The most fundamental garden in which we have been placed is our body. The human body is, as far as we know, the most amazing creation ever. The 206 bones, 632 muscles, 75,000 miles of blood vessels, 35 million gastric juice producing glands in the lining of the stomach, the 2 million (1 million per kidney) water filtrating nephrons in our kidneys, the 600 million oxygen exchanging alveoli in our lungs, the 2 million sweat glands in our skin and the 50-75 trillion cells that are estimated to comprise the whole body, are all testimony to the magnificence of the human body. And this is only a fraction of the whole story. 

Clearly the human body is a garden of life. A garden must be dressed and kept in order to be a garden. We must take care of this garden called the human body. This means we must do the work of wellness. This means physical fitness. Physical fitness boils down to two things, exercise and nutrition. If practiced regularly, exercise and nutrition will maximize the physical fitness of the body.  

First let's look at exercise. The human body was not made for sitting down. It was not 

made for the sedentary lifestyles that we now enjoy. It was made for moving. It was made for mobility, maneuverability, flexibility, strength and precision. All of these things are enhanced to the degree that we exercise. Regular and consistent exercise maintains the body's ability to do what it was intended to do. It has both internal and external implications and ramifications. From an external perspective, exercise contributes to the body's form, strength and flexibility. From an internal perspective, exercise contributes to the body's endurance, effective and efficient function and weight management. There are three elements comprising adequate exercise. They are stretching, lifting (resistance or muscle building) and aerobics (repetitive movement of the large muscle groups that builds the body's ability to perform consistently without interruption, e.g. jogging, walking, swimming, cycling, jumping rope, step aerobics, dance aerobics). Each exercise session should include at least two of the above trilogy. You may decide to alternate days on which you emphasize aerobics or lifting, but stretching should go along with both 

Aerobic exercise makes several contributions to the health and fitness of the body. As such, it is very important. It builds cardiovascular strength, burns calories, enhances muscle tone effectiveness and efficiency, enhances the body's effective utilization of blood sugar, makes the heart more effective and efficient and helps to lower blood pressure. Aerobic exercise should be done at least 3-4 times a week. I prefer every other day ideally. Each session should last between 40 minutes and an hour, but the same benefit could be achieved with a session lasting on half as long. Find some aerobic exercise that is suitable for and consistent with your lifestyle. Any one of them that works for you is fine. The important thing is to do it. Consistency is key. Exercising every now and then is not healthy. Not only will you not receive the many wonderful benefits of exercise, but you will also run the risk of injury. There are many aerobic exercises to select from: walking, step aerobics, skipping rope, jogging, cycling (stationary & mobile), swimming, dance aerobics, all represent what I would define as the first tier or best aerobic type exercises. I define them as best because: 

1. they are least expensive 
2. you don't need to join a fitness club
3. they are easy to do
4. maximum benefit is derived when they are consistently done.

In addition to cardiovascular strength, endurance and fitness, aerobic exercise burns calories. In this capacity, it serves to keep down and manage your weight. There is only one way to lose weight. That is, to take in fewer, or burn up more calories. The more regular and consistent your aerobic activity is, the more calories you will consume. Just in case you want to do some figuring, 3500 calories equals one pound. If you want to lose one pound you must burn up 3500 calories. The best way to achieve this is through aerobic exercise. 

One of the most pervasive and biggest challenges facing people in this society is weight management. It is an ongoing challenge. It is something that literally millions of people are struggling with. It is an issue that is particularly relevant to the African-American population.  

Substantial numbers (estimated between 30-40 percent and higher) of African-American women are significantly overweight. Very important to the process of losing weight is it must be done gradually. 

The second part of the trilogy of fitness is weight lifting or muscle building. Whether you are male or female you should do some weight lifting. Building muscle is important for a number of reasons. First of all, it increases your strength. This makes it possible for you to do things with the appropriate amount of ease and facility. If you keep your muscle strength up, you are better able to take care of yourself throughout your later years even until your transition into life beyond this one. People who are in their sixth, seventh, eighth and even ninth decade benefit from the weight lifting aspect of fitness. Indeed, as you age, this aspect of fitness becomes increasingly important because of the loss of muscle tissue. Do not attempt to begin lifting by lifting weights that Mr. and Mrs. Universe lift. Begin with very light weights. It doesn^'t matter if it is one pound, three pounds, five pounds, ten or twenty pounds. The important thing is beginning where you can easily do five to ten repetitions on each side more than once. Then gradually increase the weights over time. Once again, the important thing here is to be consistent. It does not take long to lose the fitness level strength that you have worked hard to gain. If you miss exercise for a week your fitness level will begin to substantially drop off. This is especially the case as you get in your later decades. 

Exercise means work. It means effort. It means you must move your body. It requires energy. When you decide to start exercising, you must get started and keep going. It is important to work through those feelings of procrastination. It is important to challenge yourself and strengthen your will by overcoming your feeling to remain inactive. There are a few things that pay off like an investment in exercise. One hour every other day is four hours a week. That translates into just over two percent of 168 hours available to you over the course of a seven-day week. This two- percent of your life spent exercising has more of an impact on the remaining 98 percent than any other single thing you do. 

The last component of the trilogy of fitness is stretching. Stretching has been mentioned along with aerobic and weight lifting exercise. After age 30, tendons and ligaments begin to stiffen, shorten and tighten up. Not to pay attention to this is to increase the likelihood of injury both during aerobic and weight lifting exercise. Therefore, taking the time to stretch both at the beginning of and conclusion of your exercise routine is very important. Not only will you be more likely to avoid injury, but you will also perform better. So, stretch. Stretching is the main architect of flexibility. Flexibility is vital to your ability to move your limbs and joints to meet requirements of an active life. Stretching builds strength as well. It strengthens muscles opposing the stretch. So, through stretching_, both flexibility and muscle strengthening are achieved. 

Nutrition is the other major aspect of fitness. It has been said that we are what we eat. Nutrition obviously is important to health and fitness. Indeed nutrition is related to at least six out of the ten leading causes of death in America. My general rule of thumb regarding nutrition is to emphasize fruits and vegetables. Personally, I have been a vegetarian for over twenty years and believe that this fact has contributed substantially to my overall health and well being. Fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber, bulk, vitamins A, C E (potent antioxidants) and phytochemicals (potent cancer fighting substances). These points alone are sufficient for a very high recommendation for emphasis in our diets. You should make every effort to consume six to eight fruit and vegetable servings each day. This may seem like a lot but it sounds more difficult than it is. It means keeping fruit around to snack on in between meals and to make a part of the meal itself. It means including at least two servings of vegetables at both your afternoon and evening meals. Keep fruit in the house. Especially fruit that is in season. Take fruit on long trips. Take fruit to work for lunch. As you can see, the servings will quickly add up if you make fruits and vegetables a part of your daily living. 

In addition to the emphasis that should be placed on eating fruits and vegetables, there are other general nutritional principles that will help you eat more nutritiously and more moderately. A. If you are not hungry, don't eat. Never eat because other people are eating. Develop the will power to say no. People so often buy food or try food because somebody says it is good. However, they don't need as much food as they think, and in fact, many times they are working on managing their weight. Yet, the minute somebody suggests, "Here, try this," they are first in line to get a piece. And as they are in the process of buying it or trying it, simultaneously they are rationalizing why this one piece won't make any difference. The reality is that this "one piece" won't make a difference. The problem is that this "one piece" is really the nine millionth piece. Never eat when you're not hungry. This applies to when you are in the process of eating as well. In other words, whey you are satisfied, stop eating. Do not continue because the food tastes good and there is more of it before you. Too many of us too often continue to eat because of how good something tastes. B. Do not eat so fast. Slow down. Put your fork down between each bite and chew your food thoroughly before picking it up again. This will help you eat less and enjoy it more. C. Cut down, cut back and eliminate where possible, salt, sugar coffee and alcohol. D. Drink water. Make every effort to consume between six and eight glasses of water every day. Water helps to keep you hydrated. It serves to facilitate waste elimination. It is the only food item that we consume that does not add calories to our diets. E. Eat less meat. Include more meatless meals in your diet If you do eat meat, try to emphasize fish and fowl. Be careful about how you prepare them. Roasting, broiling and baking are the preferred methods of preparation. On occasion, try some soy bean or tofu type substitutes. Expand your taste bud experiences. 

The last point I'd like to make regarding taking care of your body involves rest. This is a simple point and won't require much elaboration. It should be obvious that rest is important. Even God rested. Genesis 2:2 says, "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made." Jesus too, rested. The 31st verse of the 6th chapter of the book of Mark says, "And he (Jesus) said unto them, come ye yourselves a part into a desert place, and rest a while for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat."  

Try to get 6-8 hours of sleep each night. Rest is important to the rejuvenation of your body. It is important to the health and well being of your body. Without rest, your body will eventually break down. Get rest. 

The body will not take care of itself automatically. Work must be done. The second law of thermodynamics refers to a concept called entrophy. This is the universal tendency for order to breakdown into disorder. Unless order is attended to, it disintegrates into disorder. Unless, health, wholeness and maximal functioning are maintained, managed, replenished and upgraded, disorder, disintegration and chaos will result. Entrophy is reversed by work. Work is the orderly application of energy. Work must be applied to maintain and/or to restore order, health, wholeness and maximal functioning. You cannot take care of your body without doing the work necessary to make it happen. You cannot have someone else do the work that your body needs. You must do it yourself. Your body is a community of life. It is a garden of life. It is a garden into which God has placed you. The command is, "dress and keep the garden." Do the work necessary to keep the garden healthy, whole and maximally functioning.