Summer is winding down and fall is in the air. That means we just have a few more months of 2024! If you’re like me, you’re wondering how has this year has gone by so quickly?
As we start to get back into our routines with school and work, I want to encourage you to do something to improve your overall physical health before the end of this year.
I’ve been on somewhat of a health journey for the past 2 years. I have learned and am continuing to learn something new almost every day. I have found that making small, incremental changes have impacted my health in a profound way.
Many of us wait for a new year to take on health and wellness goals. But I want to challenge you to not wait until January. But instead make small, but impactful changes that will start to improve your health immediately.
If you don’t know where to start, I want to give you a few ideas that you can implement today that can provide a big impact to your health.
- Walk at least 7,000 steps a day. Most of us have a fitness tracker, a smart watch, or a smartphone that can track our steps. I recently came across a study that followed physical activity level in a group of people, specifically steps taken per day. It found that participants who walked 7,000 or more steps in a day had a 50 to 70% lower risk of mortality than those who took fewer than 7,000 steps per day. Our lives have become increasingly sedentary, which has become so detrimental to our health. So I’m encouraging you to take a walk, do chores, dance around your house….just find a way to move EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
- Give your body a break from eating. It is so helpful to fast at least 12 to 14 hours every single day. This can easily be done by eating dinner at a reasonable time (preferably before the sun goes down) and then waiting until mid morning to eat again. Our modern society makes it too easy to eat continuously without a break. It has become second nature to just grab a snack, sit down in front of a screen, and just eat without thinking. But our bodies were not meant to be fed constantly. We need a break from digesting food so that our bodies can repair and heal as it was designed to do.
- Prioritize sleep. Studies continue to show us that sleep is so important for our health. When we get good sleep our body can start to repair itself, regulate blood sugar and metabolism, reduce stress, improve our mood, and help reduce obesity and chronic disease. In order to get a good night’s sleep, it is important to have a good sleep routine. Try to go to bed around the same time everyday, minimize blue light from our cell phones before bed, and sleep in a dark room.
I want to encourage you in all these things because it is important that we take care of this body that God has given us. While our time on earth is temporary, we all have an assignment to carry out while we are here. But if we are in poor health, we won’t be able to carry out that mission to the best of our ability.
“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)
Let’s finish 2024 strong. Make some changes today and when January comes you’ll be glad you did!
#3John12initiative
“Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.” (3 John 1:2, NLT)
