Making The Best Choice At The Time

I wanted to touch on this subject about making choices.

Everyone is at different points in their lives, and because one person is able to make certain choices that another cannot, does not mean the person is better or worse than the other.  They just can make different choices that another maybe cannot or will not.

Yesterday someone shared something with me and I sort of felt belittled and inferior, but I'm sure that was NOT the person's intent.  As I look at it today, the person was just excited to share with me information that has been working for him and wanted me to benefit from it.  Yet, at the moment, I took it as an afront, that I wasn't good enough, or that it wasn't within where I was at the moment to be able to have the luxury he had.

This made me realize something today that sometimes when I share information, maybe people feel similar with me.  Yes, for right now, I'm able to have the time to cook and usually cook from scratch, sometimes from REAL scratch.  And, not everyone can, wants to, cares to, or has the ability to even if they could.  Those are all perfectly valid things.

For me, I really have the intent to just share with people things that are working or not working for me, to disseminate (pass out or share) information and to do it freely.  Sometimes I have paid for the information either through books, or services, or experiences.  Some of the information I came along when I had much more financial abundance and now am benefiting from it.

Bodyfat Measurements:  One of the things I learned is about testing for bodyfat.  The Gold Standard for bodyfat testing is to be dunked under water and measure the displacement of water to calculate what percentage of your body is comprised of fat.  For 3 yrs from 2004-2007 (I think those were the years), every 3 months, I would get my bodyfat measured this way, getting dunked.  I don't remember the cost, which is ranged from probably $35-50 per visit and I got a detailed printout of various things regarding my bodyfat.  It was performed by the same person, the same company for all those years.

Prior to getting that done, I got a pair of inexpensive bodyfat calipers by Accu-Measure Body Fat Calipers.  I got Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle eBook (Tom Venuto) in 2003, which includes how to properly use bodyfat calipers.  You basically take the measurement that is above the supra-illiac (pinch the fat there), and measure using the calipers.  You don't need fancy, expensive calipers, just those inexpensive $5-7 calipers.  However, I didn't trust that what I was doing was acccurate, so I went and did underwater bodyfat testing for 3 yrs.

Each time before I got the testing done, I would measure using the Accu-Measure Body Fat Calipers, write down on a slip of paper what that gave me, and then get the dunking.  I was always within 1% of whatever the underwater testing gave me.  Usually, I was less than 0.5%.  After 3 yrs and 12 measurements, I decided that was enough data points to show that I could measure with a fair degree of accuracy and consistency my own bodyfat.

Plus, Justin, the guy that owned the underwater dunking business sold his business and was moving to Australia.  I was disappointed, but learned a great deal from Justin over those 3 yrs.  My whole point is that you don't need to spend $35, $50, $75, or whatever it now costs to get underwater dunking.  You could do it a couple times and see if you're measuring accurately, if you have the money and time to spend to do it, but it's not necessary for most people, especially if they are not competing.

Food:  I can understand that not everyone reading my blog can get all the best and highest quality foods available due to a number of reasons.  1) not affordable; 2) not available; 3) you don't see the point; 4) don't really care; 5) not easily attainable; 6) you don't have a clue what I'm talking about.  Those are probably the main reasons that I can think of.  All of those are very valid reasons.

So, make the best choice you can and are willing to accept responsibility for.  If you can't afford it because it's just too expensive and you have 5 mouths to feed, then you can't.  However, when you grocery shop, if you can use coupons, do.  Buy things that are on sale and seasonal, rather than things that are not on sale or seasonal.  These things will be more expensive, especially out of season.  If you're spending needless money on things like Starbucks coffee, then learn to reallocate your money to buying better quality foods.

Better quality foods start with buying things that have as few ingredients as possible, buying whole, natural foods.  Buying a big bunch of celery is less than buying a bag of chips to much on.  Chips often cost between $2-6 per bag.  A bunch of celery is usually under $1 and I'm pretty sure that you will most likely NOT sit down in one sitting to eat the whole bunch, unless you're a horse or a very gigantic rabbit.

And, some of you may not be able to give up your chips or whatever it is, so, then try to choose chips that are baked, not fried.  Or, maybe you could replace some of those chips with making your own chips (fairly easy) with veggies like kale, sweet potatoes, parsnips, etc.  They are a fraction of the cost, you bake them, and you season with sea salt or other spices that you can control what's in there.  There are no preservatives.

Anyway, these are just 2 topics and I want you to think about the choices you make.  Is this the ONLY choice, as yourself?  Or, is there a bad choice, a good choice, a better choice, or what is the best choice?  Ask yourself why you can't make the best choice?  If you can't do the best choice, is there a better choice than a BAD choice?

Then, whatever choice you make, be responsible for it.  Don't blame someone else.  Accept responsibility, even if it is a bad choice.  Then, move on.  If you've made the worst choice possible, accept responsibility, learn from it, and hopefully that will motivate you to make a better choice the next time round.


You can do!  And, if you have Jesus Christ as your Savior, He can totally help you make that best choice for that moment for you.  God can only give us His very best.  It's only us that chooses less than God's best for us because we think we know better than Him.