You are what you eat? What a cliché. How about saying it in the more literal sense. "Your health will reflect back onto what you eat"? In fact a persons lifestyle will reflect back on them in every aspect of their life. The ideal standard for good health is a balanced lifestyle. Are you living a balanced lifestyle, physically, mentally, and spiritually? Here is how to tell.

Physical Lifestyle

Do you wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and well rested? Are you within your weight by ten pounds? Do you do a physical activity at least once a day to get your heart rate pumping? Perhaps you do one of these. Walk briskly for one hour, exercise or calisthenics, about 45 minutes, sport of your choice, or light aerobic exercise? The body needs physical exercise of some kind once a day. If you work at a desk job you should get up every hour and do some stretches to get the blood flowing. When you get home, take a walk or do some light aerobic exercise.

Do you eat at least four servings of raw fruits or vegetables in one day? Health-wise you should eat at least four servings of raw food a day. Most nutritionists say that eating a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables ensures you are receiving your daily intake of nutrients your body needs to stay healthy. An example of this is to eat a red apple with your breakfast, a green salad for lunch, a yellow orange for snack, and a purple cabbage slaw with dinner. You get the idea, right?

Emotional / Mental Lifestyle

Emotionally the balanced person does not feel in lack or in need for anything, even if they don't have much. Having stuff is not where happiness lies. Stuff is great to have, no doubt about it, but if we are living our life, just going to work everyday so we can have more stuff that we really don't need, there is an imbalance in our life. Besides work what else do you do? Do you have a hobby or other activity that you partake in?

Some people are mentally and emotionally sick because of past baggage. Perhaps they had an alcoholic parent, or perhaps they felt unloved and abandoned as a child. Whatever it is, you have to move on! Don't keep bringing up a traumatic past when you have your future in front of you! That's not right. Resolve your baggage and heal thyself. Live for today!

Mentally the balanced person feels good about who they are. They are generally have good relationships with others. Having good mental health does not mean you won't ever have negative feelings, but that you won't let your negative feelings to control you and your behavior. It's normal to feel our emotions - that's not what I'm talking about here. If a person is still dredging up the past from months or years ago, something is not mentally balanced within that person. If we have a negative past we have to resolve it and heal. Life is going to have its stresses and challenges. The mentally healthy face their challenges and resolve them instead of lingering in them.

Spiritual Lifestyle

Co-dependence, addictions, negative feelings, and inadequate relationship skills are because we are too dependent on how the world moves rather than on how God moves. We are too absorbed with the physical elements of our life rather than the spiritual. Where is the balance in that?

I'm not talking about organized religion here. Organized religion is for those people who like to have a guide helping them along the way towards whatever things spiritual they are seeking. Church is a great place to meet like-minded people but church can also stunt your growth. Church leaders are only seed planters, if even that. Once the seed is in your heart and in your mind only your relationship with your Creator will make the seed grow.

I (Paul) planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.

(1 Corinthians 3:6,7)

When someone is new at accepting Christ, by all means they should "go to church" and learn the basic concepts about God and how God works in their life. But eventually that person has to grow and mature spiritually "in the Lord" and going to church is not where that is. Your relationship with God, through your prayers, thoughts, actions, and lifestyle is church! Church is in your heart and mind wherever you may be, and whenever you want it to be. Your spirituality is what you make it to be.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 423,24)

Your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health is a precious commodity. Your body and mind is aging every day. That means you're not getting any younger. All areas of your health will decline faster if you don't take care of your health now! You can be in control of your health, if you take control.