We all have a journey. It can be a health journey, it could be a boating journey, or a hiking journey. It can be a journey in your profession, fitness, or spiritual walk. Whatever the case may be, everyone is on a journey of some sort. I found great relevance in my journey with this photo in my health and fitness as well as my spiritual walk with the Lord, and maybe you can relate to this as well.
In our fitness journey, every day is a battle, a battle of what to eat, a battle of what NOT to eat, and a battle of wondering what type of physical activity to do to get us moving in the right direction. There is so much out there that “promise” weight loss, but what is the best thing to do? Well, my suggestion is do some research first. If it’s a diet, my advice is to stay clear because if it’s a diet, you’re eliminating some important nutrients that your body needs, and once that diet is “over,” then the pounds and cravings come right back in full force. You’ve heard, “everything in moderation,” and that may not be the best thing for some either. But here is what I help teach people in a nutshell: Eat LOTS of veggies, fruits, whole grains like whole wheat Ezekiel bread, brown rice, whole wheat tortillas, and focus on lean proteins like grilled meats, beans, quinoa, legumes, etc. Once you’ve got the eating down, that’s the hardest part. The easy part is finding a fitness activity that you enjoy doing, not something that you dread doing every day. Once you’ve nailed both the nutrition and the fitness, then you’re on your way to a new, healthier YOU!
But let’s back up a little bit here with the fitness and nutrition…we’ve got to be in the right mindset when we’re ready for that change in lifestyle, right? Like, we’ve gotta be REALLY ready to start making changes in our life. We start off as infants in the health and fitness realm in a sense that we’re unsure about where and how to start. So we begin experimenting with different fitness activities like running, walking, biking, going to the gym, home workouts, or cross-fit. Then we try and cut out certain foods like sweet stuff, fast food/convenience food, going out to dinners, excessive snacking, and the like. So let’s say you’ve been active for about a month, you’ve changed some of your eating habits, and you’re finally starting to see results after that month of “hard work.” YAY, time to celebrate!! Right?! Hmmmmm, well….maybe, or maybe not….but let’s say you celebrated, went out to a nice dinner, had a nice drink with dinner, and even finished it off with a killer dessert. Awesome! Now time to get back at it tomorrow…so tomorrow comes and you’re thinking, well, one more day of celebration won’t hurt…and another day comes, and another, and yet another until you’ve gained all the weight back from the month prior. Great…now you’re right back where you started, in fact, even worse than when you started. Do you give up? Or do you try again, but this time try a different route? Now time to analyze…what failed? Why didn’t this work? What can I try this time around that I didn’t try last time? This becomes a vicious cycle.
Now we come to the spiritual aspect of this. We are all infants as well when we’re new in the faith, uncertain how to begin this new life in Christ. You still have these bad habits and sins that you’re trying to stop. What I love is that once we become a new creation, we’ve started this journey, and we are going to fail, sin, and fall again. But our Lord is so gracious and loving that He picks us up again, and again, and again. AMEN!? So let’s say you have a bad habit or sin of saying curse words. Yup, habits are hard to break, but they are breakable, and they’re breakable by recognizing that you’re doing them. (Same goes with fitness and eating right, if you fail, you recognize the fault and try again; you don’t give up.) What helps is spending more time in the Word, brushing up on the scriptures, praying, spending time with other like-minded individuals, and having fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ. They will help lift you up. The more time spent with God, the more you become like Him, the more your old habits start to disappear, and the more you mirror the Lord. How awesome is that?!
So here’s the bottom line: The world is a very deceiving place to live in unfortunately. We need to use the wisdom that God gave us to determine which way to go in life, whether in fitness and health or in our walk with God. It takes great strength to go the right direction and succeed rather than submit and go with the way the world goes. That would be the easy way out, right…however, there are severe consequences that route. Let’s avoid that road. Instead, let’s work hard, build up our relationship with God, choose the right foods, work out, and bear those fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and SELF CONTROL (Galatians 5:22). See that? Self control. That’s what we gotta work on. When we have our self control under control, then everything else is a piece of cake. 🙂 (But don’t eat that cake!)
