Small steps to being more healthy (spiritually):
To daily feed my soul (with God's Presence and Word) before I feed my body (Job 23:12)
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.
To pray before I plan (Jeremiah 33:3)
'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'
To not stress, but trust/rest in the LORD (Proverbs 3:5-8)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.
8 This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.
To say what I mean and guard what God has called me to cultivate and keep. (Matthew 5:37)
37 Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
To take a Sabbath each week (Exodus 20:11, Isaiah 58:13-14)
11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Isaiah 58:13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD's holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
To not define my worth by doing but being (Mary vs. Martha idea from Luke 10:41)
41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
Reminding myself that God LOVES me and I don't have to work earn it...
Being present in the moment with my hubby and kids and to enjoy them to the max...
To do what I am called to do well and to not be distracted while I am doing it...
Small steps to being more healthy (physically):
Often I have been overwhelmed by all the information out there about what to eat or not eat...sometimes the scare tactics involved can make you feel guilty, scared, or as I said already, overwhelmed...so I decided that when I hear about unhealthy issues linked with foods, etc. I will try and make one small reasonable change. Over time we have made the following fairly simple and inexpensive changes to eat healthier:
-Buy block cheese instead of shredded (shredded cheese apparently has flour on it to keep it from sticking). We buy white cheese (either mont. jack or mozzarella) since I think it has less dyes etc..I don't think cheese is naturally orange.:)
-We buy milk that has not been given growth hormones
-We eat bread that feels heavy when you pick the loaf up and does not have many ingredients on the label (look for bread that does not have sugar as one of the first five ingredients...you'll be amazed at what you find when you read the bread labels...some are about as bad as eating white cake).
-100% juice (I have heard that "not from concentrate" is better for you) Meijer Apple Juice is not from concentrate and so is some of their orange juice.
-Organic veggies and fruit (when we can)
-Spinach lettuce for salads
-King Arthur's white whole wheat flour (thanks for the tip Jody)! We tried the straight up whole wheat but it was a bit much for us....we like the white whole wheat much better.
-Ground flax seed and apple sauce for 1/2 of the required fat (butter or oil) substitute when baking. We use butter or oil for the other half.
-Unsalted tortilla chips
-Unsalted almonds for snacking
-Homemade popcorn on the stove (thanks again Jody)...use a little bit of real butter, dash of seasoning salt, and dash of sugar for a delicious (unmicrowaved) treat
-Use your microwave less (thanks Laurie)...boil your frozen veggies and reheat leftovers on the stove (it really doesn't take that long)
-Make your own fruit popsicles with 100% juice
-Vanilla yogurt instead of all the other flavors...we add fresh blueberries- yum!
-If you have pop every once in awhile try and choose a clear or caffeine free pop.
-Unsweetened applesauce
-Healthier cereals (like the bread you will be amazed at all the junk that is in even the more seemingly healthy looking cereals- we use to eat Crispex, but look at that label- yuck!) One of our favorites now is Multi-grain Cheerios or plain oatmeal with some brown sugar and blueberries.
-Syrup that does not have high-fructose corn syrup (this is in SO much of our food, I like to buy things that say "No high fructose corn syrup"- except some of them have reg. corn syrup in them still- I think it is better if things have molasses instead)?
-We don't add salt to things usually (sometimes I will put a dash in when a baking recipe calls for it)- there is already so much salt in things we don't need to add anymore- try using pepper or a Mrs. Dash product.
Exercise:
-We have started exercising when Adam gets home from work...it is fun to do it together as a family and we don't eat as much afterwards.
-We like the Biggest Loser DVD's ("Boot Camp" and "Last Chance Workout) and Adam rides his stationary road bike trainer and I do the tread mill...we shoot for 4 times a week. We have much more energy, relieve stress, and sweat!
As I said early I have a long ways to go in so many areas, but these small steps over time have helped and are helping me to live healthier than I use to...and the point to all this is to be healhty so I can be used of God in whatever ways He has and be a better steward of this incredible gift of life. I would love to hear some of your ideas too!
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