Last week I got back into the flow of eating better and exercising more consistently. I didn’t eat sweets (until Sunday when I just had to share in a friend’s birthday cake and ice cream). I made smoothies, started up my juicer again and snacked on nuts to calm my cravings for sweets.

I pulled out by Flat Belly book and vowed to myself to stick with its eating schedule and recipes for the next 21 days. I have not gone the distance yet and want to give it a real try. Conventional wisdom has it that if you do something for 21 days, it will become a habit. A good habit is worth pursuing, even as life interrupts and obstacles pop up to block your way.

So I made a fresh pitcher of sassy water  Sunday night and started  the next morning on the four-day jumpstart regime.

My added incentive for gearing up presented itself Monday morning—–my husband. He and I are also in a challenge to lose weight and trim our waists. He announced that he is down 10 pounds and two inches have melted from his middle. He upped the ante last week by fasting and exercising twice a day (Not something I would recommend. Fasting  is a time for the body to rest, not over exert. )

Then he threw down the gauntlet, “You better come on or you will be left in my dust.”

He can be quite disciplined when he puts his mind to it.

So if I don’t want to be left in his dust, and I don’t, then I better stick with being disciplined too.

“I know what I have to do, and I’m going to do whatever it takes. If I do it, I’ll come out a winner, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else does.”

             — Florence Griffith Joyner, world champion and three-time Olympic gold medalist in track and field

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1. Flat belly, firm faith

I’ve kept handy a copy of  an April Prevention magazine , which has a excellent walking plan, and I  even bought the magazine editors’ book, Flat Belly Diet, which says on the cover “A Flat Belly is About Food & Attitude. Period. (Not a Single Crunch Required!).” The book  provides an eating regime of fat-melting foods.  As simple and as tasty as the authors tried to make their recipes, following the eating recommendations still requires shopping, planning and discipline.  (Not  always my strong suits.)

It’s not just that at  my age I’ve put on weight that refuses to  move or that I want smooth, tight abs.  I know that having stubborn fat around the abdomen is unhealthy.  I walk to stay fit both physically and spiritually. My body is stronger because of my brisk, hour-long walks and so is my faith.

During my walks, I take note of the birds chirping and darting about. I notice the shape of the clouds and blueness or grayness of the sky.  I pass people of all shapes, colors and sizes and wonder where their life journeys have taken them. Occasionally, I’ve walked laps around the high school track near my home with a  stranger and we shared our stories.  

Praying for others is a big part of my walks.  As much as I talk to and petition God when I walk, I also listen to hear God speak to me. Some days it’s more difficult than others to quiet the chatter in my head, but I’ve been fortunate on more than one occasion to get calm enough to recall a song, a saying, a sermon or a Scripture that brings clarity to a situation.   Peace fills my soul when I walk, whether alone or with a friend.

Today as I walked around the track, I repeated the ancient Eastern Orthodox church prayer that we discussed in my Shalem Institute class on Monday night. I let the Jesus Prayer, as it has been known as for centuries, soak through me. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”   It’s a prayer that I’ve uttered many times before in its simplest itineration, “Lord have mercy.”

A good walk strengthens body and soul. It takes you to both familiar  and unfamiliar places and  gives you new insights.  And hopefully day by day, my walking will help melt away what age continues to pile on.  A thousand steps a day, that’s the goal.

“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk.  Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness.  I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.” 

~Soren Kierkegaard

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2. Holding on with a knuckle-like faith
3. Deepening faith through spiritual direction