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No more Excuses! · Fostering Faith

• 0:00
  Welcome back to Fostering Faith, friends. And so we are here for another episode that was inspired by one of my patients.
• 0:07
  And so, hey, everyone, welcome back. And so we're going to keep it real, biblical, and maybe step on a few toes today, but in love, of course.
• 0:15
  And so today we're going to talk about something that we all deal with, excuses.
• 0:19
  You know those little lies that you tell yourself to avoid doing things that we know we should do.
• 0:23
  And so a question for you guys is what's the worst excuse that you ever told yourself?
• 0:28
  Be honest. Write it down in the comments. Leave a comment on how and how you have made excuses for yourself.
• 0:35
  And so I was talking with a patient the other day and he said, you know, like, I'll go to have a procedure done or whatever.
• 0:43
  And they asked who your provider is. And I say you. And they're like, oh, she's tough or oh, my gosh, I love her so much.
• 0:52
  It's never they don't know who you are, but it's either they are scared of you or they love you.
• 0:57
  There's never like an in-between because and he was saying, yes, I know.
• 1:02
  And I love that about her because she doesn't allow me to use the excuses that everyone else does.
• 1:07
  And so it is about allowing people to know that they are encouraged, they are expected to do great things with their life.
• 1:15
  And we don't pull any punches in the office. Like, these are your goals. This is what you want to do.
• 1:19
  And so therefore we do them. You can get in your own way and have excuses for everything. I'll start Monday. I don't have time.
• 1:25
  It's too hard. And so I'll start Monday. But never Monday never comes.
• 1:29
  And I don't have time because we're too busy watching Netflix. We're too busy scrolling on Instagram.
• 1:33
  We're too busy doing the things that are not going to get us towards our goal. And it's too hard.
• 1:38
  But we find time to do what we want to do. And you will never accomplish anything if you don't do hard things.
• 1:45
  And so we have biblical truth to back this up. And so we have Proverbs 22 13. It says a lazy person claims there's a line out there.
• 1:53
  But if you go outside, I might be killed. Modern translation is if I can't go to the gym, I might pull a muscle.
• 1:59
  Or Luke 14 16 through 20, the parable of the great banquet where people made excuses not to come.
• 2:05
  Jesus is inviting us to something greater. But often we're too busy to show up.
• 2:10
  And so as we have all these goals, we're now into the third month of the year and everyone had a goal for fitness.
• 2:17
  And by February, we stopped going to the gym. We stopped logging our food. We stopped doing this.
• 2:22
  And so I had a patient come in today and their excuse for not logging their food was is that they did not have any pins in their house.
• 2:29
  Please know I gave her seven pins after she left before she left the office.
• 2:33
  And so, like, I have just heard all the excuses, all the reasons why that we can't do the things that we have told ourselves to.
• 2:41
  And so as we have had now 20 years of health and fitness and you guys can see my other videos on health and well, you know, fitness, I love it.
• 2:50
  I'm over 500 pounds. I used to be on over 100 units of insulin a day.
• 2:53
  I had gestational diabetes with my daughter. I have Hashimoto's. I've reversed it with my diet.
• 2:58
  I like to exercise. I like to eat healthy. And so if I can do it, you can do it.
• 3:03
  If there's any excuse, I've already said it to myself. And so I don't believe you. I don't believe in the excuses.
• 3:08
  I am here to love and encourage people to make sure that they are their personal best, because our body is a temple.
• 3:14
  Our body is what Jesus has gave us, and we can only go in ministry as far as our bodies will carry us.
• 3:20
  And so it is just so important that we are such great stewards of the body that he's given us.
• 3:25
  And we never want to take that for granted. I know so many people that would love to have their body work.
• 3:30
  My mother-in-law has MS and she's unable to walk. She's unable to stand on her own. And we fully take care of her.
• 3:37
  And so just the ability to get up and move and take movement for granted. I never want to do that.
• 3:42
  And so I do exercise every day except for on Sundays, and we use that as a rest day, an active rest day.
• 3:47
  And it is just so important just to keep your body moving and appreciate just the simplicity of getting up out of bed
• 3:54
  and getting into a treadmill or riding a bike or just going outside. I just never want to take that for granted.
• 4:02
  And so we have excuses for work and search, you know, work excuses. I don't feel like it. I deserve a break.
• 4:08
  And so you have Colossians 3.23. It says, Whenever you go work, do it with all your heart as you are working for the Lord.
• 4:15
  And I find that so inspiring because I am not working for a man. I am not working for a company. I am working unto the Lord.
• 4:22
  And so next time you clock in, remember, you're just not clocking in for your boss. You're working for God.
• 4:26
  Imagine if Jesus was your manager. Would you show up late? Would you continue to clock in late, clock out early,
• 4:37
  leave for lunches, take that long lunch? And so we really have excuses and we have tons of excuses that we tell ourselves is OK.
• 4:46
  And so in my office, I really want to get those things that you put above your door that says I'm watching.
• 4:51
  And so God is watching your moves. Jesus is watching us. Does he know that we're not going to be perfect? Yes.
• 4:56
  But in that same instance, like we are serving him. We are not serving your company. We are not serving your boss.
• 5:00
  We're not serving your district manager, whatever have you. We are here to serve the Lord.
• 5:05
  And he has put us in that exact position to do the very best that we can and to we serve him and no one else.
• 5:12
  And it is about giving him 110 percent every day because he's put you in that position to help those people
• 5:19
  or to do whatever creative brainstorm that he needs because he's equipped you for just this time.
• 5:25
  I think that's an Esther. And he has made you for just this exact moment.
• 5:29
  And so it's so important that whenever we are trying to give our excuses for doing a half hearted job, then, you know,
• 5:36
  it's it's not really serving the Lord the way that he deserves to be served. And so we always have excuses.
• 5:41
  You know, what about the excuses I hear that we go to church? Oh, my gosh, I can worship at home. True.
• 5:46
  But do you really? And then I'm just too tired.
• 5:49
  But you weren't too tired to send me a message at midnight last night or you're not too tired whenever there's a sale or there's a Black Friday.
• 5:57
  You're not too tired to stay up and watch Netflix or to do something that you really want to do.
• 6:02
  Or, you know, it's about Hebrews 1025.
• 6:05
  Don't give up meetings together as some of you are with the habit of doing, but encourage one another.
• 6:10
  The enemy loves when we stay home because isolated, we are weak.
• 6:15
  And so, oh, my gosh, you remember that thing, you know, like a couple of years ago, there was like this whole kind of pandemic thing.
• 6:20
  And we were isolated. And you know how people felt.
• 6:23
  And it was this experience that no one has ever felt before. And it was fun there for a second.
• 6:28
  And then it got real bad, real quick. And everyone was isolated. And we couldn't go to church. We couldn't worship.
• 6:34
  And it is about having all the excuses. Well, he doesn't need that. I don't need to go to church.
• 6:38
  I know what they did, you know, on Saturday and all these excuses of why you can't go to church, why you can't worship in public and all these different excuses that you have.
• 6:45
  And they're all junk. They are junk about, you know, what you're supposed to do.
• 6:49
  You know what scripture says about going to church and worshiping and communing together and publicly displaying your affection for Christ because we get to because we live in a free country
• 6:59
  where other people have literally died to praise the one true God. And you have all these excuses, you know, packed up in your back pocket, ready to throw about somebody whenever you don't want to do something, whenever you feel the need to just sit and not meet your goals.
• 7:13
  And whenever we have excuses about health and fitness, you have excuses for not working out. And so I don't have time. Yet you have time to scroll on your phone for an hour.
• 7:21
  And so do a check right now. Pause this and go check your screen time for last week and or even just check your screen time for this week.
• 7:28
  They are on the podcast that the average person spend seven hours on their phone, on social media, how addictive social media is.
• 7:36
  And your phone is so addictive and it is about seven hours. What about just doing it for 30 minutes, doing it for 30 minutes a day?
• 7:43
  I mean, and so you're carving out that time that is going to be important to you, whether it's going to be before work, at your lunch, right before or after you get off work.
• 7:51
  I mean, so it literally is just carving out that time and putting a reminder on your phone. Oh, you know, it's it's it's workout time.
• 8:00
  And so I had a patient one time she would always crave a snack at two o'clock whenever she would skip lunch.
• 8:06
  And so she put a reminder on her phone that says Tracy, the fat killer is watching.
• 8:09
  And that was a reminder like, oh, like I have someone that is my accountability partner.
• 8:14
  I have to go talk to Tracy, you know, about this and I have to log my food.
• 8:18
  I'm going to go away in front of Tracy and she knows my fullest potential because she believes in me.
• 8:22
  And I really I should have had lunch. I should have had my protein filled lunch.
• 8:25
  And therefore, I wouldn't want this snack. And so it's about the excuses. It's too hard.
• 8:31
  But so is life. But we keep going. And you're you're not dead yet. And you've went through really hard things.
• 8:35
  Yes, life is hard. Exercise is hard. Diet is hard. But you're never going to get anywhere in life if you don't do hard things.
• 8:42
  And so if your body is a temple and you're treating it like a cathedral or a rundown shack,
• 8:47
  are you treating your temple as like this priceless gift that literally someone died for?
• 8:55
  Are you treating it like that? Are you feeling it full of garbage?
• 8:58
  Are you feeling it full of soda and cookies and candies and junk food, highly processed foods that you know are just making that those people in that industry richer?
• 9:07
  Because they do not care about you. They do not care that you're addicted to their food.
• 9:11
  They have put like scientists in charge of their chemicals and their labs to make that food addictive.
• 9:16
  They do not care about you. They they they want your money. And that is it.
• 9:20
  I can't imagine just like hoarding over all my money to someone that is intentionally making you sick.
• 9:26
  They are taking advantage of you. They are taking and making that packaging all bright and colorful and like all the things.
• 9:32
  And they and they got you. They got your money. And then they have all of your time that you've wasted sitting on the couch.
• 9:39
  My time is my precious, precious gift. And so I'm not going to give that over to anybody.
• 9:43
  And so allowing someone the audacity to keep me stuck in a chair that I'm unhappy with,
• 9:49
  I'm looking around at my situation and wondering why and how my life got this way.
• 9:53
  There is literally no way. And my favorite is healthy food is boring.
• 10:00
  No, it's not. My steak is delicious. My chicken is delicious.
• 10:04
  And if you put some seasoning on it, they're green beans and bacon.
• 10:09
  Like, are you kidding me? A huge salad for those that eat salads.
• 10:14
  I mean, that is a delicious treat. Now you have to put on there things that are appropriate.
• 10:18
  You can't put five thousand gallons of salad dressing and, you know, 10 tons of cheese and like croutons and bagels.
• 10:24
  No, you're going to put real food on there. You're going to put real salad dressing on there.
• 10:27
  And what about the whole lie that you guys tell yourself is I'll start tomorrow.
• 10:31
  I'll start today. You know, I have patients that come in midday and they're like, OK, I'll start tomorrow.
• 10:35
  No, we're starting right now. We're starting right now. We're logging your food.
• 10:38
  Do you have breakfast? Do you have lunch? And then so they start their food log.
• 10:41
  OK, so then whenever you get out to your car, go walk the parking lot 10 times and you just had a 10 minute workout.
• 10:47
  And so you started today. And so Galatians six seven says a man reaps what he sows.
• 10:51
  You can't eat junk and expect to feel great.
• 10:54
  And so what you put in is what you're going to get out.
• 10:56
  And so many patients come in and they're like, oh, my gosh, I cannot believe how much better I feel.
• 11:00
  The brain fog is gone. I can't believe that my joints don't hurt so much.
• 11:04
  I've literally just eliminated gluten and dairy because we know that those things are so inflammatory.
• 11:09
  We know that those things are just can be so hard on your gut.
• 11:14
  And if we focus on those real foods, we focus on the foods that God gave us.
• 11:17
  Meat, cruciferous vegetables, berries, you know, water, you know, have your coffee, have you know, have some tea, you know,
• 11:23
  have those things that are just single word ingredients are going to be so, so much better for you.
• 11:28
  And so what about stop making excuses?
• 11:31
  And so let's hear some practical ideas of how we stop making excuses.
• 11:35
  And so identify your excuse. Write them down so they don't say hidden because we have a Habakkuk to to this as right things down.
• 11:42
  And so replace that lie with the truth. Come back every excuse with scripture.
• 11:46
  And so that's going to take time for you to spend in God's word and allow yourself to know the truth because the lie that you told yourself that it's hard.
• 11:54
  No, I'm pretty sure that he gave you a spirit of courage and strength and not weakness.
• 11:58
  I don't have time. I'm pretty sure he gave you 24 hours. He gave me 24 hours.
• 12:01
  And so what you do and utilize that time. And so you have the truth that is buried in scripture.
• 12:07
  You have that owner's manual to life that will tell you the truth versus a lies that you tell yourself.
• 12:13
  And taking small steps, you don't have to be perfect, but you do have to start.
• 12:18
  Yes, Rome wasn't built in the day, but logging your food, you know, going for that walk whenever you don't want to.
• 12:24
  And it's just about mailbox wins. And so going for that five minute walk and then it's a 10 minute walk.
• 12:29
  And that's a 15 minute walk. I mean, and then before you know it, you could be doing a triathlon.
• 12:33
  You could be doing something that you never thought that you would be able to do just because you started.
• 12:37
  And you have that whole nomenclature of where, like, you know, like one, like 10,000 miles starts with one step.
• 12:42
  It literally is. But you have to take that first step and get accountability.
• 12:47
  You have to have someone to call you out on your nonsense.
• 12:51
  And so you have to have that accountability partner. And I have so often patients do not have that accountability partner in their life.
• 12:56
  And so that's why that's what they have me. They have someone to, you know, to their rear end out, you know, whenever it is, you know, something that they know that they did and they cheated themselves out of something.
• 13:06
  It's because I love my patients so much and I know their fullest potential and I know that people give up on themselves so easy.
• 13:12
  But it's about giving someone the authority in your life that loves you, that knows that you want something better for yourself and that you do not have that muscle yet.
• 13:22
  And so walking your food is a muscle. Going for walks is a muscle. Until you strengthen that muscle, you have to have someone to call you out and be accountable for.
• 13:29
  I have patients that have to message me daily the foods they eat because they know that they don't they won't end up doing it if they don't do it that way.
• 13:36
  And so they send me their food looks and we go through mailbox wins. And so that's a mailbox win. So those are short little goals that gets people's motivation going and keeps them motivated to continue the next day and continue the next day and continue the next day.
• 13:47
  And then once you start doing these things, they become patterns, they become habits and you start to see results because you had someone that actually cared enough to sit down, go through the things that make you uncomfortable.
• 13:58
  And it's about having that community because again, we're meant for community and it's scriptural and it's biblical based. That's why God had Adam and then he created Eve.
• 14:07
  And so we have partners. We have best friends. We have husbands. We have spouses. We have wives. We have people that are in our office because potentially we're in the office more than we are at home.
• 14:15
  And so it's about those people that you wouldn't typically go out to eat with. You're going up to there and you're being vulnerable.
• 14:21
  You're humbling yourself and saying, you know what, guys, I don't I don't like the way that I feel. I don't like my brain fog. I don't like the way my clothes fit.
• 14:26
  I don't like how I feel. I don't like how my joints hurt. I'm going to start on this journey and I need you to hold me accountable. I need you to call me out.
• 14:33
  I'm going to tell you that I went to the gym. I didn't go to the gym. I'm going to not go out to eat.
• 14:38
  But whenever you guys go out to eat, I'm going to want to go with you. And but I'm going to want to order this. Don't let me.
• 14:45
  But you say you have to pick someone that's going to literally not let you order it.
• 14:49
  And, you know, my best friend. And so she's often said, you know, if I want to cheat on my diet and I just want to feel sorry for myself and I want to sit home and eat peanut butter, I'm not going to call Tracy to validate me because she's going to tell me no.
• 15:00
  She's going to tell me, get my butt up and then go work out, go to the gym, go do something. No, you're not having peanut butter. Yes, if you want something sweet, have some berries, have something that's healthy.
• 15:09
  And so, no, I'm not going to control her on her behavior because why? Because I love her. And that does not match her goals.
• 15:14
  That is not match what she has told me that her goals are. And so, therefore, I'm not going to be a friend enemy, meaning someone that's like, oh, you deserve it. Yes, go ahead.
• 15:21
  No, like that is not helping me get towards my goals. We will call you out on your on your mistakes.
• 15:27
  And so but it's about doing it in a loving way. And so we are here and we're going to be talking about your
• 15:34
  excuses that you tell yourself. And it is about allowing people in your life to help you and encourage you.
• 15:44
  And we're not going to have any more excuses. And so if we are really going to be honest, you know, I've had my fair share of excuses.
• 15:52
  I've said I'll start on Monday, you know, and suddenly it's December and the time is gone.
• 15:57
  I mean, you know, whenever I had weighed all of that, whenever I was pregnant with my daughter, it you know, it slowly kind of came on.
• 16:04
  And I was doing everything that my you know, my providers were telling me to do. And the weight kept creeping on.
• 16:10
  Yes, there was multiple things that were happening. And I always had my hemoglobin A1C in check whenever I was pregnant.
• 16:15
  I never, you know, allowed that to get out of hand. But in that same instance, like if I did not get on that elliptical, like as soon as I got home
• 16:22
  and I did not start monitoring my food that I was in, I would not have lost 160 pounds before her first birthday.
• 16:28
  And so I was able to keep it off. And you can see in my other videos on YouTube and stuff like that.
• 16:33
  I mean, it really is about allowing yourself that time to have those 10 minutes, those 30 minutes of that hour to yourself and allowing God to work through you.
• 16:43
  And so we're not going to have excuses anymore. It's not going to be I don't feel like it. I deserve a break. My boss doesn't appreciate me.
• 16:48
  You know, it's about we're working for the Lord. This is our temple. You know, it's not going to be about the church excuses.
• 16:54
  I can worship at home. I'm too tired. You know, church people are such hypocrites. It's not going to be about that anymore.
• 16:59
  It's going to be about, you know, I love myself and I deserve better. It's going to be like I'm working for the Lord.
• 17:03
  And so therefore I will put forth the effort that is in work, because if he can't handle you with little, he's not going to give you much.
• 17:09
  And it's about your body as a temple. And so therefore you're going to put the food in it that only drives you and fuels your brain.
• 17:16
  And so we're not going to have time. We're not going to say, you know, I don't have time. It's too hard. You were meant to do hard things.
• 17:21
  God made this incredible body that to go through so many difficult things.
• 17:25
  And we're going to rewire our brain because your brain is neuroplastic. It has neuroplasticity.
• 17:29
  And so you can literally retrain your brain to do all these amazing things because God made you so incredibly detailed and amazing.
• 17:37
  And we're not going to tell ourselves that healthy food is boring and it's disgusting. And like all this. That is a lie.
• 17:41
  We're not going to tell ourselves it's too expensive because you can't go through a drive through and get food for like less than five dollars.
• 17:46
  And that's actually going to be beneficial for you whenever you go get a pound of hamburger, have 100 grams of protein.
• 17:51
  You're just not going to get that through a drive through. And so I know you're going to tell yourself all these excuses and they're just lies.
• 17:58
  And so we're going to rebuke that. And we have all of these scriptures that are, you know, the truth.
• 18:04
  And you even have like Daniel one, twelve through fifteen. And it says, you know, Daniel and his friends chose simple healthy diet and ended up looking stronger and better than he was.
• 18:10
  You don't have to go. You don't have to go full Daniel fast. But, you know, stop eating the sugar and love languages.
• 18:17
  You know, make sure that it is, you know, you are telling yourself that you are worth it. You are worth it.
• 18:21
  You are worth it. And just walking through it and not even potentially believing it.
• 18:25
  But in that same instance, like the more that you say, the more that you build yourself up and you're going to have that accountability partner and you guys are going to work together to stop excusing yourself from all these negative habits, whether it's exercise and diet and church.
• 18:38
  Working, you know, everybody is full of these excuses. And once you got to get rid of the excuses in one area of your life, you're going to start to feel better.
• 18:45
  And then you're going to have less excuses and less excuses and less excuses. And you're going to be walking with Christ in this beautiful way.
• 18:51
  And so, you know, having these, you're going to identify your excuses, write them down and be honest.
• 18:56
  Replace those lies with truths. For every excuse, you have to find a scripture that combats that because we know that scripture is truth.
• 19:01
  And the lies that we tell ourselves are just to make ourselves feel better. And we're done doing that.
• 19:04
  And we're going to get that accountability partner and that accountability partner is going to be someone that's going to call you out.
• 19:09
  And so we do have some challenges. So this week, whenever you catch yourself making excuses, stop and ask yourself, would I use this excuse if Jesus was standing here in front of me?
• 19:18
  Would you give your excuse? And so we want to challenge you this week and share this with a friend, share this with somebody that you feel needs motivation, that you can be their accountability partner.
• 19:27
  And if you're really bold enough to send it to somebody who always says, I'll start tomorrow, I will give a shout out to Lisa Turkish.
• 19:35
  She has a book called All Start Monday. And one of my patients had brought it in and she said, Hey, have you ever read this book?
• 19:41
  And I said, no. And she was like, it's like having Tracy in a book. And I'm like, I might might want to read that then.
• 19:45
  And so I read that years ago. And so it really is such an encouraging message to be that someone for somebody else, that person that you know, is just kind of in a slump and tell them,
• 19:56
  let's start today. There is you know, God gave us today. And so therefore we will shout and praise and just glorify this day because you know, we have the ability to move, we have the ability to get up.
• 20:05
  He's given us a job. And so we will work towards him. And it is just an honor and a privilege to be able to do these podcasts and to you know, get to go to work and get to move my body and eat, you know, real food every day.
• 20:17
  And so I never want to take that for advantage. And you know, we ask that you like and share and subscribe these messages if you feel like they're being beneficial.
• 20:24
  We hear tons of positive reviews and messages from people. And so we want to pray. We want to pray for you guys this week. And so Lord, help us stop making excuses.
• 20:32
  Give us strength and wisdom and disciples and discipline to do what you know what we need to do. Help us honor you with our time, our work, our health and our faith.
• 20:42
  And allow us this time to grow and mature in our faith and help and walk alongside of us as we feel like we are weak. But you have reminded us that we are strong and courageous.
• 20:50
  Thank you for this opportunity to be better this next week. Thank you for everything that you do. In Jesus name I say, amen.
• 20:58
  And so no more excuses, you guys. Let's get to work. Let's get to church. Let's get to moving and we will see you next time here on Fostering Faith. Have an amazing week.