet or label for my eating.  I always eat a little bit of everything…  Sunday dinner was a smorgasbord of goodness including ham, potato salad, jello salad, veggies, chicken and … dessert.

Tuesday Lunch:  This times TWO!   🙂  You could say I finally did ‘Taco Tuesday.’  That was due to my Grandma’s ingenious planning. 

And an ODE to white bread… It was a FEAR FOOD, but I’m grateful to say that I was able to eat this sandwich without fear or much of a second thought.   

It’s JUST Food.  That’s the way Robyn puts it, and so let’s leave it there.  

Ok, let’s get on to the ‘flat abs’ discussion.  I would love to hear your thoughts on my thoughts on the discussion.. 

Do you like the idea of telling people that the workout will tone their midsection or focusing on the idea that it will make people look a certain way?  

Does your body react well to a ‘toning’ routine or are you the kind whose body wouldn’t really survive if you tried to go for a six pack?  

Do you eat white bread (if you’re not coeliac)?   

Do you add nut butter to your cereal?