Secret #1: Self-confidence – (6)

Let’s switch gears a bit…
In part 3 of these series we said: "a healthy body is key in pursuing our purpose with passion..."*

Eating well, good hygiene, regular exercise and rest (& recreation) are some of the other key elements in having self-confidence.

Let’s start with eating well

“The Food Guide Pyramid is one way for people to understand how to eat healthy. A rainbow of colored, vertical stripes represents the five food groups plus fats and oils. Here's what the colors stand for:

• Orange — grains
• Green — vegetables
• Red — fruits
• Yellow — fats and oils
• Blue — milk and dairy products
• Purple — meat, beans, fish, and nuts”**
  

Eating well is a combination of what you eat and when you eat. It’s great to have the right portions of fruit, vegetables, protein, carbohydrates but that could be counterproductive if you eat the right things at the wrong time. There are so many websites that provide useful information such as http://www.everydayhealth.com./ so I’ll let you go and seek out your own information as we’re not Nutrition experts.

Now on to hygiene…

Personal hygiene**** directly impacts the “healthiness” of our bodies. With all sorts of viruses all over the place, cleanliness starts from something as simple as regular and proper washing of our hands. Remember Eleanor Reid in her book “The Proverbs 31 woman” said “she keeps her home clean, comfortable and presentable.”*** You need to cultivate and communicate a personal hygiene culture in your home – for yourself, your husband and children, People who come to your home should be able to sense and leave with that culture. Think about it: if your body is clean and your home isn’t guess what will happen?

Now to my personal favourite (& challenge) – Exercise.

Just as what you eat shows on you…what you do or don’t do also shows on you. Another way to support or just enhance your self-confidence is to be fit – now this is not about being fat or slim it's about being fit!

The Google Health tip for October 10, 2009 (from this blogspot*****) said: “When older adults participate in strength training programs, their self-confidence and self-esteem improve, which has a strong impact on their overall quality of life.”

The Bible is unequivocal in telling us that physical exercise is useful (1 Timothy 4:8a)

So let’s pitch our tent here for a while…
When last did you take a walk longer than walking to/from your car? Should I go on to ask about jogging? Ok, I’ll hold it there...please don’t reverse that question to me. Wait a minute, thinking about that, I jogged in July this year – that must count for something. :) I also race my children to the store from the car park – that also counts as exercise for me.

I’m not sure if I should go on to talk about exercising indoors. On that matter, does walking up and down the house doing house work and making our homes “clean, comfortable and presentable” (as Eleanor Reid said), count?

Personally, I’m still working on waking up in good time to pray – do I have someone who also has this challenge?

Sometimes I sit up to watch TV – maybe I should consider doing some “sit-ups” while watching TV. Hmmm…not sure how that will play out though.

I like this quote by Edward Stanley: “Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” Need I say anymore?

The key is in keeping fit – whether you are fat or slim.

And finally, REST (& Recreation) notice I didn’t say “procreation” :)

A lot of us, especially women, don’t know how to rest. Do you realize that you don’t have to be on vacation to rest and be refreshed? You can start by creating “me” times. It doesn’t have to be a full-blown retreat – 10 minutes here, 5 minutes there all add up. You could decide to go to bed early or stay awake and just do nothing. Rest is more psychological than physical – at least that’s what I believe (& you don’t have to agree with me).

I’m sure you know that you don’t have to sleep to rest and not everyone that sleeps rests – have you ever woken up feeling tired? Maybe because you went to bed with a lot on your mind and though your body “slept”, your mind was active and all over the place – just waiting for your body to wake up so you could get going.

Ernest Hemingway so aptly said: “I still need more healthy rest in order to work at my best. My health is the main capital I have and I want to administer it intelligently.”

It’s all up to you…however, one piece of advice I’ll keep for myself as well as gladly share with you is the Health Tip for October 11, 2009*****: “Surround yourself with people and things that remind you to live a healthy lifestyle” - that's one sure step towards obtaining and maintaining self-confidence.

Footnotes:
* see last paragraph in Secret #1: Self-confidence – (2)

** http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/pyramid.html

*** Page 72 of The Proverbs 31 Woman by E.R. Reid

****According to dictionary reference: "Personal hygiene is about keeping your body clean and healthy. Good personal hygiene can make you less likely to become sick. It also helps you look and feel your best". (emphasis mine; see -http://ask.reference.com/related/Personal+Hygiene?qsrc=2892&l=dir&o=10601)

***** If you’d like to see other Health tips (which are new each day), check lower part of the left column on http://www.sapphire-and-beryl.blogspot.com; if you view this post through Facebook, click on the “original post” hyperlink at the bottom of the posting)