A few weeks ago we shared a new blog post, 8 Weeks to a Healthier You - Part 1, and now we are ready for Part 2! Are you?
In case you missed it, this is an 8-week health challenge and a great opportunity to learn about healthy living and making lasting positive changes to your lifestyle.
With this challenge, we take a slow but steady approach, sharing one new habit, principle, or change per week, to help you build healthy habits at a reasonable pace that will actually stick.
In Part 1, we looked at how nutrition, exercise, water, and sunlight (the basics of a healthy lifestyle) can get you closer to a healthier you.
In this blog, Part 2, we will dig a little deeper and do a bit more soul searching. In this last 4 weeks of the challenge, the focus is more on your mental and spiritual health, where we explore the importance of temperance, air, rest, and trust in God.
We will host another live 8-week challenge in 2025. Subscribe below to be the first to know about all the details and to become part of our exclusive 8-week challenge Facebook group.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR 8-WEEK HEALTH CHALLENGE
So, let's get to it and finish this 8-week challenge on a high!
8 WEEKS TO A HEALTHIER YOU (PART 2)
WEEK 5: TEMPERANCE
This will likely be the most challenging part of the series, not because it is physically difficult but because the battle will be in your mind. However, if you master yourself, you can master almost anything.
Unless someone is forcing you to eat something against your will, Americans generally have 100% control of what we put in our mouths. Yet, while knowing that consuming large quantities of toxic food products over an extended period is known to cause shorter lifespans and health complications, the average person chooses to indulge in pleasure foods over wholesome, life-giving foods.
And there is nothing wrong with pleasure foods, it’s just that we indulge too often. Who can resist a brownie or cookie?? We get it!
When the pain of being sick and tired is greater than the pain of making the right health decisions, change happens. But you don’t have to wait until you’re sick and tired to make the right choices about your health. You can take a stand today!
This is what one of our 2024 live challenge participants had to share about temperance:
"I hadn't really truly correlated temperance with self-control before this week. This was one of those aha moments for me. I guess I always separated them in my mind and in my goal-setting. God has used this connection this week to look at and get honest with Him and to myself about my addiction to food. Yes, for me, it truly is an addiction. A release or an escape that I've used for most of my life that has sabotaged me in so many ways!!! New thoughts bring new challenges that, when I bring them to God, create new beginnings!"
Health challenge: Instead of throwing away the bad foods you know you shouldn’t be eating, finish them in time and then simply don’t purchase them next time you go shopping. Keep this practice until all the harmful foods are removed from your cupboard or pantry and replaced with clean, wholesome food items.
Journal: Write out your list of kryptonites (foods to avoid). Now, find a comparable healthy option/alternative to exchange each item on the list for.
Additional Reading:
Healthier alternatives for not-so-healthy guilty treats
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WEEK 6: AIR
Since this week’s challenge is air, we thought we’d keep it light.
Here is what a female Christian author from the 1800s has this to say about fresh air, “Air, air, the precious boon of heaven, which all may have, will bless you with its invigorating influence if you will not refuse its entrance.
Welcome it, cultivate a love for it, and it will prove a precious soother of the nerves.... The influence of pure, fresh air is to cause the blood to circulate healthfully through the system. It refreshes the body and tends to render it strong and healthy, while at the same time, its influence is decidedly felt upon the mind, imparting a degree of composure and serenity. It excites the appetite, and renders the digestion of food more perfect, and induces sound, sweet sleep.”—Testimonies for the Church 1:702. {HL 72.2}
We tasked an AI research agent to discover the quotes’ accuracy, and here are the results:
Air, specifically fresh air, has numerous positive effects on our health and well-being. Multiple sources have shown that fresh air benefits blood circulation, body refreshment, mental well-being, appetite, digestion, and sleep quality.
Fresh air has been found to not only cleanse the lungs but also boost mood, lower heart rate, increase energy levels, and improve digestion. These positive effects on digestion and sleep quality support the statement that fresh air can improve appetite and induce sound, sweet sleep.
Fresh air positively influences the serotonin hormone, which promotes a sense of happiness and well-being. This leads to a significant boost in mood, supporting the idea that fresh air can positively affect mental well-being.
Research suggests high temperatures can decrease total sleep time and duration of REM and SWS (slow-wave sleep) and increase sleep onset. Therefore, fresh air, often associated with lower temperatures, can contribute to better sleep quality.
Increased oxygen levels in the blood due to fresh air have been shown to improve the overall quality of sleep. This aligns with the statement that fresh air induces sound, sweet sleep.
Fresh air has several benefits for the digestive system, including improving digestion and boosting appetite. This supports the idea that fresh air can excite the appetite and enhance food digestion.
In summary, fresh air positively affects blood circulation, body refreshment, mental well-being, appetite, digestion, and sleep quality. These findings from various sources validate that fresh air can invigorate and soothe the body, enhance mental composure, stimulate appetite, aid digestion, and promote sound sleep.
Health Challenge: Go outside the city into whatever nature is available to you and take five deep breaths, holding them for 12 seconds each. Journal any changes in how you feel the rest of the week after doing this.
Journal: Look at a map and write down all the local nature spaces near you that you have yet to visit. These could be parks, beaches, mountains, hills, rivers, and streams, anywhere not man-made.
Additional Reading:
WEEK 7: REST
As we near the end of our 8-week health challenge, now is an excellent time to look back, reflect, and internalize what has happened. Some of you needed only a gentle reminder of the health principles you were raised with.
Did you know that if you live to 75, around 25 years will be spent sleeping?
While physical and mental rest are different, you need both for optimal health. Physical rest can be as simple as sleeping or relaxing on the couch with your family, whereas mental rest focuses on calming a busy or anxious mind. Activities like prayer or a walk in nature can help bring mental ease.
We can only look to the Bible at the very beginning for guidance, where God gave Adam and Eve an entire day made just for rest. He asked them and us to set aside selfish gain and personal endeavors to focus on spiritual and uplifting things. Spending time doing good for and to others leaves more room for God to do good for you.
We’ll leave you with another reason to go to bed a little earlier for the rest of the challenge. Research shows that a waste-clearing system kicks into gear during sleep, flushing out waste and toxins.
Here's another testimony by one of our past health challenge participants:
"Throughout this health journey, I have been getting such wonderful sleep. I didn't really know I was a poor sleeper until I saw the difference in getting good, consistent sleep. I have so much energy, all without caffeine. Normally I would start off every day with a cup (or two, or three) of coffee and finish each day with a glass of wine. I've started to drink only water. Although I do miss the flavor I gave up, I am just so well rested and feel so good."
Health challenge: Place your phone in a separate room when going to bed at night. If you use your phone as an alarm, keep it on the opposite side of the room from your bed. We also encourage you to start developing a consistent bedtime routine and sleep schedule. Try to get those recommended 8 hours of sleep ;-)
Journal: Take 5-10 minutes to write out and plan your perfect day, hour by hour, from when you wake up until when you go to bed. Often times, when we write down things to do for the next day, it gets out of our heads and onto paper, instead of making us roll around and stress about all the things that need to be done and remembered! This way, you will have a clear action plan for the next day.
Additional Reading:
100 Bible Facts upon the Sabbath Question
SABBATH: Learn Why the Number 7 Is Used So Much in the Bible
WEEK 8: TRUST IN GOD
Congratulations on making it to the last challenge of our 8-week health challenge. We have been amazed by all the stories you have been sharing. This last challenge is optional because we believe God doesn’t force Himself on anyone, but we will share what we have found helpful in our experience.
Trust in God should be at the foundation of your health and lifestyle. There are many verses in scripture where God demonstrates that he cares about our health and well-being. It even lets us know it pains Him when we willfully abuse our bodies.
The most qualified people to diagnose engine malfunctions are engineers and the manufacturers themselves. “Why?” Well, because they designed it. In this same light, the most qualified person to speak about life and its functions would be the one who claimed to create life and gave overwhelming evidence.
Trust in God is more than mindlessly walking through life and following others because of tradition or culture. It’s more than singing in church on weekends and camping trips in summer. Trust in God is all-encompassing and affects every area of life, from what you eat to what you watch to even what you wear.
In the previous weeks, our challenges came with benefits for you to experience as a result of following the instructions. This week is no different than the weeks prior.
The benefits you will experience cannot be predicted, and often the time when someone makes a full commitment to trust God, it seems like that’s when their world gets turned upside down. That said, you have just made it through 8 weeks of growing, learning, and overcoming habits and patterns that seemed impossible to break. You have nothing to lose going all the way on this challenge, too!
Health Challenge: Grab your Bible or borrow a friend's and read the entire book of John, or you can choose to listen to it on audio. Visual learners can watch “Visible Gospel of John” for free on YouTube and have a similar experience. The life of Jesus demonstrates the best example of what living a life of perfect trust in God looks like. From reading or watching about His life, find ways you can implement Christ’s principles and teachings in your life.
Journal: Summarize each day as a thank-you letter to God.
Additional Reading:
Well done, friend! You completed the 8-week challenge!
If you participated, journal how you feel at the end of the 8 weeks.
➡️What changes did you notice in your life, whether physical, mental, or spiritual?
➡️What did you struggle most with and what changes or habits were easier to achieve?
➡️What can you do or change to address the struggles you had to make it easier?
If you can note down as much as possible about your 8-week journey, you can reflect back and determine in what areas you can improve or even excel in.
We would love to hear your feedback! If you have any stories or testimonials you would be willing to share, please do feel free to share them on our exclusive challenge Facebook group. You can sign up below, where you will also be informed about our 2025 live challenge, should you wish to participate:
