Fitness for HIS Witness™ Nuggets
Godly fitness
for Spirit, Soul and Body
Home PraiseMoves
(The Christian ALTERNATIVE to Yoga) BIO
PowerMoves Kids Program (for schools)
Health Nutrition Weight Loss Children Exercise Spiritual Fitness
Weight Loss/Weight
Management (from BASIC Steps
to Godly Fitness, by Laurette Willis – Harvest House Publishers)
1. No More Sumo Girl or Sumo Boy!
Have you
ever skipped breakfast? I’m sure a lot of us have. While that happens from
time-to-time, we shouldn’t make it a habit. Why? Well, did you know that
skipping breakfast is one of the secrets trainers use to develop Sumo
wrestlers? Yep, those huge wrestlers with the big tummies always skip
breakfast. They eat large meals several hours later, then go to sleep. The
metabolism remains low, the body holds on to fat and that’s one of the ways
they get those big tummies. Hey, before I started eating breakfast every day, I
was turning into Sumo girl!
If you want
to lose fat and be fit, you’ve got to fuel the furnace – eat a healthy low-fat,
breakfast every day – in fact, eat three meals-a-day with 2-3 healthy snacks in
between – you’ll feel better, have more energy and no more Sumo girl or Sumo
boy!
Don’t like
breakfast? Ask the Lord to help you. Decide you’re going to live healthier and
be a fit witness for Him. Remember Philippians 4:13 says that you can do all
things through Christ who strengthens you.
2. God’s Heavenly Weigh—Garnish Your
Plate with Praise
Many of us
thank the Lord for our meal before we
start eating, but have you ever thought of garnishing your plate with praise?
When I was
looking for a way to start eating healthier, the Lord directed me to Isaiah
55:2, “Listen carefully to Me and eat what is good,
and let your soul be satisfied with abundance.”
Do you see the three parts of that
scripture?
1.
Listen carefully to Me
2.
Eat what is good, and
3.
Let your soul be satisfied with abundance
While we
understand that spiritually, I believe we can also look at it for our physical
health. #1 Listen to the Lord and His inner guidance in your heart. #2 Eat the foods you know are good for you and in the proper
amount. And #3 – when you’ve eaten the proper amount,
push the plate away and start praising the Lord for His goodness. If you’re
with others, tell them something wonderful the Lord has done for you. You’ll be
amazed at how quickly you feel full!
Remember
Isaiah 55:2 - “Listen carefully to Me and eat what is
good, and let your soul be satisfied with abundance.”
3. Accountability
– Write it Down!
What did you
eat for dinner last night? How about for breakfast or lunch? Do you remember
any snacks you had? I was amazed when I first began writing down what I ate
every day. Those little nibbles here and there were putting on pounds here and
there – and everywhere!
Then I began
writing down a food plan the night before and committing it to the Lord during
prayer time the next morning. I began holding myself accountable for what I ate
– and the Holy Spirit helped keep me honest about it, too! You may want to ask
a friend join you, and hold each other accountable as well.
Write down
what you’ll have for 3 meals plus 2 healthy snacks – if you want, add the
exercise you plan to do, and the amount of water you’ll drink that day, then
commit it to the Lord.
At the end
of the day, look over your food plan – how’d you do? Write down your feelings
and prayer requests, and ask the Lord to guide you.
If it’s true
that “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” – you can win by planning ahead!
4. Tummy
Curfew
One of the
most effective tools to aid weight loss and improve sleep is what I call “Tummy
Curfew” - stop eating three hours before bedtime. If your body is still
digesting food while you sleep, you’re not getting the rest you need and you
probably won’t burn off those calories you ate, so guess where they go? The Fat
Fairy makes it all go away? Uh, no. How about straight
to your tummy, hips and thighs?
If you’re
like me, you may have done well during the day but heard the refrigerator
calling your name at night. Here’s where having a plan helps. Decide to quit
eating at a certain time. Write it down, hold it up to the Lord and ask Him to
help you.
Later, if
the refrigerator starts calling your name, tell it to shut up and get behind
you – drink some water, get up and get moving – write a letter, take a walk,
clean out a dresser drawer and shout out loud “The Lord is my Shepherd I shall
not want!”
Tummy curfew – for more rest and less weight.
5. Making Good Foods Convenient
Which is
the healthier choice – pre-packaged convenience foods or making fresh food more
convenient? If you make healthier choices convenient, you and your family will
be less likely to opt for poor quality, highly processed foods when blood sugar
is low and you’re not thinking as clearly.
I learned
a long time ago the wisdom of four little letters H-A-L-T which form one big
word HALT! “HALT” means we’re not to allow ourselves to become too Hungry,
Angry, Lonely or Tired.
If we
become too hungry or stressed, we’re
apt to eat too much of the wrong foods, so having fresh fruit, unbuttered
popcorn, fresh veggies, almonds and other good foods handy will help you eat
for fitness, not fullness.
Another
idea when stressed is to HALT and take a 1 Peter 5:7 break: Cast all your care
on the Lord because He cares for you. Caring for you is God’s job – so cast the
whole of your care on Him.
6.
Planting Seeds of Discipline
Galatians
6:7 says that whatever a man sows – or plants – that he will also reap – or
harvest. What kind of seeds have you
been planting lately?
In the
area of habits, I sowed a lot of bad seeds to my flesh – a lot of bad food
choices and inactivity – and I reaped a lot of corruption there, just like the
Bible says.
But then I
learned I could sow little seeds of discipline, little positive choices here
and there – and commit them unto the Lord. Galatians 6:8 says that whatever we
sow to the Spirit reaps everlasting life – life to the good seeds sown.
Bit by
bit, my desires began to change – those good seeds began to grow. I started
wanting water instead of soda pop – I wanted
to take a walk instead of a nap.
Plant some
seeds of discipline unto the Lord today and watch them grow into good habits
that become a part of who you really are – in Him. You can do ALL things
through Christ who strengthens you!
7. FAD –
Fat Adding Demon Diets!!!
Over the
years we’ve seen countless diet books and fads, yet the obesity crisis has
continued to escalate.
When it
comes to fad diets, I’ve decided f-a-d stands for “Fat-Adding Demon.” Here’s
why: God designed muscle not only to give the body mobility and strength, but
also to burn fat. Muscle weighs more than fat, and muscle is often destroyed on
fad diets. While it might look good on the scale, less muscle = less fat
burned.
That means
you’ll probably gain weight back quickly when you’re off the diet — and the
weight gained back is fat, not muscle. By continually jumping on and off diets,
a person’s body can change drastically, losing muscle and gaining more
fat—sounds like a Fat-Adding Demon to me!
So, instead
of the fad diet, follow a sensible low-fat, low sugar food plan and commit it
to the Lord every day. Let Him direct your steps to the healthy weight for you.
8. Commit
Your Way unto the Lord
Psalm 37:5 says, “Commit your way unto the Lord, trust also in
Him and He shall bring it to pass.” Can we do that in the area of health and
fitness, too? Certainly. After all, the Lord made your
amazing body – He knows how best to care for it. Let’s present our body to the
Lord today like the apostle Paul said in Romans 12:1.
I invite you to say this with me, “Father God, I present my body
to you today, a living sacrifice – I present my eyes and ears to behold those
things You would have me see and
hear; I present my mouth and tongue to speak the truth in love; my hands, my
feet, my appetites, dreams and desires to You, Lord so I may do Your will Your
way. Help me to take good care of myself and my family today. I trust You to lead and guide me, in Jesus’ name – amen.”
Commit your way unto
the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass!
9. Are
you an emotional eater?
Are you an emotional eater? What do I mean by that? Well, an
emotional eater eats for reasons other than hunger or nutrition. I was one of
them – for over 30 years. As a little girl I began using food to stuff down
emotion – the anger and fears I couldn’t deal with as a child.
After I turned my life over to Jesus Christ, I still had a
problem with compulsive overeating. “Lord, help me,” I cried. He did. He led me
to a group of caring people who were “in recovery” – following a 12-step
program that dealt with the reasons why I overate.
Now there are wonderful Christian
12-step programs. For me, it was helpful being in the company of others who
were recovering from a similar problem, and to whom I was accountable.
Committing my food plan and my life to the Lord on a daily basis ensured that
He would direct and order my life – every step of the way.