My Passion

What are you passionate about?

I’m passionate about people seeing themselves as worth it. I want people to know that God really does have a plan for their lives. That regardless of what someone said or did, their value hasn’t changed. Regardless of what you said or did, your value hasn’t changed.

We believe lies. We believe we’ve messed up too much. We believe we’re too damaged. We believe we can’t and will never measure up. Unfortunately, we believe all this based on standards that were never God’s original intent.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. – Ephesians 2:10 NLT

What people think of me has nothing to do with my value. In fact, what I think of me doesn’t change my value. I love this quote:

I will believe the truth about myself no matter how beautiful it is. -Macrina Wiederkehr

We very much believe the truth about ourselves when it’s bad. What makes it hard to believe when it’s good?

On that note, in a week I will host a conference for teenage girls about healthiness. The root of it is knowing their true identity and value in Christ. Whether you’re a Christ follower or not, you can still come and learn about good health.

www.achanelmoore.com/registration

2023 D.A.U.G.H.T.E.R.S. Conference

The 2023 D.A.U.G.H.T.E.R.S. Conference is this summer, June 24.

Early Bird Registration is available today at http://www.achanelmoore.com.

Physical Health – Be Realistic

Tip 2: Be realistic about what you’ll give up.

You’ll find that whenever I talk about goals I always talk about the importance of being realistic. Fitness or health goals are the same. Be realistic about what you’re willing to give up.

Honestly, I love ice cream and I love Chick-fil-A. It is not a realistic goal for me to cut them out. I know that I can live without them. I just don’t want to. I don’t even want to try. However, I can cut back. I can cut back to having ice cream once a week instead of three or four times, and I can cut back on Chick-fil-A. After all, Chick-fil-A has amazing salads too so I could ease off the fried nuggets.

I also know that those things are upwards 500 calories. So if in my reality I’m not going to give them up then I need to understand what has to happen to maintain a proper caloric intake/outtake. So maybe I modify my breakfast and/or lunch that day because I’m having a high calorie dinner or dessert. I also know I need to burn a few hundred calories to balance out my intake for that day.

So if I can have 1500 calories a day, my combined breakfast and lunch need to only be about 1000 calories for my Chick-fil-A dinner. Or I can workout and burn 300 calories which would allow an intake of 1800 calories for that day.

Again, I don’t want to get so deep into a game of numbers because this is more about creating healthy habits than that. But, if you’re starting off, having some numbers to work with helps. My system isn’t perfect and I know it can be healthier, but it’s my system that worked for me as far as creating a healthy habit. Now, the hard part is balancing the correct daily nutrients which I haven’t gotten to yet, but someday perhaps.

In short, be realistic. People fail because an unrealistic goal didn’t work and they gave up. Set yourself up for what you can accomplish. Celebrate it when you do and build on that. Realistically what can you give up or cut back on? Do that. It doesn’t just happen in a day but it can happen in daily consistency.

Calorie Counting – Health

Calorie counting was a huge game changer for me. When people ask me how I lost weight and what I’ve been doing, that’s what I tell them. Of course I workout. That’s expected. What people don’t realize is that counting calories has really been the MVP of my progress.

Yes, it’s easy to start playing a game of numbers, so you do have to be careful with it, but you really need to log in how many calories you’re daily taking in. I used my phone apps to see how many calories were a healthy number for me, especially when it came to weight loss. It also helped me come up with a realistic time frame and healthy weight goal.

When I could see the number, I saw what foods I couldn’t have because of their caloric intake. I admit, I’m not at a place that I’ve been able to properly balance out carbs and proteins and other nutrients perfectly, but maybe I’ll get there.

This is about baby steps. And for me a step was consistently logging in my calories. I’d also factor in calories from working out, which would create a little flexibility to take in a few more calories some days. If I knew I couldn’t workout that day, then I’d have an idea of what type of foods I couldn’t eat that day especially because I wouldn’t be able to burn the calories I’d consumed.

I’ve said it once and I’ll forever say it. I’m not going to stop eating ice cream and Chick-fil-A. Unless God tells me I have to, I won’t. But I can’t overly consume either. So what does that mean? If my ice cream is 500 calories, then I’ve got to burn 500 calories or take in 500 less that day, or some form of both, which is best.

It’s baby steps and intentionality. That’s the simplest way I can explain the start of this process and journey I’ve been on to physical health.

August – Physical Health

This year, I’ve tried to have more intentionality about what I post. Consistency matters, and I’ve noticed that keeping a monthly theme keeps me accountable to write. This month’s theme is about physical health.

I knew I’d want to discuss physical health at some point, but I wasn’t in a hurry because the world puts so much emphasis on it. I wanted to make sure I’d shared the importance of spiritual health, mental and emotional, as well as healthy relationships before I jumped into this topic.

I’ve spent a year working to get back into shape. It’s a lifestyle decision, not just about wanting to see a number on the scale or look good. Those are bonuses.

The last five years have been my most unhealthy ones. I picked up worse habits than I already had, paired with not being able to workout like I used to due to ACL surgeries. I had always been active so I’d never really battled to maintain weight or stay healthy. I was always healthy, mainly because I played sports and well I was young enough to be active enough.

The past year has been work. This month, I want to share the tips that have helped me develop healthier choices along the way. It doesn’t just happen in a day, but making small healthy decisions daily can happen.

Tips:
1) Count those calories!
2) Be realistic about what you want to give up.
3) Take baby steps to permanent change.
4) Focus on healthiness.
5) Find what works best for you.

Thanks for reading and encouraging me along this journey. I hope I can do the same for you.

Five Tips for Goal-Setting

Tip #3: Set Healthy Goals

The next thing to ask yourself is whether or not your goals are healthy?  One tip to goal setting is to set healthy goals. Goals that will have a healthy impact on your well-being and others’. Why should a goal be healthy? Because if it’s not, it’s not worth obtaining.

Goals are fun to set. Not all goals are serious, but one way or another they should be meaningful. And if they’re meaningful, they’re more likely to be healthy and helpful.

Truth is, you’re more likely to want to achieve something that is going to have a lasting impact than you are that’s all fluff. Fluffy goals have their place, as they give us a sense of accomplishment and motivation when they’re achieved. But to that end, their purpose is to provide motivation to accomplish more.

Healthy goals are the ones that work towards wholeness. Not perfection, but improvement. So if your emotional goal is to be more joyful, read a joke a day and an encouraging scripture. You want to eat healthier? Say no to having sweets every day and cut back to three times a week. Want to be healthier mentally, cut back on TV and read a page a day of an affirmation book.

Set goals that will make you better. Set goals that will positively impact those around you. Those goals are healthy. The goals that will make you better spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally are healthy goals. And sometimes it’s the smallest of steps with these goals that will make them the most worthwhile. And hopefully, as you grow in your health, a goal will be to help others grow in theirs.

Empty

The more you pour yourself into things that aren’t eternal, the more internally you feel empty.

Thank you middle school girls Bible study. I won’t go into details of their discussion of course, but this was my take away from it all.

Emptiness. I think it’s something we all feel at times. Feeling unfulfilled hits hard and it hurts. Sometimes un-fulfillment is the cause of our emptiness. Sometimes it’s from filling ourselves up with the wrong things.

You ever ate a bag of chips or candy because you were hungry and afterwards found yourself still hungry? Or maybe worse, you felt bad after what you eat?

That’s how our spirits work too. For some reason, we put so much emphasis on our bodies, the physical, and neglect our spirits, the eternal. Anything we fill up on that isn’t God is going to leave us empty. That’s how we were created.

Fullness and completion is in Jesus Christ. If you don’t have Him, you will be empty—eternally.

Ephesians 5:18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,

What is Strength?

Not by power

Not by might

That’s not how you win the fight

It’s in the brain

It’s in the heart

It’s about being smart

Strength is in wisdom

It’s found in Him

The Light that doesn’t go dim

When I am weak

He is strong

That was Paul’s song

So maybe

What if

Weakness is really strength

What if because God is strong

We can be “weak”

In Him we can be meek

Strength isn’t just physical

Nor is it only mental

It’s spiritual

I finally see

It’s from inside

It’s wherever Christ abides

He’s strong

Especially when I’m not

Isn’t that an interesting thought?

I don’t have to win any fight

I have to hold on to Him tight

I’ll be strong through His might

When I am weak

I am strong

As long as it’s to Christ that I hold on

Thankful for My Life

I’m grateful for my life. I enjoy my life. Life has its challenges, and last year I can honestly say I wasn’t in a good place. Thinking of the place that I feel I am my best at, I know I can say I wasn’t close to that self.
Mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically, I just wasn’t well. I wasn’t hospitalized, I wasn’t in a corner crying hysterically, but I know I wasn’t doing well. I wasn’t positive, I was sick off and on consistently. I didn’t have joy, and I didn’t even possess happiness.

So, yes, I’m thankful for life. I know that joy is never meant to be circumstantial, yet I treated it like it was. I’m thankful that even in my moping around, I was still able to know that God had a purpose, and a perfect time for it to be revealed. I’m also grateful that God, in His grace and mercy, allowed me to see another day, even if it was just to apologize for how I had misused the previous one.
I am thankful for my life. I don’t get everything I want. However, I have everything I need. I am thankful for everyday life, here and now. But you know what I’m really thankful for? Life in eternity.

I’m Strong

It’s an automatic trickle down effect that occurs when I am spiritually strengthened. That is one of the reasons it’s so important to be spiritually strong, because it strengthens you all around in life.

When I’m spiritually strong, I can’t help but grow mentally, emotionally, and physically because my spiritual strength fuels all the others. How do I grow spiritually? I allow God to grow in me. In short, any time God is in control, the situation is better. Life is better.

When my relationship with God grows, my life gets better. It’s not a coincidence my relationship has been better. God has been at the center of it. It can only be good with Him in control.  It’s not happenstance that I’ve managed money better when God has been my financial advisor. There aren’t coincidences when you’ve followed God’s lead.

If you’re not in God, you’re not as strong as you can be. If your relationship is not in Him, if your money is not in His hands, if there is anything in your life that you have not completely surrendered to His control, you are not operating in strength. We must be strong spiritually to even have the hope of strength anywhere else in life.