Food, water, sleep, exercises, how much is enough and what is the proper portion to sustain our bodies

 

Food, water, sleep, exercises, how much is enough and what is the proper portion to sustain our bodies

 

What is our purpose in life?

 

Why are we here?

 

To do the work and the will of the Lord!

 

Anything less than that is doing the work and will of our self or self-gratification.

 

The Lord desires us to love and serve him; we do this by loving and serving our neighbor.

 

You see Heavenly Father lives within each of us through his son’s spirit – the Holy Ghost. The father, the son and the Holy Spirit are one in purpose.

 

As a father I have a responsibility to love my family, support my family, nurture and develop my children and love and serve my neighbors.

 

Everything in moderation!

 

The goal or objective is to have sufficient physical energy to be able to pray, read your scriptures, go to work, love your wife, play with your children, instruct and teach your children, do your errands, work out, honor all your commitments and still have energy left over at the end of the day to love your wife, talk with and pray with and cuddle with your wife.

 

How much food is enough?

 

How many calories does your body need to burn in order for you to have sufficient energy?

 

You want to eat just the right amount for your body and your lifestyle.

 

Too little or too much and your body will start to get tired and not function at optimum levels.

 

When we eat too much, our bodies have to work harder to digest the food thus robbing us of our energy to perform at peak performance.

 

If we eat too little we are robbing our bodies of the proper nutrients we need to regenerate muscle, skin tone etc.

 

You will know if you are eating too much each day by looking at your defecations (body waste) the next day or so.

 

If you have an excess amount of defecation, you have eaten too much.

 

The volume and frequency and texture of your defecation will tell you how your body is using the food you put in it.

 

I am not going to get into that subject although I believe I have a very good idea what that all means.

 

Too much of anything can be harmful to the function of our bodies.

 

Too much sugar, protein, vegetables, carbohydrates, dairy, of any of these can be bad. Not enough can also be bad.

 

The key is moderation and proper consumption.

 

It is important to stay away from alcohol, nicotine of any kind, e.g. cigarettes, drugs of any kind including unnecessary prescription drugs, caffeine of any kind including coffee, tea and soda.

 

Each of these robs the body and the mind and thus have a debilitating effect in the body and the mind.

 

Our goal is to have energy left over at the end of the day. We should be able to do everything we have to do in a given day and still have energy in excess when we go to bed at night.

 

What is our goal – excess energy?

 

It is also important to drink a sufficient amount of water to

 

1. Flush our system of pollutants and

 

2. Bring life to our muscle tissue.

 

Insufficient water will damage our muscle and skin tissue and interrupt our body’s ability to carry out the waste it no longer needs.

 

Experts say we need 8 x 8 ounce glasses of water every day. More than that and we have asked our bodies to work harder than it should, less than that and we have robbed our body of a vital product that gets rid of waste. 8 x 8 ounces of water is good if you are leading a normal life.

 

If you are outside and it is excessively hot and you are sweating profusely or if you work out regularly and again sweat profusely you will need more water because you are losing water through your skin.

 

Again moderation is the key.

 

Look at your urine, is it clear, then you may be drinking too much water. Is it dark yellow, then you are not drinking enough water.

 

It is best to have your urine just slightly yellow during the day. Your urine will definitely be a bit more yellow when you wake up in the morning.

 

Drinking soda only bloats your system because of the sodium (salt), it retains excess water, it may contain caffeine and the calories you receive are typically sugar which can give you a temporary lift of energy and then when the sugar is burned up leave you mentally and physically tired.

 

Coffee, tea that contains caffeine acts as a diuretic and gets rid of water from your system. It also alters or changes the body and mind chemistry. Caffeine lifts you up and when the effect wears off leaves you tired and mentally exhausted. It is best to watch how much water you consume, stay away from sodas and caffeine.

 

It is also important to get the proper amount of sleep so that you don’t feel sluggish throughout the day.

 

Again either too much or too little will have you feeling tired the next day.

 

The amount if sleep you need varies by age and activity.

 

I won’t get into the amount of sleep you need as it relates to age and activity but it is important to know that sleep is important for both the mind and the body. Both the mind and the body need time to reenergize themselves. My father (doctor) used to say our minds need at least 7 hours of sleep in order to properly categorize all the information it takes in the previous day. In other words everything our minds, bodies, our senses took in that day needs to be stored in its proper place within the brain so that we will be able to use that information when we need it. If we don’t get enough sleep our minds don’t have time to sufficiently categorize the information and we don’t think as clearly as we should. So it is important to get enough sleep in order for our brains to operate at peak performance. Depending on our level of activity we may need a bit more rest or sleep in order for our bodies or allow our bodies to reenergize.

 

I didn’t say it earlier but it is also important to eat a big breakfast, a medium size lunch and a light dinner.

 

Eat early and stop eating early.

 

Eat breakfast by 6:30, lunch by 12:00 and dinner by 6:00, if you can eat dinner earlier that would be preferable, that way your body has time to digest the food before you go to bed.

 

Don’t go to bed on a full stomach, it will only turn to fat and disturb your body’s mental and physical re-energization due to its need to process the food.

 

Too little sleep is going to leave you feeling tired and sluggish. If you have to, take a short nap during the day. This small amount of rest will help you mentally throughout the remainder of the day. My father told me he took a 20 minute nap right after lunch each day which he said helped him mentally throughout the remainder of the day. I use to take a 20 to 30 minute nap before I sat down for an evening of studying while in college, this allowed me to study for hours (5-6) without feeling the least bit tired. I made it a habit in college to take a nap before I studied and I know it helped me in my understanding and retention of the material I was studying.

 

The last area I wanted to write about is physical fitness.

 

Once again too much or too little is bad.

 

Moderation is the key.

 

Experts say we should exercise every day for 20-30 minutes elevating our heart rate so as to get the blood flowing throughout our minds and bodies. Blood carries oxygen, which brings life and energy to our muscle and skin. We need to properly oxygenate our bodies and our minds in order for them to operate a peak performance. We don’t need to do excessively more than this unless we are preparing for competition.

 

That is an entirely different story; we may need to train several hours each day in order to prepare for competition.

 

What I am writing about is simply maintenance exercise.

 

The type of exercise you need to proper oxygenate your muscle and mind tissue.

 

Should you work out more?

 

Can you work out more?

 

Depends on any number of criteria.

 

What is the purpose of your extended workout?

 

Is it to lose weight?

 

Burn calories?

 

Prepare for a specific sporting event or activity?

 

Is it to tone up?

 

Have you not exercised in a while and now you want to start looking good?

 

Are you eating too much?

 

Not enough?

Drinking too much?

 

Or not enough?

 

Are you getting the proper amount of sleep?

 

Or not enough?

 

There are a million questions and a million reasons why someone would want to work out more than 20-30 minutes per day. Again everything in moderation.

 

Too much exercise may leave you tired and exhausted, depending on others area of your life.

 

Each person needs to monitor their physical activity and weigh it against their other responsibilities in life.

 

What is more important 2 hours of working out or 1 hour of working out (including getting ready and shower time afterwards) and one more hour with your wife or children?

 

Are you working out for you or your family? How much is enough.

 

You need to set proper priorities when it comes to working out.

 

Everything we do is for the glory of the Lord, to love and serve him by loving and serving our neighbor.

 

It is very important to say physically fit, very important. This helps stimulate the mind and of course the body. Too much however can take away from your other responsibilities in life. It is important to compete in life but do we always have to strive to win. Maybe. But maybe not. You be the judge, how much is enough for you as it relates to your other responsibilities in life.

 

Are you single, working an 8 hour a day job and have no other responsibilities, maybe you can afford the time to work out more. Are you married with 4 children and several other responsibilities? Then maybe you should limit your workout to 20-30 minutes per day. Are you working out to stay physically and mental fit and alert or are you doing it for some other purpose.

 

When we are married the race we need to win is with our wife and children.

 

If you are a professional sports star well then that is your work and of course you are going to work out more. I am not writing this for the professional or even semi-professional athlete.

 

So now we have taken a brief look at four areas of our life that affect our ability to love and service our Lord, our family and our neighbor.

 

We need to set proper priorities, maintain a proper diet, drink sufficient amounts of water, and get enough sleep and exercise in order to have our mind and our bodies operate a peak performance. This requires

 

discipline – training intended to elicit a specific pattern or behavior or character. Behavior that results from such training. A set of methods or rules of conduct.

 

What is our goal in life?

 

Eternal Salvation.

 

How do we obtain Eternal Salvation when we die – by living a life of prayer, righteousness, and obedience to the Lords word, loving and serving? We need to keep in mind that every piece of food we eat every glass of liquid we drink, every moment of every waking day and its activity has an effect in our ability to love and serve. We need to discipline ourselves to the point that we become aware of everything we think, say and do as it relates or impacts our relationship with the Lord and our neighbor.