Your pursuit of God must be the priority, and health & fitness must become a lifestyle. Then …
1) Embrace Simplicity: Consume God-given food (primarily living plants), prioritize protein, and remove addictive strongholds. View food as energy and repair. ⇨ Gen. 1:29; Ezek. 47:12
- > Avoid the diet debates and focus on healthy, God-given plant food that gives life to the body. The simpler the plan, the higher the success rate.
2) Embrace Moderation: Consume lower calorie, nutrient dense food in moderation. Our problem is that we simply eat too much. For instance, try low-calorie days followed by a higher-calorie day to offset metabolic slowdown. ⇨ Prov. 25:16; 1 Cor. 6:12
- > 80% of the battle is the amount of food (not exercise). Avoid snacking and limit food intake to an 8-hour window. Many have experienced tremendous results simply by minimizing their eating window. Going to bed on an empty stomach has many health benefits as well (e.g, no food after 4 pm).
3) Embrace the Fasted Lifestyle (Lk. 5:35). Try a 24-hour fast once a week, or alternate-day fasting. And consider an extended fast twice a year. (Be careful when re-feeding. If you consume too much too quickly after fasting, your body will store it.) ⇨ Matt. 6:16
- > Fasting is a tool, not a cure-all. If you return to old habits, you will regain weight and fuel disease. Pray and choose the best type of fast that works for you. Then simply step out in faith.
4) Embrace Movement: You must move and exercise consistently. Work up to 10,000 steps a day and add strength training to maintain muscle strength (especially as we age). ⇨ 1 Tim 4:8
- > View running errands as an opportunity to take more steps. Turn off social media and go for walks. Focus on simple strength training exercises at home, such as air squats and push-ups on your knees.
5) Embrace Sleep: Avoid caffeine after 10 am and don’t drink alcohol. Turn off electronics an hour before bed, and go to bed earlier. Avoid using an alarm clock when possible. ⇨ Ps. 4:8; Ps. 127:2
- > Deep sleep is where healing and recovery take place — it’s when the body resets. Caffeine, food, alcohol, and stress are the 4 big culprits that affect deep sleep.
6) Embrace Discipline: We either experience the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. Discipline is hard for all of us, but it’s critical for success: Begin by praying for strength and applying God’s Word. Watch videos and read books that fuel motivation and reprogram your thinking. See the attached 7-Why’s for added motivation. ⇨ 1 Cor. 9:27; 2 Cor. 10:5; Rom. 12:2
- > Although weight loss is about “energy IN — energy OUT,” it’s not a simple MATH formula. Many different dynamics are at play, including hormone regulation. You must be strategic, consistent, and disciplined.
7) Embrace Perseverance:Fall Forward and Get Back on Track. Don’t beat yourself up; learn from it and keep moving forward. Every goal reached has obstacles, pitfalls, and setbacks along the way. ⇨ Phil. 3:13
KEY:When you have diet, exercise, supplement, or biohacking questions, look at DESIGN to answer them.How did God design us? This will eliminate a lot of guesswork.
➡️ For more hope, encouragement, and motivation, download all my books on fasting & fitness for free atwcfav.org.
Staying Motivated: 7 Whys
What you put in the mouth (body) and the mind (soul) affects the spirit — and when you feed the spirit, it affects the body and the soul. I’m often asked to pray for panic attacks, angry outbursts, and anxiety. That can be done, and God honors prayer, but are we opening the door to these things by not halting highly addictive caffeine, sugar, opioid, or nicotine habits? Or are we renewing our mind by meditating on the Word and spending time in prayer? Why focus on health and fitness:
1) A HUGE RESET: We’re waiting on God, but could He be waiting on us?
2) Physical discipline builds spiritual discipline.
3) More consistent energy equals more productivity.
4) Lose weight and feel great.
5) Offset disease & increase overall health.
6) Be an example to others (childhood obesity is an epidemic).
7) Break addictions: Strongholds always pull us down.
Again, the physical affects the spiritual, and the spiritual affects the physical. Much of the healing that I have witnessed over the years was the result of renewed stewardship of the body. You can do this … it’s all about falling forward, staying motivated, and applying discipline.
Again, free downloads of my books at wcfav.org — many are also available on Amazon, Kindle, and Audible.
