Excellence Over Excuses

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Welcome to One Day Out, a weekly newsletter to help deepen your faith, enhance your health, and guide you in pursuing a purpose-filled life.

🙏 Opening Prayer:

Lord, thank You for the ability to work, train, serve, and grow. Remind us that we don’t have to earn Your love—yet we get to honor You in all we do. Help us to do it with excellence. In Jesus’ name, amen.

👋 Note from me

I realized something this week.

In trying to be encouraging, I might’ve made things sound a little too soft. Faith isn’t passive. And we don’t follow Jesus by accident. We’re called to do everything—workouts, writing emails, leading our homes—with excellence. Not perfection. But effort that reflects who we belong to.

🙌 FAITH

This past weekend, I shared my testimony at a faith and fitness retreat in Austin hosted by my friend Amanda.

It was special—I shared it for the first time at her retreat in Zion, Utah just weeks after my cardiac arrest in 2023.

That first version? It was raw, emotional, and honestly… a little self-centered. I was focused on what happened to me, not what Jesus had done through me. Over time, God has humbled me and reminded me: my story exists to point to His.

John 3:30 says, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” And Acts 20:24 reminds me: “My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

Every time I share, it’s a chance to make His name known. That’s the goal.

🏃‍♂️ FITNESS

I spent nearly 4 hours editing a post about my wedding cut.

I will get into why that matters in a second.

Six weeks in, I was only down a pound.

At least, on that day.

I started at 195, and some days I have been down to 191, other days right back up to where I sterted.

But my fiancée reminded me to listen to what I had actually said. I talked about travel, stress, life chaos… and still staying disciplined. In the video, I made it sound like all those things were overwhelming and threw me off course. While I definitely have not turned down some ice cream or wedding cake, I have seen a ton of progress.

So, I ended up deleting the post becuase

My weight barely changed, but my body has. I have lost fat. Built muscle. Feel stronger. Looked different.

The scale hasn’t show the full picture—but my photos and biofeedback have.

Here’s the truth: your weight might fluctuate 5–10 pounds in a single day. You’d need to eat 7,700 calories over maintenance to gain one pound of fat. So no, you didn’t "ruin your progress" from one meal.

Check your biofeedback:

• Energy levels

• Hunger

• Mood

• Performance

• Sleep

• Recovery

And take progress photos—not for vanity, but for clarity. Your body is changing even when the scale isn’t.

🍽️ NUTRITION

I’m scaling back my red meat intake.

Not because I think red meat is bad—far from it. It’s one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. But I’ve been eating it almost every day for the past few years, and recent bloodwork showed:

• Elevated HDL

• High Apo-B

• Elevated liver enzymes

From a holistic health perspective, those aren’t full stop signs—but they are yellow lights. Red meat, especially in excess, can impact cholesterol and liver function over time.

So here’s what I’m doing:

• Red meat 1–2x per week (maybe 3 if I’m feeling it)

• More lean poultry: chicken breast/thighs, ground turkey

• More fatty fish: wild-caught salmon, sardines, tuna

• Still high protein, just more diverse sources

We’ll see how my next round of labs look in a few months.

💬 RELATIONSHIPS

I dropped the ball this week.

My fiancée was in Iceland for work and asked me to check out apartments and plan our honeymoon while she was away.

I said yes… and then didn’t do either.

I kept telling myself, “We’ll just do it together when she’s back.” But the truth is—she trusted me with something important. And I didn’t follow through.

It made me feel sick. Not because she got mad (just disappointed.. even worse). But because I wasn’t a man of my word.

James 5:12 says, “Let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no,’ no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.” That one cut deep this week.

Grateful for her grace. And God’s, as always.

🧠 PERSONAL GROWTH

We live in a culture that idolizes rest and vilifies work.

But God designed us to work.

Adam and Eve had jobs before the fall. Jesus was a carpenter. Paul was a tentmaker and a missionary. Hard work isn’t a curse—it’s a calling.

Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

That verse has been on repeat in my head this week.

Whether it’s training, editing content, or booking a honeymoon (👀), I want to do it with excellence. Not for likes. Not for validation. But because it honors God.

Be encouraged: You don’t need to strive for perfection—just bring your best. The work in front of you this week matters. The effort, the small unseen tasks, the way you serve your family or show up to work—it’s all worship when it’s done unto the Lord.

Reflection for the week:
👉 Where in your life have you been holding back your best effort—and how would it look to give God your best in that area this week?

🙏 Closing Prayer

God, thank You for the grace that covers our missed steps and the Spirit that empowers our next ones. Help us to live, work, train, and love with excellence—not to earn Your favor, but because we already have it.

Know others who want to grow in their faith, optimize their health, and live a biblically sound life according to God’s word? Share this and let’s grow His Kingdom!

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