Friday, February 21, 2014

Spencer & my health

I've been waiting awhile to post this blog because I wasn't sure how Spencer would receive it. You see, Spence is a very modest man and does not ever want someone to mistake him as being boastful or conceded. But as his mom, I have a right to be both on his behalf :-)

About 8 months ago Spencer decided he was going to get "healthy". Now, if you know him then you know he was never considered "unhealthy". He has never been overweight, has never smoked or drank in his life & he has always been athletic and played sports. But still, he felt like he needed to make a change. Before I go on, here are some pictures of Spencer "before" & now.

       
before
 
now


The difference in those pictures is funny to me now. Look at his little pudgy belly on the left...haha! I can't wait until he sees this and actually sees how much he has physically changed.

Over the last 8 months he has dedicated his free time to running, lifting weights and overall gaining strength. He's a busy boy (I can still call him a boy since I'm his momma) with a full time job, full time college schedule, a wife, his weekly life group where he meets with other Christian couples their age to study Jesus and His word, his home and of course his large family that includes 5 siblings and his parents. But despite all that, he still finds time to be active and stay healthy. He told me not to long ago that not only has this helped his body, but it's also helped his mind. He stresses easily and has found that the workouts actually help him clear his head and stay focused. I really took that to heart because of course he got his stressing from me.
 
 
 
before
 
 
 
                                                                        now
 
So 6 months into his journey he shares with me that when he began he prayed that he would be a roll model to his family, a leader of sorts to the rest of us to get healthy. Seriously??? this kid of mine is near perfect. He is using his own accomplishment and extending a grape vine out to us, to lead us. And so it began....we all joined the gym!!!
 
Will, Spencer & Chloe started Crossfit. In case you aren't familiar with Crossfit, Wikipedia defines it as below:
 

CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program with the aim of improving, among other things, muscular strength, cardio-respiratory endurance, and flexibility. It advocates a perpetually changing mix of aerobic exercise, gymnastics (body weight exercises), and Olympic weight lifting.[6] CrossFit Inc. describes its strength and conditioning program as “constantly varied functional movements executed at high intensity across broad modal and time domains,"[7] with the stated goal of improving fitness, which it defines as "work capacity across broad time and modal domains."[8] Hour-long classes at affiliated gyms, or "boxes", typically include a warm-up, a skill development segment, the high-intensity "workout of the day" (or WOD), and a period of individual or group stretching. Some boxes also often have a strength focused movement(s) prior to the WOD. Performance on each WOD is often scored and/or ranked to encourage competition and to track individual progress. Some affiliates offer additional classes, such as Olympic weightlifting, which are not centered around a WOD.[9]
 

 




Spencer, Chloe & Will at Crossfit.
 
This has become a family challenge, all of us loading up every evening and going to the gym. Now, I don't know how long this will last, for me I mean. I've not proven to stick to anything that was good for me for any length of time. I am aware that at any given moment I may fall flat on my face and miss a gym day. I may not succeed, but I truly have given it all to God and am only following His lead. I know that I am not doing this alone, because only through my heavenly father will I succeed.
 
 
 
 


Random pictures of family working hard under Spencer's direction...LOL!


 Thank you Spence for lighting a fire under us. Thank you for loving us enough to care if we were healthy or not. I look at you everyday and am so proud of who you are. Leading your family to a healthier life is just one more thing you can add to your portfolio in life. I love you!!


 
 



No comments:

Post a Comment