One Thing Leads to Another

Note from Dustin:  I’m a BIG fan of living intentionally, and I’ve learned a lot about it from Nina Nelson – aka “Shalom Mama.”  I invited Nina to share her thoughts about how to get started toward better health – and a better marriage – in a simple way.  I think you’ll love this post, and don’t miss the great giveaway at the end!

For years I was unhappy with my health.

I was overweight and felt uncomfortable with my body, wishing that I could feel better about myself. My activity level consisted of short walks and lifting my kids. And my diet was anything but healthy.

I was fed up with feeling that way.

In August 2010, my husband, Ian, and I were invited to be part of a test group for a new fitness program. I was excited to get in shape and feel better about my body.

While the workouts were fun and I was feeling stronger, I noticed that I wasn’t losing weight. That’s when I took a hard look at the food I was eating and realized something had to change. I took control of my portion sizes, stopped eating grains and sugar (for weight loss and food allergy purposes) and started eating a lot more veggies.  



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Do You Share Your Goals?

The new year is here, which means that everyone is embarking on their New Year’s Resolutions.

Or maybe you don’t believe in doing the resolution thing, but you have a Life List of some sort (you might call it a Bucket List, or something else – it’s a list of goals that you want to complete in your lifetime).

Perhaps you don’t have any long term goals written down, preferring to store that particular list safely in your brain.

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of making your plans; “Once I get that raise I am going to buy that gadget” or “This year is going to be different, this year I’m going to exercise more.”

No matter what your goals are, do you take into account the most important part?

As someone who is married, it is vital to set your goals with your spouse.

1 + 1 > 2

There are a number of stories and jokes that have the following principle as their core: two items combined are stronger than the sum of the two individually.  



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Being Fat and Lazy is Hurting Our Families

How many times have you heard this expression?

“You don’t have anything if you don’t have your health?“

I’ve heard it thousands of times, and I’ve experienced first hand just how true it is in my own family.  Yet, SO MANY individuals, married couples and families continue to live in a way that seems to totally disregard this truth.  And there may be no bigger issue facing our marriages!

Let’s face it, we all know that we should be living a healthy lifestyle.  Yet, the sad is reality is that most people simply don’t.

This is particularly frustrating when it’s parents setting a poor example for their children, or worse yet, directly leading them to a life of obesity, diabetes and other chronic health issues.  



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Consider These Facts

• 68% of Americans over the age of 20 are overweight & 34% are OBESE
• 20% of CHILDREN ages 6-11 are OBESE
• Only 35% of American adults engage in regular physical activity
• 50 million Americans suffer from SLEEP problems & half these folks cite stress as the reason.
• 75% of Americans experience symptoms related to STRESS in a given month

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3 Powerful Reasons to Reflect

When’s the last time you sat down, without distractions, and really took some time to reflect on your life?

We are all so busy, and it’s easy to move along day after day doing what needs to be done without pausing to get a little perspective.  I’m a big proponent of living in the present while planning for the future.

However, there is real value in looking back over our shoulders to see where we’ve come from.

My Reflections

I actually took advantage of this earlier today when I my wife was sweet enough to take care of the kids and let me sleep in for a bit.  Today happens to be my 32nd birthday…and our daughter’s first birthday was just two days ago.

Well, I couldn’t sleep and my mind got to wandering.  Naturally, I thought back to a year ago when we brought Avery home from the hospital.

I also found myself going to back 10 years when Bethany and I were newly married with NO idea what really was to happen in our lives.  And, for some reason, I had a lot of thoughts from 25 years ago when I was just seven years old and having a rough time as the son of an abusive, alcoholic father.  



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Relationship 911: The First Step That Resuscitated My Marriage

Note: Happy Valentine’s Day! This is not your typical V-Day post, but I think it’s so much more important.  Time management and finding quality time for your spouse are recurring themes here on Engaged Marriage for a reason…they are incredibly important! 

I first met Nina when she and her husband joined our initial test group and then became early success stories using the Thrive90 Fitness program over at Fit Marriage.  I knew they had taken the importance of recreational intimacy to heart, but it wasn’t until I read this guest post from Nina that I fully understood why.  Enjoy!

Almost three years ago, I had divorce papers filled out and was ready to walk out the door.

My husband was home once a week while he was pursuing his paramedic degree, and I was pregnant and taking care of our 3 small children by myself. Yes, that is a recipe for disaster.

After years of problems ranging from pornography addiction to adultery, we were through. There was no way to save our broken marriage.  



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