How to Treat Your Body Like God’s Temple

Your Body’s a Temple of God

 

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.”
1 Corinthians 3:16-17

I’m sure many of you have heard the above verse, but does it ever hit your subconscious as you stuff that doughnut down your throat? I totally agree with a treat now and again, but on a regular basis, we must remember that these bodies are NOT ours. God has blessed us with these temples and we need to take care of them.  Check out my 5 easy tips below…

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NEW Guided Journal Book: “Journaling Faith and Feelings into Action”

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It’s a New Year and time for a New YOU! Yes, this means eating well and exercising on a regular basis, but we must take care of our hearts, as well as our bodies. I’m going to share with you 5 ways you can begin to take care of your temple of God!!

1. Temple of God: MINDSET

Our minds are great at talking ourselves out of being healthy. Am I right or am I right??? It is so hard to control these minds of ours. But if we can change our mindset, it’s amazing what we can accomplish.

In my new book, Journaling Faith and Feelings into Action, my mother, a psychotherapist, addresses many of life’s situations and the stress is causes us and how to change our mindsets to better deal with life.

First of all, we need to stop looking at getting healthy as punishment. We should view it as a wonderful thing. Think of how much better you’ll feel when you are eating better and becoming more active.
Secondly, you need to start small. Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to jump into eating nothing but veggies and working out for hours each day. Ain’t nobody got time for that!!! See my nutrition and fitness section below for more help with this.
Third, get help from friends. An accountability group is great for this. I run monthly Virtual Boot Camps and you can participate from anywhere in the world. Let’s Chat, if you’d like more info on this.
Last, but not least, before going to bed each night, put out your workout clothes and jump into them first thing in the morning. That way it’s staring you in the face when you wake up. Set your alarm just a little bit earlier and start with a short workout to get your feet wet.

 

2. Temple of God: DAILY PRAYER

You may be thinking that praying is not taking care of our bodies, but if we don’t have our hearts focused on the Lord, how will we ever have a desire to take care of His body?

I wrote a blog post on how I start my every morning with God. Check this out:

Morning Routine with God

I promise you it won’t take up your whole day. I give you very easy steps on how to start each day with Him.

The best way to start this…. before your feet hit the floor, praise God for a new day! This will get your mind right before you have time for negative morning thoughts. You know the ones…. “oh no, not another day!” “I’m so dreading this day!” “I hate my job!” etc…..

To fit in even more God-time, I like to put on a sermon, worship music, or a Christian podcast as I’m working out. I even like to incorporate meditation in the morning using the Psalms (it’s only 5 minutes!) Check this out: [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r1RcFiCrZo[/embedyt]

 

3. Temple of God: FITNESS

Yes of course, we must get into this bad word, “fitness” !! It seems to be everyone’s New Year’s Resolution, too. I don’t truly believe in making this a resolution because this should be a daily habit, no matter what time of year.

We need to start looking at exercise as a treat for our bodies, not some horrible torture device. The benefits to exercise are not just for a 6-pack or to fit into a bikini, but there is so much more to it than that. Exercise benefits our hearts, joints, internal organs, our minds, and so much more. Literally every inch of our body benefits from a regular exercise routine.  Not to mention that you will feel 100 x’s better when you become physically active.

Start small! Don’t set out to run a marathon on your first day.
• Put exercise on your calendar. This is crucial! You wouldn’t miss a doctor’s appointment on your calendar, would you? So why would you skip taking care of your body daily?
• Start with a short walk around your neighborhood.
• Grab some friends and all of you rally together to motivate each other to NOT miss a morning workout.
• Join me in a quick 5 minute yoga warmup: [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnpBt9RTk-4[/embedyt]
• Check out my YouTube channel for many quick workouts for abs, upper body, lower body and more
• Join an accountability group. I run one every month online, so anyone can join. You won’t even need to join a gym.  Contact me for info.
• Get over gym fear. If you do need to join a gym in order to get moving, (with my accountability groups, you don’t need to join a gym, you can easily workout from home) you can hire a trainer or use the workout classes in order to get involved there.
• You will have to eventually spend some money in order to get healthy and you must get over that! And think about it…if you spend money on something, you’re more likely to use it!! You may need to spend money on a trainer, a nutritionist, a workout app or on-demand program, workout equipment, a meal plan, whatever it may be, just know it will help change your health. And isn’t your health worth it????

 

4. Temple of God: HEALTHY EATING

Starting to eat better doesn’t mean you give up everything on day 1. This will definitely set you up for failure, unless you’re one of those that needs to go ALL in at the beginning (I’m that person.)

• Begin by eliminating your favorite bad foods a little at a time. Maybe sodas are your weakness, start by reducing your soda intake by one per day, then 2 per day, etc.
• Start removing the bad cards a little at a time: anything white, such as: white bread, white rice, pasta, packaged foods, sugary foods, preservative filled foods, etc. Begin to add in healthier carbs: brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, farro, barley, etc.
• Shop the perimeter of the grocery store: buying fresh produce, lean meats, healthy dairy (almond milk, coconut milk, eggs, plain Greek yogurt – not the ones with fruit that are loaded with sugar, etc.)
• Eat whole foods and nothing processed; foods you are eating shouldn’t have a long list of ingredients, it should have 1!
• Clean out your pantry and fridge to remove those processed and sugary foods; get rid of the temptation.  If it’s not in your house, you can’t eat it!
• Eat healthy snacks, such as nuts, nut butters with celery or apples, fruit, hummus, etc
• Eat tons of veggies and don’t worry about counting calories. I have some great meal plans that will help with knowing exactly what to eat.
• Get help! I work with tons of different healthy meal plans and I’m always here to help, so reach out to me because I have 15 year’s experience with developing healthy meal plans and guess what???? It doesn’t involve starvation; I eat a lot!!! Reach out for: GG’s nutrition help!

 

5. Temple of God: PAMPER YOURSELF

It’s all about self-care! Yes it seems to be a buzz word now, but for good reason. Most people lead very sedentary lives, working on computers all day, staring at phones, hunched over the steering wheel or just running around like a chicken with your head cut off. It’s time to take care of YOU!!

I wrote 2 blog posts about self-care:

Why You Must Practice Self Care

5 Easy Ways to Relieve Stress and Stay Christ-centered

 

I want you busy ladies to start taking time to relax and pamper yourself.
• You can start small with daily meditation (I’ve attached a video above using my Psalm meditation.)
• Grab a girlfriend and go for a chat at the local coffee shop.
• What about a mani/pedi day
• Schedule that massage or facial
• Walk away from your desk and just get some fresh air for 5-10 minutes and do some stretching
• If you do sit at a desk or in a car for long periods of time, invest in a foam roller and use that to stretch when you get home. I made a video to help with this:[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIaLDMs79zo[/embedyt]

This is a topic I could go on and on about.  I just wanted to give you some quick and easy tips to start small rather than getting overwhelmed.  Just take on one thing at a time, then begin to add in more as you feel ready.  No need to get so frustrated you give up.  So let’s conquer this NEW YEAR, God’s way!!

How are you planning on starting this new year taking care of God’s temple?  I’d love to hear and perhaps you have some great advice for the rest of us.