Easter Is Coming!
The sun is shining brightly today with an unseasonably warm temperature of 77 degrees for Indiana in late March. This beautiful day reminds me we have just three remaining weeks of Lent until Easter.
As I was praying, God challenged me to use the last three weeks of Lent wisely. The thought popped into my mind that it’s the perfect time to prepare body, soul, and spirit for the most important celebration of our faith.
So, at Spaces of Grace, we’d like to invite you to join us. What if we choose a focus for each of the three remaining weeks of Lent? For week 1, we’ll focus on preparing the body. In week 2, we’ll turn our attention to the soul, and during week 3 we’ll concentrate on the spirit.
Week 1 Healthy Body Ideas
We can approach preparing ourselves for Easter in one of two ways: by either eliminating an unhealthy habit or by adding a healthy practice to our routine. Here are some suggestions. Pick one (or more if you’re feeling adventurous) to try this week. Feel free to add your own suggestions and please share them with us in the comments. We’d love to hear what you’re doing.
Sugar Fast
Take a week to try a sugar fast. How differently would we feel if for a week we made it a priority to skip our sugary treats? This practice can help stabilize our blood sugar levels, causing us to avoid the crashes that leave us tired and irritable after a glucose-heavy meal. Check out this resource on breaking your sugar habit.
Sleep Well
Try adopting a more stable sleep schedule, prioritizing 7-8 hours of sleep each night — and an earlier bedtime. I aim for a 10-10:30 p.m. bedtime most nights. Sleep experts suggest we try to maintain the same sleep schedule on the weekend as during the week. I find it to be rather difficult, although I understand the reasoning. See these suggestions from Dr. Mark Hyman on how to improve your sleep hygiene.
No Vegetable Oils
Eliminate unhealthy, inflammatory vegetable oils. Dr Cate Shanahan calls these the hateful eight. They are canola oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, safflower, rice bran oil, and grapeseed oil. Unfortunately, they’re in almost every prepared food we eat. Try making your own snacks using healthy fats such as extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, butter, avocados, nuts, and seeds. Here is a simple olive oil salad dressing recipe from Nutritional Weight and Wellness.
Move More
God designed our bodies to move. How can you add more movement into your days? If you work outside of the home, perhaps your boss will allow a 10-minute morning break where you could take a quick walk or stretch. Then, try a few more minutes over lunch. If you work from home, add movement to your morning routine.
If you’re currently inactive, check with your doctor and then start small with 7-15 minutes of exercise at a time. I love Lucy-Wyndham Reed’s resources on YouTube (all free) and Leslie Sansone’s free indoor walking videos as well.
Menu Planning
Plan out a week of healthy dinners. A plan will help eliminate fast food runs. Here are two great resources to use if you need ideas for your week of menus:
Food Variety
Try a new fruit or vegetable this week. Sometimes, I get stuck in a rut of eating the same vegetables all the time. I want to broaden my palate and the nutrients I’m taking in by trying a vegetable in a different color family — like purple! Perhaps you could try purple cabbage, beets, or purple peppers. Or opt for another color family you’d like to try.
What Are You Trying?
We’d love to hear what you will be working on during week 1. Just leave us a comment below. I’ll be traveling this week, so I may try a different exercise than my normal routine. I’ll update my progress below.
Have a blessed week preparing yourself for Easter!
This week I am on vacation, so I’ve added a type of exercise I don’t normally do: swimming! I’ve enjoyed this break from my normal routine. I’ve also been doing lots of walking.