Spiders, Sculpting, Santana, Spiritual

Every morning my husband steps out to greet the wide, wide world the same way by inspecting the threshold before he steps outside. Why?  He looks for newly built spider webs meant solely for him, no doubt.

Try as we may, we rarely find the spider(s) that weaves its web.  What if we did? Kill it? Sure, we can do that, but then there will be another and another and another to take its place to build its webby snare.  Come on ladies, there gotta be an easier way to catch a man? This one’s alright caught and he’s all mine! lol

How does he handle the spider webs?  Should he spy an undesirable architecture hanging from the roof’s awning draped to the porch railing, then he uses his magic wand, a sheet of rolled up newspaper,  and will make it vanish. POOF Just like that! And, sometimes, when we return home after dark, he discovers a spider’s handy work and must use an outdoorsy magic wand – a twig.

I don’t like spiders! Which reminds me of….

Have you ever eaten snails? Personally, it used to totally creep me out to think about having this delicacy. Snails are slimy…maybe a little fascinating, but truly disgusting creatures.  Why on earth would I want to eat one, right? Well, as it turned out a few years ago we dined out with some friends and guess what? They got escargot as an appetizer and they invited us to try it.

My first impression was to run away from the invite, like a crazy woman. What…eat snails? Are you out of your mind?  That would have been my normal train of thought, but I didn’t back down from the offer.  Life is too short. Why not seize the opportunity to try something new?  After all, it wasn’t like bungee jumping or Skydiving.  The chances dying after eating a snail is slim to none.

I summoned my courage and speared my harmless subject.  The aroma of butter and garlic got my mental sensory off guard as I put the snail into my mouth.  That didn’t hurt so bad.  I chewed it up.  It had a rubbery texture…kind of like a fried claim (belly), but not as tough.  I swallowed the bite but didn’t reach for seconds. The experience was NOT as horrible as I had always thought it would be.  However, this is something I wouldn’t buy for myself.  It just didn’t make my taste buds jump for joy.

My mind is always thinking about being in the classroom with Miss Jenny on Thursdays.  Usually, I begin pondering deeply seriously on Wednesday what I’m going to pull out of the cobwebs (or spider webs) in my mind for my assignment.

While my heart was racing and perspiration trickling off my back….”What was that,” you said. “No, I wasn’t sweating it because that’s what Miss Jenny’s class does to me!”  I was sweating bullets because  I was exercising my body.

Let me be more precise… I was in the middle of my 40-minute routine with my personal trainer Chalene Johnson (video trainer). We did her Turbo Sculpt, which came in the Turbo Jam 5 Rockin’ Workouts video set. That’s when I knew my post had to include these two ‘S’ words: sculpting and shaping.

Pretending to be a cardio diva each day, I work to slim down and sculpt this mother-worn body.  Having children really alters your physique.  Granted, I may NEVER again look the way I did before motherhood but I’m giving it my all to reclaim what was mine before four pregnancies (only three live births). Mix up your day, throw in a little fun by dancing around the house to do chores. Here’s some help to get you motivated with the best of Santana!

Why is shaping important? The number one reason in my book is, shaping gets rid of unwanted body fat.  Daily 30-minute cardio activity, such as bicycling, jogging, or other high impact aerobics burn the fat.

How am I achieving my goal?

1. N.E.A.T. Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.  In other words, move around more.  Talk with your hands and body, foot tapping, fidgeting, … burns 350 calories per/day.  Laughter (about 10-15 mins)…can burn roughly 10-40 calories. Doesn’t sound like a lot but in a year’s time, you can deplete your waist line by 4 pounds. Stand up…standing burns 50% more calories than sitting. That computes to 50 calories lost per/hour.
2. I’m committed to being physical. By riding my stationary bike for an hour each day and doing another hour of high impact cardio with interval training (enhance heart speed – normal heart speed approach). Then, every other day I schedule intense sculpting into my routine.  Cardio for melting fat. Toning(sculpting) my muscles to burn more calories while my body is at rest.
3. Diet and exercise go together.  The biggest thing is to watch what you eat.  Strive to make healthy choices with what you put into your body.  This is easier said than done, I know. I hear your whining because I do enough of it myself.  Through personal trials and testing, I’ve learned what the experts say really holds true. Eating protein rich foods truly satisfy you longer.  Make a point of eating at least three meals rich with protein.  I like starting my day off with eggs.  The incredible edible egg has 6-grams of protein, add an ounce of light cheese to the equation and get 20 of the 66-grams of protein needed for my daily intake.

Outward sculpting and shaping pulled my thoughts of sculpting inwardly.  I am a constant work-in-progress.  My heavenly Father is molding me daily to be the person, He wants me to be.  Sometimes I’m not as yielding as I should be and He has to pound me down to get my attention. That’s when He shapes me to be what He would have me to be.  At dailyencouragement.net, I stumbled upon this printable archive “The Master Potter”.

“And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.” Jeremiah 18:4 KJV

The old gospel hymn, Have Thine Own Way Lord, humbles my spirit and places a desire within my heart to be submissive to the Lord’s call.  How is He molding (sculpting) you?

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