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Faithful Fitness: Embracing God's Guidance for a Healthier Life · Well Women Flourish | Fitness and Nutrition Strategies for Women Over 45

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The power of God over your food and fitness choices.
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I am going to walk us through a biblical approach to nutrition because that
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is what's worked for me and how we can embrace fitness as a form of faithfulness.
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I'm going to share with you how to be God honoring in your health,
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because this is an area where many of us are really struggling silently.
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And what I know is that God cares deeply about our well-being,
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and that's our total well-being.
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I want to share how I came into this, and it's really by leaning into the biblical
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principles around food and fitness that I've been able to experience healing in many areas.
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I no longer suffer from eczema, menstrual cramps, PMS, seasonal allergies, cystic acne.
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My vision has improved and my proudest victory is that I am victoriously managing
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anxiety and depression.
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And this has all been through the power of God over my food and fitness choices.
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I've tried many things, but this is what has worked for me.
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It didn't happen by any of the temporary fixes or the familiar diets.
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I have been vegan, vegetarian, I've done keto, paleo, and even the blood type
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diet, which I will share a little bit with you guys.
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The blood type diet is currently what I am following.
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Lasting change really is going to come from a commitment to God you can take any of these,
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diet protocols and do it consistently and
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start to feel results but unless the commitment is to God and what he is saying
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for you to eat on a daily basis it won't be sustainable I'll also share with
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you about juicing which yes I am known for juicing I do juicing workshops and
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juicing has completely transformed my life.
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It's obedience to Christ, Jesus, that in all areas, it's not just about how
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faithful I am in church attendance, how much I'm serving.
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This small daily act of what I'm choosing to eat and how I'm moving my body
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every day is also a way that I can honor God and it's a form of worship.
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What's scary to me is that according to the CDC, we're looking at over 37 million
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Americans, and that's about one in 10 people having diabetes.
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96 million more are what they are calling pre-diabetic.
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Heart disease is still the leading cause of death, and six in 10 adults have a chronic disease.
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Four in 10 are living with more than one.
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The worst part about this for me is that our children are witnessing this.
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My message is one of generational health. I truly believe that the choices that we make today,
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it doesn't matter how long you have not been doing anything,
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the choices you make today have an impact not only on your life,
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but the children that are around you, the behaviors they see are going to impact
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them and lead their health journey.
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Many of us have family histories, and I am no exception, but I do believe that
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it's God's desire for us to live healthy, whole, and abundant.
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And he's given us a plan of what to eat, what to eat and what not to eat.
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Scripture says, 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31, this is the foundation for biblical nutrition for me.
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Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
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So when I locked in with this, it seems very clear to me that what I'm planning,
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even just planning out my food, the diligence and discipline it takes to plan
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what I'm going to eat for the day is a way that I can glorify God.
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The scripture that got me really locked into juicing was Genesis chapter 1, verse 29.
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And God said, behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed and every tree.
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To you it shall be for meat.
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God has given us whole life-giving foods to nourish and sustain us.
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Eating well for me is not about restriction. It's about reverence.
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And you can even think of it as turning your pantry into a sanctuary when you're
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choosing foods that are beneficial for your health and support your energy focus
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and for the purpose that God has for you.
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I started juicing, I guess it's been about five years ago, and my skin cleared up.
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I was balanced. As I said, no more menstrual cramps.
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I have not taken ibuprofen in five years, and even my hair stopped falling out.
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A lot of the women that I have coached, they have had similar results.
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We've had lower A1c, weight loss, and just overall more vibrant lives.
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What I did is, because I'm on my own journey, I wanted to learn more about juicing.
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I became a reboot certified coach so that I can coach people through how to detox.
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It's important that we understand the key role that food plays in either preventing,
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managing, and even reversing a lot of these chronic illnesses.
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As I was juicing, I noticed that my desire for certain foods was eliminated
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and my tolerance for sweets. So everything seems so much sweeter for me.
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What happens is that your gut microbiome plays a great role in what you are desiring.
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You're going to be craving what you're eating. When you start the morning with
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a bagel or a muffin or any of those things that come in and it's such a high
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dose of sugar, it's going to be hard for you to remain stable in the choices
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that you make for the rest of the day.
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So that's what juicing has done for me. Even up until this year,
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there are foods that I like now, like green beans, for example,
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that I never had a taste for before.
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But since I have recalibrated my palate and my gut and what I desire and also praying and asking God,
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what are the right things for me to eat so that I can be the best version of
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Alexis he set for me to be?
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All of these things are still evolving. But the goal is to just get started,
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to recognize, be aware of how these food choices are impacting us and just get started.
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A healthy gut is linked to mood disorders.
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And as I said, I am victoriously managing anxiety and depression.
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Food has been it for me. And I highly recommend in consultation with,
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you know, your psychologist, therapist, doctor, all of these things.
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But really start to pay attention that the role that your gut health actually
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plays in regulating the neurotransmitters in our bodies.
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I'm focusing on anti-inflammatory foods, and that's one thing I speak with the
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women I'm coaching as well.
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The increase of leafy vegetables in my diet, having Swiss chard is one of my
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favorites, adding that in as well as kale,
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everybody's favorite green vegetable these days, has made a really big difference.
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Turmeric is anti-inflammatory. Ginger as well. Flax seeds, also very helpful
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with regulating your cholesterol.
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And the goal that we want to have is really to maintain our insulin sensitivity.
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We don't want to become insulin resistant, that we're giving our body so much
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work to do on a daily basis, and then we become insulin resistant.
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The choices that we're making in what we're eating is either going to be beneficial or non-beneficial.
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And that's how I think about it when I'm deciding what to eat.
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So it's not about what's good and what's bad and I can't eat this and I can't eat that.
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Like I said, this is not restricted. Actually, it's quite liberating because
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I work within a framework.
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What does God say for me to eat, what things are beneficial for my body.
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And I just work within that.
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So I don't have to think so, so much about what to eat for the day.
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I know the framework that I'm working within.
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I want everybody to think about how much sugar, processed foods and added sugars are severely,
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severely injuring our health and leading to these chronic illnesses.
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So think in your mind about what you think is recommended for a woman and for a man.
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They're different numbers of the daily. And I don't mean what's recommended.
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You should have it. We really should have zero, but definitely under this.
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The American Heart Association says that women should limit their added sugar
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intake to no more than six teaspoons per day.
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Six teaspoons per day for a woman, and it's nine teaspoons per day for a man.
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So when you start to look at food labels, that's something you can take action
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with immediately. If you're not currently looking at food labels,
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we must be reading food labels. and see how much sugar is in there.
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Just for reference, it's 25 grams. So if the label says grams,
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so for women, you're looking at 25 grams or six teaspoons.
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And then for men, it's 30 or nine teaspoons.
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A can of soda, I believe, is 10 teaspoons.
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Go to everybody's favorite overpriced coffee shop and you would really be frightened
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to see the amount of added sugars that are in these drinks that we're giving our children.
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We're giving our children these drinks and seeing the rates of anxiety,
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depression, all of these different mood disorders rising at really rapid rates.
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And it's time for us to look into what we're putting into our bodies and how we can honor God.
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And as parents, owe it to our children.
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Owe it to our children to set the right example of what to eat.
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And don't bring them there.
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Don't bring them to the place to drink these drinks and don't bring it in the
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house. We do not have juice in my house at all. The children know this.
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It's water, water, water, water, water here at my house.
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So that's something for everyone to really think about. That's a right now action, like today.
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When you go through your day, if that's where you go for the day,
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it's no judgment, but just be aware and look at the label.
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They put the information in the app or on the menu. It's there.
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I shared with you about the blood type diet.
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So for me, the juicing and the blood type diet has been really helpful.
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It's something to look into. One thing I tell people is that when you find a
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thing that works, recognize that it is just a thing. It is not the thing.
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So anything you do consistently, you're going to find some type of results.
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You start removing these processed foods and cooking at home,
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you're going to find results. But pay attention to your body.
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So there was a point where I was juicing aggressively, juice every day for three years.
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And then I noticed some things about my body that seemed a little off.
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So I paused with the juicing because I want to pay attention to what God is
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saying, not what he said.
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But he said for me to start juicing and do it so consistently to the point that I was able to.
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Walk in my purpose where I can coach other people on how to lower the A1C and
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leverage the power of juicing.
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But that doesn't mean I need to drink a green juice every day until the end
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because this is what I started doing five years ago.
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So what I also learned is that it's not really great for me to juice in the
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wintertime and over consume raw vegetables because it was making my hands and feet so much more cold.
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So I really encourage everyone to, when you attach to a thing,
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see what the results are.
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I know people who are vegan and vegetarian who have high cholesterol,
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high blood, they still have all these things and they're overweight.
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And that's why I believe the blood type diet, there's some truth to this and it works for me.
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You may have a friend who is plant-based or they're vegetarian and their fit
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is a fiddle and seeing great results.
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And then you try it and you start to feel frustrated because I'm not eating
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meat and I'm, you know, I'm eating my vegetables, but I'm still not getting any results.
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So the blood type diet is something to consider as well.
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And to explain the blood type diet, it's an approach that suggests that your
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blood type is based on the foods that you should be eating.
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So each blood type, there's O, OAB and AB.
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I happen to be O, but each blood type has a unique biochemical response to certain foods.
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So it's just like we can't all get a blood transfusion from.
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So I can't receive from B and A can't receive from B because of the antigens.
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The idea is that food has antigens as well.
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So when we take these foods in, it's actually having an effect on our digestion.
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And it's almost like microdosing yourself over the course of your lifetime with
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foods that are causing agglutination and other mishaps along the way,
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then it starts to switch on these genetic indicators that we have.
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So I'm not saying that these things are not in fact hereditary and is running
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in our families, as they say.
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But what I am encouraging us to think about is the power, the power of God over
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our bodies, that this is not our lot in life.
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And that's, that's what I said to myself, this is not my lot in life that I'm
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going to be anxious, that I'm just destined to have all of these things. What can I be doing?
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So as I started doing the blood type diet, I really did it as an experiment in college.
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That was the assignment to try any diet, try any diet at all.
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And I landed on the blood type diet.
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And within one month of this changing what I was eating, eating a high protein,
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lean meat and vegetable protocol, I lost 15 pounds effortlessly.
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So the bloating was gone. and all of these, and my skin cleared up. I had more energy.
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And I noticed I'm a very high anxiety at the time. And I noticed at the end
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of the month, like, wow, it's been a whole month. I feel amazing.
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I strayed off of the blood type diet. This was many years ago.
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And then recently, this was just about a year ago,
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I recognized that I'm exercising, I'm eating well, I'm juicing,
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I'm doing all of these things, but there's still just something not quite right
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about how I'm feeling, my energy is not as great as I believe it should be,
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and I am more bloated, carrying more weight.
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I am overweight for what would be optimal for me.
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Let me revisit the blood type diet.
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And when I did that, again, 15 pounds gone pretty effortlessly due to just excess
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bloating and all of the things that are just excess.
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So that is what I loosely follow. For the type A's that, and there's a book,
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it's called Eat Right for Your Type.
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So I keep it in my kitchen just as a guide.
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And again, this is something I loosely follow. And I say loosely because coffee
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is not recommended for type O and God is still working with me in this area.
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But for the most part, the framework of my life is that I'm fitting within what
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is recommended for my blood type.
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So type A is going to see the best results on a plant-based diet with grains,
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fruits, and even the exercise that we do is either beneficial or not beneficial for your blood type.
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So type O for me, high energy aerobic fitness is perfect because eating the
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lean meats and having excess stomach acid, I can break down these meats and then use it for fuel.
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A type A, when food comes in, they're going to feel more sluggish and calming
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exercise is better for a type A.
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Type B, that's more balanced and includes dairy and most meats,
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but they're saying except chicken.
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So for me as a type O, dairy is not recommended at all and also limiting grains.
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So if it's something that you're interested in, I would encourage you to,
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you know, get the book, check it out. And again.
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Pray, pray always and ask God what you should be eating, what's best for you
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and to reveal the things that are right for you.
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And another thing that I think about is the same way I got saved and no longer
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had a taste for the environment and drinks and all of these other things.
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That is the same thing God can do with the desire I believe I have for chocolate
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cookies, for chocolate cake, for cheesecake. Pray and ask God always to empower you in the choices.
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Every time you open your fridge, well, first of all, don't bring these things in the fridge.
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There's a way to glorify God in our grocery shopping as well.
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If it's not in the house, you can't eat it.
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So it starts there. If it is not in the house, you won't be able to eat it.
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You would have to take the extra energy to go out. And we would hope that along
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the way, you know, God reveals to you that that is not that the Haagen-Dazs
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or whatever is your go to thing is not the beneficial choice.
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I want to check in with Dr. Janine.
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I know you were waiting for a person before I get into the fitness aspect.
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Yes. I'm just wanting to know if Geraldine on. I don't see her on. Are you on, Geraldine?
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Okay, you can proceed. Okay.
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So let's talk about fitness. And fitness for me is a form of faithfulness.
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God has built us to move in such a beautifully designed way,
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and we can honor Him and glorify Him in our movement.
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I believe my favorite scripture on this, which speaks to why we should be strength
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training, is Proverbs 31 and 17, which says,
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she girdeth her loins with strength and strengthens her arms.
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So ladies, if you do not have weight, there it is right there in scripture.
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You can go to that store where everything is not quite below five anymore.
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They have weights there.
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All of these beginner things, you can get right there.
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I have a corner in my office set up. You can keep it super simple,
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but we have to be strength training.
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Cardio alone is not going to cut it. So you may very well be walking and getting
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your heart rate up, but if you do not have weights in your hands at some point during your workout,
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and this is something that I learned during the fitness training class that
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I took, is that the fat cell is actually made up of three different parts and
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cardio is only hitting one of them.
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So that may be a reason people are not seeing their results.
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They get frustrated and then just do nothing at all.
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So when you start to understand how God has designed the body to work, you can make it work.
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Strength training helps to boost your metabolism. This is going to protect your joints.
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I'm trying to age well. I want to be solid in my body and prevent falls as best as possible.
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And strength training also helps with your blood sugar and, of course,
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your weight management. When you're strength training and you're exercising
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consistently, this helps with high blood pressure.
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We want to have stronger hearts. High blood pressure, cholesterol,
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all of these things benefit from exercise, from a daily, weekly,
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some sort of plan that you have.
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How am I going to strengthen my heart this week?
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What things am I going to do that are going to strengthen my heart should be the question.
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When your heart is stronger, it pumps more blood, which decreases the force on your arteries.
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So resistance training is what is going to help with all of these things.
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I want to make a note for people who do have high blood pressure.
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If it's over 140, over 90, you should consult with your doctor before you start any fitness program.
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So always make sure you're doing that, checking in with your doctor about what is best for you.
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And then I wanted to touch on cholesterol as well, how strength training helps with that.
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Because when you're doing resistance training, that phrase, no pain,
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no gain, there is truth to that.
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The breakdown of your muscle tissues is actually what's helping to burn fat
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in the 72 hours after resistance training.
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So if you're working out and you're not feeling anything, you haven't done enough.
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You should be feeling the burn and honestly working out till failure.
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So do push-ups until you can't do push-ups anymore.
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And again, start wherever you are, whatever is your level of fitness, be healthy.
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Present with yourself and just get started.
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So if you're not yet able to do a push-up, find a way to modify with your knees or up against the wall.
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You can push against a wall to create some type of resistance for your muscles to be working.
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So when you're doing resistance training, the cholesterol compounds are what's
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used to facilitate your recovery, and that is going to lower your cholesterol.
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When I moved to South Carolina, this is back in 2008, I went from a very active
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life in New York up and down the stairs, the subway, I moved to South Carolina.
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And within that year, my first year, I was diagnosed with high cholesterol,
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which really took me by surprise.
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I was, I think I was 30, 33 or 30 at the time and couldn't believe it.
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But what I realized is that decrease in my level of activity.
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So now I'm eating, I'm in the South, now I'm eating and my level of activity had gone down.
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So my cholesterol went up. So what I did is joined the gym.
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And that's really where my fitness journey started. I joined the gym.
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And to be honest with you, I
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joined because they had the childcare and I was a single mom at the time.
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And that's what got me started. But God uses all things.
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I want to share with you about what's recommended for exercise.
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And again, I recognize that we're all at different levels and just getting started,
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but it's important to know what the goal is so you have a plan to work towards.
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I did not just start out the gate, exercising every day and strength training every day.
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It might just be a walk around the block. I tell some people,
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if you don't know where your sneakers are, you don't have clothes,
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maybe that's what you do every day.
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Start to embody what a person who's being focused on how God can have power
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over their fitness and food.
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Start doing the things that that person looks like.
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So having your clothes together, having a plan and just having a mindset,
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start to take on those characteristics.
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And then over time, when you take those baby steps, you will start to really be that person.
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So what's recommended is 150 minutes of moderate cardio weekly.
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So for me, that's getting up and walking my dogs. If you have a treadmill and
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it doesn't matter what it is, I recommend you do what you like.
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The goal is to get your heart rate up.
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There are, I encourage you to look online. I'm not with you face-to-face to
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help with the target heart rate, but look up online what your target heart rate
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should be for your age and.
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To see where you're at, because you want to get your heart rate up into that
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fat burning zone. There's a zone for everything.
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And we recommend strength training at least two plus days for the week.
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And that's all major muscle group.
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We want to work our upper body, the abs, the legs, all of these,
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anywhere there's a muscle in your body, we should be working it and move with intention.
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Move with intention. So you may very well have a job where you're active and
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you're looking at your steps and you're like, oh, I took 20,000 steps today.
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That may be true. But if your health, if your lab work and your health does
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not reflect that, start to ask yourself some real questions.
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Am I really doing all that I should be doing to glorify God with my fitness?
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Start small. Just start. The best way to start anything is to just start.
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The goal is not about perfection. It's about progress.
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And God honors these small steps. When we get off of this call and you go get
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your sneakers or you go grab your water, whatever it is you do based on this
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information that you've received,
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this reminder, it might not be the first time you're hearing this.
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I believe God honors that and just sends a wind of encouragement and energy
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and rejuvenation for you to get back on track, to get started or back on track
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with whatever your goals are.
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Set a schedule. I have on my calendar, for my daily calendar,
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the same way I make appointments with people and the doctor and all of these other things.
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Set a schedule. Put it on your calendar when you are going to...
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Move your body when the exercise is happening. For me, it's 6.30 every morning.
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So that is what's on my calendar.
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And when you do things the same time every day, it's like around that time,
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your body is going to be calling out for you to do that thing when you are consistent.
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So that is what I recommend. Whatever it is, your plan, first of all,
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there has to be a plan. I didn't just haphazardly start eating well and exercising.
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It's been a very intentional plan.
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I know that my goal for me, like, yes, there's such a thing as a rest day,
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but every day that I'm demanding my cardiovascular system, my circulatory system,
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my lymphatic system, every day I expect these systems to work for me is a day
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that I should be doing something to support these systems.
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That is the mindset that I have and the encouragement I have for anyone that
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I'm speaking with or coaching that we think about it that way.
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So I'm not taking any days off from supporting my body with beneficial foods
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and beneficial movement because that's what for the work that God has called
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me and us here to do. That is what it takes.
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It's not a day off. Now, in my mental health challenges, when a doctor prescribed
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medication, how often did they say for me to take it? They said for me to take it every day.
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That's what they tell you. They don't say just take it when you feel like it or take it.
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No, you take it every day. So this is how intentional and serious we need to
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be about paying attention,
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making a plan for what we are eating and how we are going to honor God in our
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fitness as well. Life is about movement.
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Life is about movement. We start with movement from the beginning.
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I don't need to give a biology lesson, but life is about movement.
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This sedentary lifestyle we have
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where we're sitting, we're sitting on our phone, sitting, just sitting.
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As my pastor says, we are not safe to sit.
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We are safe to serve. So when you take that mindset, that can help you to make
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an intentional plan for your movement.
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I do want to share before I get off the fitness topic that I'm very excited
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to announce actually launching a Fit Church Nassau County group.
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I have partnered with Fit Church United, which is based in Virginia Beach,
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and my home church of Cornerstone Victory Church is going to be sponsoring the program.
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We don't have the dates and location yet. This is still very early on,
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but it's a 24-week guided program. It's geared for beginners.
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This is free for the community, and we'll have weekly workouts.
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We have a Facebook group that's already started, and I'll share this information with Dr.
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Janine so she can share with the group.
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And we'll have support and resources because I'm about to share these five pillars
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for sustainable fit life, but support is one of them.
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And it's going to be a powerful space for believers to grow in faith and fitness
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together. I'm very, very excited that within about a week of passing,
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the fitness trainer certification is when this came into my life.
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So I'm just grateful to God for how he's using me because I was just doing these
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things privately to keep myself well, to stay on top of my own mental health and my own challenges.
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And God has been able to use me as a voice to share with other people to get started.
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So I want to share with you these five pillars for sustainable fit life that honors God.
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I said it from the beginning, commitment to God. This is a commitment to God.
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It's not about what's on the scale, even how you look in the mirror,
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what anyone else is saying. This is a commitment to God.
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We want to align our wellness journey with God's plan so that we can receive his strength.
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It's not about, that's why it feels hard. It is hard, but through Christ,
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we can do all things, right?
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And the second pillar is biblical nutrition. We want to choose foods that support our health and purpose.
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And remember that you can turn your pantry into a sanctuary.
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Something that I'd like to challenge everyone to do is if you don't have a purpose,
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you don't know what your purpose is, identify.
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When you identify and attach your purpose to your health, that helps tremendously
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about knowing what to eat.
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So again, I know people are looking to me. Everywhere I go, people tell me what they're eating.
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That purpose that God has given for me actually is fuel for me.
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Stay the path to make choices that are going to be honoring to him.
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The third pillar is meaningful movement. We can celebrate our body by moving
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it with purpose every day.
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And at all levels, we can move. If you have movement in any of your limbs,
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you can move them. You can raise your arms above your head.
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You can, you know, flex and extend the foot and the legs and just enjoy the
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fact that we have movement and get moving daily.
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Today, today, I believe the weather is going to be great, I think,
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but get out and move. Take action today.
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The next pillar is stress management.
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Scripture says we should give our burdens to Him and we can have rest in Him.
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And this has been so powerful for me in managing my mental health and emotional
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balance is learning how to cast my cares,
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trust in the Lord, and all of these scriptures that we lean on,
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let's really, really walk this out and not be so stressed that we are reaching for certain foods.
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If you're feeling stressed, if you're struggling with emotional eating,
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that's the time, that's the sign.
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We know we need to lean into God's Word and what God has for us,
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not what's at the drive-thru or in the frozen food section at the store.
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And the fifth pillar is passionate support.
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You're not in this alone. Don't do this alone.
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There has to be some support and accountability so that when we say we're going
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to do things, we actually are doing them and have a community of people that
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are going to support us in godly accountability.
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So when we walk this out together, I believe that is how we're going to have the best results.
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Because like I said, we are struggling silently. A lot of people are struggling
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in their mental health and afraid to say it.
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There's a gap between what the lab work says at your doctor's visit,
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and then you get home, you're overwhelmed by what the doctor said,
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you don't know what to eat.
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You get to the grocery store, it's overwhelming. So what do we do?
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We just do the same thing and eat the same things because it feels too hard.
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And I want to let you know today, while it may be a challenge, it is possible.
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It is absolutely possible. I started this journey over 20 years ago,
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trying all of these different things.
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And I'm here today with a very consistent fitness and food regimen that is supporting
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my best health because I got started and listened to what God was saying along the way 20 years now.
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It's been 20 years and that's why I'm able to be consistent. So just get started.
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What things that you can do immediately. I know that Dr.
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Janine has said there's a fast that we're fasting again starting on Monday.
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This is a time to really lean into God's Word.
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Ask God to reveal any habits that you have that are dishonoring to Him.
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This is a time for reflection.
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Not about a diet and, oh, maybe I can lose five pounds. Don't think about that.
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When we get our food and fitness choices aligned with what God's word says and
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God's plan for us and our purpose, you're going to start to line up.
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The scale is going to line up. Don't think about the scale.
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Pray and ask God to reveal what are my habits, what are my behaviors that are
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not honoring in these areas, and what changes can I make?
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And don't make a list of all these 5, 10, 15 things that you're doing wrong. Start small.
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One healthy choice at a time is the way to tackle this.
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So if it's that you're not drinking water, you can start today and just drink water.
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Don't go drink water and I'm going to run five miles and I'm going to eat only
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vegetables. Don't go drink water.
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Small so that you can feel success in an area. When you feel that victory,
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that win, like, wow, I actually drank all the water I needed.
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And just for reference, it's half your body weight in ounces that's recommended for your water intake.
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Half of your body weight in ounces is what's recommended.
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And you want to drink that water eight to 10 ounces at a time for best absorption.
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So that could be your thing, that you start drinking water, but whatever it
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is, you start small and you just make it one healthy choice at a time.
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And I already said, attach your purpose to your health.
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That's ultimately what's done it for me, is having a purpose outside of me to
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serve humanity, to serve others, to do the work of the kingdom,
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the work that God has for me to do, because we are saved to serve.
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It's not for me to sit in the corner of my office doing all of this great fitness
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for myself and not share the good news of all of these different things I don't have.
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I mentioned to you guys I don't have seasonal allergies anymore.
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I have not taken Claritin, Zyrtec, any of these things in years.
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And I believe that God has given me this purpose to share with people that it
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is possible to completely transform your health by the foods and your discipline and fitness.
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And we have to speak life over ourselves. I know that this is God's temple.
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This body is on loan to me. It's not even mine. So I want to make sure that
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I'm strong and disciplined and being a good steward over what he has lent to me.
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We almost take better care of a car that we've leased or a book from the library or something.
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And that's what I want to do is be a good steward. So that is my encouragement.
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And I pray that this information, that even just one thing has been helpful for me.