Are Good Nutrition and Exercise Enough to Be Healthy?

The motto of Loma Linda University and Medical Center, where I work, is "to make man whole". Our goal for students, staff, faculty, and patients is to help one another achieve a balanced, healthy life. However, in order to live in wholeness, several aspects of life have to be addressed. To be healthy and whole, it doesn't mean just eating properly. It doesn't mean just making sure you work out and exercise on a regular basis. On the other hand, it is just not nutrition and exercise together, and nothing else is needed. Other than nutrition and exercise, we can also add spending adequate time with family and friends, giving our best while at work, volunteering our time, and spending time with the Peacemaker.

Last month, Pastor Randy Roberts of Loma Linda University Church, gave a meaningful and encouraging sermon on peace. Click here if you would like to view and listen to his sermon. In his sermon, he talks about the importance of peace in our lives despite going through difficulty. I really appreciated his reminder of the verse found in Philippians 4:6 and 7, which says "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".

You can eat as healthy as you want 365 days a year and exercise 365 days a year, but if you live in a lot of anxiety, that can stress your body and cancel the effects of good nutrition and exercise. Excessive unhealthy stress can wreak havoc on our immune systems. This can then lead to illness.

I need the personal reminder of Philippians 4:6 & 7, because while working full time and working on a PhD, I can definitely break down, or have already broken down several times into tears. However, it is by the grace of God, leaning on Him, trusting in Him that is helping me get through life one day at time. When I focus on His blessings and thank Him for all He has done for me thus far in my life, the peace of God does come over me and relaxes me. True peace only comes from Him and He is willing to give you the peace that you want as well. We can have his peace even when things are going crazy around us in our personal lives. We can have his peace and the assurance that He will take care of our concerns.  In addition to eating well and exercising, allow the peace of God's love to make you healthy and whole.

At the end of Pastor Roberts' sermon that Sabbath, I sang "Let There Be Peace on Earth and Wonderful Peace" with my pianist, Kwasi Agyeman.The video clip was taken while we were putting the two songs together in one of our practice sessions.  Hopefully the words to parts of the songs will be a blessing to you. So, just to warn you, we're very informal here...and I was happy at the end that we were getting close to make this medley work.

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What does being whole mean to you?

What's Your Motivation?

I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions. I believe that if there is a goal I want to reach or something I want to improve on in my life, I will start working on it right away any time of the year. Waiting for January is not a necessity. However, if that is when you want to set and begin your new goals or resolutions, then that is the best place for you to begin.

When it comes to eating healthier or getting more involved in some kind of exercise program, perform a double check on reality at first. Examine the motivation or primary reason for your wanting to make an improvement in your life.  For many, there may be more than one reason to make one change in your life. I pray and hope that is the case for all of us. The primary reason for starting a new journey, habit or practice should not be a skin-deep reason. Skin-deep reasons can be at the bottom of the list and not necessarily be excluded.

The example of a skin-deep reason is one that a friend of mine sadly exhibited. Before I became a running convert, I loved mountain biking and still do. However, I use to bike three to four times a week. Now I run a whole lot more and I bike less. Because of my love for being active in sports, I also love to help friends learn how to mountain bike or run if they are truly interested. On one of the first few mountain bike rides with my friend, she was ecstatic. She was excited out of her mind. I was so happy for her that she was really interested in getting to learn the sport of mountain biking, so I thought. As soon as we all started to pedal, the first words out of her mouth was, "Good-bye cellulite!". What?!!!! You've gotta be kidding me. That was her only reason to want to learn how to mountain bike? Were there other reasons?

The moment my friend publicly declared adios to cellulite, I immediately thought, this is not going to last long. I am wasting my time with her. Sure enough. I hate to admit it, I was right. It would have been fine if that was one of her secondary reasons for learning how to mountain bike. If she was truly concerned about taking care of herself and her health, that would not been her first reason. Making a lasting commitment to yourself for lifelong, good healthy habits should come from within and not from outside. If her primary reason for learning how to mountain bike was to improve her cardiovascular health, then she would have enjoyed the ride much better. She would have stuck to mountain biking much longer. The secondary reasons for learning how to mountain bike could be for pleasure and enjoyment, to relax, to relieve stress, to release endorphins, and yes...even to end up looking lean and good.

The same goes for turning over the leaf to start eating healthier. To be healthy should be anyone's primary reason to go down on this wonderful path. The benefits of exercising and eating well are priceless and numerous. Once again, if you choose to "eat healthy" for just purely looks, then long-term success will not take place. Eating healthy and exercising regularly are ammunition to reach or maintain a desirable body weight in order to stave off or reduce the risk of any chronic medical conditions.  This is for the long haul. This is not for selfish reasons.  When you are healthy and strong, you are able to be more loving to be around. Then you are able to also take care of your family and those around you. When you take care of yourself, this makes God happy. Since He made us, it pleases Him that we are doing our part to maintain the bodies He blessed us with.

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Were you able to maintain a "healthy-habits" regimen through the recent holidays? If so, how did you do it?