7 Healthy Habits of Living that Lead to a Pattern of Success

I hope you have enjoyed this series for Goal setting and planning!?!?!  Today’s post will conclude this series!  All the posts this year up until this point, have lead to today’s post.  Making Goals,  Making a prayer plan, Equipping yourself with the right tools are all steps towards a successful, positive outcome.  If you have missed any of the posts in the series scroll all the way down and you will see all the links from the past posts.

It all comes down to healthy habits of living.  Resolutions and diets do not last.  Today we will ask ourselves important questions and give ourselves a Health Check.  

How Valuable is Your Health?  What is your health costing you?  

We have become a society that works more, cooks less and spends less time maintaining our physical and spiritual health.  Maybe it’s time for a reset to start targeting in on what is most important and view how valuable our health really is.  

Money can buy you many things but it can’t buy you good health.

Money can buy

A Gym Membership     But it can’t buy you exercise
Workout Clothes          But it can’t buy you Motivation
Running Shoes             But it can’t buy you Encouragement
A bike                          But it can’t buy you Commitment
A fit bit                        But it can’t buy you Determination, Endurance, Perseverance

You get my point.  Circumstances always change.  Life Happens.  There will always be a reason to make an excuse of why you can’t be healthy.  Making good choices is key to developing habits of healthy living.

Equipping yourself with the knowledge now will help prepare you to make wiser choices later (Click to Tweet)

What motivates me? How much something costs?  Do I Know the ingredients in what I eat?  What am I really putting into my body?   These are good questions to ask yourself.  

Let’s start with food.

Fast Food-  Average cost of Big Mac Meal $6-$8 1-2 Big Mac Meals/week over 10 years= $7,280 

Average Cost of an Angioplasty procedure (plaque removal from cardiac arteries) vs. Open Heart surgery= $30,000- $200,000 (Long term effects of eating fast food plaque build up in arteries)

Is buying cheaper food with chemicals in it (High Fructose Corn Syrup) worth it in the long run?  
To see the long term effects of eating fast food everyday click here.   

Even though fast food is the cheaper, faster and a more convenient option it really does more damage in the long run than it does good.  Over time it will buy you things you might not want, like high blood pressure, diabetes or even open heart surgery.  It is important to know the difference between what is healthy and what is not. 

The rushed mentality is also what we do in our spiritual lives.  Instead of equipping our hearts with God’s truth and wisdom, they are filled with worldly expectations, activities, hurriedness and busyness (fast food diet).  In the long run it will fill your life with things you might not want, like disappointment, discouragement or despair.  I for one am guilty at times, of feeding my spiritual appetite a fast food diet.  I then look around and wonder why my life is a mess, when I didn’t even seek or ask God for help in the first place.   

Health is one of the most valuable things in your life, it’s important not to neglect it and give yourself a health check once in awhile.  Resolutions, diets and pure will, will never work on their own.  God’s truth and promises are bigger than your circumstances.  That is why it is so important to keep your focus on God and not your circumstances.  

It’s time to ask What unhealthy habits are still lingering in your life?

Matthew 8:17  “He took over our infirmities and carried our diseases.”  (Click to Tweet)

God has designed you to be healthy.  He knows what is healthy and what you need.   We all can’t run a marathon or join the olympics but there is a balance of being healthy and not.  God did not create you to live on a fast food diet (for physical and spiritual health).  His truth and love are what provide nourishment and sustenance for your spiritual appetite and will eternally satisfy them.

How can God use you for his plan if you have physical strength and have spiritual weakness or vice versa?  

You are meant to be both physically and spiritually healthy
.  God uses these 7 habits to equip and prepare you for his abundant blessings to be filled in your life.  

Here are 7 Healthy Habits of Living that will Help You to Stay in a Pattern of Success:

1.  Eating Healthy–  Know the ingredients in your food, Plan Meals, drink plenty of water, stay away from processed foods, eat a clean diet, decrease sugar and alcohol intake are all ways of eating and staying healthy.  I love my crockpot.  I don’t know what I would do without it.  Planning and preparing meals ahead of time helps me make better and healthier choices.  Your body will thank you for it.  Join a recipe club, join a clean eating group, just do this with someone else to help keep you accountable.  Two websites I recommend to help with clean eating, meal planning and community are the Gracious Pantry and Faith and Food.   A book that helps you incorporate faith, family, fitness and food is the Daniel Plan by Rick Warren.  The more you know the more you grow and stay healthier!  “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”  1 Corinthians 10:31 

2.  Reading the Bible–  Staying in God’s Word and Bible Study is clean eating for your soul.  Reading the Bible and Bible study help you stay connected with God’s truth and wisdom to help you make wise choices.  Staying in God’s word everyday helps you to be better equipped for what God has in store for you.  Join a local Bible Study at a church, host a Bible study in your home, do one on-line.  It doesn’t matter where you do Bible study what matters is staying consistent .  Do what works for you in what season of life you are in.  

  • Join a group–  It helps build community, build relationships and helps you stay accountable.
  • Start a Bible Study–  Great ones from LifeWay (Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer) or Proverbs31 Ministries.
  •  Sign up for daily devotionals to be sent right to your inbox.  I recommend Daily Hope by Rick Warren.
  • Start Bible Reading Plan– Download the Bible App to start a daily Bible Reading Plan

These are all great ways to help you stay in God’s word and deepen your relationship with him.  Hearts and minds become transformed when we fill them with God’s word, his truth.   “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”  Colossians 3:16 

3.  Prayer“Be Faithful in Prayer.”  Romans 12:12 Prayer is so important.  It keeps you in direct communication with God.  Prayer helps maintain, strengthen and deepen your relationship with God.  There is no wrong way to pray, just pray.  God is always listening.  You don’t have to be eloquent or say elaborate words, just pray what is in your heart.  God does not judge your prayers.  When praying, pray for yourself, your needs and wants, pray for others, your family, loved ones, pray for our leaders of our country, your community, your church, our world.  Here are 4 great ways to help deepen and strengthen your prayer life.  

4.  Being in Community in Relationship With one Another–  The best way to set yourself up for a pattern of success is to Join a group!  There is nothing better when faith, fitness and food can be done together in community with each other.  It builds relationships, strengthens bonds and helps you learn healthy habits of living!  In groups you will be held more accountable, be encouraged and grow physically and spiritually!  There is a great website that does all 3 check it out at Faith and Food.

5.  Exercise–   “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”  1 Timothy 4:8  What we do in this life matters.  Maintaining good health through diet and exercise not only prepares us for this life but for life to come as well.  Exercise may seem hard and difficult at times but the hard work and discipline are well worth it.  Your body is meant to be treated like a temple.  Your health and the time you invest in maintaining your health is invaluable.  There will be times you will have to exercise your faith.  You will go through trials you don’t understand.  God’s love is greater and he is with you.  I promise this exercise will produce a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11).  The commitment, dedication, sacrifice and hard work are minimal compared to the multitude of rewards you will receive in the long run.  Join a group get an accountability partner.  Seek the advice from experts;  trainers, nutritionists, doctors, etc.

6.  Positive Attitude–  “A joyful heart is good medicine.” Proverbs 17:22   A thankful heart is a happy heart.   Keeping your focus on God and not your circumstances help maintain an attitude of gratitude keeping you going in a positive direction.   If you feel a bad case of negativity coming on ask God in prayer to help you look at your situation from a new perspective.  Here are 7 Ways a New perspective can Impact Your Life.

7.  Rest“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.”  Matthew 11:29  Rest is important for the physical and spiritual well being.  It helps clear your mind and heart, to think more clearly and make better decisions.  You are no good when you are running around trying to do a hundred things!  You were meant to have rest!  You were not meant to carry your burdens ‘yoke’  on your own.  Your burdens are meant to be given to God.  When you do, you will find rest.  Jesus is the way to God and peace in your life.  God isn’t just part of your plan to put on your ‘to do list,’ He is the Plan!  He is the one who transforms you and allows his blessings to overflow within you!

We all have our weakness.  Like how does the seafood man always know when I am in the grocery story to announce the seafood specials?  There will be temptations.  There will be times you are tired and weary.  There will be times you fall short.  You can rejoice because You can always rely on God’s strength to get you through.  He is enough.  He is our Strength!

This may seem overwhelming.  Pick one physical and one spiritual habit to work on first.  No one is perfect.  No one can ever live up to worldly expectations of doing it all.  You will always fall short.  But thankfully you can be set free from worldly expectations and approval when you hold on to God’s truth and promises.

YOU MATTER! YOU WERE MADE TO SUCCEED!  YOU ARE LOVED!  YOU ARE VALUABLE! YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!  I hope you keep asking yourself the important questions!  Keep your focus on God and he will set your paths straight on a road to better health!  Keep Going, Stay in the Pattern and you WILL be set up for Success!  You Can Do It!

Did you like this blogpost?  Please share with others! Want more encouraging messages? Subscribe to my blog and an encouraging message will be sent right to your inbox!  Or Join Me on Periscope Tuesdays at 12:15pm EST and Saturdays at 10:30am EST.  Watch Replays on katch.me.  

I Pray you will have a blessed week and God will lead you to a life of Good Health that leads to Healthy Habits of Living! I would love to hear from you! Leave Comments Below!

8 replies
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