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Consistency Over Intensity · Fostering Faith

0:00
And so welcome back to Fostering Faith. I am
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Tracie. I'm going to be your host. And this is
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going to be our second fitness episode. And this
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is like a little bonus track. And so just because
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we love our faith in fitness, we thought we would
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put them together. And so we have been challenging
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people for the last two months on social media.
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And so if you're not part of that challenge,
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check us out on Instagram, Facebook, not posting
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a lot on YouTube, but just check us out on Instagram
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Reels Fostering Faith. And so we are in a challenge
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this month of wall squats and pushups. And so
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we're just adding a pushup every day. And so
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in the, at the end, we'll be doing 31 pushups
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and a second, second wall squat. Last month we
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did a plank chair series. And so where we just
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did 60 second, one minute 30 and three minute
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planks. And so we don't know what November will
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bring, but if you guys have any comments of what
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the next challenge should bring, drop it along
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in the comments. And so have you ever had the
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mindset that can turn one missed workout into
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a lost month? And so oftentimes we start a diet
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on Monday, and by Tuesday we're done. We're like,
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well, we'll just start it next week. And so we
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have an all or nothing mentality. And so why
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small, repeatable choices often serve us better
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than dramatic starts? Then we also want to build
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a simple, minimal, regular, and extra movement
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plan for real life. And so welcome back to Fostering
1:27
State. These are your bonus episodes for your
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fitness, where we connect spiritual growth and
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practical care for our bodies as that's God given
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us. And so today we're choosing consistency over
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intensity. As always, this is general education.
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This is not personal medical advice. Adapt movements
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to your ability and follow your individual guidance
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by your own health care provider. And so have
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you ever started on Monday with a plan so ambitious
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and that by Thursday you needed a vacation from
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it? You decided that you would work out every
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day, completely change the way that you ate,
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wake up an hour early, drink all your water,
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and never miss again. All I'm going to do at
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this time. And then guess what? Life happened.
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You slept badly. A meeting ran late. You didn't
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make it to the gym. Somebody needed you. You
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missed one day. And the voice of all or nothing
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said, see, you failed again. The problem was
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not necessarily a lack of character. The plan
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may have required a version of your life that
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actually has never existed. And for some reason,
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we felt, you felt, like it was just gonna magically
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happen that you were gonna get to lunch at noon
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when you have never been to lunch at noon. You
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decided that you were gonna drink a gallon of
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water and the most that you have ever drank is
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32 ounces. You decided that you were gonna have
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a hundred grams of protein in a day where you
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normally will consume a beef stick. And so we
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set up these ridiculous plans that typically
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never work because we put these situations into
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a magical life that has never happened. And we
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all of a sudden just assume the day that we want
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to become healthy, that the day that our life
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is going to magically be better. And so instant
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intensity may feel powerful because it produces
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a dramatic beginning, but consistency is quieter.
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It repeats a manageable action long enough for
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the action to become part of our life. And so
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often people ask me, what is the best diet, the
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one that you're going to do, the one that's actually
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going to fit along with your lifestyle. And so
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we have scripture to kind of back this up. And
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so Zachariah says, for those who despise the
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small, for who despises the day of small beginnings.
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In context, God's people were rebuilding and
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the visible beginning looked impossible. The
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verse is not a fitness formula, but it reveals
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something important about faithfulness. Small
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does not mean meaningless. Jesus spoke about
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being faithful with little. The kingdom often
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appears through seeds, yeast, daily bread, cups
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of water, ordinary obedience. God is not embarrassed
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by the beginning that fits in the palm of your
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hand. We often want the kind of change everyone
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can see immediately. We all of a sudden we want
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biceps, we want abs, we want the little shoehorn
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at the back of our triceps. We want quads. We
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want a rear end that you can bounce a quarter
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off of. But you know what? It doesn't happen
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like that. But much of the formation happens
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through choices that no one applause. Putting
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your shoes by the front door, great job. Going
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to bed on time to recover, another great idea.
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Making a brief walk between responsibilities,
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between meetings, between clients, between picking
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up your kids if you want to get, if you can get
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to Practice pickup or school pickup. Do a lap
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around the parking lot Complaining two sets instead
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of skipping because you couldn't do five and
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so you did two Didn't get five done, but you
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did two Consistency is not perfection. It is
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a practice of returning and that distraction
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matters perfection asked did I excuse Did I execute
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the plan without interruptions? Consistency asked
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when interruptions came did I find my way? back.
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You have to be a consistent person without missing
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days. You can be faithful in a complicated season.
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The measure is not an unbroken stake. It is a
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pattern of returning to what matters. And so
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build a plan that can survive real life. Don't
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set yourself up for failure. I want to give you
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three levels, medium, regular, and extra. Your
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minimum is the smallest meaningful version that
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you can do on a hard day. You should be so realistic
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that you do not need an ideal condition. Maybe
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it is three minutes of mobility. Maybe it is
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walking to the end of the block and back. Maybe
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it is one set or a set to stand and wall push
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-ups. The minimum is not your whole goal, but
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it keeps the pathway open. Minimally, on my busiest
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day, I can do this. Regular level is the plan
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that fits in your ordinary week. It might be
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20 minutes of walking three days a week or two
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brief strength sessions. Your plan will depend
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on your current capacity and your professional
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guidance. The point is that it belongs in a life
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that you could actually live. And then the extra
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level is what you may do whenever you have extra
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time, energy, and that recovery allows. It's
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a longer walk, another set, a class. or even
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a more challenging session. Extra is available,
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but not the price of being proud of yourself.
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Hold up three cards or count the level on your
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fingers. Minimum keeps the promise. Regular builds
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the pattern. And extra expands the challenge.
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What every day is required to be an extra day,
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we often end up with no plan entire days. Then
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shame fills the gaps. And tiered plans give us
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a faithful next step more than one kind of day.
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And so a simple movement circuit. And so you
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have a chair and you have a wall. And so create
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a minimal session so where you can sit there
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and you can march or walk in place for 30 seconds.
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Seated? Fine. If you can't get up, just do it
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seated. Keep the pace conversational. Second,
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try five sit to stands. from a stable chair.
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If you are sitting in a chair, get up and down
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five times. If you can do air squats, do five
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air squats, do 10 air squats. Use your hands
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if needed. Standing and sitting is not right
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for you. Remain seated and press your feet into
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the floor, and then just engage your quads five
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times. Squeeze your butt, squeeze your butt.
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Third, place your hands on the wall and do five
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push -ups. Keep your body in a comfortable line,
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bend your elbows. and move toward the wall and
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press away. And you can press your palms towards
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your chest. You can be in a seated position together
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too. Fourth, take five slow heel raises while
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holding on a city surface or lift and lower your
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heels while seated. Then breathe and ask, do
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I have the capacity to do another round? If yes,
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repeat. If no, your minimum is completed. And
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guess what? You showed up. That short circuit
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may not look dramatic on camera, but when you
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are doing it consecutively, and you're able to
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repeat it over and over and over and over again,
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it can become the doorway of a greater strength
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and confidence. And to remove the friction of
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your day, consistency becomes easier when the
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next action is obvious. Choose a cue that already
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exists in your day. After morning prayer, stretch
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for three minutes. After lunch, walk 10 minutes.
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I often do videos on lunchtime because I honestly
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feel that it should be a hard stop. It should
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be a non -negotiable. That we should get out
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and do a movement. We should do a stretch. We
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should do a strength training workout. We should
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be able to do something on our lunch just to
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have enough energy to get through the rest of
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the day. Because if we expend energy, we get
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energy back. It's a four -year evening shower.
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Complete one strength training workout. This
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is not about turning every quiet moment into
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predict - to productivity, but it's about giving
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a valued practice in a relatable moment. And
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so then remove one point of friction. Put the
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shoes where you can see them. Save the workout
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in advance. Keep the resistance band by your
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chair and decide minimum means before you are
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tired. Finally, record your faithfulness. A check
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mark on a calendar is enough. You do not have
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to use a tracking app or anything fancy, but
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write it down. I cannot preach this enough. Write
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it down. Because you can see your faithfulness.
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You can say, I got a checkmark yesterday. I got
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a checkmark today. And so sometimes it's about
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just checkmarking the boxes. I did it. I did
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it. I did it. Did I want to? No, but I did it.
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I showed up today. Galatians 6 encourages us
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not to grow weary in doing good. That does not
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mean ignoring exhaustion. Sometimes we're not
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growing weary. requires rest, support, and more
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sustainable pace. Faithfulness is not frantic.
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And so in these episodes, we want to make sure
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that you guys are seeking advice, making sure
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that you guys are healthy enough, but sitting
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and doing exercises, using the wall so you don't
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have to get on the floor. Adapt to what you know
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that your body can do and then advance as you
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guys get stronger. And so it's about logging
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your food, write down your food, please write
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down your food. and that way you can go back
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because if you're starving at seven o 'clock
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you can go back and say you know what I didn't
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eat today I didn't hit my protein goals because
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our protein goals are a gram of protein per ideal
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ideal body weight not what we're weighing now
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but what we're supposed to you know supposed
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to weigh and making sure that we're hitting those
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goals making sure that we're logging our water
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are we so tired and fatigued because we only
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drank 16 ounces of water and so making sure that
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we're logging our food making sure that we're
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logging our water And then just movement. Movement
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is so important. And so having just mobility
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days. And so I typically have cardio in the morning
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and then I have strengthening in the afternoon.
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But on Thursdays is mobility Thursdays. And so
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I do a lot of stretching and mobility work on
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Thursdays. And so it's not about just having
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cardio, but it's about movement and having hip
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mobility and pack and just being able to rotate
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your spine and having flexion in your neck and
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your shoulders and your joints and just having
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that great stretch day. And so we hope these
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little bonus episodes of fitness encourage you.
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If you do, please write us a comment. Share these
11:53
episodes with somebody that is struggling just
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to start. Just because you're on day, you know,
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five years and 36 days of a perfect plan, that
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doesn't mean that your friend has to start where
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you are at. I mean, so day one starts today.
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Day one starts tomorrow. And so if God gave us
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a tomorrow, then we get to start. And so just
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allowing ourselves that Great posture of humility
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and it's about progression and not perfection
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I mean there's gonna be days where we just don't
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feel like doing it, but we do it anyway There's
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gonna be days where we miss but you know what
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we get to start again tomorrow And so show up
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for yourself consistently show up every day And
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do what you can do do your minimum do your maximum
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do what your body is going to allow you to do
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that day and so ask yourself where Have I confused
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harder with better? Where have I built a plan
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around the most energetic part of the day? And
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where am I judging myself even on a normal day?
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Are you putting your harder workout in the morning
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or in the afternoon? What are you doing as far
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as setting yourself for success or failure? And
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so I have more energy in the morning. That's
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why I run. I need a break and get out some frustrations
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in the afternoon. That's why I do weight lifting
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in the afternoon. And so for the next two weeks,
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choose three levels. Write one sentence for minimum,
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one for regular, and one for extra. Let the minimum
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be a genuinely attainable. Let the regular be
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specific and the extra remain optional. And so
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let's pray. that fit our responsibilities, our
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health, and our season. And if we miss a day,
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help us return without condemnation. Form us
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patience, steadiness, and gratitude for every
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day with a bit of capacity that you provide.
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We pray this in your name, Jesus, amen, and amen.
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And we are building on levels, and we send these
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episodes for accountability partners to make
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we are stronger and more fit together. And so
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tell me what your minimum is. Not an impressive
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answer, but an honest one. And until next time,
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remember, consistency is not about never missing.
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It's learning to return. Have a great week, guys.
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We love you. Bye.