“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.”  Buddha

Whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, you must do all for the glory of God.  (1 Cor. 10:31; NLT)

You never appreciate how valuable your health and wellness really is until it starts to erode — or disappear.  Here’s a quick list of tips that can keep you out of your doctor’s office and out of your local pharmacy as well.

1. Eat several meals a day — Heresy!  I’m trying to shed a few pounds.  Well, one of the secrets to losing fat is to eat several times a day.  Snacks, healthy snacks that is, help keep your blood sugar levels stable, and reduce the desire to overeat when you do sit down to a full meal.  And no, healthy snacks don’t include candy bars and donuts.
2. Watch those liquid calories — I’m not advocating calorie counting, but rather, avoiding useless calories.  You can pretty easily consume 1,000 liquid calories a day if you remain unaware.  Watch out for those double mocha lattes.  Water is always your best choice — which leads me to the next tip.
3. Drink lots of water every day — What’s lots?  We recommend a half-ounce of water for every pound of body weight (ounces = body weight ÷ 2).  Yes, that’s a lot of water for many of us.  But you don’t have to immediately start drinking that amount.  Assess where you are now and set a goal to drink a little more each day until you get to where you ought to be.  You’ll be amazed how much better you will feel.  And by the way, drinking an 8-oz. glass of water before each meal will help you eat a lot less too.
4. Exercise three to five times a week — It doesn’t have to be a lot, walking will do.  Just do it.  An accountability partner or exercise buddy helps immensely with this discipline.  Please understand that exercise is not optional to wellness.  Again, assess where you are and do a little more each day until you are where you ought to be.  The penalty for non-compliance is not pretty.
5. Eat a big breakfast — “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and supper like a pauper.”  Unfortunately, our culture has taught us just the opposite.  Following tip #1 above will make this much easier.  A big meal  just before retiring is never a good thing to do.
6. Toss your scales — The issue is never pounds, it’s always fat.  Scales don’t measure fat, at least not directly.  Your goals should always be focused on how your clothes fit and feel.  Scales have a tendency to divert your attention away from the important and also cause discouragement and despair.

So that’s it.  Six quick tips to heath and wellness.  None of them hard; none of them expensive — unless you choose to not do them.  Then the price cannot be calculated.

Prayer Power
Father, help us to see and recognize the long-term cost of the way we live.  Grant us the discipline to do what we can before it’s too late.

Link of the Day
What does the Bible say about health?

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