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Contrary to popular belief, cutting carbs and counting calories really isn’t as effective as a simple, balanced diet. Millions of people make the mistake of thinking that eliminating carbohydrates from their diet will allow them to lose weight. However, not only are foods rich in carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice, cereal, etc.) one of the essential food groups, they are the food group one needs the most servings of per day. Carbohydrates provide a person with the energy they need to make it through the day.

The key to healthy eating and wellbeing is moderation. Although often taken to the extreme, there is a point behind low-carb diets. Anything eating in excess is unhealthy: carbs, just like anything else, must be eaten in moderation. For instance, eating solely vegetables, however good for you they may be, won’t benefit you without the other components of a balanced diet.

There are six basic food groups: the bread, rice, pasta and cereal group (6 servings), the fruit group (2 servings), the vegetable group (3 servings), the meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, and nut group (2 servings), the milk, yogurt, and cheese group (3 servings), and the fats, oils and sweets group (use sparingly). Out of the six groups, the only group one should be careful to eat sparingly of is the fats, oils, and sweets group. Even those are still “allowed.” A balanced diet would consist of the allotted servings of these foods per day.

When it comes to staying healthy, balanced eating goes hand-in-hand with exercising. Experts recommend 30 minutes of aerobic exercise at least 3 days a week. This means exercise that gets your heart rate up and leaves you drenched in sweat. Yes, sweat. It’s good for you. It’s also helpful to compliment exercise with a few minutes of stretching beforehand (to warm up your muscles) and few minutes afterwards (to help your muscles relax). Daily exercise is just as important as eating well as it will help you gain strong bones, strong muscles, and a healthy metabolism.

Once again, the key to this is moderation. As a dancer who spends several hours a day dancing, working out, stretching, and conditioning, I’ve seen many dancers injure themselves through over-exercising. Like dancers, if you’re involved in something that requires top physical fitness, it’s easy to overwork yourself. It is crucially important, however, to make sure you’re allowing your body to rest and recuperate.

On that note, there are many problems that stem from excessive dieting and excessive exercising. Approximately 8 million Americans suffer from an eating disorder; 7 million of those are women. Anorexia nervosa is one of the most common illnesses among adolescents. This is partially due to a culture which displays stick-thin models as the ideal. Primarily a psychological illness (although it has acute physical repercussions), anorexia causes one to have a skewed self-image which leads to self-starvation. Likewise, over-exercising in hopes of rapidly losing weight or gaining the “ideal” body type (there’s no such thing, by the way) leads to injury.

1 Corinthians 3:16–17 says, “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” In every way, we as Christians are called to care for our bodies in a way that glorifies God. Whether it’s making sure you don’t eat too much or being sure to eat enough, we have been given a trust and are called to be faithful. In the same way, we are made in God’s own image and that deserves our awe and respect.

 

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