DO 2683 5/85

1. When it comes to figures & dieting you need to know what things you can't change & what things you should change, & you need to know the difference! Some women have nearly killed themselves by dieting too extremely when they shouldn't have! Some people are killing themselves with jogging or with all the new exercise paraphernalia & gym work-outs they do. They went for years without any exercise & doing nothing but being lazy & loafin', & all of a sudden they expect their hearts to be able to stand this sudden new load of tremendous over–work, over-strain, over-exercise & over-exertion!

2. Thank God I had a naturopath teacher like Dr. Koger! He was a graduate MD, but he'd almost abandoned medicine & all the tricks of the MDs & gone completely to naturopathy—the natural means of healing, living & diet etc. He gave me a lot of good tips on what to do & not to do.

3. He said, "Dave, with your weak heart & the trouble you've had in the past, for one thing, don't ever jump out of bed the minute you wake up in the morning!" Well, that's for me, because I had a weak heart, but I didn't keep that rule very much, especially when I was going to school. My alarm clock rang so loud it nearly woke up the neighbourhood, & I jumped right out of bed because I had to hurry up & make my own breakfast & run down & catch the school bus, & I nearly killed myself that way! That's why I had so much heart trouble when I was young. But I live a lot more sensibly now, thank the Lord, & I don't have all those heart problems I used to have which were caused by improper living, over-exertion & improper diet.

4. I have learned over the years how to take better care of this temple of the Holy Spirit & not abuse it—at least most of the time, thank the Lord—& as a result I've been healthier in the latter years of my life than I ever was in my whole life before!—Largely because I've learned to keep Dr. Koger's sensible rules! He said, "Get exercise, but don't over–do it. Walk up & down stairs, but don't run. Do this & do that, but don't work your heart too hard. Go at it moderately & temperately so that your heart will have a chance to get used to whatever you're doing."

5. Watch out about those aerobics! Those girls on the exercise videos may be able to get up there & do it for that long at a stretch‚ but you try it & you're apt to kill yourself!—Although I notice the picture changes quite often, so I doubt if even they do it straight through. Just do it as long as you feel like it, & as long as it doesn't make you too tired & too exhausted‚ then quit & rest.

6. Your body knows best! God has given your body better sense than some of your heads! Your body knows what's good for you & will tell you by your body clock & your body feelings & your strength or your weakness or your weariness. Go according to what your body tells you. Of course, don't be like the guy who said‚ "Work absolutely fascinates me, I could sit & watch it all day!" Some people have abused their bodies or their appetites to where if they'd just do what their body told them to do‚ they'd eat nothing but candy all day or they'd just sleep all day or they'd make love all day—ridiculous extremes & lack of temperance & moderation!

7. God wants you to be a well-balanced individual—physically, spiritually & mentally! That means not to be too extreme on things‚ but to be well-rounded. He says, "Be temperate in all things. Let your moderation be known to all men." You're not to abuse this body, this temple of the Holy Ghost.—Phil.4:5; 1Cor.9:25; 3:16-17, 6:19. In other words‚ use a little common sense! Amen? Do what you feel like!

8. Of course, if you've gotten used to gorging & over-stuffing yourself at the table with much more than you need, & you do what you feel like, that's what you'll keep on doing! You've got to learn what is right & what is wrong, what is normal & what is abnormal or subnormal, what is the right amount of exercise for you in particular, how much work you can stand & how much sleep you need. Every individual has a certain variation in some of those things.

9. Adults sometimes get along on six or seven hours of sleep a night. Some old folks can even get along on less, because they don't exercise very much & they don't use up much energy or strength.—Whereas most children need at least nine or ten hours of sleep per night—or per day. To really judge how much sleep you're getting you've got to add your naps to your night time sleep—or how many hours out of 24.

10. And it's the most amazing thing! Over the years I've kept records of how long I sleep & how long I nap, & exactly averaging out each month of 30 or 31 days, it has almost always come out to eight hours per 24-hour day! Not all 24-hour days did I get the eight hours, some days I only had four hours sleep that night & no nap, but it would always average out that somehow, somewhere my body demanded the sleep & it would catch up!—Or if I overslept‚ then I didn't sleep so much the next time. So over just a one-month period of 30-some days, it averages out to almost exactly eight hours sleep per day!

11. I notice, however, that that's beginning to decline lately. First it went down to 7.9, now it's down to 7.8, & I think last month it was only about 7.1. As you get older you don't exert so much energy physically, you live a more sedentary life, you sit & read & study a lot, & therefore you just don't need as much sleep! You think a lot, you even pray a lot. What else can you do in the middle of the night in the dark when you're awake? It's a good time to pray! And if I need help on praying I sometimes wake up Mama to help me pray! PTL!

12. You have to be temperate & moderate in all of these things, not only physically, but also spiritually. You don't want to go to extremes & pray all day or just read the Bible all day or just be out witnessing & winning souls & nothing else all the time, & never get refreshed or filled up or strengthened spiritually. You can go to extremes in any realm of life, even mentally.

13. Some people are bookworms! When I was young, in the Summertime I just did nothing but sit & read books all the time, & it wasn't good for me physically. That's probably another reason I had heart trouble. I'd stand up & almost black out because I'd been sitting still all day. My heart had slowed down so much from just reading & reading & not getting enough exercise, that when I suddenly stood up, the blood left my brain & I would black out! I'd catch myself just before I fell! So you've got to watch out about not getting enough exercise‚ or getting too much!

(—Amen! GBAKY Rollin'!—Like the old song, "Please take care of yourself, you belong to me!"—You belong to the Lord!)

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family