Let's talk about health

Well I decided to dedicate an entire post to health and fitness. As most of you are aware, last April (2011) the doctor discovered that I had a build-up of plaque in a couple of the arteries in my heart. It apparently was a hereditary thing, as I had no symptoms whatsoever. The only thing that was slightly elevated was my overall cholesterol number which was 225. This wasn't a real concern for the doctor because my HDL (good cholesterol) and my LDL (bad cholesterol) numbers were so good. But as it turned out, there was still a couple of arteries with significant blockage.
They decided to do a heart cath, and once they got in they decided to put in 2 stents to fix the blockages. All of this came as a complete shock, to say the least.
After the procedure the recovery time was quick, and I was back playing softball within a week, and basketball within 2 weeks.
 My cardiologist also changed my diet (which really wasn't too bad to begin with) to a very low fat diet. My maximum fat grams for a day I am allowed is 30, which is difficult at first to get to. I decided that I was going to go all the way with my health so I took it upon myself to adjust my diet even further. Which leads me to this blog post.

I have had so many people ask me what I'm doing I decided to cover everything.

Let's start with nutrition. A lot of people go to the gym, but never adjust their eating habits and get minimal results. You have to eat right. I track everything I eat using MyFitnessPal. My main concern is my fat intake, but I monitor everything anyway.

Over the last eleven months I have lost approx. 12 lbs. but it's not because I'm not eating. I'm just eating the right foods. I pretty much eat all day long. My personal target calorie intake is around 2,000 calories, which goes a long way when you're not eating junk.

I have cut from my diet all fatty foods, fried foods, beef, processed foods, cheese, ice cream (I do have fat-free yogurt), cake, cookies, candy, pizza, fast food, butter, margarine, regular mayonaise, regular salad dressings, potato chips, high sodium foods.

I do eat mostly chicken or turkey breast, venison tenderloin, fish (all of these are grilled only) I will sometimes eat lower fat, lean sliced turkey deli meat. I eat a lot of fruit. I can have all the veggies I want, unfortunately I don't like most veggies. I do eat a lot of salads (Low fat dressing), brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat pita bread. I have a Myoplex lite protein bar daily as a meal replacement. For breakfast I eat Kashi cereal with raisins and skim milk.

As far as supplements, I take a daily multi-vitamin, fish oil, and on weight training days I will have 2 protein shakes with skim milk. I use ISO-100 because it's fat and carb free, and it tastes awesome!
Although I keep track of carbs and protein, the main thing I focus on is my fat and  cholesterol intake.

Now let's talk about fitness/exercise.

Most of you hear me talking about P90X. I am a huge fan. Over the years I have done my own thing, and I have also done Body For Life, but in my opinion, P90X is hard to beat. I do not follow their program exactly. For instance, because of my cardiologists recommendation, I bypass the P90x eating plan. I also substitute basketball in place of P90X cardio routine. If I don't play basketball or if I don't feel like I played with enough intensity, I will do P90X Plyometrics routine (which is a beast).

Here's what this looks like for this week coming up. Monday: Basketball, and P90X Ab ripperX in the evening. Tuesday: P90X shoulders/arms.  Wednesday: Basketball and P90X ab ripperX in the evening. Thursday: P90X back/bicep.  Friday: Basketball and P90X ab ripperX in the evening (Possibly also Plyometrics) Saturday: P90X Chest/shoulders/triceps.  Sunday: Rest (play softball).

The average P90X routine takes approximately 50 minutes. it is high intensity with few breaks. It is awesome!

I purchased my P90X DVD's on Craig's List for $55.00 new in the box from someone who got them as a gift, but didn't use them.

I can honestly say that I am in the best shape of my life. I have never been overweight, but I have not only dropped pounds , but also a couple of inches off my waist, and my body fat is less than 8%

My cholesterol has dropped from 225 to 128 in the last 11 months.

I had to go back to the cardiologist a couple of months ago for a follow-up visit for a nuclear stress test. Basically, they shoot you up with medicine and put you on a treadmill to try to see what your heart does under stress. The people doing the test said that they couldn't get my heart rate up enough because I was in such good shape!

My latest fitness challenge is that I have ordered the Insanity DVD's and plan to do a hybrid P90X/Insanity/basketball routine.

Here's the bottom line. Anyone can do this! It takes hard work, and dedication. It's not easy, but it's worth it. I have added links to a lot of the stuff that I am doing, but there are  lots of other good ways to get healthy. I would also recommend Upstate Bootcamp. Pamela helps people acheive their fitness goals, She is a member of Foothills Community Church and has helped hundreds of people!

I probably left a bunch of things out, so if you have any questions, just ask.

Sunday Review

A little late getting to this, but it was a great Sunday at Foothills Community Church. In case you missed it, here are a few things that caught my attention.

 * I am really enjoying the Kings series. It is always so amazing that there is so much we have in common with people that lived thousands of years ago.

 * We talked about the "IT" Factor. If you've ever wondered what God looks for, it's our heart condition. What made King David special was that he was a man after God's own heart.

 * This Sunday we will look at a king that I guarantee every single person will be able to relate to.

 * David Odom and his team nailed the worship set. They just keep getting better and better.

* I love what is going on at our Toccoa campus! I am so proud of Pastor Brian and Pastor Kevin and all of the amazing volunteers. 

* I am always excited to hear great stories. I received a note this week from someone who has been out of work for three years. They had made a vow to God that when He provided a job for them, they would give the entire first paycheck back to Him. The note was attached to their check fulfilling that commitment to the Lord---- WOW!

 * We will be having our Parent/Child dedications on Mother's Day (May 13th) during both services. If you are a parent of a child/baby, and would like to dedicate them to the Lord publicly, you can sign-up this weekend.

* I had a blast leading our Get In The Game on Sunday. I love leading that class. If you have not gone through it, make sure to do it in our next class in June.

* I ordered the Insanity DVD's. I am planning on working some of that in with my P90X. If you are looking for a fantastic exercise/nutrition program I would highly recommend the P90X program. I have had a lot of people ask me about my fitness regiment, so I'll probably do an entire blog post related to that.

* I am so thankful for the staff of Foothills Community Church! * Really hoping for the weather to warm up soon.

Sunday review

The Sunday after Easter is always pretty interesting. History tells us that not everyone that shows up at Easter will be back the following week (I write that with a slight hint of sarcasm!), but many people will return a second time. Which is always exciting.

I can't help feel sorry for those that won't make it back to church until Christmas Eve. When I consider the important role the church plays in my life, it grieves me that so many actually miss out on it.

Sunday was another fantastic day at Foothills Community Church. People gathered to worship, lives were changed and Jesus was lifted high. In a way, sometimes I think that because the services at Foothills are done with such a high level of excellence, many people take that for granted.

We as humans have an uncanny ability to become "familiar" with things to the point that we no longer have the same passion that we once had. It happens in our marriages. It happens with the cars we drive and the homes we live in. When we first get married, or buy that car or house we are so excited. But as time goes by, we lose some of the "wonder" or appreciation.

It happens in churches as well. If we are not careful, what once was excitement, and passion can turn into complacency. Let's not ever let that happen.


Let's get back to Sunday, shall we?

* Once again David Odom and the worship team brought the heat. Such a great worship set.

* It was great seeing so many people return after Easter. I do my best to mingle in the concourse between services and shake as many hands as possible.

* I absolutely love to see our members and regular attenders going out of their way to connect with new people. I heard of a couple that met a first-time guest and took her out to lunch after the service. Nice!

* Foothills volunteers rock. They go the extra mile EVERY week!

* Talked about obedience and people-pleasing. We need to live for the applause of God rather than men.

* Religious activity is not a substitute for obedience.

* True obedience is doing what God says willingly, immediately and completely.

* I can't wait for this Sunday. We will be talking about the "IT" factor. Invite some people to come with you!


*

Happy Birthday Foothills!

Well today is the 14th birthday of Foothills Community Church! That's right, 14 years ago, on April 12th 1998 (Easter Sunday) Foothills officially launched.


Here's a copy of our first newspaper ad (not very impressive!)


It was an incredible day. After much prayer, planning, preparation, promotion and perspiration we held our first service. 70 People showed up! We were ecstatic.
We didn't have a lot of resources or expertise but we had a vision from God and a heart to reach people! And God showed up. Lives were changed, and a movement began in Seneca, SC.

It's hard to believe it was 14 years ago. I remember on that Easter Sunday wondering if anyone would actually show up. Fortunately they did. And they have continued to show up. Since then we have expanded by opening a second campus in Toccoa, GA, and once again God is growing a church there.

Over the last 14 years we have seen THOUSANDS saved, over a thousand baptized, and countless stories of life-change. But here's the best part..... WE'RE JUST GETTING STARTED!! That's right, I believe the best is yet to come!

I want every person who calls Foothills home to strategically build relationships with people who don't know Christ and invite them to come to church with you. I want all of us to live our lives on mission, seeking ways to serve Christ and others.

We are praying about some new opportunities that God is giving us to expand our reach even farther. These are exciting times. I hope to share some incredible news with you in the next couple of months about these opportunities, so stay tuned.

In the meantime let's faithfully support what God is doing at Foothills. If you are reading this and you don't have a church home, I invite you to come and see what all the buzz is about.

Easter review

To say that the Easter services at Foothills Community Church were incredible would be an UNDERSTATEMENT! They were absolutely amazing.

* Every single one of our teams were firing on all cylinders. From the moment you drove onto campus until the time you left, there was so much energy.

* I want to state for the record, that the volunteers at Foothills are THE Best in the world. For everyone that volunteers, I want to thank you. You are making a difference.

* Both campuses had fantastic crowds, in fact, our Toccoa campus had their all-time highest attendance! Between the 2 campuses we had around 2,500 people experience one of our services.

* We had 48 people make first-time decisions to follow Jesus Christ!!

* David Odom and the worship team killed it! They inspired us with incredible music. When they did "In Christ Alone", I think I could have walked on stage and gave an invitation, it was so powerful.

* The new stage set was very cool. I think it was one of my favorites ever.

* Tons of kids in KidZone (almost 500 at Seneca campus alone!)

* I got a chance to meet so many first-time guests. I love watching the expressions on people's faces when they come for the first time. Most people have huge smiles on their faces, but every now and then you see the "what did I get myself into?" look!

* We kicked-off our new series, Kings. This is going to be a life-changing series. Whatever you do, don't miss a single week.

* I am praying that many of the guests who came yesterday would connect and discover the joy and benefit of having a church home.

* I am so glad that our team that served in Haiti got back safely. I know that their lives will be changed forever.

* Don't forget that on April 22nd I will be leading our next Get In The Game class. Please plan on attending. I would love to meet you.

Easter Update

Easter is just a few days away so I wanted to share a few very important things with you:

* There are very few tickets left. Most of the remaining tickets are for the 11:15am service. If you have not picked yours up, you can print your own tickets here.

* Make sure to invite some people to come with you. One recent survey showed that 82% of people said they would most likely attend church this Easter if someone invited them. There are lots of ways to invite, but one of the best is by sending an E-Vite or using social media like your Facebook or Twitter account. We have these available to send out here.

* This Easter at Foothills Community Church we are pulling out all of the stops. The stage set looks absolutely amazing. The band, singers and choir are all preparing for some of the best music anywhere. The hospitality and guest services teams are all set to make this the most enjoyable experience for everyone that walks through the doors.

* We will be also starting a new message series on Easter called, "Kings". I can't wait to do this series!

* As far as our service times, at our Seneca, SC campus we will have services at 8:00, 9:30, and 11:15am. At our Toccoa, GA campus we will have services at 9:30, and 11:00am

* Make sure to arrive a little earlier than usual to allow for the large crowds.

* I am praying that we have record number of people that give their lives to Christ. Please join me in that prayer.

* Our staff spent part of Monday morning praying over every seat in our auditorium.

* Easter will also be Foothills 14th birthday as a church!! Time sure flies.

Back in town

I'm back at the office after being gone for the past week. My week has been a whirlwind. It began last Monday as my wife and I headed to California for a Leadership meeting. It was the first time I had been to California, and the first time I had seen the Pacific ocean. Being from Florida, I still favor the Atlantic, but it was still beautiful.



My leadership meeting was incredible. There was a group of approx. 25 Pastors from all over the country. I picked up so much valuable information. It was nice having Liz with me too.



After the meeting was over, we decided to take a few extra days of vacation for our 28th anniversary. We drove to Las Vegas and walked the Strip. I'm not sure how many miles we walked, but it was a bunch. It was also my first time in Vegas. The best way I can describe it is "interesting". We did a lot of people watching, and let me tell you, there are some strange people in Vegas!


We then drove to the Grand Canyon, which was awesome. I have seen many pictures of it, but none of them came close to being there in person. Breathtaking scenery. God's creative genius is on display everywhere. It was 27 degrees in the morning, but quickly warmed up to the mid 60's. The skies were the bluest skies I have ever seen. There was still some snow on some of the mountainsides.







After the Grand canyon we headed back to Vegas. We attended the Saturday evening service at Central Christian Church, and then got to tour the facility with my friend Tracey Smith, who is their Small Groups Pastor. That was a great experience.

All in all we had a wonderful time. I am grateful to the great staff we have at Foothills Community Church. They do an amazing job. I can go out of town and not worry about a thing.

Don't forget, Easter is this weekend. I'll share more about our services in my next blog post.