Day 11 – Fit For Life

Happy Day 11! ☀️ Hope your morning is off to a great start! Let’s start this morning by reading one of my favorite verses.. Philippians 4:6-7,
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Wow, let that verse just wash over you! Can you imagine not being anxious or worried about anything? Seems pretty impossible with worries at home, work, kids or school that we all have. But this verse tells us in EVERYTHING we can turn our worries into prayers, at the same time being thankful, and the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Dwell on that for a minute. Imagine God”s PEACE surrounding your heart and mind and guarding you from anxiety and worry. I love that! Whatever is going on with you today, you can give it over to him… and let His peace stand guard over you! Awesome!
Now I want to touch on something that I feel affects us all from time to time. Talking about worries or stress, I want to get really practical this morning about something. Our emotions and things we are worried or upset about can actually sabotage our goals to eat healthier. Many times the reasons we overeat, or eat too much “less-than-healthy food” has nothing to do with being hungry, but it has everything to do with our emotions. Have you ever found yourself plowing through a bag of chips because you are stressed out about something? Sometimes we binge on food because we are upset about something and turn to food to sort of numb things. We’ve all done it. As we are just coming off of the quarantine, we’re all too familiar with the issue of eating simply because we’re bored! This is a complicated subject and I’m certainly not smart enough to have all the answers, but I want us to at least be aware of some things we can do to help us during (or before) a weak moment.
First and foremost, it’s important to recognize that when are trying to make positive changes in our life to be healthier, we cannot do it alone. Like the verse we just read says, we need to pray and ask God for his help… help us to be strong and practice self-control….give it over to him. Be honest and tell Him your struggles. Tell Him you want to honor him with your health. Remember when we are weak, He is strong!
Now let’s get practical. I’m going to share just a few tips that may help in dealing with emotional eating, or just overeating in general. These are things we all know, but good reminders.
*🛑 First, stop before you go back for seconds or dig into an unhealthy snack, and ask yourself if you’re really hungry or if you’re just trying to feed an emotion. We just read that we can always pray. Try reaching out to a trusted friend that you can share your health goals with and who understands your struggles. Accountability is so important!
*🍴 Next, practice mindful eating. Slow down and truly enjoy your food. Enjoy a good conversation with your family or friends along with your meal. Avoid eating in front of the TV which usually leads to mindless over-indulging!
*😕 If you find yourself wandering to the kitchen in search of food just because your bored, distract yourself by going outside for a short walk, calling a friend, reading , or do something else you enjoy.
*🥗 Portion out your meal. Be more aware of how much you’re eating by putting it on a plate instead of eating out of containers, or just nibbling. If you want to get a treat, portion out some onto a dish and then put the rest away. Seems simple, but portioning really keeps us from over eating.
*🛒 Practice meal planning. Plan healthy meals for your week. Make a grocery list with all the ingredients you’ll need to make them. You’ll have everything you need on hand ready to go! Don’t forget to have healthy snacks handy! Don’t wait until your hungry to try and figure out what’s for dinner. That is a disaster waiting to happen! Planning is your friend!
*Lastly, during the day , don’t go over five hours or so without eating. If you allow yourself to get famished, you’ll probably overdo it at your next meal. Eating smaller meals more often also keeps your blood sugar regulated so you don’t have drops in energy .

Action Step 11👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
Plan out some healthy meals for this week. Have everything you’ll need ready to go! When you make your dinner, make extra for what I like to call, “intentional leftovers”. Put these extra meals in meal prep containers for lunches for the next day! This will help you avoid going through the drive-thru for lunch. It’s a win win! If you try a new recipe or make an old favorite, tell us about it! Happy healthy cooking friends! 😀