Furlough Fitness (Stepping into the Battle)

"Auntie, when you come back, you will be big! All the missionaries get fat when they leave and come back."

The bluntness of our country's culture is sometimes brutal. Sigh...

In this case, it was the brutal truth.

On furlough, missionaries spend enormous amounts of time sitting in pews, sitting in cars while traveling, and eating fast food on the go. Temptations are at every corner. Foods we cannot get on the field call to us with sugary, glaze-laden voices.

Sorry, dear missionary woman. The bathroom scale isn't lying. You are well on your way to packing on the Furlough Twenty... or Thirty. (Who knew you could gain that much weight in a few months?!)

The good news is that a couple of us BMWs are figuring out ways around the Furlough Twenty, and I don't mean pulling the batteries out of the bathroom scale.

We want to take the time to share these tips with you. We are going to tell you what we have found works for us... as well as what doesn't work for us! We aren't doctors or fitness trainers or nutrition experts. We are simply missionary women who know what it is like to face the Furlough Twenty, and we are learning how to tackle it head on.

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Introducing Your Furlough Fitness Friends

Charity                                     Kristine

We both just finished our first term on the field, and are facing
the Furlough Twenty for the first time.
Our personalities are very different, so you will get two very different perspectives!
We both love encouraging others. That's why we are putting it all out there for you... successes and not so successful stories. (We are human!)

Let's join this tough battle together!

The Right Focus

Before we kick this off, let's make sure we have the right focus.

Are you defined by numbers? Is your goal to fit in the measurements of people? You hop on the scale and a number pops up... you grab the tape measure and numbers stare back at you.

Don't let those numbers define you. There are two numbers that define us... 3:16. As in John 3:16. Our value isn't determined by numbers on a scale, but by the price someone is willing to pay for us. Let those measurement numbers be what we use only as a tool to glorify the One who paid it all for us.

Here's another defining number...
How many times are you going to get back up when you stumble?

"For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:

but the wicked shall fall into mischief."

If you mess up one day, get back up and go again. These are much better numbers to define us than what flashes on a scale!

Ready to Fight

We spend a lot of time in the car. Getting exercise is difficult when you sit for that many hours! Here's one tool for the road that I have found is easy, handy, practical, and effective... resistance bands! For safety, I clipped mine on the back of my seat where there is a hand bar. I looked on several videos on seated resistance band workouts to get great tips on exercises for every muscle group including abs. For ab work, I lean the seat back a little and do resistance band crunches. For safety, please do not do exercises that place your head close to where the airbag may deploy in an accident. Also, be sure not to be a distraction for the driver.

Stepping into the Battle

You have to start somewhere. Here's my starting point. These are my "before" pictures taken two weeks ago as I started my Furlough Fitness journey.

Both Kristine and I have purchased bathroom scales and carry the scales and measuring tapes everywhere we go. It's a great way to check on progress as well as hold us accountable. We look forward to sharing with you the numbers as we progress... like the number 6. As in I lost 6 pounds this past week!