Help with arms...?

I'm about to head to the gym and I feel good about it.

I need help with my arms. I want them to be scultped and not necessarily "toned" like a man's. I still want to look like a girl. My arms (triceps) are too flabby for me. I have a strapless dress to wear in a few months and I currently don't like how my arms look in it.

I've asked some other people what they think I should do and what they've told me has just left me a little confused.

Any suggestions?

I currently use free weights at a low weight and do repetitious exercises (for biceps and triceps). I only do it maybe twice a week. I was doing them more than that and was told not to do it too much. I also swim and if I push myself I feel it in my arms the next day.

Any advice? Suggestions are more than welcome.

Is the calm after the storm...or in the eye of the storm?

I've had limited mobility for a couple of days. I injured my right foot by being a clutz (I walked into the base board of the wall in a rush to let someone in the front door...funny, I know...). Anyway, I've had to take an easy with jumping up and running around like I normally do.

I have been exercising and have been paying more attention to what I am eating. This week has been interesting because there is a plethora of sweets and candy that everyone is also handing me from Halloween. I am being conscientious about how much candy I'm eating...all in moderation.

Last night was dark, rainy, and dreary. I braved it to the pool all by myself...literally. As I was getting changed in the locker room there were 35 kids swimming laps in the pool (I had time to count them when I came out of the locker room). The swim team was finishing up their practice and the noise of the water was impressive.

The kids got out of the water, left the pool area, and then I was the only one left to swim. I swam my laps with a lot of labor as my body and my mind weren't as excited as in times past. A few times I stopped after swimming a lap and took a short rest. I noticed that the quiet made me feel ackward at first.

I've been struggling with a lot lately. Most recently I've been handling the near death of the mother (a little over a week ago) almost six months to the day that my father died unexpectantly. Yesterday would have been my father's 69th birthday. I have also been challenged in my faith and have been growing. I am practicing the spiritual disciplines. I am becoming more confident in who I am in Christ and this is manifesting itself in my character. I am being transformed into a calmer person, which is a really good thing for me.

As I was reflecting in the pool yesterday my mind was drawn to the calmness that comes after the storm. The danger is that sometimes the calmest part of the storm is in the eye of the storm...there is more to come. I began to think of all the ways that I have been attacked over the past few months and how I am ready for the calmness that comes after the storm.

Maybe I'm in the eye of the storm, and not in calmness afterwards. Whatever the case may be, I am focused. I know in whom I believe. Satan will not have a foothold in my life whether is be phyiscally or spiritually. I am beginning to see how inter-related the two are and how imperative it is to guard my heart and my body.

Guard your heart. Guard your body. Focus.

Faith & Politics

I know this blog is supposed to be about faith and fitness, but I want to write something as we witness unprecedented history today.

Why do people assume that just because I'm a Christian that I'm republican? When did "evangelical Christian" become hi-jacked with neo-conservative propaganda? I wonder if this is how black republicans feel.

I think that people should be free to vote for whoever they want to and that it should be their decision. Faith is a personal matter and while I think that it is important to teach "good morals" in our country I agree with the idea of separate church and state.


I believe the Bible teaches about love and tolerance. Pre-Christians will not be won to our faith by beating them with the Bible or by chasing them away. They will be won to our faith through relationship, through personal experience, and through love. Using religion as a crutch for politics is not how we fulfill the Great Commission. It does the opposite.

It's time that people become informed citizens and vote on the issues and the candidates. There are a lot of important decisions that need to be made for our country.

It is time that we put our individualistic mindset aside and work together. After all, we are all in this together.