The Problem with Doritos Fingers

If you know me, you know that I love shopping in the weird organic section of the grocery store. I have always loved eating healthy because I don't feel sick afterwards, and because I can eat more food that way (but don't get me wrong, Taco Johns is my guilty pleasure and so is anything deep fried and chocolate covered). I've recently realized that being healthy is all about your lifestyle rather than a diet or workout mania you go on for a little while. Those things are great, and they can get you back on track, but before you think going on a diet or going to the gym will solve all of your problems... let me tell you something. It won't. In fact, it might create more problems.

The first question you need to ask yourself before wanting to diet or workout more is this: why? Is it because...

(a) you want to get in shape?
(b) you want to be attractive?
(c) you want to gain confidence?
(d) you want to be able to do the Tough Mudder?

The list goes on. I try and ask myself this question all the time. I need to remind myself of my motivation behind me living a healthy lifestyle, otherwise it doesn't mean anything to me, and going to the gym and eating salads for lunch just becomes something I force myself to do. It becomes frustrating. So how in the world can we switch from the "month-long diet" mindset to the "healthy lifestyle" mindset? It sounds like a major step, but it's really not. Think about this...

Your body is a composition of 78 organs, 206 bones, over 600 muscles, and billions of nerves. Wow. Think about that for a second. Doesn't that kind of freak you out? For me, the complexity of the human body just points back to how great our God is. God didn't have to create us the way He did; He didn't have to make our brains able to hold memories from 10 years ago, He didn't have to make us all have beautiful different eye colors, He didn't have to make us with voices that can sing and hands that can play instruments... He didn't have to do any of that. But He did, because He loves us. And that alone should give us the full motivation we need to take care of our bodies.

It seems that modern-day Christianity purposefully strays from the importance of physical well-being... at least in America, maybe because over 68% of us are obese and we don't think that's much of a problem... However, taking care of yourself is another way to honor God that should not be overlooked.

Our bodies are the very first thing other people notice about us, and therefore they should glorify God and point back to Him. I'm a very blunt person, so I'll just put it this way: if you're a greasy fat guy laying on the couch with your hand in a bag of Doritos and a BBQ stain on your shirt, there is no way that I'm going to want to listen to anything you have to say. Clearly, you don't care about yourself, so how could you care about me? Now that was a bit of an over-exaggeration, but you get the point. Since God loved us so much to give us these freakin' awesome bodies, the least we can do is take care of them... because of Him.

So next time you crave a nice honkin' slice of chocolate cake, make a salad instead eat it. Next time you just feel like you need a day off from the gym, just go take some time to rest.

Guys, ponder what a healthy lifestyle looks like. Well I have some good news for you: It's not about eating salads, going to the gym, counting calories, or checking things off a list; it's about loving your body and doing what's best for you and what you need. 

It's about self-control.

Galations 5:22-23 even says, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." If we claim to have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, it should be easy to get in the healthy-living mindset because we already have our motivation down - Jesus Christ. It is only out of thanksgiving and love for Him that I live the way that I live. Yes, I mess up and fall short. I have and I will. Sometimes I find myself laying on the couch with greasy hair and my hand in a bag of Doritos. And that's okay, we're all human and that's exactly what we need sometimes. But what we need even more is Christ's love to embed itself in every single part of our lives... including the way we treat ourselves.


P.S. I hope this blog post encouraged you all. One of my recent "healthy lifestyle" decisions was to dispose of all my Bath & Body Works products (I'm still working on it... it's a process...) and make my own lotions and stuff instead. It's cheaper, better for your body, and all-natural!
Today I made this AMAZING mint chocolate body butter. Yup, that's right. Here's the recipe I made up if you want to make some for yourself:

Mint Chocolate Body Butter
1/3 cup organic coconut oil
1/3 cup organic cocoa butter
1 Tbs. jojoba oil
5 drops peppermint essential oil

Melt the coconut oil, cocoa butter, and jojoba oil together. Refrigerate until solid. Whip mixture for about 20 minutes until you get a nice and fluffy texture (the volume should expand). Add 5 drops of peppermint essential oil while mixing. Store in a glass mason jar of some sort and post a picture on Instagram of your new awesome creation.