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Your Own Ten Commandments
By Carolyn Allen

In Gospel Doctrine last week we reviewed the Lord’s plan for feeding Moses and the vast hosts of wandering Israelites. I do believe that manna was the very first fast food! Delivered fresh, sweet and ready to eat right to your front yard six days of the week, surely this was the inspiration for Domino’s Pizza Delivery.

Although it tasted like honey wafers, it is very clear that it didn’t come in a six-pack variety of flavors, nor were there fun toppings to perk it up when the taste, though delicious and honey-like, became tiresome. That aside, manna was clearly of superior nutritional quality and satisfying. A daily omer (a unit of measure that is roughly 2 quarts, and a bit more or less depending on age and size) was eaten for 40 years and provided for the Israelites as they traveled. This 40 years was long enough to establish a strong and healthy new generation.

As a wife and mother with endless family meals in both my history and future, think of the time they saved in meal preparation and clean-up! I confess, I’m impressed with the simplicity of it all, as one of my favorite parts of our own Fast Sunday is the time we have to do other things with less time spent in meal preparation, eating and clean-up.

It’s a fascinating thing to look back on the Israelites and this ancient period of history. Though we marvel at their immaturity and responses to God and Moses, I wonder how they would view our world today, especially with regard to the wide variety and choices of food, especially in the United States. No doubt they, like returning missionaries and the military who have been abroad for a long time, would probably be overwhelmed with the sheer number of selections and easy convenience of foods, both natural and processed .the soft drinks, breads, meats, snacks and treat foods that are constantly provided in irresistible packaging and compellingly advertised.

The Israelites would look at us and wonder why so many of us are overweight. With a quick education on the fact that too many calories turns into stored fat, they would see that they had their challenges and we have ours: one of the great, undeniable realities of these latter days is the very evident fact that many of us just eat too much.

Perhaps we are overwhelmed too. We hardly know when or where to start and finish our personal eating each day. How easy it is to just keep eating because it tastes so good and is so convenient with old favorites and stand-bys joining delicious new offerings and creations almost continually. For many of us who graze this way through our days, to be truly hungry and ready for a nutritious meal is an irregular, unusual event.

It was impossible for the Israelites to overindulge because the manna developed worms and rotted if they took too much or tried to make it last. Once again, how simple! What an easy way to maintain your weight! We would all benefit from the Lord intervening on what, when and how much we’re supposed to eat. Since that is not part of the program for we Latter Day Saints, I believe that’s why Dian Thomas’s detailed, specific pictures of her weight loss plan, here, and Judy Jensen’s Food Addict’s plan, here, with a timetable for when to eat are so very helpful. (By the way, Judy is down nearly 80 pounds. Her food plan is available by googling FOOD ADDICTS ANONYMOUS EATING PLAN)

These weight loss plans seem rigid and extreme. “I could never do that!” you might say as you see Dian’s photos and Judy’s schedule. Truthfully, it’s all relative as these plans are nothing short of a Las Vegas smorgasbord compared to a daily omer of nothing but manna. I’m quite sure the Israelites would have been thrilled with the variety and amounts on these very healthy eating plans. We, however, are on our own, with the Word of Wisdom and wise men like Dr. Stan Gardner to guide us.

Stepping back, The Lord simplified more than just eating for the Israelites. He cured their venomous snake bites by having them simply look at the snake on a pole. Not everyone believed it, of course, and they perished, even as we avoid simple things like slipping out for a brisk walk several times a week or eliminating soda or sugar 90% of the time to manage our health.

He simplified the greater laws he originally wanted to give them by reducing them to ten simple, yet profound commandments.

Your Personal Ten Commandments

I have a very strong testimony that he will do the same for us in a very personal way as we strive to create the health that makes us happier, healthier, better and more energetic servants. No, it’s not easy, but no, it’s not impossible. We can create our own inspired, personal Ten Commandments of Health to help us along, and I’ve provided some lists to get us started in choose or own personal top ten. I wish Charlton Heston could personally deliver them, but the Spirit will sweetly guide as you prayerfully choose your most important ten. They don’t need to be written in stone, but they do need to be recorded, so make a mini-poster when you CLICK HERE and fill in just what you and the Lord know you need to do.

You can also just paste this link into your browser: https://www.mymiracletea.com/html/meridian_mini_posters.html.

Dr. Mehmet Oz

1: Thou Shall Not Wear Pants That Stretch
“When you wear stretchy clothes, it’s difficult to tell if you are gaining weight because you gain weight without realizing it. When you wear clothes that fit with a set size you let clothes be your gauge. They alert your body if something is getting a little tight so you can correct the course early on.”

2: Thou Shall Not Keep “Fat Clothes” in Your Closet
“I don’t want anybody out there who’s losing their weight thinking, ‘it’s okay if I overate a little bit, it’s not a problem because I can still wear these clothes.'”

3: Thou Shall Not Eat Meat That Walks on Four Legs More Than One Time A Week
“The reason is that there’s less saturated fat in animals that walk on two legs like chickens, or don’t have any legs like fish. Additionally, women who eat large amounts of red meat more than once a week actually have 50 percent higher chance of dying of heart disease. They also have higher cancer rates, so there are double benefits from the third commandment.”

4: Thou Shall Not Graze or Browse in Search of Prey
“You need to before you go to the fridge. Too many times we’re wandering like reptiles foraging for food. We make food decisions. You want to create the plate that you’re going to eat using your brain rather than impulses that lead you to naturally overeat, which is what happens when you’re hungry and going in there five to seven times a day.”

5: Thou Shall Not Eat After 7:30 PM
“The average American goes to bed around 10:00 p.m. You need to have two hours of time between when you eat your dinner and when you go to bed. When you eat late at night, a couple of things happen. First of all, you’re more likely to be eating in front of the TV, which means you’re distracted and likely to eat more. You also tend to get high calorie snacks in the late night hours. Try to move your meals up a tiny little bit whatever way you can to make 7:30 p.m. your ideal cut off time.”

6: Thou Shall Not Pile On Food On a Plate More Than One Inch High or Two Inches to the Edge of the Plate
“Larger portions mean a lot more calories.”

7: Thou Shall Not Chew Less Than 20 Bites
“When you’re chewing, your body is beginning to process the reality that you’re putting food in it. It takes awhile for those hormones to circle back. The perception of fullness depends completely on back and forth chemistry between your stomach and your brain. As you chew, you give yourself several minutes for that processing to occur. So you’re helping your biology of blubber take you to a weight that you could be happy at.”

8: Thou Shall Not Covet Thy Neighbors Plate
“These snacks, these little bites from someone else’s sandwich, these little sweets, whatever it is, it adds up. It adds up, on average, to over 1,000 calories a day. That’s why grazers, believe it or not, are getting into trouble. These calories count with all the other calories you already eat.”

9: Thou Shall Not Carry Small Bills
“The reason, vending machines. Vending machines love small bills, and human beings like putting small bills in vending machines. With this temptation it’s too easy to get 100 or 200 extra calories of food. Most people buy more because they’re not going to pocket the extra change. The result is you feed there over and over again. I want you to leave the house without small bills in your pocket. You won’t want to break a $20 bill in order to buy junk foods in a vending machine.”

10: Thou Shall Not Eat Standing Up or in a Car
“Eat a preplanned meal while you’re stationary, and eat it while you’re sitting down. You will actually know what you’re doing. You are aware, you’re not distracted and you’re not rushing; most important, you are not overeating.”

Anta

I loved the following from a weight trainer and fitness guru in Florida named Anta:

1. Faith/Vision
You must believe and have faith that you will succeed. The more you fail and the more you are rejected the closer you are to victory. Vision is a dream or goal with a deadline. Write your vision with your goals and never close site of them.

2. Healthy Life Style
Your body is your temple. If you don’t take care of your body where will you live?

A. No Vices Stay away from soft drinks, white sugar and flour.

B. Peaceful Living Find a private place to have a peaceful time for your self to relax and pray. Eat in a peaceful environment with good company. Eat slowly and chew your food twenty to fifty times.

C. Rest Work and play hard six days a week but make sure you take one day off for rest and relaxation. Even the almighty God rested on the seventh day. Get a good nights sleep every day. The body repairs while you sleep.

D. No Negative Thoughts or People
Think positive; keep all negative thoughts out of your mind such as fear, hate and envy. FEAR is False Expectations Appearing Real. Negative people will keep you from success. Keep them away from you and your life.

3. Eat Healthy Foods We all know what healthy foods and unhealthy foods are. Foods as close to the way God made them are healthy. Man made processed, refined and altered foods are unhealthy.

4. Water
Drink Water, Water and more Pure Water, 8 to 10 glasses a day. Our bodies are almost 85 % water. Next to oxygen, water is the most important element for staying alive. We can’t survive without it.

5. Functional Anaerobic Exercising
Functional training is the way that we use our bodies daily by using different muscles in our body together simultaneously. Examples of some functional exercises are Kettlebells, Olympic Weight Lifting, Pilates, Indian Club Swinging, rope climbing and Calisthenics. Muscle specific weight machine training is not functional, yet it is a lot better then sitting around the house eating and channel surfing.

6. Aerobic Exercising
You need at least a 20 min aerobic workout to stay in good cardiovascular shape. Jogging, sprinting, kettlebell training, swimming and riding a bicycle will give you an aerobic workout. The aerobic workout that burns the most calories is still kickboxing. Keep your cardio workouts fun and functional. Make sure that you get speed, bursting power and balance in your workout so stay away from fixed bicycles and treadmills.

7. Stretching
Stretching relaxes your body, reduces muscle tension, increase range of motion, prevents injury, promotes circulation and reduces lactic acid that is produced after a workout. Great forms of stretching are Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Pilates and Yoga. Stretching is the most neglected physical activity.

8. Breathing Exercise
Oxygen is the most important element keeping us alive. You can not survive more than a few minutes without oxygen. Go out doors and breathe fresh air daily. Pilates, Yoga, Tai Chi and Chi Gong will teach you great techniques for healthy breathing.

9. Sunshine
The sun is a powerful healer. It kills germs and relaxes you. It helps your body absorb calcium and creates vitamin D. Remember light brings life and darkness brings death.

10. Fasting
It is good to periodically skip a meal or two and give the digestive track a break.

More Ten Commandments

There are even several books at Amazon with the “Ten Commandments” principles!

You can check them out yourself there. Even a summary of the table of contents will give you great direction. Just put in “Ten Commandments for Health.” In the search box at Amazon.com

Preparing this article, I’m inspired for myself! Already the Spirit is whispering my very own Ten Commandments to me . saying, “Carolyn . I love you! This is important .”

Here Are My Top Three Ten Commandments

1. Thou shalt not eat cookies when alone, tired or avoiding paperwork. (I work for several hours a day at an elementary school where there is a never-ending flow of cookies, and tasty kids treats.)

2. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s body height or or legs. (I’m less than 5′ tall and bottom/hip/thigh heavy) Instead be grateful that your legs, though not long and slender, work fabulously and serve you well!

3. Thou shalt be realistic and and embrace the higher ends of your healthy weight range.(A bummer . but not the end of the world! What a waste of time and energy to dwell on what’s never going to happen and is not nearly as big a deal as the media wants us to believe.)

Record Your Ten Commandments

OK! Now it’s up to you. CLICK HERE and fill in just what you and the Lord know you need to do.

You can also just paste this link into your browser: https://www.mymiracletea.com/html/meridian_mini_posters.html.

As a little bonus, I’ve also added 10 ways to lighten up our favorite recipes:

Recipe Lighteners 10 Commandments

1. In most bakery recipes (muffins, cakes, cookies, coffee cakes, brownies, nut breads, etc.) you can substitute whole-wheat for half the white flour called for. Compared to 1/4 cup of white flour, each 1/4 cup of whole-wheat flour adds 3.5 grams of fiber and various phytochemicals, and doubles the amount of magnesium and selenium. The extra fiber helps slow digestion and increase fullness.

2. In most bakery recipes, you can replace half of the sugar with Splenda (or a similar artificial sweetener). This cuts the calories from sugar in half, saving you 48 calories per tablespoon of sugar you replace.

3. In egg dishes (quiches, frittatas, omelets, breakfast casseroles), you can use egg substitute in place of half the eggs. In other words, if the recipe calls for 6 eggs, you would blend 3 whole eggs with 3/4 cup egg substitute (1/4 cup of egg substitute replaces each egg). You can replace half the eggs in bakery recipes with egg substitute as well. By replacing one large egg with 1/4 cup egg substitute, you’ll shave 45 calories, 5 grams of fat, 1.6 grams of saturated fat, and 213 milligrams of cholesterol.

4. In many bakery recipes, you can cut the fat ingredient (butter, margarine, shortening, or oil) in half. In other words, if a cake recipe calls for 1 cup of butter or margarine, you can usually use 1/2 cup instead. Remember to replace the missing fat with a similar amount of a moist but healthful ingredient (fat-free sour cream, orange juice, low-fat yogurt, applesauce, etc.) This change cuts both fat and calories, since each gram of fat translates into 9 calories as opposed to 4 per gram for protein or carbohydrate.

5. Cook with reduced-fat or fat-free products when available — and when they taste good. Try fat-free sour cream, reduced-fat cheeses, light cream cheese, light mayonnaise, reduced-fat or light sausage, less-fat turkey bacon, light salad dressings, and light or low-fat ice cream or frozen yogurt. Many cut calories and saturated fat along with total fat. A few fat-free products are in my arsenal as well: fat-free sour cream and half-and-half, chicken broth, wine, strong coffee, fruit purees, and fruit juice. These foods add moisture, and sometimes flavor, to recipes where you aren’t using a lot of fatty ingredients.

6. Never deep-fry when you can oven-fry or pan-fry with a lot less oil. Choose canola oil or olive oil, and use about 1/2 teaspoon per serving (depending on the item). When you pan-fry or oven-fry in a controlled amount of oil, you can cut a lot of the fat and calories your food would soak up if it were submerged in hot oil. For every tablespoon of oil you cut, you’ll save 120 calories and 13.5 grams of fat.

7. Use whole grains in your recipes whenever possible. We’ve already talked about whole-wheat flour, but you can also substitute brown rice for white rice, add barley to stews and casseroles, and look for recipes that call for oats. Whole grains offer fiber to fill you up, along with a plethora of health benefits.

8. Extra ingredients and embellishments can often be removed or cut in half. If a recipe calls for chocolate chips, you can use less. If it calls for dotting your casserole or pie with butter, you can skip this step. In a cake recipe, you can use half the original amount of frosting (in a double-layer cake, just frost the top and middle and forget the sides). And in some cakes, bars, and cookies, you can skip the frosting in favor of a light sprinkling of powdered sugar. Using 2 tablespoons of frosting instead of 4 will shave 130 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, and 2 grams of saturated fat. Each tablespoon of chocolate chips you skip cuts the calories by 50 per serving, the fat by 3 grams, and the saturated fat by almost 2 grams.

9. Use top-quality ingredients when possible. Start with the best-tasting, freshest ingredients you can find. For example, I use fresh garlic (I buy it already minced in jars) and fresh herbs when I can — they usually have more flavor than the dried. Use extra-fresh fish, the sharpest reduced-fat cheddar cheese, and so on. All this means your lighter dish will be more likely to pass muster with the masses!

10. Switch to “smart fat” ingredients when possible. Certain fats, when used in moderation, actually have health benefits! Omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish and some plant foods like canola oil and ground flaxseed), as well as oils that contain monounsaturated fats (like olive and canola oil) and foods high in monounsaturated fats (like avocado and almonds) may help protect against heart disease. In recipes, you often have a choice of which oil or margarine to use, or you can choose to add fish instead of red meat. When a recipe calls for melted butter or margarine, you can often substitute canola or olive oil.

Are you ready? One-Two-Three GO and print out your mini-poster now! You’ll be ever so glad you did.

CLICK HERE and fill in just what you and the Lord know you need to do.

You can also just paste this link into your browser: https://www.mymiracletea.com/html/meridian_mini_posters.html.

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