Let’s talk about you and your future.
You have a calling, a very unique one, that was designed by God for you before you were even born.
We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10
· A calling that takes your uniqueness (abilities and wiring and personality) and links it with the mission of God.
· You have something to do in this world and contribute to this world that only you can do.
But…you may not discover it or move fully into it if a few conditions are not met…
What will keep you from fully realizing your calling:
1. Not giving your life to Jesus (surrendering – more on this later)
2. Living selfishly (only thinking of yourself, your comfort)
3. Not taking care of yourself (your body, mind, spirit)
a. Letting yourself go
b. Allowing your physical fitness to diminish
Friends the struggle is real.
· It’s a struggle, of course, for those with disabilities and physical limitations. In many cases a struggle for which only God can provide.
· But it’s a struggle for all of us in this world of high temptation to care for our bodies.
o And the struggle is not just to be trim and look good but to holistically well enough to fulfill your calling in this world.
Our physical bodies are a gift from God that He intends us to take care of so we can live life to the fullest and bring our best to his mission. Keith Carlson
That’s what this series is about. For you to be the healthiest version of you…ultimately to fulfill your calling and make a bigger Kingdom impact.
The big idea of this series aims to help you be a healthier you:
· The next 3 weeks we turn inward:
o Joy, and peace, and minds
· Last week Keith focused on physical fitness.
o He challenged together to run, walk, bike, triathlon but at least to do SOMETHING regular with our bodies:
§ Most fitness people encourage us to do 45 min of moderate work out min 5X week.
And today I want to focus on that aspect of life that is simultaneously the most pleasure inducing AND guilt inducing topic of our lives: Food! The stuff we eat!
I have never have I read a quote that more epitomizes my feeling about food than this:
My hobbies include eating and also thinking about the next time I will be eating.
Yes, I am one who lives to eat. I do not simply eat to live. And this is a problem…or at least a challenge if I want to be the healthiest version of me.
You’re probably aware of the ongoing debate between nutritionists and fitness experts:
As a rule of thumb, weight loss is generally 75 percent diet and 25 percent exercise. It’s much easier to cut calories than to burn them off. Shawn M. Talbott, PhD, nutritional biochemist
Yes, you can lose weight with diet alone, but exercise is an important component. Without it, only a portion of your weight loss is from fat. And, of course, beyond burning fat, people shouldn’t forget that exercise can have other impressive health perks, like improving the quality of your sleep, lowering your cholesterol and reducing your stress level. Michele Olson, PhD, Exercise Science, Auburn University
We’ll allow Dr. Talbott to have the last word on the subject: While diet and exercise are both important for long-term weight loss, remember this: “You can’t out-exercise a bad diet.” Dr. Shawn Talbott.
So…if you want to be the healthiest version of you, you must manage your diet…you must modify your eating.
How to eat better:
My suggestion:
1. Find a sensible food plan and commit to it for a designated period.
Ultimately, in the long run, you are going to need to adapt to a sustainable permanent healthier diet
· But to kick start your new life please choose a good food strategy
a. I’ve tried Whole 30
b. I’ve done Beach bodies
c. I’ve done South Beach
d. Back in the day I tried low fat
e. We’re recommending the Daniel Plan
Here’s why I endorse the Daniel Plan:
The Daniel Plan:
Real, whole food with real ingredients that you make yourself.
Food that doesn’t come from a factory – the shortest distance from field to fork.
Typical plate : 50% non-starchy veggies
25% animal or vegetable proteins
25% healthy starch or whole grains
Long term: shift to Veggies as main and meat as a side…and perhaps meat as condiment
Long term: the curtailment of sugar
Long term: moderation in amount of food
(but) Long term: allow yourself joy eating in moderation as an occasional form of celebration
How to eat better:
1. Find a sensible food plan and commit to it for a designated period.
2. Learn how to make good-for-you-food taste good.
a. Recent Bon A Petit magazine showed diet food over the years
i. Not boiled, steamed, blanched, Yuck!
Good-for-you-food can indeed be made in such a way as to be really tasty!
· For instance, there’s no getting around the fact that we must increase our vegetable intake. More salads, more veggies as main course.
o In the app I’ve included one of the secret ingredients to eating more salad: homemade salad dressings.
o And, how to turn a salad into a meal.
o I’ll add this thought – if you want to make vegetables delicious roast don’t microwave
§ Even Brussel sprouts!
How to eat better:
1. Find a sensible food plan and commit to it for a designated period.
2. Learn how to make good-for-you-food taste good.
3. Work on your soul.
By soul I am referring to the inner you…your heart…your inner person…the source of your emotions.
· The healthier your soul becomes the better you will eat.
Feelings/emotions have a huge impact on amount and type of food you eat: loneliness, anger, fear, anxiety, depression…
Can cause us to NOT eat
Can cause us to OVER eat
Can cause us to eat for comfort. And comfort food is normally not good for you.
Let’s take a quick survey Q – what is your go- to comfort food? Stand if…
· Pizza
· Pasta
· Burger and fries
· Salty crunchy – chips, etc
· Ice cream
· Chocolate
Atlantic magazine 2014: Our moods and our foods: The messy relationship between how we feel and what we eat.
· Published a studyoriginally release in theJournal of Consumer Psychology,which looked at food choice and mood - Meryl Gardner was the lead author
o No surprise - There seems to be a consistent connection between negative emotions and unhealthy foods.
· But, surprise - And big debate on whether even good moods affect eating patterns
o Some think there also is a link between good emotions and eating: points out the potential for increased consumption when we’re feeling good. We eat to celebrate!
o Other research says just the opposite—that we’re more likely to avoid the sugar/carb rush when happy.
This debate led them to a conclusion that is eye-opening: “It seems entirely possible that all eating is, in fact, emotional eating.” Journal of Consumer Psychology
So if we want to be the healthiest version of ourselves then we must eat better and if we are going to eat better then we have to pay attention to our soul…our hearts…our psyche…our feelings.
The bible seems to have been way ahead of current researchers in the link between feelings and food intake:
Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. James 1:14-15
· Key – “Desires” = passionate feelings
For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. Mark 7:21-22
· Doesn’t add food binges but it could! …from “within a person’s heart”
The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? Jeremiah 17:9
· Our feelings deceive us … take us to bad places –
· The healthier your soul becomes the better you will eat.
When it comes to our eating patterns many of us probably feel like Paul who wrote these two eye opening comments: First about himself
I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. Romans 7:15
How do we solve this emotional dilemma? We need an extreme makeover! Summarized in this key verse of scripture:
Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
2 Corinthians 5:17
To become the healthiest version of you we have to go deeper than fitness and deeper than diet we have to go down into our souls.
· To unload your old life and create a new one
· To retool your heart
· To reshape your soul
Here’s how you do that:
Step 1 – Admit your life has to change and repent of your choices to this point
Ø Go ahead…tell God that right now
Ø Repent of your sin and rebellion
Step 2 – Surrender your life to Jesus Christ.
Ø Give him your heart, your soul, - welcome his taking over of all of you
Step 3 – Give Him thanks!
Ø You were forgiven and healed
Ø You became a child of God
Ø The holy spirit just entered into you
Ø Your future is secure
Step 4 – Be baptized
Ø Act out your surrender to Jesus
Ø Act out your changed life.
NOW you can get on with becoming a better you!
Once you surrender your life to Jesus…THEN , Yes, you can work on your fitness
Once you surrender your life to Jesus…THEN Yes, change your eating patterns
Once you surrender your life to Jesus…THEN you can become the healthiest version of you!