Be Healthy
“The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.”
—MARK TWAIN
Picture this: A young mother and talented business executive groggily reaches to turn off her alarm clock at 5:00 a.m. on a Monday morning. She groans at the thought of another long and busy day, but tells herself it takes two incomes to raise a family these days. After several minutes of wishing she could take the week off, she finally drags herself to the shower, applies part of her makeup, and puts on a stylish new pantsuit, which she bought to impress her clients and co-workers and paid for with a credit card that had an “over limit” fee the previous month.
She rouses her son and daughter, hoping they will get up without having to be called again. They don’t. In between making their lunches for school and gathering their scattered books and papers, she makes two more trips to their rooms, finally losing her temper as she barks: “Get out of that bed right this minute and get ready for school!” Her husband suggests she should be more patient with them.
By the time the children arrive in the kitchen, dressed for school, there’s no time for a healthy breakfast. “Just give them donuts,” advises her husband. “That’s what we eat.” She tells the children to help themselves to donuts and puts a jug of orange juice on the counter, hoping that will give them a little vitamin C.
She rushes to get them to school, finishing her makeup at stoplights, then screeching to a halt just as the bell rings. On the way to her office, she stops at the drive-through window at a local coffee shop and orders a large cup of coffee and a pastry she can eat while driving, because she didn’t have time to eat breakfast at home.
Already tired, she sits down at her desk and wonders where to begin dealing with the mountain of work before her. After all, she says to herself, everything is urgent. As her co-workers arrive, everyone who passes by her office asks, “How was your weekend?” She feels compelled to answer and to ask the same question in return. Her assistant, who is supposed to be a help and not a hindrance, shows up in tears. She had a terrible break-up with her boyfriend over the weekend. She’s preoccupied, unproductive, and wishing she were somewhere else.
Monday-morning phone calls, e-mails, and little “emergencies” interrupt the young executive’s attempts to do what desperately needs to be done that day. Her son forgot to ask her to sign his permission slip for a trip to the fire station, so she races to the school to do that. Returning to the office, she discovers that her boss needs a report by noon, but failed to mention it until now. Then her boss’s boss calls from a business trip and impatiently asks for information he had requested last week, information she meant to give him—and would have if something else hadn’t come up. Last week, she’d even asked her assistant to gather the files she needed and to remind her to get it done, but the assistant forgot because she had become concerned about her boyfriend.
She throws the information together and e-mails it to her boss’s boss. It’s not the quality of work she is capable of producing. She was too busy to do it right, but tells herself she’ll do better next time. Soon, she rushes out the door for a lunch meeting—the weekly downtown gathering of up-and-coming professionals. She doesn’t really have time to go and almost doesn’t, but then she remembers that she needs to network if she wants to climb the corporate ladder.
After lunch, an overwhelming amount of work still awaits her. She is about to begin working on a project that is due by the end of the day but is called into an “important” meeting where much is said and little is accomplished.
She planned to leave the office promptly at 5:00 p.m. to watch the last part of her daughter’s ballgame. But a co-worker wants to discuss an important new client, and before she knows it, 5:00 has come and gone. Racing to her daughter’s game, she calls her husband to make sure he is there. He isn’t, citing the fact that he scheduled a spur-of-the-moment business dinner because, “You said you were going to be there.”
When she arrives at the school, her son and daughter are waiting outside, the only two people in sight. She starts to apologize for missing the game, but realizes her apologies don’t mean much anymore. The children climb into the car without a word, and stare out the windows as they drive home.
“Mom, I’m hungry,” say both children. So she gets them fast-food meals—and dessert, because she wants to give them a little treat in an attempt to compensate for missing the game.
Once the children are in bed that night, she briefly turns on a news channel to find out what happened in the world that day. Crises everywhere, she observes, totally oblivious to the fact that her own life is a crisis of its own.
She takes her laptop to the kitchen table to catch up on the work she didn’t get done at her other office that day. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees bills that need paying, a birthday present that should have been sent to her brother last Thursday, and a note to return a call to her best friend, whom she hadn’t seen in weeks. I’ll deal with all that tomorrow, she promises herself.
Just before midnight, she stumbles into bed beside her snoring husband. Five o’clock the next morning seems to come quickly. So she groggily reaches to turn off her alarm clock, and repeats the whole routine all over again.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Can you relate to anything in the story about this stressed-out woman? Whether you are male or female, married or single, childless or with a house full of children, working outside the home or inside the home, I am sure you can understand the stress in this woman’s life. Your stress comes from different sources, but you can certainly “feel the pain” of having too much to do in too little time, being overcommitted, and feeling torn between desires, obligations, and responsibilities.
This woman lacks everything she needs to be able to enjoy her life. She doesn’t get enough rest; she is in debt; she does not eat healthily; she is overworked and under stress; she tries to do too much; she does not have a deep, supportive relationship with her spouse; she does not take pleasure in her children; she does not exercise; and she neglects important relationships.
How are you going to enjoy your life right now and have strength for the years to come if you are living every day at a high-stress level and if you are not physically healthy?
Now, let’s think about your life. How are you going to enjoy your life right now and have strength for the years to come if you are living every day at a high-stress level and if you are not physically healthy? Stress and enjoyment are often mutually exclusive, and I can assure you that you will have to reduce your stress and improve your health if you want to enjoy today and be ready to fully embrace tomorrow.
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
I believe one of the major reasons many people do not enjoy their lives is the simple fact that they do not feel strong, healthy, and vibrant. They are tired, sick, aching, or struggling with some other kind of physical affliction.
Many times in my meetings, someone has asked me to pray for physical healing. I do that as the Lord leads, but often I am aware that what people really need is to take personal responsibility for their health and well-being. Often, their physical problems can be solved by improving their health—eating better, exercising, drinking more water, getting enough sleep at night, or taking time for leisure, recreation, and relaxation.
Personally, I have worked hard for many years. As I grow older, I realize I cannot do everything I could do years ago. For example, I must be very disciplined about eating sweets because they affect my blood sugar, which causes me to feel tired and lethargic. I can eat them occasionally, but certainly not every day.
Eating late at night is another no-no for me. In fact, I have come to despise eating late at night because if I do, I do not sleep well or feel well the next morning. For that reason, I often say no to a get-together with friends if it will mean a late night. Other times, I sit with people while they eat and either just fellowship and eat nothing or have only a small amount of food for myself.
If you and I want to be healthy enough to enjoy our lives, we may not be able to do what everyone else does.
If you and I want to be healthy enough to enjoy our lives, we may not be able to do what everyone else does. There are certainly times when I would enjoy staying up late at night, into the wee hours of the next morning, watching movies or doing something else fun. But I have discovered that not keeping a regular bedtime makes me feel bad. It’s not even a matter of getting a certain number of hours of sleep; it’s about going to bed at the same time every night. For example, if I went to bed at two o’clock in the morning and slept for eight hours, I still would not feel right. I need to keep a regular bedtime, and perhaps doing that would help you too.
I have also learned that not feeling strong and healthy has a tremendous effect on many areas of my life, one of which is my ability to enjoy my daily life. It sends my “joy level” plummeting. Since I know these things, I am determined not to waste any more days not enjoying them. I want to enjoy my life, just as you want to enjoy yours. If I have to make some changes to feel better so I can enjoy myself more, then I’m willing to do so, because I believe joy is important. I encourage you to do the same and to make a priority of being healthy so you can enjoy the abundant life God wants you to have.
Make choices that help you feel energetic so you can thoroughly enjoy every moment you have left of your time here on earth.
Paul prayed that the Philippians would learn to choose and prize what was excellent and of real value, and that is my prayer for you (see Philippians 1:10). Make choices that help you feel energetic so you can thoroughly enjoy every moment you have left of your time here on earth.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
The first step toward improving your health is to realize how important it is. After all, you only have one physical body and it has to last a lifetime! More importantly, your body is a gift from God to you; it houses your spirit, which is where the Spirit of God dwells within you; and it is the vehicle that enables you to enjoy everything God has made and to do the things He asks you to do.
The apostle Paul wrote, “Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). Let me urge you to begin taking better care of your “temple” today. “How do I do that?” you wonder. I’m glad you asked. Here are four specific disciplines you can incorporate or improve in your life to get you started down the road to increased physical health and less stress. For more specific information and greater detail on this subject, I recommend my book Look Great, Feel Great.
Drink More Water
Do you know water comprises two-thirds of your body? That fact alone should encourage you to increase your water intake! Water is so crucial to physical health because the human body must have adequate fluid to function—fluid that surrounds our cells, fluid within our cells, fluid that facilitates waste elimination, fluid that takes energy to the brain and to our muscles, and fluid that helps our immune systems operate properly.
A person who weighs 140 pounds should get 70 ounces of water per day, while someone who weighs 180 should drink 90 ounces.
How much water do you need each day? One simple but proven formula says to take your weight and divide it in half, then drink that many ounces of water per day. A person who weighs 140 pounds should get 70 ounces of water per day, while someone who weighs 180 should drink 90 ounces. To make this easy I suggest getting a glass or a water bottle that holds a certain number of ounces, and filling it as many times as necessary to get the recommended amount of water your body needs each day.
Eat Healthily
Food is the fuel that helps your body go, so a balanced, nutritious diet is critical to good health. As a general rule, a variety of vibrant colors on your plate at mealtime is a good sign. It should mean you are eating fruits and vegetables, which give your body vitamins and antioxidants and cannot be overestimated for their value to your health. Eat them often!
Do your best to avoid refined carbohydrates (foods made with white flour, potatoes, sugars, or other sweeteners). Make sure the fat in your diet is unsaturated instead of saturated or trans-fat. The way to do this is to reduce your intake of red meat, dairy products, and processed foods prepared with hydrogenated oils, and to eat more fish, chicken or turkey, olive oil (extra-virgin), nuts, and avocados. Also, eat brown rice instead of white, and eat whole-grain or multi-grain breads instead of white breads. Finally, do not overeat by piling large portions of food on your plate. Take smaller portions, eat more slowly, and discipline yourself to stop eating before you have “overdone it.”
Exercise
In addition to building strength, increasing endurance, helping you lose weight, and contributing to good form and muscle tone, exercise is probably the best thing a person can do to reduce stress. Experts tell us simply walking about thirty minutes per day produces significant results in our bodies. Working out with weights is excellent, as is using a treadmill or other machines that give you a good cardio workout. There are so many ways to exercise—walking, running, swimming, biking, hiking, tennis, golf, team sports, and other activities—that most people should be able to find something to do and enjoy on a regular basis. The key to exercise is to do it regularly, at least three to four times per week, and to keep yourself challenged so you will continue to reap real benefits.
The key to exercise is to do it regularly, at least three to four times per week, and to keep yourself challenged so you will continue to reap real benefits.
Rest
No one was created to work or function at an intense pace all the time. Our bodies and minds need rest and relaxation. We need to take breaks; we need to have fun; we need to do so on a regular basis. We also need to get enough sleep and to be sure our sleep is high quality, not restless or interrupted.
While we sleep, our minds are “turned off,” but our bodies are busy performing important functions that refresh and refuel us for the next day. Sleeping at night is like taking your car to the shop for a tune-up. Like your car, your body will also function better when it gets proper maintenance. Sleep gives your brain an opportunity to unload stress; it enables your body to repair injury; and it allows your blood to deliver a fresh supply of energy to your muscles. Lack of sleep leads to poor coordination, reduced response time, and mistakes. On the other hand, a well-rested person is alert, focused, and able to think clearly. Sometimes, a problem that seems monumental when we are tired can be solved easily after a good night’s sleep.
Plenty of water, healthy eating, exercise, and adequate rest will combine to reduce your stress and improve your physical health, which will work wonders for your ability to enjoy your life today and be strong and healthy for your future.
In my life, I have felt bad and I have felt good, and I can tell you good is much better!