Top 10 Best Weight Loss and Diet Tips

I have some experience in the area of weight loss and dieting. Much of what I have learned has come the hard way through trial and error - success and regression. Regrettably, I've went from obese (literally) to ideal weight and back to obese more than once over the past several years. I've lost 50 pounds or more on three different occasions.

The good news is that I have now managed to lose the weight and keep it off. I am currently in the best physical shape of my life and am finding it relatively easy to maintain it. So, it appears I have learned a few things.

I have been quizzed by many friends and acquaintances regarding how I have been able to lose weight and get fit. Those who know me well know that when I am interested in something I have a tendency to immerse myself in learning about it. So, I have done quite a bit of reading and research involving weight loss, dieting, nutrition, health, and so forth.

What follows is my Top 10 Tips concerning dieting and weight loss. These are the best things that have worked and continue to work for me. This is just a brief list and summary, but perhaps I will expound upon some of these items in future writings.

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Reading the Bible in One Year... it's easier than you may think!

In a recent post entitled One Year Bible Reading Plan I discussed how to read the entire Bible in a year and provided some helpful tips and resources to aid you in this endeavor.  On the surface, reading the Bible in a year may seem like a lofty goal.  Some may feel a bit intimidated when they hold the Bible in their hands and skim through the pages.  However, reading God's Word is not nearly as daunting a task as it may seem.  Below is some information about Bible reading to demonstrate that you can indeed successfully read the Bible in a year.

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Companies "For" and "Against" Christmas

The American Family Association (AFA) recently published a "Naughty and Nice" list of national retail stores.  Each company is designated as either "For" or "Against" Christmas - with a few companies designated as "Marginalizing" Christmas.  The AFA reached their conclusions after reviewing several areas including if the word "Christmas" was used in broadcast media advertising, print media advertising on their website, and in personal visits to the store.

Several national retailers display items associated with Christmas (such as trees, wreaths, lights, etc.) in an attempt to reach and appeal to Christmas shoppers... but will not use the word Christmas in their advertising.  Fortunately, many retailers are Christmas-friendly  and use the term Christmas on a regular basis.

According to the AFA, the companies that are "For" Christmas are...

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Christmas Celebrated by Overwhelming Majority of Americans

According to the latest Rasmussen Reports, Christmas is alive and well to the vast majority of Americans.  Most Americans don't celebrate a Holiday Season... they celebrate Christmas!

66% of Americans celebrate Christmas exclusively as a religious holiday (actually up 2% from the previous year).  Another 20% claim to celebrate Christmas, albeit it in more of a secular manner.  Only 6% of Americans report not celebrating Christmas at all.  72% of adult Americans prefer to greet and be greeted with the expression "Merry Christmas" while  22% prefer "Happy Holidays".

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Counting the Cost

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” Luke 14:28

There is an old saying that has taken many forms. You may have heard it expressed something like, “if it is worth having it will cost you something.” There is, of course, much truth contained in this maxim. Sadly, we live in a world where people often try to get “something for nothing.” A tragic and, unfortunately, common characteristic of many is that they want the whole world handed to them on a silver platter, but they aren’t willing to put forth any effort to obtain anything of worth.

If one is not careful, this concept of entitlement can sneak its way into many areas of life, including one’s spirituality.

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Free Audio Bible MP3 Downloads

If one wants to listen to audio of the Bible being read online there are several sites to choose from.  However, if one wants to download MP3 audio of the Bible for free... there are far fewer options.  Downloading MP3 files are preferable in many instances such as having the flexibility to add the audio to an iPod (or other MP3 player), creating custom CDs, and so forth.

Searching for truly free MP3 audio Bible downloads can be time consuming and frustrating because many of the search results refer to sites that are selling products or host online listening (streaming) only.  Other sites are free but have other problems such as incomplete collections, missing files or bad links, etc.

Below is a list of the best audio Bible MP3 download sites on the web.  There are a few other sites not included in this list because the collections are incomplete or the downloads are merely duplicated from or link back to the original/source sites.  If you know of other good sources not listed, please comment on this post with the link!

Here are the best audio Bible MP3 download sites...

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One Year Bible Reading Plan

River of Life is encouraging members to participate in a One Year Bible reading plan for 2010. We believe it is going to be a powerful, enriching, unifying experience to have many people from our congregation all reading the same passages from God's Word daily.

ROL is using the One Year Bible reading plan (the "traditional" plan - not the "chronological" one). Each day's reading includes relatively brief selections from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs (generally 4-6 pages total). Read these few pages every day and by the end of the year you will have completely read the whole Bible from cover to cover!  Below are some FAQs along with resources and tips for those who are planning on participating.

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Free Church Marketing E-Booklet

I stumbled across a free e-booklet entitled 25 Free Ministry Marketing Tools You Can Use Right Now. It's a pretty good resource - especially for free. Nothing mind blowing or earth shattering here. Many of the tips may be considered common knowledge by some. But, the booklet is well written and there are a few practical tips that most will likely find useful.

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