How to Get Your Body Back

Get Fit to Live

By Audrey Muhammad

What will it take to get our body back?  This is often a question many ask after they realize they have gone off the path a little.  Today is a wonderful time to get focused, get disciplined and make the presence of God stronger in your life.   In Study Guide #13, entitled “The Price of Redemption” it states:  “to ‘redeem’ means to ‘buy back.’  This suggests that the item being bought back was once owned by the buyer and for some reason he had temporarily lost possession of it.  Thus, a price has to be paid for the object to be returned.” 

We are children of God and soldiers for peace.  Do you know of any army that doesn’t have its soldiers exercise?  No.  Exercise is the first thing they do in the morning.   What does exercise do besides help you lose weight?  Exercise strengthens the immune system.  Our immune system is our first line of defense against illness and disease.   Secondly, if we are not careful, the food we put in our mouth can send us to our grave.  However, we were given a great gift in books I and II of How to Eat to Live on how to live a longer and healthier life with the best of foods.

Some of us may have lost the young, strong, and lean body of our youth and desire it back.  Well, there is a price that we have to pay.  What is the cost?  Hard work (exercise) and sacrifice (giving up certain foods and our time) will be part of the price to pay.  Can we afford this?  Yes!  But are we willing to spend the “money”?  Let’s review the instructions given to Believers in “The Price of Redemption.” (All quotes are from Study Guide #13 unless noted otherwise).

 These instructions, if followed and also applied to health, will help us get fit to live.  The instructions are:

1. Prayer.  “It takes 21 days, according to scholars, to break old habits and make new ones.  Let the Nation of Islam get into the habit of prayer, 5 times a day at the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner…Prayer is the re-affirmation of desire.  We endure by re-affirming and re-identifying our desire until we reach the goal.” (Study Guide #13). (According to the Random House Dictionary, “exercise” is “bodily or mental exertion, esp. for the sake of training or improvement of health…forms of practice or exertion designed to train, develop, condition or the like.”  Prayer is an action that takes mental effort.  It is the first “exercise” we should do in the morning.   Even some of the positions of prayer are similar to the positions in the yoga.)

2. Fasting.  Another “exercise” we are encouraged to practice is “fasting.” 

“In Islam, fasting is an institution of the improvement of the moral and spiritual condition of human begins.  Fasting, abstention from food in obedience to Allah (God), helps us build the will to resist the impediments to self-development.”  (We should all try to participate in the monthly three-day fast.  You should not fast if you are pregnant or nursing).

3. One meal a day.  “Eat one mal a day…it will prolong your life.”   (However, we need to make sure that the one meal is nutritious and balanced with protein, carbohydrates and fat.  Make sure you make bean soup part of your meal).
4. Charity and sacrifice.  “Charity is a principle of action which is necessary for the spiritual advancement of man.  The advancement we make through charity is towards Allah(God).”  (We should “sacrifice” or give up that cake or soda pop.  Giving up a can of soda alone will reduce 150-200 calories in a day.   Give up the sweets and that is another reduction of about 300 calories.  Only one slice of bean pie per person—[smile]. By exercising and reducing our caloric intake by 300-500 calories a day, we can lose 1-2 pounds a week!  Now that sacrifice is worth it!)
5. Work.  “What is ‘work’?  It is Force x Distance; the exertion of energy on an object that is not moving on its own, resulting in the movement of that object.” 

Exercise is work!  Unfortunately, exercise is a type of work we make excuses not to do.  In this day and time, we can no longer afford to make excuses for work we should perform. Fat will not move unless we cause it to move.  It takes “work” to get rid of fat.  “Workouts” are good for the body and the mind.)

  As I mentioned earlier, these instructions, if followed and also applied to our health, will help us get fit to live.  May Allah (God) bless us all with peace, health, wealth, love and happiness.

(Audrey Muhammad is the author of the book, Get Fit to Live:  Be your best you!, available at www.getfit2live.org.  To order the Book and get a FREE copy of the audiobook CD, send a $12 money order(plus $3 shipping) to Get Fit To Live, P.O. Box 61402, Raleigh, NC , 27661.  Please consult a physician before beginning any new exercise or dietary program. To inquire about a Get Fit to Live workshop in your city, email audreymuhammad@hotmail.com)