Consistency in eating healthy can be very difficult in a country full of processed food and fast “food” (notice that “food” is in quotation marks because it is quite doubtful what properly constitutes as “food” at some places). We are literally surrounded by snacks and sweets of the unhealthy variety. I lost up to 43 pounds around 2 years ago using a program called “Optavia.”(I won’t say much about Optavia at this point but simply that it was a good program to “jumpstart” my weight-loss and my thinking about healthier eating). I say that I lost “up to 43 pounds” because that was the very max that I hit, but I think that it may have been just 1 day that I hit that 43 pound mark. In reality, I probably only lost, consistently, up to around 38 pounds. Regardless, that’s a good amount of weight to lose. I lost a few pants sizes, had to buy new shirts and shorts, etc. So, here we are now, 2 years later, and I’d estimate that I’ve, consistently, put back on around 13 pounds given my consistent 38 pound weight-loss. 13 pounds may not seem like a lot of weight to put back on, but once I try to put on that shirt or pair of shorts that we bought at my peak weight-loss, it is plenty!
Recently, as I am now 1 year over 40 (you can do the math!), I have begun to think a whole lot more about the quality of my physical life given that death approaches as each year passes. Psalm 90:12 (ESV) says, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” I know of some people my age who have many health problems. I read of those younger than me who have major health issues and that some of those issues are related to being overweight (see this article that supports the thesis that being overweight is worse for you than smoking or heavy drinking). If one goes by the standard BMI chart, then I am in the “Overweight” part, even though some have questioned the validity of the BMI chart which is 200 years old (see here). Yet even by discarding the BMI and going by “waist measurement,” I am still at the edge of what would be considered “healthy.”
How can we get “focused” on eating healthy and doing what we know we should do for a healthier lifestyle? Notice, this is not just about “being skinny” or “losing the belly fat” for vanity’s sake; this is about being healthy and making it for the “long-haul” of life, as much as it is within our power.
What is the one tip for staying healthy? Let us suppose that my goal is to “remain healthy and active until I’m 100 years old.” Certainly, that may be a lofty goal. Maybe changing the number to “90” or “85” or “80” would be more realistic? It doesn’t matter. I could say, “My goal is to be active and healthy and still productive after I am 80 years old.” That is a fair goal. But how do I reach that goal? What must I do to remain “active, healthy, and still productive” at 80 years old and beyond? How, in other words, can I maintain my physical health into my advanced years? I think that if I asked myself this question every time I ate, this would help me to reach that goal: “Does this one item of food I am about to eat help to advance the goal of being productive, active, and healthy after 80, or does this one item of food detract from that goal?” What if every time I was tempted to eat some unhealthy meal (assuming that I had the option of eating a healthier meal instead), I asked that question: “Will this keep me active and productive at 80?” If the answer is “No,” then spit out, put it down, and find something else to eat, if possible, that contributes to that goal.
One could narrow the goal and bring it into a more immediate context: “Will this one item of food keep me energized and contribute positively to my productivity today, or will it detract from my energy and productivity today?” If the item of food can contribute, in the short term, to my energy and productivity today, then surely over a long period of time (say, the next 40 or 50 years), those short-term investments will lead to long-term positive results?
Of course, God’s plans will override any plan we might have (see Proverbs 19:21), and our death-appointment could arrive at any point in our lives before 80 no matter what we eat (see Hebrews 9:27). At the same time we should not neglect planning our lives and taking care of ourselves (see Luke 14:28ff). We must hold our plans loosely in this life knowing that they could be discarded for God’s greater and grander plans, yet, it is both Scriptural and wise to make plans and to work them to the best of our God-given time and God-given capabilities. One plan we can certainly strive for is the goal of being productive and active at 80 years old or beyond!
Recommendation: Here is a book that I’ve read in recent years that has helped to shift my thinking, in some ways, towards healthier eating. It is called “Breaking the Stronghold of Food: How we Conquered Food Addictions and Discovered a New Way of Living” by Dr. Michael Brown and his wife, Nancy Brown.
Confession: I have not utterly conquered this area of food and health, as, with most things, it is a work in progress, but these are all items above that have helped me to think a little bit clearer in this area of health. By God’s Grace, I don’t want to eat myself into an early grave if I can help it!