I Was Going To Change The World

On June 27, 2016June 24, 2016 By roberthansen1317In change the world, Christian life, My Posts8 Comments

I always thought I would change the world. Then I looked at the world and said good luck Rob.

When I look back on who I was and who I am I can honestly say I don’t think the world has changed me. At times it did. At times I was completely different than the person I knew was. I let external circumstances affect the internal me. If I were to count I would have to say those times I could count on one hand. God has changed me a lot more than this world ever could.

If you knew me when I was fifteen or now, at the ripe old age of forty five, I think you would say I am the same. Not all of that is good. I don’t talk much. I keep my thoughts to myself. Not much bothers me. Some would call it emotionally detached but I call it life goes on. Does that make me a bad person ? I don’t think so. Do people often think I don’t care or I am self centered ? I bet they do, but that’s not the case.

I don’t have a “Facebook ” life or a perfect marriage. It’s not all sunshine and roses. Sometimes it’s thunderstorms and thorns. I am being more vulnerable that I ever have and it’s scary. I know God is with me every step. It makes me braver. It doesn’t matter if people approve of me or what I write. I try to please one person only and since He gives me the words I only hope they come out as He intended. I honestly don’t know how or why some of the thoughts I get pop into my head, often at the weirdest times.

A little over a year ago I felt God push me to start this blog. After many no’s from me and many yes’s from God, I started to write. One thing that I found when I was looking how to get followers was to be consistent in your theme. Consistent is one thing my brain doesn’t follow. Yes, I talk about God , life and music – but I am all over the place.

Whatever God puts in my head or on my heart.

So maybe I haven’t changed the world. But I haven’t let the world change me either. Maybe, just maybe, God has taken these words and changed one of you. Made you see things differently. Made you think if God can do this for him then maybe He can do that for me.

If I helped change one person then that is enough. Because maybe that one person can change one person who can change one person and when it is all said and done,

WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD TOGETHER.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to keep this open in your browser all week so you don’t forget me. 🙂

I won’t be posting anything else this week to spend time with the family and disconnect from the world.

Here are a few of my posts over the last year plus a month. If you are a new follower and missed the old posts, feel free to click on whatever catches your eye. Maybe some followers that have been with me for awhile would just like to revisit some that touched you before. This isn’t all my posts.

Have a good week. Will post again Friday with some new music.

I have had talks with God. God I am tired Thank You God God, We Need To Talk Dear God, Are You Hearing My Prayers? Dear God, We Are Worth Saving Thanks God, But No Thanks

I have talked about my life. I’m an introvert What I Learned Last Week The Older I Get Date Night Today Was A Good Day My Hometown Kayhla’s Wedding Kylie’s Baptism 23 Days Down, 59 Days To Go Happy 10 Year anniversary to my wife

I have talked about my dad and those that have passed before us. Memorial Day Happy Father’s Day In Memory of My Father – Two Years Today The Drummer For Those Of Us Left Behind

I have talked of the importance of being a good father and what a good father we have in God Move With Me Now- from the Loop Thank You Mo Willems I Am With You Daughter Daughters Date Night It’s All About Me – A Child’s Version Imperfect Father, Imperfect Daughter, Perfect Love

I have talked about running. My Running Steps of Faith The Ups and Downs of Training a 9/10 Year Old- and my spiritual life Learning From Disappointments Learning From Disappointments Part 2 – from my wife Kim, NYC Marathon runner The Boston Marathon- The Race Cap City Half Marathon – USA National Championships

I have tackled bullying and people with disabilities. Let Me Win, But If I Can’t Win Who You Are When You Look In The Mirror

I’ve beat on the government for the crap they allow in our foods and I’ve posted some fitness thoughts to combat the crap. My Interview With The FDA Where Are You? Temple Fit Tip of the Week 10/1 Temple Fit Tip Of The Week 10/8 Temple Fit Tip Of The Week 10/15 Temple Fit Tip Of The Week 10/28 Temple Fit Tip – Show Up Everyday Do You Stress About The Number On The Scale?

I have told stories. The Maze The Funhouse of Mirrors The Haunted House Ungrateful The Turkey The Story Of A Snowflake The Ornament The Christmas Tree The Widow The Pebble The First Bud Of Spring- A Love Story I Could Believe In God – A Story Rodney The Raccoon – Inside The Mask I Didn’t Like You Let Me Fail

I have wrote poems. When Words Fail I Am Only Words Now That I Know The Words Thunder In My Heart If It’s Only An Hour No Clue If I Were An Island I Can’t Even Put It In A Song Random Thoughts In A Poem Gave You My Heart Why Not Mine? Pen To Paper I Know What It’s Like What Version Of Me The Mask Standing In The Fire

I have wrote song lyrics, or maybe they are just poems. Some of them I can hear in my head. I can hear the music. God just didn’t give me the ability to get out what’s in my head to make it a reality. I believe in God and His plan and I believe one day He will have someone cross my path that will write the music. Maybe someone already has but they are too afraid to get the music out of their head. Don’t be afraid. This Disease Don’t Be Afraid I’m Not Superman Living In Sin This Chapter Graduation Song Hitchcock Movies Bruises And Scars Let Me See Her Patching Walls and Scrubbing Floors

I’ve had some just totally random thoughts and posts just to clear my head. Rants and Raves What Has Happened? Random Thoughts In A Poem I Was Thinking… The Music Never Dies Cinderella and Forgiveness I’m Getting A Divorce GPS Are You Ready For Some Football? Record Companies, The Voice, & American Idol

I have wrote about my every day life and how what I see can relate to God. What if it’s EVERYTHING What I Learned Last Week My Ride – It’s A Beautiful World Running With Sin I Have A Friend How Trees Are Like People Expecting A Harvest

I have written about the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful parts of being married or in a relationship. You can read all of those in the posts above and on other posts I have not listed if you check out my site.

I have tried to share the love of music each Friday. You can check all those posts out if you would like. I am sure there are a lot of musicians you have never heard of.

That’s How You Change The World by Newsboys –

We Could Change The World by Matt Redman –

We Are More by Ziggy Marley –

Love Will Find Away by Michael Franti –

Do You Stress About The Number On The Scale?

On June 23, 2016June 23, 2016 By roberthansen1317In Christian life, fitness, music, Temple Fit4 Comments

I wanted to post something on fitness. It has been awhile since I did so. There are a lot of people who get frustrated with their journey because of the scale. “I worked out hard last week and only lost two pounds” or “I watched what I ate but I gained weight.”

Here is my life in 24 hours. I didn’t log my bathroom visits, didn’t want to give too much information. I did drink about 150 ounces of water and 16 ounces of milk so let’s say I lost in the bathroom what I drank during the day.

Here is what I would like everyone to take from this. Do not pay attention to the numbers on the scale. As you will see they vary greatly through out the day. Yes, you can weigh yourself each morning at the same time but more like once a week is enough. Listen to your body. How do you feel? Are your clothes looser or tighter? Muscle weighs more than fat so you can be healthier and your clothes looser and you feel better even though the scale doesn’t show you lost any weight.

I did find it interesting that eating, or drinking, a healthy shake, a decent lunch and good dinner verse eating cookies and milk that the weight gains were comparable. I don’t know about you but I would rather eat a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs and gain 1.2 lbs verse eating three cookies and a glass of milk for the same weight gain of 1.2 lbs.

Drank 8 oz of water, do this every morning to get your body re-hydrated. Weigh in at 0715.

Ran 4.5 miles at 0800. Notice the immediate weight loss. I did not sweat 2.6 pounds off in 4.5 miles. Benefits of exercise.

After shower at 0840. Notice I either lost another .4 pounds in dirt I had on me -not, or the benefits of exercise are still showing. After you exercise, your metabolism and all that is still going, hours after you are done.

0850 -After morning shake. Arbonne vanilla protein with added chia seeds, Arbonne Greens Balance, and Arbonne Fiber Boost and Digestion Plus, 1 tablespoon peanut butter, 2 ounces of oatmeal, a squirt of honey

1000, after meeting at church for Temple Fit. Exciting news for the children.

1200, before lunch. Keep in mind I have been drinking water all morning.

After lunch at 1215. 1.2 lbs of spaghetti and meatballs with water to drink.

1245 before going Putt-Putting.

1500 (3 pm) after playing putt-putt. Just walking around for almost two hours and lost 1.6 lbs. Also drank 16 oz of water during this time. Benefits of exercise and just moving around instead of sitting on couch.

1700 ( 5 Pm) after mowing the yard. Drinking water also. Lost more weight from being active.

1840 ( 640 Pm) Before dinner. Drank lots of water.

1900 (7 Pm) After dinner and 8 ounces of milk

2115 ( 915 Pm) Before 3 cookies and 8 ounce cup of milk. Notice still lost weight from previous weigh in. Body still burning calories from being active.

2120 ( 920 Pm) after cookies and milk. Notice after just 3 cookies and a glass of milk I gained 1.2 lbs. With dinner of a half plate of salad and 1/2 plate of cheesy chicken bake and the same 8 oz glass of milk I gained 1.8 lbs. Now, what would you rather eat ?

2200 ( 10 Pm) Did a quick circuit, 20 push ups, 20 sit ups, 20 jumping jacks, 20 mountain climbers, 20 lunges to get rid of the cookies I just ate. Lost .6 lbs . Exercise, movement. It changes the body.

The next morning after 8 hours sleep. 1.6 lbs lighter than yesterday morning. I was active all day yesterday and ate well, minus the cookies – which I did to prove a point- and decent proportions. Benefits show up.

Now if you are constantly weighing yourself you can see how you can go crazy. Your weight will vary throughout the day, or even from day to day depending on what you eat and drink and how active you are. A good goal is to lose 2-3 lbs per week and stay consistent.

Be active and watch what you eat and quit stressing over the number on the scale.

Rob Nevins, The Scale Lies, Trust Your Size –

Temple Fit (To Fat To Fit)

On February 11, 2016February 11, 2016 By roberthansen1317In Christian life, fitness, music, Temple Fit8 Comments

Have any of you seen the show Fit to Fat to Fit on A&E channel? We started watching it four or five weeks ago. If you haven’t seen the show let me recap it for you and explain why I am writing about it and what we can learn from it.

The shows premise is that many trainers can’t relate to overweight people and that is why there sometimes can be a disconnect between trainer and trainee. The trainer thinks trainee is overweight because they are lazy or have no initiative or just don’t care enough about themselves to make healthy food choices. (Note: This isn’t all trainers. My wife isn’t like that.)

For the first 16 weeks the trainer gains as much weight as they can, so far it has been anywhere from 40 -70 pounds. They also can not work out during that 16 weeks. They are having to eat 6-10000 calories a day to gain the weight. At first most of them are okay with it. They get to eat foods they never eat, donuts, fast food, deserts, etc., and eat it in big portions. I am talking like a table full of food. I don’t see how they can keep it down, and some do struggle. They go out with friends drinking and eating late at night. What is amazing is how fast they lose what they had and how long it takes to get it back. During the 16 weeks the show shows the emotional, physical, and mental toil gaining all this weight takes on the trainers. Many quit playing with their kids or spending time with their spouses because they have no energy or think they don’t deserve it because of how they look. They get depressed and some have had to go to the doctor because of high blood pressure or heart troubles, all in 16 weeks.

The next 16 weeks the trainers and trainees start working out together to lose weight and learn how to make healthy eating choices. The trainers talk about how hard it is to break the bad habits. They crave the bad food they were eating. They didn’t think it would be that hard to quit eating bad and get back into shape. They now know what it is like to be overweight and to have to lose the weight and make the right choices.

Why am I writing about it? Because it shows how easy it is to make bad choices and how hard it is to break them once you start. How easy it is to bust your butt to get healthy and just a couple weeks of bad choices can take it all away. It is a daily choice to make to be healthy. You will have setbacks but don’t let one bad day turn into two or three. These trainers see how addictive bad food is. Why is it? Because food companies spend millions and millions of dollars to see how food affects a person and your brain and they put ingredients in it to get you addicted. All for the mighty dollar. Just think what they could do with those millions of dollars to make our food how God made it to be, clean, natural, organic.

Working out is hard. You have to get mentally there before you can get physically there. The hardest step is always the first. There are days I don’t feel like working out or running but my mental note is once I put the shoes on, I am doing it. For you it may be just getting out of bed and saying I am going to do something today. Even if it is just ten push-ups or walk around the house twenty times. Maybe it’s to do jumping jacks during commercials, get off the couch. Eat an apple instead of a cookie. Grab a handful of grapes instead a handful of M&M’s – my enemy.

Don’t give up. Every day make small changes that will add up to big lifetime changes over time. Give it time. Make clear, specific goals. It doesn’t have to be about weight. It can be about not buying junk food this week. Or to be a one size smaller. Or to lose 10 lbs. by March 12th. Then once you hit those goals, make new ones.

The most powerful change you will see is the change inside you. The voice in your head that goes from you can’t to you can. Every little step will give you confidence to take the next step.

On Top Of The World by Imagine Dragons –

Keep Your Head Up by Andy Grammer –

Fighter by Gym Class Heroes (feat Ryan Tedder) –

Best Day Of My Life by American Authors –

Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) by Kelly Clarkson –

Stronger by Building 429 –

Overcomer by Mandisa –

Not Afraid by Eminem –

Fight Song by Rachel Platten –

Temple Fit Tip – Show Up Everyday

On January 28, 2016January 28, 2016 By roberthansen1317In Christian life, fitness, music, Temple Fit3 Comments

I haven’t posted in awhile about Temple Fit. I don’t know why. Maybe I was feeling who am I? I am not an expert. I do know how things work, the things I wrote about earlier like getting enough sleep, what you are putting in your bodies- food and medicine-, drinking enough water, portion sizes, etc..

Four weeks into the new year, how are you holding up on your resolutions to be active, lose weight? By this point in time, most people have given up on their resolutions. It’s easier to fall back into old habits instead of establishing new habits. I personally think if your resolution is to be active and lose weight you should start in March when you have better weather. Then once 12 weeks are up and you have new habits, it will be easier to keep them through the summer. If you start in January and are doing awesome then a big snowstorm hits or you get sick and you miss a couple days, boom, you are back into old habits. Remember, you didn’t get this way overnight. You won’t get back to being healthy overnight. It takes time, it is a process, you have to stick with it everyday.

My tip for this week is to just show up everyday. Make small changes to show up everyday. There are days you won’t feel like being active or eating healthy but you have to defeat that voice in your head. This week has been rough for me and my wife and some of our runner friends. We don’t know if it is the full moon or what but when all of us can run half marathons and marathons and we struggle to do a seven mile run something is up. I stopped after two miles. However, I did do push ups, pull ups and sit ups. I just couldn’t get into it and I didn’t want to risk another injury. My wife stopped three times on her seven mile run. Just wasn’t feeling it. However, she did finish it. My point: Even if it wasn’t the best day, we showed up. We did something and we didn’t dwell on it. The next day we went out and ran again and had a better day.

You can’t get anywhere if you don’t start. You won’t get any results if you don’t show up and do something.

We had a weight loss challenge at work and I would like to share with you what the winner said. He lost 30 lbs. in 12 weeks.

You probably know that during our Arctic “Biggest Loser” contest, I lost 30 pounds in 12 weeks. This is how I did it: I decided to. Simple, I decided to. Simple, not to be confused with Easy. But the irrefutable truth is you will not lose excess weight until you decide to.

Everyone has to decide on their own when they are going to get healthier. My circumstances are not your circumstances, but maybe you will see some common ground.

I did not decide to lose weight when I needed to lose 10 pounds. Or 20. Or 25. Around the beginning of July, I weighed the most I had ever weighed. My blood work numbers, while not alarming, were going in the wrong direction. Considering my Family History, this did not bode well. For these chronic conditions, most Doctors want to give you pills. Doctors are busy, and know a couple of simple truths: pills do not make you healthier, they merely slow the decline of your health. But most people will take a pill, while very few people will change their lifestyle. So Doctors give you pills, and move on to their next patient.

Instead, I finally decided to lose weight and make other lifestyle changes. Simple, not easy.

I am NOT telling you to ignore your doctor. I managed to convince mine that I was serious about lifestyle changes. He told me to look into the research of Doctor Dean Ornish. Along the way I also looked into some of the diet ideas of Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Last week I was looking for some recipes, and came across a new book, VB6, by my favorite food author, Mark Bittman. Low and behold, the forward was written by Dr. Ornish, and it nicely encapsulates and expands upon the conversation I had with my doctor. This is the biggest reason I wanted to share this with you; finding that convergence seems very Serendipitous, and I have attached that forward and strongly encourage you to read it.

I am not pretending to be a doctor or know what is best for you. But I know this: You have to decide. My motivations are my own, but everybody has a reason. Do you want to feel better? Have more energy, or less pain? Do you want to be healthier; for your spouse, your kids, your grand-kids? Do you dread the idea of waking up in the hospital and wondering if you waited too long, if it is too late to change?

I’ve lost weight before only to gain it back, so my journey continues. But it didn’t even begin until I decided it was time to start.