As we embark on another new year, my resolutions are a little different. The things I am determined to do have more of an urgency to it. For instance, eating to live is a LAW. Just things around us are changing, I must change to a better version of me. I had always enjoyed exercising, but for those who don’t like exercising, think of the benefits you will receive from simply taking a walk or doing another source of exercise.
You will help strengthen and condition your heart. (I want my heart to be strong and walking, jogging, dancing helps along with resistance training, especially if you do circuits).
- Exercise strengthens your lungs.
- Exercise enhances your body’s ability to absorb nutrients.
- Exercise also reduces stress and uplifts your mood.
Number 4 is one of my favorites because traveling to the store started off being a very stressful event for me at the beginning of the pandemic. However, I found doing a short workout before going reduced stress and made me feel better and stronger. I also thought about how many steps I would get in the store by walking around. I am more “intentional” with my workouts.
Furthermore, I have become more intentional with my eating. Granted, sometimes I would eat a pizza or two (smile) and say, “Oh, I will work it off tomorrow.” But what if tomorrow doesn’t come? I must think about what is best for my body TODAY. In “How to Eat to Live,” Book I, it says, “Eating the wrong food and eating it too often starts trouble in the physical body everywhere—from the sole of your feet to the crown of your head.” (p. 41).
If we have packed on a few pounds, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad gave us clear instructions on what to eat when we are overweight. He said, “Do not eat spaghetti and macaroni at every meal. If you are overweight, do not eat it at any meal, and if you want to live a long time, do not eat it at any meal. Food such as spaghetti and macaroni is processed, not cooked thoroughly, and is hard to digest” (“How to Eat to Live,” Book II, p. 11).
In the 1991 lecture entitled, “God’s Healing Power,” the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan encouraged us to exercise and utilize weights because our metabolism slows down as we get older. Exercise helps to raise our metabolism. He even produced a video discussing health and we saw him lifting weights with a trainer.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, “We must have regularity in everything we do” (“How to Eat to Live,” Book II, p. 45). We must have regular meals, regular exercise, and regular prayer. This is one of the reasons why we are given a time to eat, preferably one meal a day between the hours of 4-6 p.m. is best. We are even taught to say our prayers in regular intervals.
Let us strengthen ourselves from within. In the Study Guide entitled “Building the Will,” Pt. 4, by Min. Farrakhan, it states that strengthening ourselves from within is a way to protect ourselves from outside forces; we have to check internal forces such as “greed.” If we check our internal forces, it can help free us “from any threat of being manipulated by outside forces; elimination of the internal force deprives the external force of a connection to our mind and heart.”
Let us strive to be obedient and make a better version of ourselves. May Allah (God) bless us all with peace, love, health, wealth, and happiness.
Audrey Muhammad is an educator, aerobics instructor, and author of “Get Fit to Live: Be Your Best You!” She can be reached at: [email protected]. Please consult a physician before beginning any new exercise or dietary program.
