Great Resources to Start Your Health Journey

Starting a new health journey can be daunting, especially given all the conflicting information that is out there in the media, on the internet, from your doctors, and from the government.

I restarted my health journey in earnest late in 2016, closing in on almost 8 years now and it was difficult for me for so many reasons.

I wasn’t sure how lifting weights would turn out for me, I was still confused about what food I was supposed to eat, and when I started, I still didn’t have a relationship with God yet.

Most frustrating of all for me though was the fact that there was a lot of information out there that was conflicting. 

• Carbs are good.
• Carbs are bad.
• Fat is bad for you.
• Fat is good for you.
• Eat protein but focus on plant-based protein.
• Eat protein but don’t eat too much protein.

The sheer volume of information that is out there can be overwhelming and it was certainly overwhelming for me.

It took me a long time to change my views on food and nutrition over the course of the last 8 years.

I can say the number one thing that helped me in this change of perspective was embracing my relationship with God. 

Knowing who I am in Him helped me open myself up to new thoughts and ideas much more easily and all that boils down to the spirit of humility that God put into my heart.

Proverbs 15:32-33 states, “Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.”

I honestly never really entertained things that weren’t “conventional wisdom.” 

In fact, I would outright dismiss that kind of information as quackery and would think to myself, “why would anyone ever believe that ridiculous nonsense?” 

Sadly, I took that approach with a lot of things, communication with others, Biblical passages, events, and anything that had to do with food and nutrition. 

The thing that really struck me when I accepted God into my life was how wrong I was about so many things.

I didn’t have an attitude of humility. I had an attitude of pride and that had such a dramatic impact on my ability to learn and accept new ideas and concepts. 

Psalm 10:4 states, “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.””

I was proud.

It never occurred to me that somehow my “knowledge” about God, the natural world, even food could be so wrong. 

I was so convinced of my own intellectual superiority, that I dismissed those ideas and concepts that didn’t align with my worldview, regardless of how damaging to my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health those views were. 

Once I accepted who I was in God, that’s when things started to finally click for me. 

For the first time, I truly accepted that I’d been walking around with blinders for a long time. 

That what I thought I knew wasn’t right, and what I used to believe wasn’t serving me or my health in the right way.

According to Proverbs 1:5, “Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance.” 

I finally humbled myself to God and realized I had a lot to learn, especially about what it takes to get well.

That’s when I started researching and trying to learn as much as possible about food, wellness, and health.

I started reading, watching movies, watching YouTube videos of scientific presentations from nutritional experts that had views that differed from “conventional wisdom. 

I started looking through the research papers on ketogenic diets, saturated fat and its impact on cardiovascular health, the impact of increased protein on the human body and absorbing as much knowledge as I could to help fuel my wellness journey. 

I took certification courses in keto and carnivore diets, got my CrossFit Level 1 trainer to increase my knowledge of the impact of strength training on the body and I continue to do these things to increase my knowledge and understanding of how to improve my health and the health of others.

I read book after book on nutrition, strength, and longevity.

I listened to podcasts and presentations.

I did everything that I could to educate myself, to learn what was needed to heal my body, my mind, and my soul.

Changing your views on nutrition and health is difficult, especially when what you believe runs counter to what the popular media, government, and current medical institutions try to push out to everyone. 

Here are the things that have stuck with me my entire journey:

• God loves me.
• No one will ever care more about my health than I should.
• Often, especially with health and wellness, “conventional wisdom” is wrong.

Below are 5 great resources that you can use to help you start to gain the knowledge that you need to start changing your life and your wellness for the better. I know that they have done that for me.

5 great resources to start your journey to wellness:

1. Judy Cho – Nutrition with Judy: https://www.nutritionwithjudy.com/
2. Marie and Craig Emmerich: https://keto-adapted.com/
3. Michelle Hurn: https://thedietitiansdilemma.net/
4. Dr. Ken Berry: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIma2WOQs1Mz2AuOt6wRSUw
5. Dr. Shawn Baker: https://carnivore.diet/dr-shawn-baker-md/