RESOLVE: 3 (simple!) habits for a healthier you.

What habits have WORKED? This is the question I was considering last week, as I both reflected on the past and gazed ahead into the future. Even as we considered our own personal failures (and learned from them) we are also wise to consider what has really worked for us, and why. This will powerfully inform our future decisions.

For me personally, there are three (simple!) daily habits I wish every person had. They are not impressive. You will not be wowed when you read them. But they are the 3 daily habits that have most helped me lead a simple, disciplined, healthy life that frees me up to flourish, love, serve, and give my time and attention to what matters most in life. Here they are:

• Read the Word and pray.

  The one simple habit that will truly transform your life, is simply spending time in God’s Word every day. Please.  I’m just starting my 19th time through the Scriptures, and every year there’s something new. Every year things make a bit more sense. Every year I can see the Story of God a bit clearer. Every year He speaks new life into my soul and brings fresh conviction and clearer guidance. I wrote more here about a RETURN to God’s Word. 

Many people ask me, “How do you read the Bible?” There’s no right or wrong way, but I suggest a simple 3-step process of thinking through:

–> What does this SAY? (Think or write, in your own words, what the passage is about.)

–> What does this MEAN? (What seems to be the spirit or essence of this passage? Why do you think the author wants you to know this? Why are certain details included? What is the purpose or intent of this passage being recorded for us?)

–> How will I RESPOND? (Simply praying Scripture, asking applicational questions (i.e. “Like Abraham/Sarah with Hagar, How am I tempted to get God’s promises in my own schemes? How am I tempted to use people to get my own way? Where am I doubting God’s provision?) and asking the Holy Spirit to bring specific conviction on how He wants you to obey or respond to the passage.

Again, there are lots of apps and plans and gadgets and things for helping you along the way. I’m a simple girl, so I just do 3/1. 3 chapters Old Testament, 1 chapter New Testament. All you need is 2 bookmarks and you’re good to go! If you do that you’ll finish by the end of October/early November, so that gives you a little wiggle room for those days you inevitably miss. I highly recommend the simple 3/1 plan!

• When hungry, eat whole food.

  This one is two-fold. I realize I’m treading on sensitive ground here so please hear my  heart: Most of our nation’s weight issues could be resolved if we only ate when we were hungry. I know that sounds obvious, but I know from past experience that many of us don’t even know what waiting for true hunger feels like. We eat when we feel like it, when it’s “mealtime,” and often obsess over what we eat without giving much to whether or not we even need to eat at all!

True hunger is very clear. It isn’t the same as craving. It is a burning, empty feeling with an accompanying rumbling or growling in your stomach, located just under your ribcage on your lefthand side. I find that if I simply surrender my body to how God created it, and only eat food when my body actually asks for it, I naturally land at a healthy weight. Then, when our stomaches do growl, we are wise to simply eat food, actual food, the kind that God created, that grows out of the ground or comes from nature. Again, we can get twisted up in the latest food fads or diets, and don’t get me wrong, I love nutrition and think that food-science is fascinating, but for the most part, if we eat whole foods when we’re hungry, we’d be good to go!

The great thing about just simply waiting for hunger is that it forces us to surrender control. For me, the hardest part of fasting is giving up control of doing and eating whatever I want whenever I want. By choosing to only eat when you are hungry you are acknowledging that God created your body with a God-given mechanism for determining when you need to eat, and that you will surrender your cravings to His will, and choose to submit to His design. It’s a way to worship God with our bodies!

• Walk.

Again, there are many exercise programs out there, and I’m all for you finding the one that works just right for you. But I’d also suggest, the most simple exercise, for any fitness level, that will keep you decently fit and able to be actively involved in life: WALK. True, you won’t get any medals or t-shirts, you can’t post pictures of yourself flexing, you won’t get ripped abs or a so-called Beach Body, but you will be putting into practice a powerful habit or moving every day, of getting fresh air and getting your heartrate up and blood pumping and breathing deep.

I make a simple habit of walking 40-minutes a day.  We have a hilled driveway, so it makes for a great workout, going up and down the hill. 10 laps is about 2.5 miles, and that makes a good amount for me. Again, I’m not knocking all those great fitness programs out there, but I find that many of them tend to be very self-focused. I don’t want to be focused on self or spend an inordinate amount of time or energy worrying about my body because Jesus told me not to! I want to exercise it enough that I have energy for the life He’s called me to live. Walking does that for me.

So there you have it. I told you it wasn’t impressive. 🙂 But perhaps there’s someone out there who needed these three simple things. I hope they can be life-giving and encouraging. You don’t have to be a Bible scholar, you don’t have to find the magic diet, you don’t have to do the hardest workouts ever. Spend time with your Father and ask Him for some simple guidance in what simple habits might help you this year. These have been my three, I hope you find yours too. Thanks for reading!