My last Post was 2016

3 years ago.

I wrote my last post 3 years ago.

Been thinking a lot but not writing anything.

Its January 2019 and everybody is talking about been focused et al but I have been struggling with demons.

Looked at a Bible Plan on Depression and this has answered my prayers... In a sense.

Imagine someone telling you that I am cheating on my wife.

Imagine you inquiring and finding out that this person believes I am cheating because of something I said. 

Imagine finding out later that the person came to the conclusion that I was cheating because of what he heard someone said that another person was told that I said something? 

Imagine finding out, eventually, that the original story is that I love the way India Arie sang Brown skin.

Let that sink.

How did my love for the way India Arie sang Brown skin become my infidelity to my love, Usi Egbuson?

Many people have been trapped in this kind of predicament but imagine when its about God Almighty?

One of the verses cited for Christians going through depression is Matthew 11: 28.

Matthew 11:28 English Standard Version (ESV)

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Sounds encouraging right... But by the time I compared scripture with scripture, I realized that this scripture is not primarily about being depressed. Its about longing for righteousness.

All I needed to do to get to this point was read the following verses below

John 7:37 English Standard Version (ESV)

Rivers of Living Water

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 

John 6:37 English Standard Version (ESV)

37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

Matthew 11:3 English Standard Version (ESV)

3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

Matthew 23:4 English Standard Version (ESV)

4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,[a] and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

Luke 11:46 English Standard Version (ESV)

46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

By the time I was done and started doubting whether the initial verse, Matthew 11:28, was talking about depression I decided to read Matthew 11:25 - 30 to understand the context. 

The Lord was talking about resting in him as opposed to resting in ceremonial law and all the ordinances. 

So even though the Bible verse is one of those quoted to aid depression a deeper look into it reveals that the depression I am referring to is one that is caused by the want/lack of earthly joys and comforts. My childlessness/ physical pain/ desire for a more comfortable life.

It points to the fact that a brother should repent from chasing after the things that 'gentiles' chase after and instead, lean on the everlasting arms of Christ my Savior.   

Are you a Christian? May I encourage you to dig deeper into the word and study to show yourself approved?

What worries me now is that this was not a deep dive Bible Study. It was just a quick following of the 'white rabbit'.

May the good Lord have mercy now, in 2019 and forever. Amen.

#FitGoalsNG Dec 28th - Jan 3rd

Happy New Year!!! Happy #FitGoalsNG year. I just had to say that. I just had to say that because I am so guilty…and that was not completely my fault.

The week under review is Dec 28^th – Jan 3^rd. I ran under 7km… 6.3km to be exact. My Samsung S-health which is linked to my Samsung gear fit states that I had average daily steps of 6,197/10,000…imagine that.

It is really not my fault though… Have you ever had a cough/cold/sore throat so bad that when you cough it’s like your chest wants to jump outta your Chest? Yep that was the feeling.

Then you are put on meds that cause you to only long to run in your dreams while you are cuddled up in the purple blanket in a cool harmattan day.

Did I mention that this was the New Year week where everywhere you turned there was a sumptuous dish waiting to do the tango with your taste buds? A week that was characterized with tired fitness buddies (wifey) and invites to groove on days scheduled for running.

So …in summary…my fitness week wasn’t fit but will I let that deter me? Will I allow myself slump back into my preiously unhealthy routine…? So what I haven’t run in 2016. I remember an adage that states ,’The best time to plant a tree is 100 years ago. The next best time is today.’

Here it is to a fit 2016.  I shall run today… #FitGoalsNG

#FitGoalsNG 21st - 27th Dec 2015

What was great about Christmas week 2015? A lot. Generally all lagosians would say that it was the start of a 5 day break…

Thursday; Friday; Saturday; Sunday and Monday…all days off.

But the greatest thing was celebrating the birth of the King of Kings; Lamb that was slain only to save sinners from their sin.

Hanging out with wifey and close friends was also a wonderful thing but my eyes had to always be on the ball regarding my health and fitness goals.

Christmas week (21^st – 27^th December 2015) was a week were I pushed myself. I ran extra km’s & tried my best to watch what I eat. I also ran with new Truppr peeps on Christmas morning on a completely new route. That route made it the second new route for me in the week.

My Samsung S-health and gear fit state that I burnt an average of 984kcal; covered and average distance of 15.56km and that my longest active period was 1hr 37 minutes.

Did I mention that I broke my PB record for 10k on the 24^th? Did I also mention that I won a total of =N=4,000 gift vouchers from Truppr because of my activity during this week?

I am looking forward to this week though… The last week in the year. Must finish strong. Must finish healthy. Let’s see if I can win the maximum vouchers from Truppr… lol.

#FitGoalsNG

The week ended 20^th of December was a cool week.

S-health states that I average 14,511 daily steps while I set for myself a daily target of 10,000 steps.

That is a cool improvement but the coolest thing had to do with the fact that yours truly broke two records in the week under review.

My fitness goal was to do a 10k under 1hr 10 minutes.

On Saturday the 19^th my Nike + app recorded that I did a 10k on 1hr 10minutes sharp.

Did I mention that the Thursday before that had me break my 5k record? Yes… I did. 32 minutes according to Nike+ app all downloaded from the Android store on my Samsung A5.

There was a time I was unable to run 5k straight. Now I see myself completing this training plan and jumping straight to training for a half marathon.

Did I mention that excited was an understatement to the feeling I felt when records fell? Did I mention that I thank the good Lord for keeping me healthy all this while? Did I mention that some of my running peeps are struggling with illness and injury but at this time, ‘Idorun’… All the time the Lord is good…

I also had the opportunity to chill for 10 minutes with an individual I met through Truppr. It was less than 10 minutes but when Adeola ‘Zeus’ Elijah looks at you and tells you that you have lost weight… you definitely have to take it as a compliment and you also have to thank the Lord for the Truppr Running community.

Now I ask myself why I run… To break records and keep fit seem like ends in themselves. How will my running affect the life of many people that I know…? My neighbors; friends and family?

These are just some of the things that flowed through my mind every day since the beginning of last week.

May this week of Christmas be injury and illness free for all my fellow trupprs and may we remember that Christ is the reason for the season.  

#FitGoalsNG

And the week has ended…

Started this week running in the dry weather of Abuja running past the Church of Nigeria and making a U-turn @ the National Mosque.

My run ended on one of my favorite routes which consists of the Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge.

The harmattan winds are blowing into Lagos. Looking forward to my sweat drying up on me the way it did while in Abuja.

This is definitely a different weather from last year.

Date	Distance	Time
7/12/2015	8.48km	1:00:16
8/12/2015	7.38km	51:19
10/12/2015	8:78km	1:01:53
11/12/2015	4:02km	28:30
12/12/2015	8:79km	7:09

My NIKE app records my activity as above but Thursday and Saturday workouts were not encouraging at all.

It’s at those times that thanks goes out to your TrupprFam who stand by you; run with you and wait for you; allowing you to overtake and be overtaken.

Will need to google running in this weather as another Truppr Fam mentioned the need for more hydration in this climate.

Another thing I might have to incorporate is the whole HIIT training as I need to build up the muscles in my thighs, glutes and calves.

The flip side? My clothes have started drooping. I regularly get that, ’OMG…look at you. I wanna join you in whatever you are doing…’ comment & I am worried about slimming my clothes to early as if I continue at this pace, I may have to slim them again in March 2016 also.

Till then #FitGoalsNG.