Simple Healthy Living Principles

An apple a day, right? Well that old adage may not be totally true, but simple healthy living is just that...healthy living made simple. Healthy living is critical for the Christian single woman. Health is defined as the condition of being sound in body, mind or spirit; or freedom from physical disease or pain. Therefore total health is inclusive of all three, being well in your mind, body and spirit.

It seems most people believe healthy living is difficult or at least not convenient. However, healthy living can be as difficult or as simple as you make it. Simple works best for me, so I’ll share my plan for simple healthy living.

The basics of simple healthy living really are simple. Incorporate the following principles into your life and you will be well on your way to a simply healthier you.

• Meditate on God’s Word
• Eat well-balanced meals & exercise
• Minimize stress & get plenty of rest
• Feed your spirit

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Healthy living is within your grasp.  In as little as 30 days, you can develop new patterns that will enrich the temple that has been entrusted to you. 

Use this journal as a guide to record your journey to a healthier you and your encounters with God along the way.

You can download the Healthy Living Journal here. (Right-click and "Save As")

Your Mind

Meditate on God’s Word
Our minds are powerful beyond measure. With our minds we have the ability to think, remember, reason, perceive as well as formulate our will and opinions. As Christians, one of our goals should be to have the mind of Christ - to think as He thinks and to do as He does.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 2:5 NKJV

In order to emulate Christ we must know Him, and there is no better way to get to know Him than to study His Word. I remember long ago a deacon at my church told me, “don’t read your Bible, study your Bible.”

Study or meditate on God’s Word with great intention and focus. Pray and ask God to speak to you through His Word. After you study, reflect on His Word – reflect on what it means to you and how you can apply it to your life. The purpose of meditating is to seek a heightened level of spiritual awareness.

Without application of God’s Word, your spiritual health will become stagnant. Seek to not only be a reader or hearer of the Word, but a doer of the Word. Also note, a study of the Word would be incomplete without prayer.

“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.” - James 1:22-24 NLT

Your Body

Eat Well-Balanced Meals & Exercise
Naturally, when most people think of healthy living they think primarily of the physical aspect - the body. However, as mentioned earlier the body is only one aspect of healthy living. The body is critical to healthy living because it is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” - I Corinthians 6:19 NIV

One of the best ways to take care of your body is to eat well-balanced meals. It seems everyone has a diet recommendation or wonder pill to ensure the perfect body, but your goal should not be to have a perfect body rather to be healthy.

Simple healthy living requires eating healthy and for most of us, this may require a lifestyle change. However, it does not mean you must give up all your favorite foods and eat only bland, tasteless foods for the rest of your life.

Healthy eating really involves eating meals encompassing foods from each of the five basic food groups. The five basic food groups include grains, vegetables, fruit, milk (dairy) and meats. A good rule of thumb is to ensure your plate contains a variety of color, such as vibrant fruits and vegetables, lean meat, whole grain breads, etc.

It's also a good idea to take a multivitamin daily.  A recent study by the American Society for Clinical Nutrition revealed that daily use of a multivitamin may combat the cell aging process by supporting healthy DNA.

In addition to healthy eating, exercise is also required. One without the other is not sufficient. Now this does not mean you must join a gym and/or begin a stringent regimen with a personal trainer. A good rule of thumb is to be sure you get at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day.

Physical activity can be as simple as walking. In fact walking is one of the best exercises you can do. Also, try simple things like taking the stairs rather than the elevator or park farther away and walk. Rather than sitting in front of the television eating a bowl of ice cream watching your favorite show, try doing a few simple exercises (i.e. lunges, squats, push-ups, etc.). Since most TV shows are 30 minutes, your exercise time will be perfectly timed.

One great at-home workout series is The FIRM. It's so great because it combines weight training and cardio in a unique, effective and fun way.

Be creative, find an activity you enjoy that also incorporates exercise. One of my friends enrolled in a Salsa dancing class for exercise…how fun!

Minimize Stress & Get Plenty of Rest
One critical aspect of maintaining a healthy body is to minimize stress. While stress can likely never be totally avoided, there are things you can do to minimize stress in your life.

To combat stress avoid worrying. In fact for the Christian, worry is an indication that you don’t trust the fact that God is in control. Besides, worry does not benefit you in any way at all.

The Bible clearly states in Matthew 6:25-33, there is no need to worry about life because God promises to supply all our needs. There is a significant difference between worry and concern. Worry immobilizes you, while concern drives you to take action. We must seek God first above all else and trust Him in every area of our lives.

Another good way to minimize stress is to smile or laugh often. Laughter is exhilarating and it’s even thought to boost the immune system. So much in fact that humor therapy is becoming increasingly popular among healthcare professionals.

Laughter is thought to decrease stress hormones, but it also increases positive feelings. You don’t have to be a doctor to know this, just take a moment and laugh then take note of how you feel afterwards. Laughter is indeed the best medicine in many cases. So go ahead, laugh - a cheerful heart is good medicine (Proverbs 17:22).

Get Plenty of Rest
In addition to minimizing stress, we must also be vigilant about rest and relaxation. Now I will admit this is a lesson I am still learning, but I do understand the benefit of getting sufficient rest. We have become so inundated with technology that there is rarely a time when we just do nothing. However, nothing is just what we need to do sometimes.

Naturally, you should get at least eight hours of sleep each night but we should also have downtime each day as well, where we rest and do nothing. Now of course this shouldn’t become a way of life, but doing nothing and allowing your mind to rest is not only acceptable, it’ needed.

It seems most of us don’t know how to be at rest, so schedule it into your day just as you do just about everything else. If you find it difficult to just do nothing, try getting a hobby that also serves the purpose of relaxing you.

Again, be creative. Try yoga, violin lessons or some other activity that relaxes you. No matter what it takes, make it happen because it’s too important to your health.

“Be still and know that I am God…” - Psalm 46:10 NIV

Your Spirit

Feed your Spirit
Finally, but definitely not the least of your simple healthy living plan is feeding your spirit. Our eyes and ears are the gateway to our spirit, so we must be ever cognizant of what we allow to enter. As Christian single women, we must guard not only our hearts and minds, but we must also guard our spirit. To do so, we can start by evaluating our entertainment choices.

In today’s society we are inundated with negativity such as greed, sex, violence and examples of bad relationships. However, we choose what we listen to and watch and thus have the ability to prevent much of that filth from entering our gateways. Yes, this will require you to change the channel/station or turn off the TV or radio.

First and foremost, pray and ask God to change your desires. Often when I am sitting down watching Christian television or listening to Christian talk radio, I pause and thank God for changing my desires, because I remember a time when I would not have chosen to do so. In fact, I can recall getting upset when my grandmother forced us to watch Christian programming or when my aunt would not allow us to listen to ‘the devil’s music’ in her car. How thankful I am to both of them now for exposing me to Christian entertainment.

It is not enough to just stop watching glorified sin on television or listening to sexually explicit music, we must replace it with more positive choices in order to fill the void. If you don’t fill the void with something positive, you are more likely to return to your old ways sooner or later.

Now this does not mean that you relegated to watching only Christian programming and public television for the rest of your life. They key is to make wise choices. If you are watching or listening to a program and something inappropriate occurs, change the channel.

While everything on any station is not always good, I’ve found fewer negative programming choices on HGTV (Home and Garden Television), The Hallmark Channel, ABC Family, The Food Network or The Discovery Channel. A few good musical programming channels include, Gospel Music Channel or JCTV.

The bottom line is we must make better choices. Don’t succumb to the ills of society. Dare to be different by seeking to please Christ in every area of your life. Guarding your spirit is a choice you will never regret.

“Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” - Galatians 5:16 NKJV

Feeding your spirit also comes by blessing others. Remember God sends a blessing to those He can get a blessing through, so endeavor to bless others. It is indeed a blessing to be a blessing.

Life should not be all about self, in fact blessing others is the secret to really living. Just think, you could be the one in need of a blessing so rejoice in the fact that you can bless someone else.

Simple healthy living may require a change in focus, but all it takes is a bit of prayer and practice. To do so, we must meditate on God’s Word, eat well-balanced meals and exercise, minimize stress & get plenty of rest and feed your spirit.

So as you can see, simple healthy living really is simple.  Get started now, by downloading the Healthy Living Journal (it's FREE!).

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