The 80/20 Rule

It's January again.  That means I won't be able to walk into the an uncrowded gym until March.

As I've more fully embraced my fitness journey, I've been able to expand my exercise plan.  Right now, I'm pretty split between strength straining and martial arts. 

However, I have been and will always be a lover of all things food. (Who doesn't love food?)  I always figuered that as long as I exercised that I wouldn't have to worry about the middle age spread.  I discovered that I was frightfully wrong.

Just before Christmas, I injured my ankle.  More accurately, as I attempted to scale a "ninja" wall in martial arts, my right ankle decided to ask questions.  I got over the wall, but my ankle had a full on meltdown.  I could barely get up and down the stairs, so I wasn't doing a whole lot of exercising.  But it was the holidays.  That meant ten whole days of all the food I cooked: pernil, arroz con gandules, challah French toast, ham, turkey wings, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, and the newest addition to the menu...coquito.

No exercise and a whole lot of coquito meant that as 2019 came to a close, gravity's pull on me as a tad stronger.  No amount of clever weighing could change that.  I bargained with myself and rationalized that I exercised and that a week of rest should not have caused such a dramatic weight change.

I became determined to drop the weight I'd gained and then some.  I spent the week before the new year preparing my lunches and buying whole fresh vegetables.  There would be no bread, white rice, sugar, or juices.  I would permit myself egg whites as the only animal based protein.  Other than one (1) cup of coffee per day (no sugar),  I would only drink water.  I bought fruit and nuts for my office in the event that I got peckish.

 I received medical clearance to begin working out again.   It was on like Donkey-Kong.

At the end of of the first week, I had lost 6 pounds.

Then I got hit with a startling revelation, you really can't out exercise a bad diet.  What if the same is true of our spiritual lives?  What if 20% of our walk as Christians is based on "excercise" (i.e. going to church, serving in church, etc.) and the other 80%  is based on our "diet" (i.e. reading the Bible, spending quiet time with God, surrounding youself with Godly friends)?