What's the Gym?

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" 

- 1st Corinthians 3:16                         

                          

As a kid, and even until I graduated high school, I did what I could to obtain what many of us categorize as 'junk food'. And as a typical three year old, I begged and begged for something sweet when we were checking out until my parents either finally gave in or until they succeeded in dragging me out of the store. It seems as though the majority of children crave and will do anything they can to obtain sweets, and stealing cookies out of the cookie jar without asking Mom has become a pretty common example within our society. 

I'd say that all kids are that way, but miraculously, some people seem to grow out of that stage and start to value the exact opposite - health. 

When I was home, the only cereal my parents bought were the healthy kinds like Oatmeal Square and Honey Bunches of Oats. I had several friends who never had "good cereal" at home, so it became a tradition of ours to go to our other friend's house and munch on his "good cereal". He actually didn't like cereal very much, so he let us have as much as we wanted. Not only was there "good cereal", but his pantry seemed to always be glorified with beautiful amounts of fruit snacks, cookies, soda, and basically anything you can think of that is unhealthy. For us, it was paradisaical. 

On July 3rd, my two year Journey in Southern California began. This time, there was no Mom or Dad to enforce what seemed like health laws upon me, and finally, I was free to eat whatever I wanted! Let me tell you, I was quite excited when I opened the first boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Captain Crunch. I literally had an arsenal of sweets ready to fulfill my cravings whenever I had them. As the days went by, stomach aches and trips to the bathroom overruled my desire to eat sweets. By the end of the week, I couldn't wait to finish my sugary cereal so I could buy the healthy kind again for the following week. 

This isn't the only experience during the past year that caused me to start valuing health. I once attempted the Blazin' Challenge at Buffalo Wild Wings that left me sick to my stomach for days, other harrowing health-related experiences, and  an unexpected, extra twenty pounds to my weight finally did the trick. A healthy life style was finally my lifestyle. 

I once heard that usually the most crowded a gym gets is in January, however, the number of people that start to go religiously drops pretty dramatically. I guess by May, most of the people who attended in January are no longer going to the gym regularly. The same people will re-commit themselves to go back to the gym once the new year starts and the cycle repeats probably repeats itself.

God wants us to take care of our bodies, because they are a gift from him to us. We are to take good care of them by regulating our diet, exercising religiously, and watching what we put into it. Consuming products and substances that can harm our health such as Alcohol, Tobacco, and even Coffee damage the wonderful gift that God has given us. By eating unreasonable amounts of meat or sugars also causes harm to our bodies. conditions such as diabetes or high levels of Cholesterol can develop, and finally, with exercise, our body is well maintained and kept in well working order.