Your stomach grumbles, you smell freshly popped popcorn, your friend slaps down a Snickers bar and of course there are those holiday sweets, treats and eats--how is anyone able to monitor eating this time of year?!? Come on, that's why we love the holidays and it provides us with motivation for New Year's resolutions -- Right? Wrong!
Sure, "Every good and perfect gift is from above…" (James 1:17), but not everything is good for us. Now is the time to take control and keep control of our eating disciplines. Why? Remember the commercials that would say "pay me now or pay me later" --what good advice. Our bodies are always changing and both the eating and physical choices we make today have BIG TIME ramifications both tomorrow and in a few short years.
Know your body…understand your body rhythms and make good decisions by surrounding yourself with the appropriate fuels for your body. Studies show that eating smaller portions yet more often allows your body to keep from swinging sugar lows to highs. It's true, "we are what we eat." Just as we first learned about computers "trash in-trash out."
Build convictions and take a stand…One of my favorite Bible heroes is Daniel. As a teenager Daniel took charge of his eating by acting upon his convictions (Daniel 1). He got creative and set a challenge to test his hard work and discipline - the end result was staggering and set him apart from his peers.
Our culture is the fattest, most obese in the world, yet ironically so many youth have eating disorders. The habit is cyclical: feed, starve, feed, starve…it accelerates so quickly and intensely that it will blow up with behaviors of anger, depression, denial and other stresses. Victory is in learning your body and what it needs to function and perform optimally. Cling to the words of Paul from 1 Corinthians 15:57, "But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Eating healthy requires effort, education, and can be costly. Processed foods are loaded with additives that in the long term are destructive. Get informed. Get focused. Read labels and choose wisely. Claim the victory.
At Camp we are intentional in our menus to provide healthy options such as a salad bar and fruit. We have been asked as to why we don't allow candy in our daily activities or sell it in the Camp store during the week. The answer is we want our campers and staff to have a week of less sugar intake and to see the positive effects of healthy eating.
Looking for a way to bring this up with your family?
How about watching the movie "Heavy Weights" with your family…this offers a fun way to open the doors for some honest family discussion. Here at Camp we love a little COMPETITION ...competition...competition--why not take on a family challenge to cut out sweets, sodas, treats, and the chips for a week…I would love to hear how the challenge goes!!
Merry CHRISTmas and careful eating Holidays!
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