We Are What We Eat

We have often heard the saying "You are what you eat."  There are endless jokes surrounding this statement I personally like the one below that I recently stumbled across. 

Though humorous and often used in the realm of diet I'm going to extend it to all aspects of our lives for a few moments.  

We are what we eat physically, emotionally/mentally and spiritually.  

Basically garbage in = garbage out in all areas of our life.  Instead of looking at the garbage let's take a look at what can bring us to health wellness in all areas of our life.  

What we take into our bodies physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually really does matter in the big picture.  

Let's look at the most common one first...

Physical Wellness 

At the end of July 2015, 5-foot 4-inches I had hit my all-time high on the scale: 211.6 pounds. I never felt good. I was having problems with Graves' Disease (thyroid). I hated how I felt and looked. I had lost who I was. I was almost unrecognizable to myself but somewhere in there I was screaming I have to change. I began by trying a program called Ideal Protein and while I was losing weight I wasn't allowed to exercise and I felt like a prisoner to the program. So a couple of months into my journey I began using The 21 Day Fix program. Real food and exercise. I was making healthy choices and having smaller portions of all the food I love. Less processed food and refined carbs and more lean protein and healthy fat with veggies and fruit. My exercise wasn't hardcore I went from walking about 5000 steps a day to 15000 thank you Fitbit for making me aware! Occasionally I would do the 30 mins workouts from the 21 Day Fix or a 7 min Fitness app I have on my phone. Likely the workouts were less than 10% of the time. I'm really just a walker. The sweet success came by the end of May 2016 when I hit my goal weight of 135 pounds, 76.6 pounds gone. My journey isn't over I usually fluctuate within 5 pounds of that goal. Occasionally I have to work a little harder when I decide that eating junk several days in a row is a good idea. So now June 2017 I am still maintaining. If I can do it so can you. It's not about a diet it's about a lifestyle change. I can honestly tell you as long as it's in my power I will never go back. I feel so much better living the way I do now!

• Exercise regularly (even just walking). Aim for 30 mins of exercise a day.
• Eat a balanced diet of healthy food.
• Get 7 hours of sleep a night. (This doesn't always work for me but I try)
• Have at least 15 mins a day to chill, take some deep breaths and relax your body.
• Drink plenty of water, 9 glasses a day at least.

Emotionally and Mentally Wellness 

Life is a roller coaster of good and bad.  Ups and downs and sometimes there isn't a balance.  There is so much on the negative side that we are crushed beneath the load!  If we don't have some real strategies in place our well-being and the well-being of those closest to us will be in jeopardy.

I can tell you I personally have had a long list of downs in the last few years.  

Major condensed loss, pain, and stressors!   I've had big life reveals (finding out I had a different dad at 38 a man I grew up with as my favorite uncle), major relationship losses, siblings passing, my dad & mom passing, dependents coming and going from my life leaving me holding the bag of their mess.

Physical stuff like Graves Disease, Salmonella Poisoning, and a broken wrist.  I could easily choose to lose my way with all of this going on.   

Our mental and emotional health effects how we handle stress, relate to others and make our daily choices.

• One thing that has kept me strong during this journey of loss and pain is that I chose to make myself healthy physically.  Taking care of your physical health definitely affects your emotional and mental well being.  I already talked a lot about physical wellness so I'm just going to add don't abuse drugs and alcohol.  Sometimes we have a tendency to self-medicate our stress and emotions.  Not a good idea.  Becoming dependant on drugs or alcohol to deal with life is toxic for you and for those closest to you.   

Some other good ideas are:

• Know your triggers - Be aware of your emotions and reactions.  Notice what makes you upset, sad, frustrated or angry.  Try to address or change those things.  
• Here is one that is key to keeping family and friends.  Express your feelings appropriately.  Let your people know when something is bothering you in a way that you aren't going to alienate them because you are being an angry ranter all the time.  If you allow it to, your stress can cause problems in all areas of your life, socially, at home and at work.  
• Think before you act! We all have emotions and when they are riding high it is best to step away and allow yourself time to calm down before you say and do things you might regret.
• Manage your stress.  Try to change situations causing you stress. Do some deep breathing, go for a walk, workout.
• Balance is key.  We all have to work but don't forget the play.  Find a balance between work and play and between activity and rest.  Make time for things and people you enjoy.  FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE IN YOUR LIFE.  
• Connect with others.  Often if we are in a negative state of mind we avoid people even to the place where we don't care to socialize with anyone.  We are social creatures.  Other humans are not the enemy.  We need positive connections with other people.  Make a lunch date, join a group, say hi to strangers.  Smile at people, show some love.  
• Find your purpose and meaning.  Love what you do.  What is important to you, focus on that.   Volunteering can give purpose to your life you are helping others and they often give as much back to you as you give to them. Spend your time doing meaningful stuff.  
• Stay positive may I repeat stay positive!!  Focus on the good things in your life! Forgive yourself for making mistakes and forgive others for their mistakes.  Spend your time with healthy, positive people.  Don't let other's negativity bring you down or rub off on you.  
• And this is key IF YOU NEED HELP AND CAN'T DO IT YOURSELF GO AND GET HELP before it's too late.  Don't wait till you alienate those who love you and you love.  Don't wait for love and affection to turn to hostility and indifference.  Don't make yourself withdrawn, isolated or emotionally dissociated.  

Last but definitely not least:

Spiritual Wellness 

Taking care of your spiritual wellness it definitely affects your emotional and mental well-being also.  All aspects of our being are intertwined so all need to be cared for.

Spiritual Wellness is often an area people neglect or ignore.  There is a high percentage of people uncomfortable with spirituality.  It isn't that complicated or scary it is choosing to be friends with someone unseen.  That should be easy enough for us in 2017.   How many people do we have on our social media accounts that we never met face to face but we talk and chat to regularly?  Sometimes we even show them more of us than we do those closest to us.  Is it really such a stretch to befriend God, who we can show all of ourselves to? The creator who will love us, the good the bad the ugly?  

There is an old Sunday School song that goes like this
Read your bible pray every day, pray every day, pray every day & you'll grow, grow, grow.
Neglect your bible forget to pray, forget to pray, forget to pray & you'll shrink, shrink, shrink.
(There are some pretty cool squatting actions with this little song so you get your physical
 in too lol)

It's true - talk to God every day read the Bible and you will grow in him it's that easy.

Here are a few tips to keep your spirit up to par: 

• Keep your heart clean. Psalm 51:10 Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew a faithful spirit within me.  
• Keep your mouth clean. Philippians 2:14 Do everything without complaining or arguing.
• Renew your mind.  Romans 12:2 ....change your thinking!  Then you will always be able to determine what God really wants -what is good, pleasing and perfect.
• Clean your spirit.  Psalm 32:5 I made my sins known to you, O Lord, Then you forgave all my sins. 
• Get rid of unforgiveness and bitterness Ephesians 4:31 & 32  Get rid of your bitterness, hot tempers, anger, loud quarreling, cursing, and hatred.  Be kind to each other, sympathetic, forgiving each other as God has forgiven you through Christ.  

So to sum it up we are made up of a body, soul and spirit and in order to live a truly happy and content life we need to look after all three.  Taking care of one area of ourselves but not the others will just leave us unbalanced and struggling through life.

Rev Michelle