This is your destination to get ideas and tips that you can use daily in your Fit for Freedom journey. These Positive Changes are easy to implement. Weather you recently made a decision to get healthier or you already live an active fit lifestyle, these ideas and tips will help you. This guide is organized into five sections:
- Tools for positive change.
- Positive changes in your diet.
- Positive changes in your physical fitness.
- Positive changes in your attitude.
- Positive changes in your faith.
Use the MENU below to access all of the other Fit For Freedom ONLINE pages and resources.
Utilize this guide in conjunction with the book Fit for Freedom to make daily measurable steps toward new levels of freedom in Christ. Weather you are working through Fit for Freedom individually or as part of a group, be sure to post your comments below and share this with others by emailing the guide or posting it to your social networks.
TOOLS FOR POSITIVE CHANGE
Tools are the things we hold in our hands. They extend our ability to create, build and serve.
Books like Fit for Freedom can be powerful tools to achieve positive changes. Build your own personal library of books, information and other learning tools that you can use now and reference in the future.
Get a journal, notebook or phone app and start tracking your meals. These are tools that enable you to express yourself, document your daily pursuit for greater freedom, and thoughts you share with others. Be consistent to record what and why you are eating. This will give you insight to your eating habits. Keep your journal for a full thirty days as you do your journey with Fit for Freedom.
Other people are tools too. Identify one or more close contacts that can be a support to you. Through conversation, interaction, collaboration and prayer they bring human spirit to the positive changes God is working in your life. Be open and accountable with them.
Places can be tools to make your exercise and wellness fresh and inspiring. Build a growing list of places where you can be active or find solitude: nature trails, retail locations, guest visits to gyms, community gardens, college campuses, spas, visit different churches and more. Get more ideas to put your workout in place.
Create your own collection of fitness gear. These tools may be commercial grade home equipment or free weights, simple gear like a basket ball, boxing gloves, resistance bands and kettlebells or home creations from everyday items like filled buckets or jugs, tires, ropes stepping stools and more. Be creative and continually looking for new tools you can use to extend your reach for fitness and freedom.
POSITIVE CHANGES IN YOUR DIET
Drink water. – Drink 16 oz of water when you wake up in the morning. Place a bottle of water on the night stand and get in the habit of drinking it right after you sit up. This will repair dehydration, start your body moving and flush out the pancreas. It’s like a little daily cleanse. Drink half of your body weight in ounces of water everyday. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, you should be drinking 100 oz a day in order to lose weight.
Avoid using additional salt. – Food will begin to taste good when you get rid of extra salt in your diet. You’ll soon also notice how salty everything tastes when you go out to eat. Look at sodium content on prepackaged foods, it can be quite high. The Center for Disease Control recommends 1200-1500 mg per day.
Start eating fruit and veggies. – Do whatever it takes to add produce to your diet. Over 95% of all Americans do not eat the recommended servings per day. A great starting place would be an apple as a snack and a salad with chicken or fish for lunch.
SEARCH NOW TO MAKE MORE POSITIVE CHANGES IN YOUR DIET
Eat three balanced meals. – Try to eat about 3 oz of lean protein (chicken, fish, turkey, lean beef or eggs), about ½ cup of healthy carbohydrates (sweet potato, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, squash, etc.) add some veggies or a salad and finally a bit of healthy fats which include avocado, tree nuts, flax seed or olive oil. Let breakfast be your biggest meal. Breakfast gives you the energy you need to get going and be productive as well.
Eat two to three small snacks each day in addition to your meals. – Don’t starve yourself. If you don’t eat your metabolism will not rekindle itself and the wellness process becomes very difficult. If you starve yourself your body and brain will not have the vital energy it needs. Good choices for snacks are raw nuts, low fat string cheese, chopped veggies and fruits.
POSITIVE CHANGES IN YOUR PHYSICAL FITNESS
Exercise -Walk, free weights, swim, bike, do anything you like that will get you moving for twenty to thirty minutes to get your heart pumping, blood flowing and fat burning! If you have never worked out before or it’s been quite a while since you’ve exercised the best thing that you can do is walk. If you have excessive joint issues it’s best to start in the pool so that you won’t suffer injury or worsen your condition until you can get some weight off.
GET INSPIRED TO GET OUTDOORS AND GET PHYSICALLY ACTIVE.
Links to selected reading from Shout! Outdoor Lifestyle Magazine are listed below to motivate and challenge you to walk, swim and bike.
Making positive changes in your physical fitness happens when you make it fun. Fun, is the most important ingredient in fitness. Be sure to return to this page and post a comment below about how you are making positive changes in your physical fitness.
POSITIVE CHANGES IN YOUR ATTITUDE
Stay positive. Say this with me, “I am able to lose weight and gain self control.” Be responsible and obedient to what the Father has called you to do. If you step out in faith, God will meet you and help you succeed. You can do ALL things through Christ.
Build your attitude vocabulary. Daily add a new word that focuses your attention on God: hope, commitment, peace, grace, weakness, potential, wisdom, clarity, patience, forgiveness, determination, trust and vision. Dig into the Bible, talk with others, pray and seek understanding so that each word can transform your attitude toward the mind of God.
Post each new positive attitude word on your online social spaces, write it on your home marker board, send it as a handwritten note or text message to a friend or family member, put it in your personal journal, share it in the comments on this page and carry it in your gym bag. Doing this helps you have a positive attitude and reinforces your ability to be life to others. This isn’t about just having a “positive attitude” it is about your spirit being transformed by the renewing of your mind.
POSITIVE CHANGES IN YOUR FAITH
To really get the positive changes you want in your relationship with God you have to start with the basics: Bible reading and prayer. Spending time with the Father is the ongoing experience you need. This is the MOST IMPORTANT step in regaining your health. Abundant life flows from God. All healing, behavior modification, deliverance from addictions and more stems from the transformation that comes from time in prayer and time in the Bible. Loving God is a spiritual exercise for a healthier life.
Schedule Laurie Graves to do a LIVE presentation at your church or gym. She offers many more ideas to make positive changes in your faith.
It is called “faith” not “science”. That isn’t to say that you can’t find evidence to support what you believe. However, in many areas of faith God’s ways are above our understanding. Your faith grows strong when you build your own personal confidence in God and are persuaded by God to embrace it. Don’t build your faith on that of others. Become comfortable in your relationship with God. Make a choice to not be easily swayed by others uncertainty and fears.
Help others to explore and discover God. Be alert for opportunities to demonstrate compassion and share Biblical insights that strengthen others in their life challenges and joys. Being thoughtful or gentle in your presentation of God to others doesn’t mean being shy. You won’t know all the answers or solutions but you can journey with others and invite them to explore the Bible and talk with God.
1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV, So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
