Saturday, July 31, 2010

Health & Beauty - 7. Don't Skip

This was the 7th of 10 articles published in ConXion magazine's Health and Beauty Section in 2010.

“Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Tim 4:8).

While there are many and varied ways to stay fit and healthy, there is one I would advise against and is the 7th in our series of Health and Beauty tips – Don’t Skip.

To the embarrassment of my children, I do occasionally skip along when walking with them (though they have asked me not to do that at school anymore), and I would like to have my childhood ability to skip with a rope but have somehow lost the coordination to do so effectively. The caution in this tip is not about skipping, but about not skipping things that build you up.

While cutting down is the first logical thing to do when you have been overloading, cutting out meals isn’t the right way to go about it. Your metabolism needs a kick start in the morning to wake it up and breakfast is the perfect and natural way of doing that. Even if you don’t feel like eating, make a healthy smoothie or try some other cereals or fruit. Skipping other meals in the day may also be detrimental to your health if you are not careful.

Work out what you need (use a dietary calculator if you like) and do it well. Depending on your age, height, and activity level, you will require different amounts of calories to thrive. Too little and you may suffer from a weakened immune system or lack of energy. Too much and obviously your health and fitness suffers.

Don’t skip things that build you up. If you’re stressed out or overloaded, pray and think about cutting out things which have little value or aren’t beneficial to you or others. If you are starving for good activities, pray and consider volunteering at your church or in your community. Make sure what you fill your days with is promoting healthy growth.

If you do need to cut down, make sure you keep a good amount of things that build you up and are nutritious for your soul. Sometimes when people are stressed out they cut out church, bible study and women’s groups. Be careful, cutting out healthy things that build you up and keep you going isn’t usually the best option!

Plan your days to include food for your body and your soul that is the right type and the right amount for you at the moment. This may change as you increase in your physical and spiritual health, but do some research to find out what will be best for you and enjoy the feeling of being healthy!

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