Have you ever heard of Halloween being a controversial holiday? I never really thought much of it until recent years. I never knew that some people do not participate for reasons greater than they simply do not like dressing up in costumes. It never occurred to me that some will not participate due to the original meaning of Halloween and it not coinciding with their beliefs. Until I was a mother, I never considered why someone would hesitate to traipse around to strangers’ houses, stockpiling loads of sugar their kids likely do not need.

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Now, I do realize these things and can certainly understand the reasoning in people who decide to forego Halloween. I still celebrate. Why? I enjoy allowing M to participate in Halloween parties and activities with friends. I know we will have a good time taking a stroll together as a family tonight. And she loves her duck costume!

Heck, there are plenty of people who celebrate Christmas without believing in Jesus. While I would love them to know Jesus, as I trust in the peace a relationship with him brings, I don’t hold their participation in Christmas festivities against them. We do Halloween because it’s something fun for our daughter and as a family.

The other issue, all the candy, isn’t really an issue at all for me either. Recently I read an article about how kids forced to “clean their plates” or not allowed to have certain foods display less control over their food intake when they do have more freedom. This kind of reminds me of Halloween. I fear that not allowing candy at all would only backfire in my hope for Makenzie to have a healthy relationship with food. I have no issue with her having some candy. Or treats at parties, some bites of our frozen yogurt, a hot dog, some pizza, etc. She has those options regularly enough to where she knows she enjoys them.

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But you know what? She will often eat a bit and then be done. For example, at the Halloween party on Friday, she ate about 1/4 of her cupcake and wanted no more. And on a day to day basis, she shows no issue asking for apples, cheese, broccoli, peas, oatmeal, yogurt, water, grapes, granola, smoothies (green monsters), zucchini, pasta, hummus, etc. She knows and enjoys those foods as well because we persistently expose her to healthy items. Sure, she may have one or two pieces of candy as a special treat. That does not bother me. I personally feel best that those options are actually options for her. I hope it helps her learn balance. Then, she won’t have to give a disclaimer for having a fun-sized candy treat. 😉 Did I just say that aloud? Some of you likely know what I’m referring to, so I’ll stop there.

With all that being said, we will trick or treat and collect our share of candy. Then, I will do a mix of the following:

• having it available when she asks, but not promoting it as the parent
• mixing it into healthier treats, like putting M&Ms into a trail mix snack
• saving some of the candy and using it when baking holiday treats
• freezing candy so it lasts to be eaten sparingly over a longer period
• if she understands, we can also allow her to trade in candy for other treats/goodies like a new toy (thanks Mama Pea for this idea)

Every person must make his or her own decision. I decide to enjoy a few favorite pieces guilt-free along with my daughter. Then, eat some vegetable stew. Sounds pretty dang good to me! 😉 Look for a recap post with my “costume”, trick-or-treating action, & a recipe for the veggie stew tomorrow morning. 😀

• How was your weekend?
• Do you ever think of Halloween as controversial?

Good morning! The past couple of days I have felt compelled to write a post on this topic. I don’t quite know exactly what to say and kept putting it off, but now, even though I still don’t know exactly what to say, I figure I just need to write and see what comes out. Sometimes that works best for me. Hopefully that happens today, because I want to do this topic justice. Why FFF? WHY Faith Fitness Fun?

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I had a “blog” for a few months before this where I sporadically posted about my competition prep journey. I didn’t enjoy it and it wasn’t really blogging for me. Before starting Faith Fitness Fun, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to share and if I had the will to commit. I wanted this blog to be more. Which is why when I started this blog a little over 9 months ago, Faith Fitness Fun was the only name that I could settle on. Nothing else fit me or what I hoped to present here.

I could not ignore the faith aspect of my life and its affect on my wellness as a whole. For that reason, it needed a predominant space to reflect my belief in its importance to healthy living. I still hesitated to do so because I hate nothing more than those who preach to others, judge others for differing beliefs or values, and have a holier than thou attitude. Those actions do not represent faith (in general) or a Christian (in specific).

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I hope this blog never comes across as preachy. I hope people never leave feeling like I try to “convert” them or that I judge them. That would make my heart ache so greatly. I hope to share my life and my journey to finding balance, health, and fulfillment in all areas and not gloss over the fact that faith does have a role in there. So then, why include it at all if it acts more as a backdrop to my balanced living? Simply, I couldn’t not include it.

My faith has helped me to love myself more than I ever could. The knowledge that I was specially created with a purpose and carefully crafted opens my eyes to more than the physical flaws I could too easily settle on.

My faith gives me the desire to respect myself and my body. When battling binging, I had to pray the same prayer every single day. It helped me gain perspective that my body was deserving and I needed to treat it better than the starve and overload cycle I had submitted it to too often.

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My faith supplies power in the belief of my worth and allows me to pursue goals whole heartedly. From things as simple and trivial as losing baby weight to as large as the belief I can raise a child into a loving, respectable young woman, my faith sustains me. I can trust in God and simply the belief that He has a good plan for me and is on my side strengthens me to keep going and to continue striving in the pursuit of my best life. He may place me on a path and give me the passion, but I do still have to do the leg work and having faith in Him makes it bearable.

My faith calms my soul. I have never hidden the troubles I encountered in my past. I openly share the hurts that may plague me on occasion now. If I did not have my faith, I could easily lose myself within those pains. My faith reminds me there is hope and so much more to live for. It has done so much more than just fill my life with more joy. It has literally saved my life.

That is why I include faith in this blog. Not to tell you what to believe. No, not at all. I include the faith in Faith Fitness Fun because I trust it can facilitate wellness in so many ways – mentally, emotionally, and physically. How could I leave something like that out? Likely, besides this post, it will never come at the forefront of what I share here. That is okay because it’s still always there. I hope you feel it. And now you know why.

• Do you believe things like faith (in any number of forms) plays a role in overall healthy living?
• If you feel comfortable sharing, how has it effected you personally?
• Don’t forget to ASK ME ANYTHING for the November Q + A series!