Walk Your Way to Better Health
"But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds," declares the Lord. Jer. 30:17, NIV.
Mavis Lindgren, plagued with severe lung ailments since childhood, finally took responsibility for her own health when she was in her early 60s.
While attending a series of lectures by Dr. Charles Thomas at Loma Linda University, she began to walk every day. She prayed as she walked that the exercise program might help her worsening lung ailment, weakened heart, and weakened skeletal muscles. Decades of inactivity had added 20 extra pounds to her five-foot-two frame. Over the months she increased her walking distance. Before long she took up jogging. She lost the extra weight, and her lung ailments disappeared. "I haven't been sick a day since," she often says.
The running increased. Soon she went on the trail six days a week, five miles at a time—and loved it. At age 70 she entered the Sacramento Pepsi 20-Mile Run. She not only finished the 20 miles but also set a record for her age group. Since then she has gone on to finish marathons (26.2 miles) in which she also set records for her age group, only to come back and reset the record on several occasions. But she says of her races that she doesn't compete with others, she races only against herself. She runs for the love of running, not for the sake of a reward.
Mavis eats a high-carbohydrate vegetarian diet and averages 50 miles of running a week. She believes that although the process of aging is inevitable, it is possible to maintain a higher level of fitness throughout the decline by adhering to simple, healthful habits. Also she suggests that in addition to proper nutrition, sufficient rest, and exercise, the fourth component of a balanced lifestyle is gratitude of heart.
The headline on an article on the sports page of the November 9, 1993, New York Times read, "Don't Look Back, Father Time, Mavis Lindgren, 86, Is Gaining on You."
God has designed our bodies to have incredible restorative powers if we treat them right. To renew your health, regardless of how old you are, do as Mavis did. Start walking!
Take the walking challenge: walk 300 more steps today than yesterday. Do this for two weeks, and see the difference it makes in the way you feel.
Mavis Lindgren, plagued with severe lung ailments since childhood, finally took responsibility for her own health when she was in her early 60s.
While attending a series of lectures by Dr. Charles Thomas at Loma Linda University, she began to walk every day. She prayed as she walked that the exercise program might help her worsening lung ailment, weakened heart, and weakened skeletal muscles. Decades of inactivity had added 20 extra pounds to her five-foot-two frame. Over the months she increased her walking distance. Before long she took up jogging. She lost the extra weight, and her lung ailments disappeared. "I haven't been sick a day since," she often says.
The running increased. Soon she went on the trail six days a week, five miles at a time—and loved it. At age 70 she entered the Sacramento Pepsi 20-Mile Run. She not only finished the 20 miles but also set a record for her age group. Since then she has gone on to finish marathons (26.2 miles) in which she also set records for her age group, only to come back and reset the record on several occasions. But she says of her races that she doesn't compete with others, she races only against herself. She runs for the love of running, not for the sake of a reward.
Mavis eats a high-carbohydrate vegetarian diet and averages 50 miles of running a week. She believes that although the process of aging is inevitable, it is possible to maintain a higher level of fitness throughout the decline by adhering to simple, healthful habits. Also she suggests that in addition to proper nutrition, sufficient rest, and exercise, the fourth component of a balanced lifestyle is gratitude of heart.
The headline on an article on the sports page of the November 9, 1993, New York Times read, "Don't Look Back, Father Time, Mavis Lindgren, 86, Is Gaining on You."
God has designed our bodies to have incredible restorative powers if we treat them right. To renew your health, regardless of how old you are, do as Mavis did. Start walking!
Take the walking challenge: walk 300 more steps today than yesterday. Do this for two weeks, and see the difference it makes in the way you feel.
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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