Kate's First Word

Lots of people told us Kate would say "dada" before she'd say "mama." I'm glad lots of people were wrong. Kate's been saying the "m" sound for a long time. Each morning when I take her to my step-mom, and each afternoon after I pick her up, she "talks" and it usually sounds like "mmmmmm." So I've encouraged it. I repeat "mama" and "dada" over and over.

Seems like dads would want their baby to say "dada" first, and moms would want their baby to say "mama" first. I've been hoping for "mama." Kelley is an accountant and she's been working crazy hours since January. She's had a hard time with it this year, because of Kate. She really only gets to see Kate for an hour or so at night, Saturday evenings after work, and Sundays after church.

Unfortunately for Kelley, Kate generally sleeps all weekend. I guess she has to recover from her weekdays of fun with Diane (step-mom). Some weekdays she won't even take a nap. But Saturdays and Sundays? She sleeps in long chunks and wakes up long enough to eat and play for maybe 30 minutes.

Over the past week, Kate has actually started saying "mama." She says it a lot. Kelley heard it before I did and when she told me Kate said it, I didn't believe her. The next morning on the way to Diane's, I became a believer. And I was happy - for Kelley.

Since she's already good at the "m" sound, I'm now saying over and over to her, "Max." Max is our older/smaller Yellow Lab. I say "Cooper," too, but somehow I think Cooper (our younger/larger Yellow Lab) is going to have to wait. With me.

The Truth About Metabolism - Part 2

Continued (Read Part 1 first)

Every added pound of muscle burns fifteen calories per day on the low end of the scale, and fifty calories per day on the high end of the scale. That increase may sound insignificant, but over the long run, the small metabolic boost that comes from added muscle is extremely significant. Using the low end of the scale, adding two pounds of muscle will burn around ten thousand calories in a year, which is enough to either lose three pounds of fat or to prevent three pounds of fat gain. If those three additional pounds of muscle are simply maintained through strength training year after year, three pounds of fat are prevented year after year. But consider the alternative: people who do not strength train to add or maintain muscle will slowly and gradually lose muscle. As they lose muscle, their metabolic rates slow down and they gain weight, even if they never increase the amount of food they eat each day.

Over a lifetime, the average person loses between 30 - 40 percent of his muscle mass, but the reason is decreased activity, not some biological mandate. Because of the decreased muscle mass, metabolism, which has been defined as the number of calories a person burns at any given moment, naturally slows. Even so, many people still believe the myth that metabolism decreases with age. The truth is that metabolism, muscle mass, and exercised muscles are all connected, and that “very few people have metabolic disorders or genetic factors that cause them to be overweight.”

A final consideration for metabolism: while strength training increases it, dieting tends to decrease it. Dieting alone can reduce overall body weight, but it reduces muscle mass as well as fat. Lifting weights paired with a restriction diet will preserve muscle mass and metabolism. Most people pay too much attention to the scale, and if a diet is reducing the number on the scale, they feel that progress is being made. Many times, though, progress is being hurt. Muscle loss always reduces RMR, so muscle loss is a negative factor.

Some people have a history of sporadic exercise, recurring restriction diets, and yo-yo dieting. Yo-yo dieting is a cycle of losing and regaining weight. These people should stop focusing on weight and concentrate on developing a healthy metabolism. A healthy metabolism comes from a consistently healthy diet with an appropriate number of daily calories and a simple strength training program. Even if the initial result is a few additional pounds, do not be alarmed. Remember what Dr. Ben Lerner says: “Allow me to be unequivocal – diets don’t work. Diets may produce some results in the short term, but they have no staying power in the long term.”

Regardless of the situation, never attempt a starvation diet. The idea that eating a minimal amount of food each day will result in great weight loss is a logical one, but the

body does not respond accordingly. When a person consumes fewer than half the number of calories his body needs to maintain its weight, his body fights back by going into starvation mode. In starvation mode, the body reduces its internal thermostat and metabolic rate. So even though a person eats less, his lower metabolic rate means that fewer calories are needed. The energy level and body temperature decreases, and fatigue increases. Then at some point, the person goes back to eating more calories, but his body is still at a reduced metabolic rate. It has a reduced ability to burn calories, so more of what he eats gets stored as body fat. And until his body recovers, he puts on more weight in the form of fat, and ends up in worse shape than he was before, with less energy. Starvation mode is the human body’s attempt to preserve itself during extreme situations, and is not suited to handle normal, daily activity.

The Truth About Metabolism - Part 1

One of the major parts of my life is strength training/fitness. For my doctoral dissertation at Liberty, I wrote "A Fitness Model For Pastors." It's not just for pastors, but it had to be ministry related for my degree. I'm a nobody so I haven't been able to get it published (although I'll keep trying), but I'll start sharing some of it if there's any interest in it. I must warn you - it's probably not what you want to hear. There's ONE KEY to a lifestyle of fitness, and it's not diet or any type of cardio. It's strength training. Generally speaking, people are ignorant about strength training. I'll share more about it later, but I'll start with another completely misunderstood topic: METABOLISM.

Metabolism generally refers to the number of calories a person burns at any given moment, regardless of whether the person is active or resting. Products that claim to boost metabolism are readily available, but they are all cons. The manufacturers of these products are trying to take advantage of the myths and misunderstandings of metabolism. Some people believe that metabolism naturally slows with age and nothing can be done about it. Others believe they will always be fat because they naturally have a slow metabolism and they may as well accept it. People feel better about themselves when they believe such myths. It is more reassuring and comforting to believe that genetics are solely responsible for excess body fat and that health problems have nothing to do with a lifetime of unhealthy habits. It is also more reassuring and comforting to believe that a weight-loss pill or metabolism booster will one day be developed, providing toned, fit bodies without any work. These thoughts may be comforting, but they are not based on reality.

When most people talk about metabolism, they have resting metabolic rate (RMR) in mind, the number of calories a body needs to maintain its vital functions. The brain, heart, kidneys, and other organs are constantly at work, and they need energy in the form of calories to function. RMR depends primarily on a person’s fat-free mass, which includes muscle, bone, blood, organs, and tissue. Fat is inert. It just takes up space and does nothing. The more fat-free mass a person has, the more energy he will use to function. Since vital functions account for 60 - 75 percent of the total calories a person burns in a day, most calories are burned by simply staying alive. Muscle is the only fat-free mass that can be efficiently increased, so RMR is directly related to muscle mass: the more muscle, the higher the RMR.

Strength training is the most effective way to increase muscle mass, and therefore, metabolism. Forget pills, powders, books and commercials and start strength training. Another common myth is that strength training has nothing to do with weight loss, and will only result in weight gain. Some people, women in particular, avoid strength training for this reason alone. They believe that strength training will give them big, bulky muscles. It will not. Steroids have impacted the image the average person has of weight lifters. Without steroids, it is not humanly possible to look like the comic book, hero-like bodies that grace the cover of muscle magazines. Believing the myth and avoiding strength training is the worst thing that can happen for a lifetime of fitness. Strength training has the potential to burn as many calories as cardio, while simultaneously revving up RMR. Venuto writes, “Weight training may be the most important but underappreciated and neglected type of exercise for burning fat.”

THIS IS ABOUT HALF THE SECTION ON METABOLISM. I'LL FINISH IT IF ANYONE CARES TO HEAR THE REST.

I'm Adopted! And You Should Be, Too!

Romans 8:15-17 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ And since we are his children, we are his heirs.

When we surrender to God, He makes us his CHILDREN and we have FULL RIGHTS that any child gets from his father.

Since ANCIENT TIMES, adopted children have been FIRST-CLASS children with the same name, inheritance, and legal rights as biological children.

Kate is our DAUGHTER. There’s no distinction between her and a biological daughter. We’ll PROUDLY tell her and others about her background, her story, but we’ll never introduce her as our “ADOPTED DAUGHTER.” She’s 100% our DAUGHTER!

We didn’t make space for her in our storage building. I didn’t build her a room in our garage. She couldn’t be more OURS if she was our blood-daughter. She doesn’t get second-class love from us. We’ll give her the best we can afford. She’s a daughter, a grand-daughter, a cousin, and a niece.

See, ADOPTION makes you LEGITIMATE, the REAL DEAL. There’s no reason for distinction.

For everyone who invites God into their life, God is our FATHER and we have full access to His resources. He gives us a new STATUS – FORGIVEN; a new NAME – CHILD OF GOD; a new NATURE – RIGHTEOUSNESS, a new PRIORITY – TO GLORIFY HIM IN ALL WE DO; and a new DESTINATION – ETERNITY IN HEAVEN.

If you’re ONE OF GOD’S CHILDREN, ACT LIKE IT! Remember how you felt about your parents when you were a little kid? We should be as thrilled to belong to God as we were to belong to our parents. Think about that! We should PROUDLY claim God as our Father EVERY CHANCE WE GET.