NOTES: Food, Fitness and Mindsets Part 2 – (UNABRIDGED. Deleted a couple tips from the video to make it shorter). Hope these tips help you toward greater freedom in your Christian life.

1) NEVER say you’re on a diet. Body/mind goes in to rebel mode or “poor me” mode.
2) Throw your scale out the nearest window. Better to feel and see the results than to watch a number going up and down taking your emotions up and down with it.
3) Avoid fad/extreme diets that you’ll likely never be able to maintain after you’ve reached your goal weight. What you’re aiming for are permanent lifestyle/lifetime changes for your long term good.
4) Be real about what you can handle when it comes to making changes.
5) Take time to THINK through what will work for YOU.
Set goals and then plan REALISTICALLY how you can achieve them
For some people, incremental, week by week changes REALISTICALLY work best (week one: no more sodas), while others work better with a more radical amputation program (making all the necessary chops and changes right from the start).
Write out the night before what you will eat the next day and STICK TO IT. This is like putting your appetite on a leash giving YOU control and it not controlling you. This way there’s no opportunity to give in to temptation. You have boundaries and you go no further.
6) Do your homework. With the internet at your fingertips, you can discover all sorts of information that can help you toward healthier eating and lifestyle. You have to be convinced! It’s a fact: How you think is how your going to live! Get informed about what you’re putting in your body (research some of the main problematic items like sugar, gluten, etc). Change can be easier when you know the facts about what your putting in your/your family’s body.
7) Make the journey enjoyable. If it helps, work together with a friend who will be committed and serious not someone who will drag you down and tempt you to cheat, etc.
8) Make the journey enjoyable for your family too. Research recipes that both you AND your family can enjoy. Love your family by raising them to think right about food and good eating habits. Shouldn’t be “mom (or dad) is up to another crazy diet again.” It’s cruel to teach your children that food is the answer to their problems (emotional eating)…that there’s no need to practice self control.
9) Don’t be embarrassed to take your own food where you know there won’t be healthy options…or simply eat before you go. Have conviction and be confident about what/why you are doing. People need good examples of self-control. You can offer people hope by your example.
10) Think of unhealthy, bad-for-you food like sin. In Hebrews 11:25, the Bible describes the pleasures of sin as “fleeting” or momentary. While food is a blessing to be enjoyed with thanksgiving to God, we’re often tempted to make unhealthy choices because of the instant gratification we’ll experience…but it’s only momentary. Make sure what you eat is worth whatever you’ll experience afterward whether if be joyful gratitude to God or discouraging regret that’s counterproductive toward accomplishing your health goals.
If you’re a Christian, remember one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control (Gal 5:22-23)…so…you CAN do this!
11) Be ready to fight. Your body is going to initially be very angry with you! But remember, YOU must have mastery over your body and it’s appetites. So make them your slaves and don’t be a slave to them! Again, your greatest weapons are going to be prayer and the promises of God. Use them!!
12) Once you’ve achieved your goals and you’re habits of healthy eating are firmly established, then you can determine what you can/cannot do in the category of “treats”. If you think treating yourself to something sweet, salty or carby or whatever you consider a treat is going to reawaken appetites that might be better left dormant and dead, then don’t do it…it’s just not worth it!
13) ”A spoonful of anything” was my motto for portion control after reaching my goals. If you’ve trained your mind that a spoonful, which is enough for me to make my tastebuds happy without ANY negative consequences, then that’s all you’ll expect. Preset your limits in your mind, and your body will follow along. Works for me!
14) Before making food choices, ask yourself: “Is it worth it?” Will I feel better or worse off afterward?
Freely enjoy all that God has given us, with thankfulness to Him, but never allow food to take the place where only God belongs.
15) I Corinthians 10:31 “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

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Happy Life by FREDJI
https://www.facebook.com/fredjimusic
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