Exercise and Eating for the Temple – Say “Yes” to God

   

You understand my friend, former procrastinators. “I exercise so I can eat chocolate.” She highlighted two major responsibilities for maintaining our temple-bodies, diet and exercise. 

There’s so much available guidance on how to eat healthy, I’ll just share some things that help me.  Figure out what helps you say “yes” to God in this area.

Why eat?  To fuel and nourish my body so I’ll have the strength to be God’s physical instrument.  Not for comfort when stressed.  (Oops.)

What I eat helps or handicaps my body.  Eat what equips me; avoid what hinders. I have to limit sugar.

When I eat affects me.  “Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper”  helps me end the day eating light.  Eating before seven pm helps too.

Where can make a difference.  Do I eat more when with others or alone?  Alone, I can down a carton of ice cream.

How I eat naturally is to please my taste buds. That leads to mouth eating – just to chew or taste.  I’m learning to think “fuel” and “portion control” instead of sitting beside a bag of chips and mindlessly reaching in over and over. 

Then comes exercise.  We zoom with a personal trainer 30 minutes a week and repeat the session another day. Online you can find numerous useful aids appropriate to where you are.  Seek knowledgeable help through a friend, community gym, pool, or class. My favorite is slow-motion strength training.  We don’t have to spend a lot of money – or any – to grow stronger through exercise. 

Three tremendous aids have boosted me long term:

First, the book, Younger Next Year by Crowley and Lodge.  It’s written for seniors but highly useful for anybody.  A doctor explains the fascinating ways exercise benefits us.  His retired patient shares his experience putting things into practice. This secular book sheds a lot of light on how God designed our bodies and the amazing ways exercise serves them.

Next, stretching in the morning wakes me up and limbers me up.  I can do mine while the oatmeal cooks. 

Finally, walking is my thing but I’m often limited by weather.  No excuse!  No delay! I have “Walk at Home” DVD’s from a $5 bin at Wal-Mart.  Online there’s more. https://walkathome.com.  Leslie Sansone offers a variety of walking sessions you do in front of your TV or computer.  Seriously, it’s easy but effective.  Do only what you can and progress gradually.  Or, choose to work up a good sweat. Just keep moving.

When will you check out “Walk at Home” ?