I'm Full! Now What?

God day Planners   

As you hurry through your day, remember that planning is the key to success for maintaining a healthy eating and exercise lifestyle. Can We Talk?! It takes NO thought, effort, or energy to be sedentary and to eat whatever you want whenever you want it. But eating healthfully and regular activity takes thought, energy, effort, and preparation, and the D word DISCIPLINE. Christ can teach us to be disciplined in every area of our lives, including a healthy lifestyle. We have to ask ourselves, am I really worth all of that? Is the legacy of a healthy lifestyle for my children worth all the effort and energy? God says...YES! I say...YES!!! What do you say? 

Here is our question for today. Please feel free to drop your temple related (emotional, spiritual, relational, financial, physical) questions to me. Glad to answer and share with the group! Got a recipe you would like to share or a testimony, please send them.

Dear Aqua

Help me understand: We should eat a balanced meal...and get in our correct servings of each food group; however we should stop eating when we are full. What happens if you get full before you finish, like what if I don't get all of the servings in for that day?

Dear Operation

Great question! In general feeling full is a good "problem" to have because so many people don't KNOW that feeling, because we've have ignored the signal for so long that we have silenced it. There is a long answer and a short answer. The short answer is nothing. Remember we are looking at a lifestyle of healthy eating, not just a day or two when we think we can do it. Also we are incorporating these lifestyle changes a little a time so that we can stick to the changes and not create an unrealistic plan that we cannot maintain. SOON, you will love the planning process, you feel out of sorts when you have not planned adequately, and your thinking about healthy eating and exercise will be more natural and automatic. Remember, to change our lives we have to change the way we think. Be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind!

The long answer is really more complicated. I will answer as succinctly as possible, but I have to elaborate just a little. According to the USDA, A “healthy diet” is one that:

• Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products
• Includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts
• Is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars.

Even newer guidelines released at the end of 2010 have a more effective and comprehensive focus.

 “Because more than one-third of children and more than two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or obese, the 7th edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans places stronger emphasis on reducing calorie consumption and increasing physical activity. The new 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans focus on balancing calories with physical activity, and encourage Americans to consume more healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, and seafood, and to consume less sodium, saturated and trans fats, added sugars, and refined grains”.

As long as you are eating healthfully as described above CONSISTENTLY (more often than not) the couple days here and there that you feel full and stop eating are not a big deal. Your body is going through changes to adapt to the plan you have introduced. If this is happening frequently, you’ll need to investigate further. You might also add a multi-vitamin to your diet if you are concerned about getting all your recommended vitamins and nutrients.

Your body is the temple of the Living God! Live Well in His Name!