The last five years I’ve embraced a radical shift in my health goals.

No longer am I eating for a visual decrease in my midsection (well, most of the time). I’m not lifting heavier weights so I can show off my biceps.

I take care of myself so I can do what I’m called to do.

Two years ago, after I heard the calling to create Graced Health but before I’d fully embraced the body I have, I was having a conversation with God.

“Why couldn’t I have the abs I wanted in my 20s? It would have been so much fun to rock that belly button ring I never got. Later, I could have worn bikinis. The seemingly hundreds of weddings I attended would have been easily outfitted, rather than agonizing over what covered my midsection best.”

Admittedly, I was a little whiny that day.

But God responded in a gentle, loving, and soft way:

“Because if I’d let you have all that you never would have been in a place to receive this message.”

What message?

The one that drives everything I write about:

I take care of my body so I can do what I’m called and created to do. Taking care of my body doesn’t mean having a perfect body, and it doesn’t mean turning that process into a worship of a false idol.

Defining the Objective

Defining what I’m called to do varies depending on how far out I look.

• On a daily basis, I’m called to have enough energy to parent the way I want, to be the kind of wife I want to be (no snapping!), to perform my work and home responsibilities with stamina (or at least with no complaining).
• On a mid-range basis, I’m called to raise my boys into respectful, kind men of character, invest in my marriage as often as I can, and write that God-planted dream of writing a book.

• On a long-term basis, well, I don’t know what that will be. Unless it involves an extreme physical challenge, like traversing the Colorado Rockies or building a school in a developing nation, I’m pretty sure I can physically do it.

Executing the Objective with a Personal Checklist

How do I actually take care of my body? There are obvious ones, of course. Move enough, eat nutritious foods, drink my water, and sleep.

The less obvious are specific to how I’m uniquely created. For some of you, these may be completely different.

Here are some ways I check my own boxes of optimal physical AND mental health.

• Engage face to face with friends through walks, healthy meals, or wine.
• Ensure I have enough time alone to recharge. This seems counter to point number one, I realize. I think I’m what you call a social introvert. I love my people, but then I need to retreat and refresh in solitude.
• Exercise with friends (including my BFF husband).
• Nap when necessary (and possible).
• Show intentional gratitude for the blessings in my life.
• Spend time with God first thing in the morning. As Lysa Terkeurst says, I exchange whispers with God before shouts with the world.

Identify your Daily Objectives

Will you humor me for a minute? Take three minutes and create your own checklist. Put items on there that contribute to your optimal health. The higher-level ones mentioned above are similar for everybody. Make sure you add your own unique ones.

—I’ll wait here while you do this.—

Now, review that list.  

Here’s the application:

Review this list daily. Check off completed items.

What was Probably Missing from your List

Having a “perfect” magazine-worthy body probably wasn’t on the list, because how you look isn’t an indicator of how healthy you are.

Once you get through that checklist and you’ve done everything you need to do to be healthy, then that’s it. You’re done. Mission completion, as the Little Einsteins used to cheerfully chant to my preschoolers.

Your checklist provides confidence that you’ve taken care of yourself. Everything else is an artificial standard that we do not need to fit into.

Please read that again if you need to. Once you’ve checked your own boxes, you’ve done what you need to for your personal health.

Need Inspiration?

If you’re not sure how to create a checklist, I’ve done the legwork for you. Download it here.

Yes, it includes typical checkboxes of exercise, water, and veggies.

More importantly, it also stays consistent with my personal philosophy of balance and individual health journeys. There’s a place for you to add your own items. For example, mine includes a teaspoon of honey, for which I’m trying to manage my seasonal allergies. I also list my blasted blood pressure medication, which insults me but is necessary. (Read that article here.)

We also intentionally add in small bursts of movement, which I wrote about here. Quiet time, self-care, and gratitude are included – all part of our overall health as well.

Download the checklist today and begin checking your own health boxes. Make it your own. Review it at the end of the day.

When you see all you’ve done to take care of your body, know you’ve done all you need to do. But don’t you dare write “have a perfect body” on those empty lines – there’s no place for that in our graced health.

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