009: What Is Your Why?

We are diving deep into the “Why” of getting healthy. We must know our “Why” so we can overcome challenges and live for God, ourselves, and others. 

Listen now to learn...

00:34 The power of knowing your why

1:00 Why does getting healthy even matter to you?

2:28  Why you have to have a bigger why than, "I want to lose weight”

2:35 How to go deeper into your “Why”

4:48 What we all REALLY want

6:53 How we can't just get healthy for us, but also for God

7:43 How we have gotten things a little backward

9:16 How we can’t be God’s light if we are covered with baskets

"This  is why getting healthy matters. It's not about the weight loss. It is not about the energy. It's about what a slim, healthy body and more energy and disease-free- it's about what all of these things give us and allows us to do in our life. Just imagine, what would life look like and be like, when you are healthy and free? Have you thought about that?" - Katrina


Are you ready to put God at the center of your health journey and to finally achieve your health and wellness goals? Join me every Thursday to learn how!

Resources mentioned:

Download the Healthy Free Life Way Starter Kit HERE:  kit.healthyfreelife.com

Connect with me!

Follow me on Instagram: @healthyfreelife

Connect with me on Facebook: @healthyfreelife

Visit my website: www.healthyfreelife.com


Until next week... bye for now. 

~Katrina

Transcript

Episode #009: What Is Your Why?

Well, hello, treasured one. In this episode, you're going to discover the power of knowing your why. Why are you even trying to reach your goals for your health? 

Because listen, what most people don't know is that this journey to a healthy free life, it's not all rainbows and butterflies.  For instance, it's full of ups and downs. It's full of stumbling. It's often two steps forward and one step back. So when the going gets tough, you are going to need a deep rooted "Why" that will give you a reason to get back up. Or like when the scale doesn't show weight loss for two weeks. And in fact, you've gained two pounds. Well, you're going to need a deeper  "Why" to help you keep going on your journey to health. Or like when you're working really hard to replace bad habits with good healthy ones, you're going to need a deep rooted "Why" when you are standing in the fast food restaurant with a choice in front of you of "Do I get the salad with grilled chicken or the burger with fries?" And I know that you might really want the burger with fries, but that salad with grilled chicken may be that step that you need to get you closer to your goal. And having a "Why" is going to help you to make the best choices that line up with what you're trying to accomplish.

So let's dive into your "Why." If you're listening to this podcast, I'm going to assume that you desire to, or you're trying to get healthy. And I'm sure that you think you know why you're trying to do that. But we gotta dive a little bit deeper. Why does getting healthy even matter? I know you might have goals for your health.

Maybe you want to lose weight, or maybe you want to ditch disease or prevent disease or gain energy, but why, why does this even matter? Listen, getting healthy, it's going to help with all of those things. But if, unless you have a bigger why than, "I want to lose weight," then you're not going to get there.

So we need a bigger, deeper "Why."

What I first wanna do is I want to dive into you and your "Why." Why do you want to reach your goals? So when we think about that, first we gotta determine what those goals are. So what are your goals for your health? So just to think about that for a moment. What are your goals for your health? 

If you're like many of my students and clients, it is something like, "Well, I want to lose weight," or  "I want to get rid of this XYZ disease," or "My mother passed away from, from diabetes and I'm now pre-diabetic and I'm scared and I just, I want to reverse that or prevent that from happening." 

Or maybe you just want more energy. You're  sick of feeling gross or being controlled by food. Like we come with all of these various reasons for why we want to get healthy, but we can't stop there. We need to dive deeper. And so usually I ask all my students, "Well, why?" "Why is it important that you lose weight or ditch disease or prevent disease or gain energy?"

Why is any of that important to you? Well, usually I'm met with something like, "Well, I just want to fit into my clothes," or "I just feel yucky and I don't want to anymore," or "I just want to look better or feel better." I'm like, "Okay, great. Those are good things, but why is that important to you?" 

"I just, I just want to look beautiful again." 

"I just want to be attractive for my spouse." 

"I just, I just want energy to do the things that I love to do." 

Hah! Okay. Now we're getting somewhere, right? Okay.  Guess what? I'm going for another "Why" here? So why, why is having more energy or feeling beautiful, why are these things important to you? 

And it's usually at this point in the conversation where we get to the true root of why we're even trying to do something. We must dive here into the depths of our why because often, what I find, is that when we get down to the root, it's that what we really want is not really less pounds on the scale.

What we really want is we want more joy and we want more peace. These are the things we are lacking. As we look at our health, our physical health, and our outward appearance, this physical shell is burdening us. And because we are under the weight of the burden of our physical health, it wears on our emotional and mental health as well.

And so we often are unable to experience true joy under the burdens of physical burdens. We're unable to experience peace as we're wrecked with the distress of poor health and low energy. And so I want you to identify what your goal is, but I want you to keep asking why maybe three or four or five times until you get to that place of understanding why it's important to you.

This  is why getting healthy matters. It's not about the weight. It is not about the energy. It's about what a slim, healthy body and more energy and disease-free- it's about what all of these things give us, allow us to do in our life. Just imagine, what would life look like and be like, when you are healthy and free? Have you thought about that?

Have you really sat down and pictured your future self who is healthy and free? What is that person able to do? How does that person look? How do they feel? What are you going to be able to go and do and be? Are you gonna be able to run with your children or your grandchildren? Are you going to be able to hike with your spouse? Are you going to be able to travel and finally go on that mission trip that you've been not going on because of your physical state of yourself? 

I really want you to think big. How will these changes, how will a healthy, free life affect your happiness, your personal growth, your relationships, your work, everything that you do? Know your why for you.

But listen, we can't just get healthy for us, but also for God. This health journey, it's about God. This life, it's about God. In Deuteronomy 6:5 , our mission is clear. The word says, "Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

And in first Corinthians 10:31, Paul writes. "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." Eating and living healthy, according to his will and plan, it shows our love for him. It brings him glory and we can honor him in the process of getting healthy. So as you're getting healthy, one of the reasons why is because we want to do it for God.

So you're going to get healthy for you. You're going to get healthy for God and we're going to get healthy for others. 

But I think we've been a little bit backwards here. For some of you, all you do is care for others and serve others, yet not yourself. You must realize that taking care of you is not selfish. It is self-love and it is scriptural to do so. Jesus adds to that Deuteronomy commandment. In mark 12:30-31, where Jesus repeats that original commandment, where he says, "Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all of your mind and with all your strength,"

but then he adds to the verse in verse 31, where he says, "The second is this, love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." But listen, the commandment is not, "Love others. Not yourself." The commandment is to love others as yourself. I believe for us to truly be able to love our neighbors and fulfill our calling, we need to love ourselves and have a healthy body in order to do so. We must fill our own vessel so that we can pour out from a place of an abundance instead of a place of lack. Did you know that our body is the primary resource for our spiritual life. We've got work to do, dear ones, and we need healthy hands and feet in order to do it.

We must have a healthy body in order to go and do and be all that God created us to be. And do you know what he's called you and me to be? Light! In Matthew five verses 13 through 16, Jesus calls us to be salt and light. In verses 14 and 15, Jesus declares that we are the light of the world and gives the illustration that no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand and gives light for all those who are in the house.

But I can't help but wonder if many of us live with baskets over our light. Baskets of fear, baskets of anxiety, pain, past abuse, disease, excess weight, cravings, addictions. The list goes on- baskets that are holding us back from letting our light shine before others so that they may see our good works and give glory to our father in heaven.

Dear one, these baskets, they must be removed, for our own sake, for God's glory, and for others to experience his light. This is so much bigger than just losing weight or just getting healthy. There are consequences to not doing so, and there are reasons why we must do this. We must continue on the journey and I want you to have a deep-rooted "Why" on your way to a healthy free life.

If you would love help discovering your "Why," I have a full exercise in the Healthy Free Life Way starter kit. This free starter kit includes not only the "Why" exercise, but also prayers and devotions, food listings, and more to help you get started or keep going on your Healthy Free Life Way journey.

You can download the starter kit by visiting kit.healthyfreelife.com. Again, that's kit.healthyfreelife.com. I will also link that in the episode notes. Do not blow this off. It is vitally important that you have a big enough “Why” to help you on your journey to a healthy free life. You gotta do the thing.

Now I'm going to leave you with this blessing from 2 Thessalonians 2 verses 16 and 17, "May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your heart and strengthen you in every good deed and word." Until next time.

Bye for now.