Let Us Discipline the Body

The pastor from Woodland Church, Brownstown, Michigan has this to say about Paul buffeting his body and fasting: "You may have heard the old joke twisting the words of the Apostle Paul to justify overeating, by saying, 'I buffet my body.' Those words actually refer to Paul's discipline of his bodily desires to line up with his inward desire to be a passionate follower of Christ. Fasting is a useful discipline to check our tendency to overindulge in good things at the expense of our discipleship. Paul also said, 'Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things (I Timothy 4:8 NIV).'"

Before we move on with kinds of fasting - other than to check our tendency to overindulge in good things at the expense of our discipleship - listen to this as you read from Hebrews 12:10-11:

"Those whom the Lord loves He disciplines. . . He disciplines us for our good..." Our good! It goes on to say, "so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful yet to those who have been trained by it..." Those who have what? "Been trained by it." Trained by what? Discipline. "To those who have been trained by it (discipline), afterwards it (discipline) yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." It, discipline, "yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." With discipline - and buffeting our body - we will do what is right! Hallelujah!

The Lord's purpose in discipline is to encourage us to abandon our sin - the wrong things we do, the wrong way we treat our body with letting it have it's own way - it doesn't know what it needs and if it does we need to give it what it needs not what it wants or thinks it wants. That's what God does for us. Why wouldn't we do the same for our self and our body? In this way we "share His holiness." This is a better lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle. A lifestyle of peaceful living. Now let's get on with it!

Here's to your health!

Buffet the Body

Buffet defined:
1.) To hit or beat; especially repeatedly
2.) To strike against forcefully; batter
3.) To drive or force with or as if repeated blows
4.) To force (one's way) with difficulty - To buffet one's way.

Our biblical foundation is coming from I Corinthians 9:24-27 (NKJV):
"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."

I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage... - American Std.
I beat my body and make it my slave... - NIV
I discipline my body and keep it under control. - English Std.
I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. - NLT
I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection... -KJV

Get the picture? We are to be in control of our body.

Paul is talking about not being disqualified in a race he is running for life. Reading in verses 24 and 25 of I Corinthians 9 you see he mentions this and that those who compete are "temperate in all things." Temperate - in control, patient, longsuffering, balanced. That's when he mentions again the race and our fight, "not with uncertainty," "not as one who beats the air" ... but as one who disciplines or buffets the body (vs. 26 and 27).

Forget the buffet line... or next time you are one - go for the raw fruits and vegetables and eat to live and have good health!

Here's to yours... good health!

A Bit More on Discipline

I know it's not Sunday, it's Monday but from the Bible, which we use as one of our principles... it is our foundation... we must see this in the Book of Job:
"He (God) also opens their ear to instruction, and commands that they turn from iniquity. If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity; and their years in pleasures." (Job 36:10-11)

Shout Hallelujah!!!

Fasting and the Discipline of It

We are going to look at the different kinds of fasts but being that today is Sunday let me mention a bit more on discipline - especially "spiritual" discipline. This is a complete denial of self. It is a time of denying yourself food and also a time of drawing closer to the Lord by giving yourself to a time of prayer. We are to discipline ourselves in many ways but our flesh cries out for having its own way. Discipline is when we know better than to allow our flesh to rule and do what is right anyway - whether or flesh agrees or not. This is buffeting our body as Paul mentions in the Bible. It is not going to a buffet line! Buffeting here means we are to take control of or discipline our body to do what it's supposed to do and not what it wants. Fasting for the Lord and for our body's health brings it, our flesh, our body, under our control. First by our communication with the Lord and hearing from Him and second by taking the power from Him to make our body submissive to what He says! As we fast and do this our bodies become healthier in the physical realm as well as our spirits being healthy unto the Lord.

Here's to your health!

Why We Are to Fast

Stormie Omartian tells us a way to change our thinking about sickness and disease. She says, "To take the mystery out of being sick, think of disease as another way of saying 'out of balance.' Whenever you feel yourself getting sick, try to figure out where you got out of balance."* When you are out of balance there is a crisis going on in your body somewhere.

When we fast we fast for physical and/or spiritual reasons and the effects of fasting are life-giving in both areas of our lives. There is another change to make in our thinking and that is about fasting. We should not think of fasting as a torture. Why? Because when we think that we we won't see fasting as bringing a better quality to our lives both physically and spiritually.

Fasting first began in observance of a holy day; however, it is now used by doctors and in hospitals and others because of the physical change people saw/found in the discipline of fasting. Biblically Jesus said "when" you fast not "if" you fast when He talked about fasting in the Bible. He taught fasting as a discipline. Fasting is God-designed to bring us into a greater knowledge and awareness of Him. Fasting is spiritually right and something we need both spiritually and physically for our bodies to have greater life and health.

It's time to stop letting our flesh rule over us and let God lead us into a better plan - the plan He has for us. It begins with a spiritually and physically fit body and physically fit self! So, what are you waiting for? Why do you and I hesitate to fast? Mostly out of ignorance along with great fear. Fear of what? Fear of the torture, right? But we are not going to think that way any more. We are going to look at the crisis our physical body is in (and for some of us our spiritual body is in) and learn to put fasting into our lives. We are going to learn to be disciplined in this area so that we live a lifestyle of complete health! No more sickness. No more disease. No more out of balance!

Here's to your health!

*Greater Health God's Way, Stormie Omartian, pg. 72

Fasting Defined

Before we look at the different kinds of fasts, let's define fasting:

The American Heritage College Dictionary defines fasting as 1.) To abstain from food; 2.) To eat very little or abstain from certain foods, especially as a religious discipline...

The Revell Concise Bible Dictionary defines fasting as 1.) Going without food and/or water; 2.) Consuming only water and simple foods. It also says, "Many biblical fasts lasted for a day, from sunrise to sunset; some continued for several days. Individuals often fasted when in the grip of some crisis or strong emotion. Public fasting was associated with national repentance. These fasts were typically accompanied by confession and by earnest appeal to God in prayer.

You could say that just by our eating vegan we are fasting daily! Many continue to eat their meats and sweets without a thought of how it affects their bodies until they are in a crisis! We've already made a change in our diet but there is more we can do. We will look tomorrow at the different kinds of fasts and look more into the physical and biblical reasons we choose to fast.

Balance

We've talked about balance before. Not just a pH balance, but also an all-around balance in our lifestyle. Our activities should be balanced to bring about good rest and peace in our lives, our water intake and the food we eat should be balanced to bring our body the nutrients it needs to have life, and our spiritual life should be balanced beginning with a solid foundation built on Christ. There is also more to it than this; you can go deeper, especially in those weaker moments in areas of your life where you are desperate. Cleansing. This is involves the process of fasting. Three or four times a year is great but even better is to learn to live a fasted life and do it on a regular basis. This process of fasting is good for the physical body and the spiritual body. We'll discuss the different kinds of fasts tomorrow.

Here's to your health!

Too Much Waste

Again we have this from Stormie Omartian, Greater Health God's Way, page 71:

"I've heard it said by experts in the field that people carry between five and twenty pounds of toxic poisons and wastes inside of them. Shocking isn't it? But if all those poisons don't get out, our body breaks down under the stress, we become sick, and personal relationships are affected."

"Toxic waste builds up in your body when you eat too many impure, processed, foodless foods and don't give your body a chance to rest and get rid of them. The body will naturally try to purify and cleanse itself. If you help it by providing food the way God made it, exercise, rest, fresh air and sunshine, plenty of water, regular fasting, and a good attitude, you will have a clean bloodstream and a healthy body."

Here's to your health!

A Must Watch

The Miraculous Self-Healing Body! This is a DVD that you can purchase from Hallelujah Acres and it will show you, tell you, and teach you all from experts how miraculous our body is - it is a self-healing body - God designed it that way - He knew we would need it because of a world deteriorating around us! Some day we'll not need this body we have, we'll have brand new bodies but for now we need to keep the body we have, as miraculous as it is, in tip-top shape!

Place your order at http://www.hacres.com/ and use referral number DXW.

Here's to your health!

Self-Healing Bodies

We must remember that our bodies are self-healing when given the chance!

From Dr. George Malkmus, God's Way to Ultimate Health, page 65:

"Many people today believe they can dump anything they want into their bodies and that this garbage has nothing to do with their physical well-being. They also believe that when they get sick all they have to do is take some drug to remove that sickness. If we are going to be able to eliminate our present physical problems and live in abundant health, we must turn away from this kind of thinking."

"Sickness is the result of unhealthy living and if health is to be restored, we must remove the causes of the illness and supply the conditions for health. Healing is a normal biological process programmed into our DNA, but to make it happen we must remove the causes of our physical problems. No true healing can take place without first removing the cause and then providing the body with its simple, basic needs so it can restore itself."

"Sickness is usually not God's judgment upon us nor simply bad luck, but something we created ourselves by failing to observe God's natural laws. If we desire abundant health we must do more than wish or pray for it. We must make a commitment to good health by applying a diet and lifestyle that will produce it. More and more Americans are realizing that the medical/drug approach does not produce health."

Health - it's a matter of choice - yours!
Here's to your health!

pH Balance

An excerpt from God's Way to Ultimate Health by Dr. George H. Malkmus says this about pH balance (pg. 53-54, 157-158):

"...In order for our cells to function properly, they must have a healthy environment. This includes maintaining a body temperature of 98.6 degrees; maintaining a proper acid / alkaline balance of about 7.4 pH; providing the cells with pure air and water, all necessary minerals, and keeping the cells free from stress. If we can keep the fluids surrounding our cells free of toxic waste, at proper temperature and pH, provide them with pure water, a sufficient and balanced supply of minerals, and keep them free from stress, the cells will live, function and re-create themselves without any problems. Dr. West concludes in The Golden Seven Plus One that '... if the fluid medium in and around the cells was right, it would be impossible to damage or kill cells.'"

"... Healthy cells require healthy food. Healthy food is food eaten just as close to the way God make it as possible ... and that means RAW!!! Every step in the processing of food takes it further from the way God intended our cells to be nourished, and this includes the cooking of food! Man is the only member of the animal kingdom that destroys his food before he eats it!"

"Dr. Yoshihide Hagiwara, in his book Green Barley Essence, notes that on the cellular level, our bodies relive the 'drama of creation millions of times every day, as the cells which form our tissue are reborn in countless succession in the life-sustaining chain.' He says, ' the most delicate of conditions must prevail' for this constant recreation of life to be carried on, and that a 'balance and maintenance of minerals is the key to health.'"

"Minerals also help maintain the pH balance between acid and alkaline. Dr. Hagiwara warns, 'should this balance be upset, the cell metabolism suffers, leading to conditions such as fatigue.'

"Perhaps the most important advantage to maintaining an alkaline internal environment is that alkalinity is detrimental to the survival of disease organisms and cancer cells. Dr. Hagiwara also believes alkalinity is a critical factor in normalizing blood-sugar regulation and the proper functioning of enzymes...'"

"We do not know of a more alkaline food than barley grass juice. Spinach is considered to be one of the most alkaline of all foods, but Green Barley Essence (BarleyMax) is more than 50 percent more alkaline than spinach... There are 16 different vitamins in organically grown and properly processed barley juice powder including the anti-oxidants beta-carotene (which becomes vitamin A in the body), vitamin C and vitamin E, along with a full range of the B-complex vitamins. To be effective, vitamins must come from a natural, rather than synthetic source... Proteins are provided in high quantity by many vegetables, and Dr. Hagiwara says it is a false assumption that meat is a better protein source... Meat contains crude protein, whereas green juices contains light-weight protein molecules that are more usable by our bodies...The chlorophyll in barley grass juice has powerful anti-inflammatory, deodorizing and germicidal properties."

The list goes on and on, but my point here is to keep the body at a pH balance and keep your blood clean. As you can read above the main living food for raw and healthy fuel would be a barley grass juice! "Dr. Hagiwara notes the reputation for endurance of cattle and horses; they work to exhaustion and then find renewed energy after feeding on grass, 'due presumably to potassium and many other nutrients' in the grass." I haven't watched many cattle lately, but I have watched my dog or cat at times and what do they do for extra nourishment? Eat the grass in the yard! Green food is a must. We need living plant foods. Why not try a barley grass juice - try BarleyMax and keep your body pH balanced.

BarleyMax can be purchased at http://www.hacres.com/. Please use referral number DXW when you place your order.

P.S. If you don't like the taste of grass, BarleyMax now comes in flavors! Take your pick today - as for me, I like the natural grass flavor and my body has learned to crave it on a daily basis! I can't live without it! Literally!!!

Here's to your health!

Life is in the Blood

This excerpt is from GREATER HEALTH GOD'S WAY, by Stormie Omartian, page 69-70:

"We have sixty trillion cells in our bodies. (I don't know who counted them.) Every cell lives for a limited time before it reproduces itself and dies. Every three months we get a new bloodstream, every eleven months each cell in our body has been renewed, and every two years we get a new bone structure. Do you realize that by eating correctly for approximately two years, you could have a whole new body? I don't mean that you could all of a sudden look like someone else, but you could certainly be a totally new you. Isn't that encouraging?"

"The idea behind good health is to keep your blood clean through proper foods, plus exercise, plenty of water, fasting and prayer, fresh air and sunshine, and peaceful, stress-free living. Eating food the way God make it affects the blood by cleansing it from impurities and by supplying it with all the nutrients necessary to rebuild cells. The Lord's way of eating will keep your blood clean and healthy, and this will automatically protect you from infection. A dirty bloodstream is the main cause of illness and premature aging. When the bloodstream is pure and alkaline, it will dissolve all poisons and carry them away. Disease cannot live in a clean bloodstream. Disease breeds in a dirty bloodstream."

"Keeping the bloodstream clean, and the body healthy, requires personal discipline. You must supervise what goes into your stomach. How are you feeding your sixty trillion cells? Are they being fed food that has no vitamins, minerals, or digestive enzymes? Are they being fed food that is so devitalized that your body has to spend precious energy just trying to rid itself of poisonous wastes and repair the damage that your food has done?"

Eat for your body's health! Eat to live! Learn to discipline yourself and eat right foods that fuel your body. Listen to your body; it is talking to you. It is starved for nutritional foods! Without proper fuel for the body the bloodstream becomes dirty and you become unhealthy. Choose life - life is in the blood!

Here's to your health!
Leviticus 17:11

Processed or Pure Food

Which will it be? Will you continue to eat processed, chemical-laden, dead and dead to the body foods or choose to eat pure, whole, raw, living foods that God intended for you to eat for fuel from the very beginning? You can choose to go the world's way but then you will have the world's results. God has a better plan! His plan is for your health - physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, relationally, financially and any other "ally" you can think of! Choose life - choose God's way! Choose pure, whole, raw, living foods for your body - remember, it's His temple and He is living in you!

Here's to your health!
See Genesis 1:29 and I Corinthians 6:19-20

The Hallelujah Diet

The Hallelujah Diet is a raw diet with the 85-15 percent rule of raw and cooked foods. George Malkmus, founder of Hallelujah Acres, recommends and teaches this diet all over the world. His website is listed below for any further information you may like to investigate. I am a trained Health Minister of Hallelujah Acres and eat this way myself. Here are the basic recommendations for this diet:

Upon rising, take one serving of Barley Max.*

Breakfast : No cooked foods or foods containing fiber at this meal, as they hinder the cleansing process while the body eliminates accumulated toxins.

Mid-Morning Snack: an 8-ounce glass of vegetable juice

Before lunch, have another serving of Barley Max.* Thirty minutes later, eat either a raw vegetable salad or raw fruit.

Lunch: This should also be an uncooked meal. Fruit should be limited to no more than 15% of total daily intake.

Mid-Afternoon Snack: 8-ounce glass of vegetable juice

Before dinner, have another serving of Barley Max.* Thirty minutes later, eat a large green salad of leaf lettuce and a variety of vegetables. Then, eat a baked potato, brown rice, steamed veggies, whole grain pasta, or a veggie sandwich on whole grain bread.

Dinner: Do not eat head lettuce, as it has very little nutritional value. Remember to eat cooked food once a day and limit to 15% of diet. Lunch and dinner meal can be switched.

If desired, eat a piece of juicy, fresh fruit or a glass of organic apple juice

Evening Snack: Keep it simple - remember your list of sweets found

This is a great way to eat and let me tell you, "it works! You will be healthier, feel great and live longer!" You will find many testimonies on Hallelujah Acres website - hacres.com or in his book God's Way to Ultimate Health. Please remember that you heard it here on Your Best 4 Health and use the referral number DXW. Thanks and here's to your health!


*Barley Max - the quickest way to restore the body to wellness is raw juices of which Barley Max is one! George Malkmus says this, "The reason I supplement my diet with Barley Max is that our food today is being grown for the most part in very deficient soils that often lack all the nutrients our body needs for building new, strong, healthy, vital, vibrant cells. Barley Max is grown organically and contains the widest spectrum of nutrients available today from a single source that I am aware of. It is also loaded with enzymes. I consider it the single, most important food I put into my body each day and always consume at least 3 teaspoons of it a day." See God's Way to Ultimate Health by George Malkmus, pg. 92

The Do Not Eat List

Now that we looked at the "do list" for a healthier change in our eating habits lets look at the "don't list." These are definitely don't eats with some substitution suggestions for your best health (or see yesterday's blog with a list of what living foods to eat):

Beverages: no caffeine - substitute herb teas

Dairy: no animal-based milk, cheese, eggs, whipped toppings or non-dairy creamers (watch out for chemical-laden products too) - substitute rice, oat and nut-based products

Fruit: canned and sweetened fruits, as well as non-organic dried fruits - choose fresh!

Vegetables: canned with added preservatives or fried - choose fresh!

Meats: beef, pork, fish, chicken, turkey, hamburgers, hot dogs, bacon, and sausage - get the picture? All meat products from animals!

Nuts and Seeds: all roasted and/or salted seeds/nuts - choose raw!

Oils: all lard, margarine, shortenings; anything containing hydrogenated oils

Soups: all canned or packaged soups, creamed soups that contain dairy products

Sweets: all refined white or brown sugar, sugar syrups, chocolate, candy, gum, cookies, donuts, cakes, pies, other products containing refined sugars or artificial sweeteners

Seasonings: refined table salt, black pepper and any seasonings containing them

Making a commitment to a better healthier lifestyle will make it easier for you to eliminate these dead foods from ever entering your mouth. You may not realize it but many of the foods are deadly poisonous to the body.

Here's to your health!

Raw Food Alternatives

We have developed habits and become comfortable with the foods we eat since childhood. Change is difficult but worth the effort for our health. Why not make the change to all raw. Why? Because cooked food is dead food. Our body cries out from starvation for living (raw) foods that will provide it with life-giving nutrients! Why not try some of the suggested changes, if not all of them, here:

Beverages: freshly extracted vegetable juices and green smoothies or Barley Max! - We'll be discussing this tremendously healthy Barley Max another day.*

Dairy: fresh milk derived from oats, rice, coconut, nuts such as almonds and hazelnuts.

Fruits: all fresh, and especially organic, fruits and "unsulphered" dried fruits.

Grains: soaked oats, millet, raw muesli, dehydrated granola or crackers, raw ground flaxseed, sprouted grains of all kinds - why soaked? They come to life!

Beans: green beans, peas, sprouted garbanzo beans, sprouted lentils, sprouted mung - why sprouted? It's living!

Nuts and Seeds: raw almonds, sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, walnuts, raw almond butter, tahini

Oils and Fats: extra virgin olive oil, grapeseed or walnut oil for cooking, flaxseed oil, avocados!

Seasonings: Fresh and dehydrated herbs, garlic, sweet onions, parsley, cilantro, and salt-free seasonings!

Soups: raw soups - yes, raw - you'll find they are delicious!

Sweets: fruit smoothies, raw fruit pies with date/nut crusts, date/nut squares

Vegetables: all raw vegetables - experiment and try some new ones!

Make the change today - begin by adding some or all of the above to your diet and you will be eating healthier. An 85:15% rule is suggested - this means 8t percent living foods and only 15 percent cooked foods (remember these are dead foods - no nutrients or very little come from cooked foods). There are hundreds of recipes to experiment with now that you are eating raw. Each week a new one is listed below. Some are new cooked recipes but you will find them healthier that what you've been eating prior to this change to raw! Eating living foods will satisfy the nutritional needs of your living cells and prevent uncontrollable hunger, produce abundant energy, and create vibrant health!

*Barley Max is sold through Hallelujah Acres - see website below and use the referral number given with your order.

Living Foods

Living Food = Living Fuel = Living Cells = Healthy Body

You can't prosper and be in good health without proper fuel.
This is truth from our Biblical Foundation found in III John 2.

The Best Place to Start

The best place to start is to eat raw foods. Eating raw foods is really a great starting point. This is true no matter what Season it is, but with it being Springtime you will begin to find more and more farmers markets and more fresh fruits and vegetables available. Not only that you may find them at a lesser cost than in the Winter months. However, keep in mind that there should be no opting out because of expense! You are worth the price of any fruit or vegetable! Here's a great explanation given by George Malkmus from his book God's Way to Ultimate Health, Chapter 12, page 105, to why we should begin with eating raw foods:

"START BY EATING RAW FOODS! Eating living (raw) foods is really the starting point. Living foods will start to normalize body weight and increase our energy. Increased energy will demand more exercise! Increased exercise will cause deep breathing! Deep breathing will bring copious amounts of oxygen into the body. Increased oxygen will oxygenate and stimulate the cells and thus produce abundant energy along with superior health! It is so amazingly simple!"

This is so important because Dr. Malkmus says just above this paragraph that the "three keys to a long healthy life are: 1. proper nutrition; 2. adequate exercise; and 3. abundant oxygen!" He goes on to say, "Most of man's miseries are caused by eating the wrong foods, failing to exercise sufficiently and not taking into the body abundant amounts of oxygen."

So let's get to eating properly, exercising and taking in that oxygen we need for health and life!
Here's to your health!

Principles

Exercise is one of the principles for a healthy lifestyle as are:

Eating the proper fuel for your body - living food!
Drinking plenty of pure water!
Getting good amounts of rest daily!
Learning to eliminate stress and become emotionally balanced!
Getting plenty of fresh air and sunshine!
Having a Biblical Foundation!

So let's get healthy and stay balanced for a lifestyle of health!

Why Exercise?

Do you know that your heart has to beat harder and faster for you when you are out of shape than when you are in good physical shape? It's true. A healthy heart is able to pump more blood with fewer heartbeats than a heart that is unhealthy and out of shape. To keep breathing one must apply an exercise program of some sort into their life. Exercise makes the heart stronger and more blood is pumped throughout the body giving it more oxygen. Exercise helps you breathe deeply and breathe properly with no shortness of breath. You must learn to breathe properly while you exercise as well. No holding your breath!

Your muscles were meant to be used. Exercise is a must. Exercise will help your body eliminate toxins and poisons that otherwise take over your body. Exercise will increase circulation, and it will also strengthen your muscles. Without exercise your body cannot eliminate impurities as it should and the blood will not circulate well. When your organs become inactive and your unused muscles shrivel up so will you! It's time to begin to establish an exercise program and become more active. With exercise in your daily agenda you will begin to feel more and more like leading an active life and have find you have a healthier body!

Here's to your health!

Balance is the Key

Do you become out of breath just getting up from your chair to turn off the television or bending over to tie your shoe laces? Was the last time you took a walk on your wedding day when you came down the aisle? Do you always take the easy way out instead of the way that is good for you? You need to begin to exercise.

Are you always at the gym working out and never finding time for anything else? Is your family pleading with you to have sometime with you? Any yes answer to the above questions and you need to rethink your priorities in life. What can you do for a change in lifestyle that will allow you some time for your family relations and a little rest and relaxation? Rethink your time spent with exercise and begin to live a little outside that box.

Okay, let's begin to exercise for life but at the same time let's not over do it. There are people who never do anything about exercise and their lives shows it. Other people have made exercise their life and have become obsessed with it but we want to find a balance between the two. We want to be people who simply lead an active life.

Balance is the key. We don't want a sedative life nor do we want a life that exhausts us. We do want to participate in a lifestyle that keeps us active and healthy. Choose to exercise a little each day in a way that works for you. It will bring a healthy glow to your entire countenance when you do.

Here's to your health!

Use It or Lose It

That's what my doctor basically said to me one day in his office. What did I do? Start walking. It use to be that people labored with great strenuous work but now we have all the modern conveniences that make for an easy life... we go to the market to purchase our food instead of gardening, we have riding lawn mowers and at that we even hire someone to ride it for us, we go everywhere by automobile or plane, there are now automatic washing machines and dryers instead of hanging out our clothes on the line, and many of us are sitting behind a computer that no one thought much about 25 or 50 years ago! Can you see where I'm going with this? We need to exercise today in a new way. Gyms are good; DVD's and all the latest machinery for our homes are good. Walking is good. Even a simple ball can help us get our exercise! Begin to think of ways you can get more exercise in life. We need to exercise because we need to be using our body or our body will lose it!

Exercise for Life

Exercise gives life and it is something we do for life. You don't have to go to the gym twice a day or sit in front of a video or DVD for an hour-and-a-half each morning, but you do have to do something! Make it something you enjoy or something you learn to enjoy.

You can begin by just walking. Walking for 20-30 minutes daily would be a great start! Take the dog or the cat with you! They probably need the exercise, too! Take your spouse and make it an enjoyable walk together around the block three times or farther as your body gets use to it. Walk at a good pace but you don't have to run. Do you like music? How about a good sermon? Take your MP3 and get going! The fresh outdoors is good for you, too!

Maybe you have always wanted to join the gym. So do it. Or get out the DVD and start exercising. Your life depends on it. I found that starting with just five or ten sit ups each morning for a week and then adding another five or ten the next week and so on got me to where I was doing 100 sit-up each morning and enjoying it! Surprised? I was, but it worked and I felt alive for doing them - and was healthier for it!

Exercise... here's to your health!

Your Miraculous Self-Healing Body

Your body will heal itself. It was created to do so. All that is within you has been designed by the Creator to do the miraculous before your eyes. Our body was designed to keep us in good health. We are abusing our bodies today. We need to stop it and give our bodies the right atmosphere so-to-speak to do what it does. We need to stop our constant battle against what it's doing for us. By our poor habits and miserable addictions we are causing the body to work harder than is needed and allowing it to burn out quicker than intended. Instead of overworking and taxing the body with unnecessary laboring, why not assist the body and help it produce health in you! How? By eliminating those things that are killing us - like wrong foods, not drinking enough water, and lack of exercise!

Here it comes... exercise... and it's not a four letter word just a dreaded one! But it is for your health we bring it up! So get ready for our topic for the next few days... and exercise!

Take the Serious Test

Here are a series of serious questions. Circle one answer for each question.

Am I serious about this? Yes No

Am I serious about this? Yes No

Am I serious about this? Yes No

Am I serious about this? Yes No

Well, are you, serious about this yet? Yes No

Let's get serious. The time is now.

Here's to your health!

Let Go and Take Hold

In recovery we learn to let go of one thing and grab hold of a new thing. It is said as simple as, "Let go of your caffeine fix, sodas or coffee and grab hold of drinking more water!" Or it could be said as simple as, "Let go of that nicotine cigarette and grab hold of an apple or banana!" Or like my husband, every time he wanted a cigarette, he would stop and jump rope! I on the other hand used lifesavor candies as my rescue but remember they are loaded with sugar and could become just another addiction!

It is time to think about the very seriousness of your body and the life you want verses what you've been getting. It's important that you get very serious about changing your diet and lifestyle. Stop playing around with your life. Get serious and commit to a change that is for your best health!

Here's to your best 4 health because it's your best 4 health we have in mind!