People have many reasons for wanting to eat right and stay physically fit, but for Christians, chief among those reasons should be the desire to answer the call the Apostle Paul made to the church in Corinth.
Found in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul asks: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”
Staying active and getting an adequate amount of sleep are important factors in a healthy lifestyle. So, too, is proper nutrition.
Yaa Boakye, a Chicago-based registered dietitian nutritionist and certified personal trainer, says that for a nutrition plan to be sustainable, it needs to start with foods a person already enjoys rather than working from restrictive lists.
A successful meal plan will include a balance of protein, fiber, healthy fats and carbohydrates.
“Food is information,” Boakye said. “It’s fuel. It’s instructions for how you want your body to perform.”
Boakye added that everyone’s body responds differently to certain foods and people require different nutrients based on their activity levels. It’s for that reason that she doesn’t formulate generic meal plans for anyone who asks.
“A lot of people start in the wrong place. They want to be told what to eat,” Boayke said. “They want a specific list. They want to remove things (from their diet) and that’s just not realistic. You’ve got to start with what you like and where you are” in your fitness journey.
She also cautioned against buying into the latest social media fads because they typically aren’t a one-size-fits-all strategy.
“What do you actually like to eat? Not what you saw on TikTok, not what you saw on YouTube,” Boakye said. “If you are the person that likes burritos, you like tacos, you like waffles, all that stuff, write it all down. And I want you to go and learn what makes up those foods. What of those things are carbs, protein and fat?”
Michele Sotak, a certified personal trainer and co-host of Muscles + Mission, added that any healthy lifestyle should be accompanied by a heaping helping of grace because the journey will be filled with ups and downs.
“Behavior change is hard and it takes time to get to where you want to be,” Sotak said. “So we don't have to keep changing goals because they're hard. Let's try to get a little uncomfortable and it's going to be sustainable if we learn how to create habits.”
Boakye encouraged anyone who feels overwhelmed by the thought of trying to sort out a nutrition plan to consult a professional nutritionist, or at the very least, tap into artificial intelligence resources, such as ChatGPT.
“You've got this. I always tell people, you need to surround yourself with the energy that's going to just protect you and your peace and your mindset on this journey,” Boayke said. “So I want to offer up those words to be the first person to tell about this. You can do this.”