Mood & Food Managment

We must learn to recognize the difference between our true hunger and our cravings for unhealthy foods. Sometimes our hunger is simply mental and not a physical need. I suggest that over some time you take and write down what you eat on a daily basis. Also write when you eat, how you feel when you eat (before and after - even during), and see if there is a pattern to your unhealthy eating habits. Knowing what triggers your eating will help you to deal with any problems.

Start looking elsewhere for comfort than turning to foods! Instead you can find comfort in a call to a good friend or supportive family member, read a good book or the Good Book, and pray! In creating these new habits you will find better comfort and soon find them as a way of life - a healthy life!

Begin this change in lifestyle by not keeping any unhealthy foods around - not at home or at the office or in your car! Nothing taste as good as good health will feel!

Tomorrow we'll look at some foods that are stress aggravators and others that help alleviate stress.

Here's to your health!

Stop Stewing

"Controlling your food intake is just one of the many means to calm your nerves. Here are six simple ways to keep the jitters at bay:

1. Create Order: Keep your home - and your mind - as uncluttered as possible.
2. Just Say NO: Politely but firmly decline requests for your time or effort that aren't in alignment with your priorities.
3. Work it Out: Regular exercise offers a host of health benefits, one of which is to help pump up the production of endorphins, your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters.
4. Draw Social Security: Maintain the healthy relationships in your life to help you navigate the tough times and fully enjoy the good.
5. Split Your Sides: Laughter reduces the level of stress hormones (such as cortisol and epinephrine) and humor in general can make stressful situations less threatening and more positive.
6. Think Positive: Remember, your thoughts become your actions, so choose a positive thought pattern."

Note: Today's information was taken from the September/October 2009 issue of Clean Eating, Stop Stewing, page 79.

Keep Your Composure

When we overuse our bodies and subject them to unending stress what can we do? When we've stressed our body and mind completely beyond what it can handle what is the answer? Problems. We need to learn to put our priorities into perspective and learn what's important to us and then learn an anointed word, "no." Often times we say "yes" to our boss, our friends, the children and our spouse when we know it's going to overload us. So why not be honest and say "no" with an explanation of when it can be done or why it doesn't need to be done. Even our boss should understand when they know there are only so many hours in a day.

Like I've said as we've talked about stress, it's unavoidable at times. What we must learn is how to handle it, especially when it's out of control. The consequences can take a toll on our body with sickness, disease, depression or other side affects that we really don't want.

When you are ready to explode, keep your composure and release it by breathing deeply, counting to ten (or one hundred!) or talk to the Shepherd. All will help. They give you time to think first before acting out your stress and frustration which usually causes the problem. When talking to the Shepherd you will learn His voice and when you hear it you will know what to do.

From Rev. George Malkmus, "Stress is a very real threat to our physical and emotional health. It is perhaps one of the greatest challenges in mastering oneself -- to balance that eternal tension between the ambitions of the mind with the limitations of the body." We must learn to relieve ourselves of stress and get clear peace we need as well as having the rest we need.

Here's to your health!

Let's Talk Stress

Stress is something we all have at times or most times in our lives. What is important is how we handle the choices that bring stress. Yes, we choose. Those "things" that happen in life allow us to choose a positive or negative response. Stress is simply the response to those "things" that are happening to us in life. You see it's not so much what's happening as it is how you respond or handle the situation or circumstance. We can't control all the stress in life, but we can control how we react to it. Our choice will either weaken or strengthen our body.

A negative response through our actions and/or words or both will bring the greatest detriment to the body. When we are continually responding with a negative we will find that it can bring upon us sickness and disease and even cause premature death to us. On the other hand, when we choose to respond with a positive action and words we find that life isn't so bad to us after all and this can strengthen our body. In coping with day-to-day stress, especially the negative, we must find an outlet or source for our inner peace. This is where we can then turn for that positive response to our situation or circumstance. But remember, too, that even positive stress takes a toll on our body and we need to release it in a positive way. An example would be walking into a the office expecting to get to work early with the quiet and everyone's already there hiding in the dark popping out with "Surprise!" That not being what you expected may be a positive but also has to have a place of release and peace.

There is a Source for both! Hallelujah! We go back to our biblical foundation for this. Our Source as a Christian is found in Jesus. His peace passes all understanding and we need to call on His name when we need to release our stress.

Here's to your health!

Emotional Health

It is said for a person to be in good emotional health they need to be in control of their thoughts, feeling, and behaviors having positive results in life. It is also said that when the physical body is not nourished properly, it often affects our emotional and psychological health. We don't usually think of our food having anything to do with our emotional imbalance but it does. Could it be that we need to feed our body the right food - living foods - for it to function properly? Know this, that when we provide the body with high-quality fuel we help assure proper function of our body. An unhealthy body is the home of an unhealthy mind, but as you detoxify your body, freeing it of the toxins and other bad "stuff", you will also free your mind up and have a clear head. So, today remember this, that your brain is affected by a bad diet! That's right so eat healthy today - make healthy choices to keep your body in balance!

Here's to you health!

No Greater Health than God's Way

These are the 7 Steps to Inner and Outer Beauty by Stormie Omartian in her book Greater Health God's Way:

Peaceful Living
Pure Food
Proper Exercise
Plenty of Water
Prayer and Fasting
Fresh Air and Sunshine
Perfect Rest

This book will help you develop the structure you need to become healthy - mentally, physically, and spiritually. Her book is a "must read" as it is powerfully packed with information teaching healthy living from a biblical perspective - it's your best 4 health!

Ensure Sound Sleep

The following steps to ensure sound sleep have been taken from Greater Health God's Way, 7 Steps to Inner and Outer Beauty, by Stormie Omartian, Chapter Seven, Step Seven: Perfect Rest:

1. Go to bed early.
2. Take mini-breaks during the day and rest totally for ten minutes.
3. Take frequent "breathers." (Deep breathing exercises)
4. Increase your exercising.
5. Get plenty of fresh air and sunlight.
6. Eat food the way God made it.
7. Take a warm bath to relax.
8. Drink herb teas. (Do not drink stimulants)
9. Have a body massage or foot rub.
10. Fast and pray
11. Take short naps.
12. Keep you sleeping room dark and quiet.
13. Buy a good mattress.
14. See that you have good ventilation.
15. Live in peace.
16. Allow a half an hour to unwind.
17. Have a nighttime ritual.
18. Remember the prayer closet (if you do wake up in the night).
19. Check all of the 7 steps to greater health regularly (these will be listed tomorrow).
20. Don't wear restrictive clothing.
21. Under no circumstances drink alcohol, coffee, tea, or soft drinks and then take tranquilizers or sleeping pills.

Here's to your health!