THE GOODS AND THE BADS

You are a Spirit. You have a soul: your mind, will, and emotions. You live in a body. The body is designed to be controlled by the Spirit man. If the body is left undisciplined, it will boss us around, demanding that we feed it just what it wants, however much it wants, and when it wants it. We must not allow our body to be a spoiled brat.

God’s Word tells us that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. We have been bought with a price and are commanded to glorify God in our body and in our spirit. We are also told that we must have knowledge for many of God’s people are destroyed by a lack of knowledge.

GOD MADE AND MAN MADE FOODS

There are God made foods and there are man made foods. Man made foods tend to steal health and to create weight gain, even if they are fat free. These man made foods are easily converted to glucose and/or contain chemical calories.

GLUCOSE

Although glucose is absolutely needed by the body and especially by the brain, a problem arises when the glucose comes in from man made foods. The problem that arises is that excess glucose is created and is kicked into the fat cells to be stored as fat. And to make it worse, if the fat cells happen to be full, more are created, never to go away.

CHEMICAL CALORIES

These foods also contain many chemical calories. These calories are in the form of additives, preservatives, artificial flavors and colors. These chemical calories are empty calories and the body has to work hard to get rid of the damaging effects they bring with them. They throw off our body’s ability to digest, assimilate and eliminate. Let’s look at the Goods and the Bads and begin to put our food choices in perspective.

We will learn which foods are life giving leading to fitness over 50 and beyond. Let’s also learn which foods are death promoting causing age to accelerate and blocking age reversal.

TRAIN YOUR BODY

We will begin to train our body to love good foods. It starts with a choice.  Let’s take on the mindset that we are beginning a treasure hunt, hunting for the “goods”. This new mindset refuses to allow thoughts of deprivation to crowd in. Healthy eating for weight loss can actually be fun and delicious.

We can enjoy foods we love, even occasionally from the “Bads” side, if we learn some simple strategies and set some wise boundaries.

FAT LOSS HORMONES

Let me begin by telling you that there are two very important Fat Loss Hormones that we need to know about. Insulin is called the Fat Producing Hormone and will be referred to as the villain. The villain loves excess glucose and is expert at kicking this excess glucose into the fat cells. Glucagon is the fat burning hormone and will be referred to as the hero. This latter hormone is activated by exercise.

CREDITS AND DEBITS

Each food you eat, each beverage you drink, and each action you take is going to be a debit or a credit. We never stand still. We are always going forward or backward. Health is a circle. We live in this circle of health.  Every aspect affects every other aspect.

Considering that our food is no longer grown as it used  to be, it is also important to supplement our meals with whole food supplements.  John and I and our family have used Shaklee supplements since 1978.  Not all supplements are created equal. Our body needs whole food supplements that contain pure nutrients and are backed by solid research.

DEBITS AND CREDITS

Debits make withdrawals on our health account. Too many debits cause us to be overdrawn. This sets up roadblocks on our journey toward long life and living to 100. Credits add to our health account. We must learn to sow credits daily.  Credits also influence our fitness for the good. Fitness over 50, 60, 70, 80 is possible.

EASY TO DO, EASY NOT TO DO

 This is easy to do. However, this is easy not to do too. Herein lies the answer and also the problem as referred by Jeff Olson in his book, The Slight Edge. “Tapping into the Slight Edge means doing things that are easy. Simple little disciplines that, done consistently, over time, will add up to the very biggest accomplishments.” ~

Jeff Olson:

EVERY ACTION THAT IS EASY TO DO IS ALSO EASY NOT TO DO

Jeff says that we can always count on the Slight Edge. And unless we make it work for us, it will work against us. Those good choices you make today will not make you instantly healthy and slim. The results are invisible until the process of time takes over. The bad choices you make today will not kill you. But once again the process of time takes over. Good choices made consistently put you on the Success Curve toward health and fitness.

Bad choices made consistently put you on the Failure Curve toward disease, overweight and shortened life.

AS YOU SOW

As a man sows, so shall he reap.

The law of sowing and reaping is always working. Most of the time it is working invisible.

WATER is a “Good”. However, tap water has chlorine, which will destroy some of our needed friendly bacteria.

Whole Fresh Foods, High Fiber Foods, Good Fats, and Natural Whole Food Supplements  are CREDITS.

Some of the BADS are really easy to recognize: White sugar, White Flour and Diet Drinks, Artificially Sweetened Food and Fast Foods (especially those fried in rancid high heated oil.) These are DEBITS.

THE FATAL FOUR

These four foods are considered by many researchers as the worst of the worst. I will go so far as to call them the Fatal Four:

F – Fish (shellfish) – although fish is a good choice, shell fish is not. This is one of those foods that God’s Word warns us about. Many viruses and chemicals are transmitted by eating toxic flesh of scavengers. Many species of shellfish are scavengers who roam the bottoms of the ocean waters and feed on carcasses of what has died.

A – Aspartame, Nutrasweet – Medical scientists all over the world tell us that NutraSweet can cause seizures as well as depression. This product is affecting the health in the US in a terrible way. Be alert if the label says “Sugar Free”.

T – Transposed Fats – Hydrogenated Oil is the most obvious. Harvard School of Health says 30,000 die yearly from hydrogenated fats. These are transfats or synthetic fats engineered by man.

A – Awful Pork – We have also been warned about this food in the bible. German professor Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg, M.D. published an article entitled The Adverse Influence of Pork Consumption on Health. He plainly concluded “Port should be regarded as an important homotoxin (human poison).”

 L – Leaving out Pure Water

WE ARE NOT SICK, JUST THIRSTY

– Years ago I read an article by an M.D. named Batmanghelidj which has never left my memory. He says, “My research has led me to believe that chronic dehydration is the root cause of many major diseases.” He goes on to say that we are not sick, but thirsty. Thirst and Hunger are generated simultaneously to indicate the brain’s need.

 HIGH FIBER FOODS Complex carbohydrates are rich in fiber. These include whole gains, vegetables and fruit. Did you know that the fiber content in meat and diary is zero? This may be a good reason to shift our choices from abundance of meat and diary to smaller amounts. Dr. Dennis Burkett, named by many as the expert in fiber, has found through his studies in Africa that the fiber consumed in vegetables, whole grains and fruits can trap up to 60% of the calories that come in with other food.

FABULOUS FATS We absolutely can’t leave out the good fats just like we can’t leave out the good carbohydrates. God created these good foods for our benefit. Good essential fats found in virgin pressed olive oil, some raw nuts, avocado and better butter* are good for us in moderation. Supplements that contain these good fats are Omega 3 Fish Oil, GLA and Lecithin. Deficiencies of these good fats can lead to ADD/ADHD, infertility, PMS, and Menopause symptoms.

SUMMARY

God created wonderful food for life, energy, and health. Man has processed much of the good out. We are free to eat all the good foods God created. Our job is to crucify our flesh and make a demand on it to obey our spirit man. We will refuse to let it boss us around any longer. God has commanded us to glory Him in our Spirit and in our body. He has told us that our body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. It is easy to do the things that create health and fitness. However, it is easy not to do them too. We will choose life and make The Slight Edge work for us and not against us.

“It’s never too late to start. It’s always too late to wait.” ~ J. Olson