Fitness Challenge: Why Drinking Water Physically, Spiritually Promotes Health

Editor’s Note: Susie Larson started a fitness challenge on her blog. Every week she encouraged readers to do one activity to encourage physical and spiritual discipline.

Physical Discipline:

Drink Water – Many experts suggest we need 8-10 glasses of water a day. My husband added this one discipline to his daily routine and lost 10 pounds in one month! Fitness expert Wendie Pett suggests we drink the equivalent to half our body weight (in ounces). So if you weigh 200 pounds, you need about 100 ounces of water a day. Either way, it’s time to up your water intake and here’s why:

Great for hair and skin
Helps digestion and metabolism
Helps muscle function

Dangers of Dehydration:

Muscle spasms and cramps
Neurological impairment
Digestive issues
Dry skin and hair
Headaches
Water retention

When we drink too much soda, we lose our taste for water. I challenge you to find a fun water bottle and raise your water intake starting today!

Spiritual Discipline:

Read the Word If you don’t have a regularly established quiet time, take that first step. Set aside 10-15 minutes each day, open the Word and prayerfully read. If you’re new to reading the Bible, start with the books of Psalms, Proverbs, or the Gospel of John. If you already have an established quiet time, the challenge to you is to extend your time by adding a few extra minutes each day dedicated solely to reading God’s Word. Scripture is living and active and will change your life! Here’s why God’s Word is so important to us:

It’s living and active and brings life, strength, and direction to our soul
It offers us wisdom and reveals God’s heart
It teaches us how to live and brings clarity where there’s confusion

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13)

“Jesus answered, ‘It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)

“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17

“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.” Hebrews 12: 13-14

Dangers of doing life apart from the Word:

We lose our way
We adjust our theology to match our lives (rather than the other way around)
We’re easily deceived by the enemy

I’ll be praying for you as you add these healthy yet simple disciplines to your life.

Adapted from Susie Larson’s new book, Balance That Works When Life Doesn’t: Simple Steps to a Woman’s Physical & Spiritual Health. Susie is an author, speaker and radio host for KTIS in Minnesota and Focus on the Family. Visit Susie’s web site atsusielarson.com.