Today is “Break Your Resolution Day” at a popular local restaurant where I live. The promotion says, “New Year’s resolutions were so last week…Indulge in a delicious dessert this Saturday for 50% off.” Grrrrr. Maybe we should rename this “Resolution Refresh Day.”
Many of us have set health goals for this year and are not getting any encouragement from our culture,friends or family – so I hope this blog will be both helpful and encouraging to you. (if so, please “share” it with others)
1. CREATE AN ENJOYABLE EXERCISE PLAN
Your fitness plan will only be sustainable if you enjoy it. Don’t be afraid to try new exercises or sports. There have never been more ways to get off your seat and on your feet than today. Dr. James Levine from the Mayo Clinic likes to say that “sitting is the new smoking.” Here are some of his helpful tips: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/adult-health/expert-answers/sitting/faq-20058005
I personally do both cardio and strength training twice a week each, which is what health experts recommend. I have enjoyed the help of trainers and partners, I do most of my strength workouts alone and 1:2 of my runs alone. Sometimes I run with a friend or my wife.
2. MAKE A SUSTAINABLE EATING PLAN
I’m not into fad diets or training programs. Although you can often reach your health goals faster with them, you will also submit yourself to dramatic rebounds once you tire of their intensity and insanity.
A good exercise plan will not even come close to accommodating for a poor eating plan. ChooseMyPlate.gov or WebMD.com has trustworthy articles available for free. Restaurants and grocery stores are not always helpful advocates for your dietary goals. My wife Janet (a Registered Dietitian and university nutrition professor) says, “know before you go.” I personally hate counting calories or reading food labels, but I have not found a more effective way to keep my weight goals.
Unless you too are married to an RD, do your homework.
3. KEEP FITNESS IN PERSPECTIVE
Physical fitness becomes idolatry for us when our “temples” become places of worship instead of vessels for worship.
“Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary (temple) of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6:19-20).
If vanity is one extreme response to physical fitness, then apathy is truly its evil twin. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that 68% of adults are overweight or obese. The National Institute of Health defines “overweight” as a waist circumference greater than or equal to 40” for men or 35” for women. This is more than a vanity problem as they are at a much higher risk for preventable death. Obesity (34.9%) is not only lethal, it is also expensive. The medical costs last year for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of healthy weight. www.cdc.gov/obesity/data
4. PRAY DAILY FOR DISCIPLINE
…the training of the body has a limited benefit (1 Tim 4:7b). Many of us grew up hearing the KJV, “Bodily exercise profiteth little…” That is the way Britts talked 400 years ago, but it misses the point entirely in 21st century English. This virtual paraphrase better catches Paul’s intent, “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better” (v 8 NLT). The present tense of the verb “train” indicates that both spiritual and physical training should be a lifetime pursuit for Timothy – and us. “Train”(gymnatize) can also be translated as “discipline.”
I know this is a sensitive subject, and one to which more people will likely fail than succeed, but since our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, doesn’t it follow that we should take care of them?
Will you join me in praying for the kind of discipline and determination it will take to be spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically healthy for the glory of God? What are some other ways that we can love God with all of our strength and honor God with our bodiies in 2015?
