Healthy Conversations & a living document

On Monday, a child walked into the kitchen, saw the food in the picture below, scowled, and said angrily, "What can I even EAT mom? There's nothing in this house."

How's it going over here, with our family health challenge?  About like that. :)

We are still detoxing, so that's fun. I am allowing extra screen time and friend time to help us through. Best of all, we are having great conversations. 

My favorite part of homeschooling has been learning how to appreciate the power of good questions, and to foster meaningful conversations. I no longer see something like "health" or any other topic as a subject to tackle, teach, and file away. Rather, it's a piece of life that we will spend time together exploring, considering, and looking for truth, goodness, and beauty in this area so we can see how it applies to life. We will not FINISH this task this summer (or in our lifetimes!) and that's ok! That is not the goal.

So instead of having a curriculum or a book to work through this summer, my goal is to lead conversation regularly about health-related topics, using whatever I find that interests me or the others as a springboard. 

I have found a few things, and I know some of you are curious, so I created a living document to share with you all. Feel free to use these springboards in your own way, and let me know if you find any good ones of your own!

Health Conversations (a living document)

Wonderfully Made (Guest post by Angie Durnil)

Today, Angie Durnil joins us again- read on for some inspiration, weak and lovely ladies!

Wonderfully Made

Spring has sprung and with it the vibrant colors of my rose bush. Every year since I have planted the roses, I anxiously await their arrival. The bright fuchsia blossoms against the green leaves are so pretty and refreshing after the dull winter has passed. I welcomed the spring rains and warm weather early this year after the long, cold winter that has chilled even my spirit.

I didn't prune the bushes last fall. Instead I left the bare stems as a reminder of what will be, once the weather breaks. Now, the bushes have grown taller than me and very full, so much so, that I have had to tie them up to keep them from falling to the ground because they are so heavy with flower buds. The blossoms are exploding with color and it warms me to see God's creation.

God didn't just create the things in nature to behold. He also created each and every human, in His own likeness. He used just as much finesse in creating us as he created the plants and trees around us. So, why is it easier to marvel at the beauty in nature, than in our own selves? Why is it acceptable to stare in total amazement at the green grass, rolling hills, flowers and trees and see the beauty, and call it what it is; but stare in the mirror in disgust or contempt because things just don't look right? God made me for a purpose, and it may not be to win a beauty pageant, but He didn't take any less time to make me than He took to make the beauty queen.

Matthew 6:25-26 tells it beautifully. "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

Sin clouds our eyes with discontent and makes our minds distrust what is true and good. Instead we try to convince ourselves that we need to lose more weight, we need more makeup, we need more exercise or product or accessories. We tend to forget, that God created man and woman naked, and without diets and exercise equipment, and they were happy, that is, until Satan stepped in.

Much like Satan attacks me, the caterpillars have attacked my roses. So I have to protect them with Sevin or chili powder and garlic spray. The roses also have thorns to deter animals from munching on their leaves. My natural defenses are more awesome than chemicals. Whenever the lies fill my head, I turn to God, either in scripture or prayer. He tells me the truth and frees me from Satan. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

Pray for strength and wisdom in your struggles to be healthy, but don’t give up.  That’s what Satan wants.  Instead, honor your body with good food choices and exercise.  It helps me to remember that God made me too, just as he carefully crafted the roses. If He cares for flowers that much, imagine the love and compassion He has for me!  This creation should not be my undoing.   It's time to stop listening to the lies that Satan is telling me. I need to remember God's word that I am "fearfully and wonderfully made" and start believing the truth.

Fearfully and wonderfully made.

These.

And you.

(This post is part of a series on living Weak and Lovely)

Exercise (Weak and Lovely- Guest Post!)

Welcome, to today's guest-poster, Mary Anne Schneider!

Exercise

I have no motivation when it comes to exercise. I hate to exercise. A dozen or so work out videos sit collecting dust in my entertainment center. Billy Blanks, Cheryl Burke, Jillian Michaels, and Bob Harper (just to name a few) have promised fun, motivation, and a healthier lifestyle if I will follow their tried and true workout program. The last DVD I bought stayed in the wrapper for 4 weeks. Since its grand opening, I have used the video a total of two times.

Photo credit

This is my kind of exercise: LOL!

Research proves that exercise is good for you. According to the Mayo Clinic website, exercise can boost your mood, increase your energy, and lower your risk of disease, help you maintain a healthy weight, reduce stress, and improve sleep. All my friends seem to be doing it. I know I should do it, too. There are opportunities all around our community to become involved in exercise programs. I should not have any excuse not to be exercising. Why is it then that here I am, a little after 4:00 p.m., sitting on my couch with no intention of popping one of those 12 DVDs in the player?

Is it because I am on my feet most of the day at work? Around 3:00 p.m. my thoughts turn to my couch and sitting down. I can’t wait to set my toes free from my suffocating shoes and put my feet up. For some people it is a lack of extra time to fit in exercise. I should not use time as an excuse. I could fit it in if I really wanted to do it. Does anyone else fight this battle?

My challenge for the week:

• Make a list of exercises I could easily do. Include exercises that do not require extra work, money or extra effort to go somewhere.
• Exercise two times this week. (baby steps)
• Remind myself that I am worth the effort!

What is your favorite form of exercise?

What motivates you to exercise? 

Weekly Challenge: Rethink your body

Taking care of a body is such a struggle. Some things are easier for me, like exercise and choosing real butter over margarine, and some things are so hard that they seem impossible. So here I am, still making new changes, making some commitments over (and over) again.

Still weak and loved.
But often, not feeling so lovely at all.

If you relate to this, I hereby order you to read this article immediately:

These are the lines of a story

When I read this article, I felt like I got to a tiny peek into a brain with healthy self-image.
It was beautiful.

I'd love to hear from you after you read it.

What stood out to you the most?

Weak and Lovely- Read the series here
Join our facebook group for extra support!

Weekly Challenge: Put Your Body in its Place

I notice in myself a tendency to worry too much about the things of the body.  Health is important, but it’s doesn't deserve first place in my heart or my mind.

Whether I am on or off the wagon, dealing with health or any other issue, my tendency is to focus on myself, on what I should do or not do. It’s about my work, my standards, my awesomeness (or lack thereof.)

I keep a steady pace on the treadmill of my own efforts.  Yet my body, my life, are connected to my spirit and my Church, and this week, they are to be swept up in Holy Week.  This week, we remember the events that changed everything.

The things of the body, they are not the most important things. 

Join me, this week, as we fix our eyes on Jesus. Read this excellent Holy Week Letter.

Weekly Challenge

Put your body in its place.

Father, thank you for the gift of my body. Thank you for legs that run and a mouth that is learning to enjoy healthy food. Father, forgive me for obsessing too much about these things.  Forgive me when I allow the things of this world to crowd out the Important Things. You. Your Word.

Father, this week, draw me, body and soul, deeper into Your care. Open my ears to hear Your Word. Teach my eyes to look to You, to read Your Word, to study and to grow.  Turn my heart from sin and teach it to love what is good. 

As my body struggles through this dying world, may my heart take courage as I consider His body, His blood, shed for me.

Amen

Don't forget to read Pastor Esget's Holy Week Letter.

Weekly Challenge: Stop Holding Your Breath

I used to think dieting was a lot like holding my breath.

I could do it for a little bit, with great effort, but eventually, with a great gasp, I would give up what seemed impossible, and inhale air and food again as if my life depended on it.

Then, I read this:

A diet based on quantity rather than quality 
has ushered in a new creature on to the world stage: 

the human being who manages
to be both overfed and undernourished 

(Pollan, In Defense of Food, p 122)

Overfed and undernourished.

Oh my goodness, this is me.

My body received plenty of calories throughout the day, and yet was hungry, so hungry, all the time. Craving and eating and craving some more. And occasionally I tried to get it under control, to resist those cravings out of sheer willpower, but I just could not seem to last long this way. And that hunger, that constant hunger, was the enemy. I saw it in myself, and I hated it. 

It is selfish, it is my flesh, it is temptation. Isn't it?

But what if Pollan and others are right?

Overfed and undernourished.

Perhaps the hunger is not the enemy (or, not the only enemy).

Perhaps the hunger is just my body, working the way it is supposed to work, telling me it needs, needs things I am not giving it. Perhaps the processed foods and refined carbs I had been living on are not helping things, but making matters progressively worse.

Am I overfed but undernourished?

How would I know?

Well, I could try nourishing my body for once, and see if that helps.

So I did it. For one week, I went without sugar and refined grains. I ate tons of fruits and veggies (which was easy because my husband bought me a juicer.)

And my body thanked me.

Not a diet

Dieting, the kind that is like breath-holding, is all about what a person can’t have. This new way of living and eating is much more about what I can have. I can have things that are good for my body.  

Giving my body plenty of what it needs is nothing like breath-holding. It’s more like finally breathing in fresh air, after I had been living life suffocating under a pillow. I breathe deeply, drink deeply, and I find myself satisfied, not gasping and craving but satisfied.

Are you overfed and/or undernourished?

This week, try giving your body something it needs, and cutting out something it doesn’t.

Pay attention to how you feel, whether or not your cravings change.

Not sure what changes to make?

Read up on Real Food Basics
Learn more about Basic Nutrition
Learn more about being Overfed and Undernourished

Real Food

Weekly Challenge: Get in the Picture

 Can I tell you what I see here? And can I be brutally honest?

I see "not photogenic."

I see weight to loose and stubborn pimples and a bad angle.

But you know what my son sees?

The night he drove his first car- on the race track at Disney World. 

And his mom there with him, sharing in the Best Night Ever. 

("Mom, now that you know I can drive one of these, you really should buy me one.")

And you know what? I'm learning to see things more like my son sees.  

(Read this article- The Mom Stays in the Picture)

Moms, it is so easy to be hard on ourselves, especially as we struggle with our weight and our health. It is easy to see ourselves AS those struggles (and failures!)  It is tempting to hide, hide from public, or at least hide from the camera, until we lose that weight or fix that problem.

But our children and those who love us-- they care far less than we do about all that.

They want to be with us now-- to make memories with us, now.

They love us now, extra weight and pimples and all.

They love us, now. Today.

Remember this, friends, as you work to get healthier.

You are lovely, loved.

So, please, just get in the picture.

Your challenge this week

Read this article:

The Mom Stays in the Picture

And

Get in the picture!!!

My big boy forgot to be a big boy on the bus,
and he fell asleep in my arms like a little baby.
So glad I was there to hold him.

I'd love to see some of your pictures this week!

  Email me or post them to my facebook page!

Do you hide from the camera?

Remember, you can read the rest of the series here,
and join the facebook group for extra support!

Weekly Challenge: Rest

Sometimes I reheat my coffee 4 times before I finally drink it. The same cup.
Why?
Because the urgent needs never stop.

The onslaught of urgent needs faced by a mother is tremendous.
They pester us, nag us, guilt us, and we respond by moving, working, running through our days trying to get stuff done.

One day, a child was sick.  He was so sick, he needed his mother. He begged me, he forced me to nap with him.

He forced me to rest. And that's what it felt like, truly, because my list was long.

And yet, God forced me to lay down in the afternoon.

And I wiggled and sighed in the grip of my vocation, next to my son on the bed.  The needs of my sick child trumped the urgent mess in the kitchen, so I did what I had to do, grudgingly.  Until his tiny snores caused me to look at his sleepy face. My eyes saw my son, comforted, and my body melted under the blankets.

And I rested.


How often I forget, that God is kind and good, making us rest, and promising our rest.
And rest is good for both body and soul.

Your challenge this week:

Rest.

Take a nap.
Rest.

Remember, we are weak and lovely. Wonderfully Made.

Our goal is not merely pounds lost, but health.  And healthy bodies need rest.

Need some inspiration to rest?
Are you like me, and you find it difficult to just stop, even when the work is not done?

Please, read this post:
The trouble with rest

Do you find it hard to rest?

Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Remember, you can read the rest of the series here,
and join the facebook group for extra support!

photo credit the shaky baker

my "why's"

Why get healthy?

Why learn, and change, and be kind to your body?

Your "Weak and Lovely" challenge this week was to remind yourself why.  And I'll share my list with you in a moment. But first, I want to get out the why-nots. Change is hard, and we can acknowledge that.

Why I don't want to make healthy choices

• It's easier to just keep doing what is easiest.
• Change requires more thought and planning. 
• I risk cooking a meal that my family will not like. I'll have to listen to complaints while knowing I have wasted money.
• I really like cheese. And coffee. (not together.)
• I don't want to learn moderation.
• I like handing my kids a bag of treats, hearing their gratitude, and knowing they will be cheerfully eating their treats for ten happy minutes (even if the treats are a bag of sugar coated chemical puffs.)
• The more I learn, the more I want to avoid processed foods- but then I wonder, when is this going to end? Must I really raise my own meat or figure out a way to live on wheatgrass?
• Self control is exhausting. 
• Again, it is SO much easier to keep doing what is easiest.

Ok, now here's the other list, for me.

Why Bother?

My body is a gift from God and a temple of the Holy Spirit.  This means that I ought to treat it with special care. It also means that, by grace, God is in me and will help me. (God help me be kind to my body today!  Make me want to, and help me remember why!)

• When I am kind to my body, I am more likely to be a fun and energetic mommy.
• When I make healthy choices, I am more cheerful, and I feel good.
• When I feel good, I have more patience and a better relationship with my dear children.
• When I exercise, I sleep better. When I am full of sleep, the whole world looks better.
• When I serve my family a healthy meal, the food actually nourishes those precious bodies that I love. I like knowing that I have a hand in that.
• When I fill the fridge with fruit and veggies, the kids eat them! (They really do! I am shocked!)
• When I exercise, my head is clearer and I am less vulnerable to depression.
• When I exercise, my thoughts are more organized.  I can think and write more effectively.
• When I make healthy choices, I get more done in a day.
• When I make healthy choices, I set a good example for my children.
• When I make healthy choices, I am less prone to sickness and diabetes.
• When I make healthy choices, I have more clothes to wear and I look better and feel better about my looks.
• When I make healthy choices, I am a better wife.
• When my body is cared-for, I can serve others better. I am able to be more faithful to my vocations.
• When I exercise, I burn off stress in a healthy way. This is good for me and for my family!
• When I care for my body, it works better and allows me to enjoy life more.

Lord, thank you for the gift of health and this amazing body.  Thank you for using it to bear six children, for sustaining it through these past thirty years, for all the things it has allowed me to do.  Teach me to be a good steward of this body.  Help me to tenderly care for it even as you have taught me to care for my children.  Help me to make good choices that will keep my body working well, as much as it is in my ability.  Teach me to love the foods that give me health and energy, and help me use self control in eating.  Thank you for making me a wife and a mother, and for equipping me for my daily tasks.  Continue to use me to love and serve Your children as long as you desire, only sustain me in body and spirit throughout my days on earth.  Amen.

P.S. Writing this post made me really hungry.
God help me be kind to my body today!  Help me to make my next choice a healthy one!

What is on your lists?

What's hardest for you about healthy change?

Why do you bother?

photo credit findley chiropractic

Weekly Challenge: Remind yourself WHY

Are you still trying to make healthy changes?

So am I.  A few of the changes have been fun and rewarding, like finding new recipes the family loves, and starting to see the benefits of exercise.

But sometimes, it is hard to remember why I'm doing this-- like when we all get sick, or when I feel too tired to cook something that requires my brain and attention.  I'm still learning, and because I am still learning, cooking real food and healthy food does not seem easy or natural.

My kitchen is not running on auto-pilot.

After a period of learning and planning, it will get easier, I know it will. I will have a stockpile of healthy convenience foods in my freezer for our difficult weeks. I will know what staples I need, and prepare them regularly without thinking about it.  I will feel like we've been eating this way forever.

But I'm not there yet.
And some days, I want to forget the whole thing.

Personally, I think occasional fast food, processed foods, or treats are really not a big deal. We live in America, after all. We would have to check out of our culture completely to avoid these things in our diet, and I'm simply not willing to do that.

As the Queen of my Kitchen, I am allowed to bend my own rules, and I think that, too, is healthy.  But bending the rules often leads to a flood of cravings or temptation for convenience, in my children and in me as well. But as Queen, it is my job to keep our family on course, even after a holiday.

And I will be incapable of doing just that, if I cannot remember why I should.

This week's challenge:

Remind yourself why

Have you ever stopped at the grocery store in front of something delicious, thinking,

Why did I stop buying this or eating that? 
It looks so good, I just can't remember!

I need help remembering, lots of help, especially when I am tired or hungry.  I need God's help, and I need to be retold what He's already taught me.

So my challenge to you this week, as we continue to learn to be kind to our bodies, is to remind yourself why. Sit down for ten minutes and make a nice long list.

I'll post mine on Wednesday.

Why are you trying to be kind to your body?

If you are stuck, here are some prompts that might inspire you.

God, help me be kind to my body.  And help me to want to. And help me to remember why.

When I am kind to my body, I  ...
When I make healthy choices, I....
When I exercise, I ...
When I have extra energy, I ...

Weak and Lovely- Read the series here

Join our facebook group for extra support!

photo credit worksmartmomtreprenuers

Weekly Challenge: Chill

Woah, has this house been ransacked by bad guys looking for launch codes?

Nope. Mom just made dinner.

I tend to do things in a hurry. Everything.
If a have a moment to get something done, I need to do it in a hurry, before I get interrupted by the needs of a child. And so, I hurry. I hurry through everything.

This picture above is no joke. I really do serve dinner with the kitchen looking like this. (Drives my OCD husband and kids nuts, by the way. So they close the doors for me, eventually. In this way, their quirks enable my quirks to continue. It's a nice setup, really.)

Is this a picture of my mental state?
Is this a clue that I'm a little frazzled? A little rushed?

At the table, I'm out of breath.  And then, finally, finally everyone has what they need, prayers are said, and we eat. And I eat. In a hurry.

I really didn't know how bad I was about this until I noticed myself doing it one night when I was on a date with my husband. We were at Olive Garden, enjoying a relaxed evening together, but as soon as the food came, I started to hurry my way through it.

I was practically out of breath from eating so fast.
When I realized I was almost done and he had only had a few bites, I stopped myself.
Nobody is going to steal this food from you, self! Nobody is going to interrupt you needing a nose wiped or a diaper changed! Seriously, you need to just chill out!

Why is this so hard for me?
But it is!

A few weeks ago, someone in the Weak and Lovely facebook group mentioned that her goal for the week was to finish her meal after her daughter. (and this is quite a challenge, she said, as her daughter practically chews her milk!)

What a great idea! I thought.
How impossible! I thought.

So this brings me to your weekly challenge (and mine:)




Turns out this is important.
Here are just a couple reasons:

•  It takes approximately 20 minutes from the time you start eating for your brain to send out signals of fullness.

(In fact, wolfing down meals could be enough to nearly double your risk of being overweight, according to a previous Japanese study.)

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2064544/Why-eating-quickly-fast-track-early-grave.html#ixzz2KQvbFWXT
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook)

• If you eat slow, you might notice the other people eating with you, and have a conversation, even before your plate is empty! (How weird, I think!)

Read more:
Livestrong: Benefits of eating slow
Slow down you eat too fast

Weak and Lovely- Read the series here

Join our facebook group for extra support!

Do you find it hard to eat slowly like I do?

photo credit minimalWall

Monday's Challenge: Be the Queen of Your Kitchen

Meet my lovely friend, Jenny.

She is a fellow writer and mother who blogs at Coffee on the Porch at jennysollberger.wordpress.com.

Isn't she lovely? (And her family is, too.)

Today, Jenny is going to make our home-cookin' lives a whole lot easier, if we only will heed her advice.  

Why You Should Have a Menu Plan

by Jenny Sollberger

Oh I hated the idea of having to cook supper.  Why?  Did I hate to cook?  No.  Did I not know how to cook?  No.  Did I hate to eat?  Definitely no.  So what was the problem?  I wasn’t prepared.  I didn’t plan ahead and then when it came time to make the meal, I was a panicky, stressed, cranky mom.  Ick.  So I thought I’d try what it seemed everyone else was already doing: menu planning.  And you know what I found out?  I love it!  And I’ll tell you why:

1. It saves me from the 4:00 headache of “Oh no!  What am I making for supper?!?”
2. It saves money on my grocery bill.  I (usually!) buy only what I need for the meals I am making.
3. It’s easier to control what my family eats.
4. It’s easier to prepare things in advance.  When I have some time I cook rice ahead of time, make tortillas, bake…whatever might need to be done.
5. It just feels good knowing when I’m having my morning coffee that my meals for that day are already decided.

Here is how I did mine, step by step.

1. This is the fun part, I think.  Create your menu board!  There are so many ways to make one and Pinterest has tons of ideas.  You can simply use a sheet of paper, or note cards stuck on the fridge or you can get a little more creative.  Here’s mine:
   

   

   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   It’s not beautiful like some I see on Pinterest, but I like it and it works for me.  I picked up this frame at Goodwill for about $5.  It’s perfectly square which is great because I can just slip in new scrapbook paper whenever I want to change it up.  The sticker letters I had on hand and just pieced together what I needed from the sizes I had left.  As you can see, some are lower case and some are upper case.  Still cute though, right?  And the “t’s” were made by trimming other letters because I had run out of the letter “t”!  Let your creativity shine through!  I use a white board marker to write directly on the glass. It wipes off so easily that I wish I had used this method sooner.
2. Now we work.  Make a list of meals your family will eat.  I would suggest making a list for every meal your family will eat together.  For example, my board has breakfasts and suppers on it because my boys are in school five days a week.  On the weekends, I feel I can wing it for lunches just fine.  If you homeschool or have little ones at home, you might want to include lunches on your menu.  When I first started a menu board, I planned only suppers.  That time of the day was hardest for me to concentrate because the boys were coming home from school and everything was chaotic.  But then I started noticing our breakfasts were consisting mostly of cold cereal and I wanted to change that.  The best way I knew how to do that was with a menu board.
3. Keep that list somewhere handy. I keep mine in my family binder.  That way I know where it is every week when I sit down to plan my meals.
4. Take stock of your freezer inventory.  Use that, and the grocery ads, to plan your week’s menu. 
   
   
   This white board used to be my menu board.  I had grand plans once upon a time.  They never happened!  So now this white board sits above my freezer chest and tells me what’s inside.  Very helpful.
5. Now just plug in the meals where you want them to go.  Make use of a crockpot meal on a busy night.  Plan something extra special for Friday. Cook the roast one night and have beef sandwiches later in the week.  But remember to be flexible.  Just because it’s written on the board, doesn’t mean it needs to stay there.  If something unexpected comes up, just change things around. 

Be the Queen of your Kitchen and rule confidently over your domain!  Don’t be a slave to kitchen confusion!  Try a menu plan for just two weeks and see what happens.  I bet you’ll love it, too.

---------

Your challenge this week:
PLAN!

If you never plan, make it a goal to plan SOMEthing- just dinners, or just your own snacks, keeping in mind your healthy-living goals.

If you already plan dinners (like I do), let's take it up a notch! Plan breakfasts or snacks, and try it out for a week. See if it doesn't make your life easier. And see if you don't enjoy being the Queen of your kitchen!

Do you plan the meals for your family? 

Any tips to share?

Nutrition-love

It's a new week!

Is it time to re-re-re-re start that healthy eating plan?

I admit, I had a "planned cheat" this weekend during our superbowl party.  And it probably went a little overboard, but today is a new day.  I'm starting this week motivated, but not because I have to.

Last week, I finally got a taste of what it's like to live in a body that is treated kindly. 

And I'm hooked.

Let me tell you how it went.

First, I cut out sugar completely. This is something my body has been begging me to do for a long time, but I have been ignoring it. The first  three four five days were rough, but after that I honestly lost the cravings for the sweet stuff. It was wonderful. (Please note, I do not think sugar is evil, or that a diet of organic kale and spinach is the diet of the saints.  I'm just trying to listen to my own body.)

More importantly, however, I focused on getting my fruits and veggies. Lots of them, every single day. In all the reading and researching I've been doing, this one thing seems non-controversial: We need more fruits and veggies. I've heard it before, and I'm sick of hearing it, but I thought I'd try following that advice to see what happened.

An aside:

I have a very supportive husband. He consented to watch one documentary with me ("I'd really like to see what you think of this whole foods/natural eating stuff and how much better it is for us than processed foods. It seems plausible to me. Do you think I'm nuts?")  He watched it with me, did an hour or so of research, then went out and bought me a juicer.

We don't do things small in this house.

While we don't necessarily believe everything we heard in the documentary, much of it makes sense, and if something motivates my husband to eat more fruits and veggies, I'm all for it! So this week I was on a mission to make good use of our juicer, and to find things that we not only could choke down, but actually like. The short story: After a few epic fails, I did. (See my juice and smoothie recipes on pinterest)

I even put some of my best blends to the ultimate test (2 yr olds don't lie!)

photo credit:  Dr Cynthia

Read her post on the benefits of blending and juicing

The bottom line:

After a week of eating enough fruits and vegetables, I feel amazing.

I have crazy amounts of energy.  But for me, the most exciting thing is this: My body is satisfied.

Satisfied.

Normal me is almost always thinking about food, whether what I'm eating, what I want to eat, or what I shouldn't be eating.  Cravings and resisting and caving and repenting and starting it all over- this is the story of my life. And I am weary, and just plain sick of it.

But after this experiment that seemed so crazy to me (eliminating sugar and giving my body what it needs instead), I have found new hope and motivation. I could go on and on about the high energy and better mood and so forth, but I won't.

Instead, I will just say this.

I feel like a recovering addict, or a laundry-detergent craving pregnant lady, who has just tasted her first bite of food sanity.

Food sanity.

Honestly, I didn't think there was such a thing, not for me. 

But, maybe my body just needed me to treat it with kindness. With a little nutrition-love, it is satisfied.

Yes, there is still temptation in my life, and yes I still must struggle and pray and receive grace. However, I am pleasantly surprised by the blessings mixed in with the battle. God is kind, and good, and His plans for me are better than I imagined.

-------------------

Do you battle seemingly constant cravings?
Do you feel satisfied after you eat?


(Want to watch the first documentaries that inspired me? Check them out here.)

Healthy Viewing

If you're like me, and you are sitting in front of the TV trying to eat your veggies, and trying to like them, and trying not to crave that delicious pizza or burger you just saw on a commercial...

Watch something inspirational.

I have seen these 2 documentaries recently, and I know you will enjoy them.

There are still some things in both films that I am skeptical about, but I AM 100 % convinced that fruits and veggies are extremely good for me. And I like learning about what they actually do. I think it even helps them taste better.

I am also pretty sure that processed food is not so good.

Watch, enjoy, and let me know what you think!




Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (on Netflix, Itunes, and also free on HULU)
Is it weird that this one made me tear up? Well, it did. Inspirational.



Hungry for Change
This one really opened my eyes and gave my motivation a jump start.

Have you seen either of these?

What do you think?

Do you recommend any other food documentaries?

Let's see what happens if we actually do this.

This is a basic one.  We've heard it a million times. "Eat more fruits and veggies." Blah Blah.

We all know we should, but why is it so hard to do?

Well, because junk tastes better.

But we all know we should. So let's try a little experiment. Let's do it, and see what happens.

What's the best way to make sure you get it done? Accountability. 

Even better, little people accountability.  If this is an option for you, I strongly encourage you to enlist your children to help you stay on track. No children? Borrow someone else's if you can. Children are excellent behavior police!

Sweat reflections

photo credit

”

Sweat runs down my forehead, and little boys run around my basement. I am exercising with heart, soul, and body.  I am angry, determined, resolved to win this battle with my flesh.

A little boy runs past me with a sword, and another boy screams. “Marcus, behave yourself!” I half yell, half pant.

“Oh, don’t worry, mom, I’m a good guy now."

“Oh, you are?” I smile through sweat.
“Yeah. I just changed myself into a good guy, and so now I’m a good guy."

I punch, kick, squat, and jump with the perky lady on my video. And his words echo in my ears, “I’m a good guy now.”

How cute, that he thinks it is so easy. How sweet and childlike, that he thinks sin is something you can just slough off, just drop like a dirty sock on the floor, walk away, and be free of it.

He doesn’t know the extent of the sickness yet, does he? He doesn’t know how deep the selfishness runs, like poison in our veins.  He doesn’t know how it clings, oh how it clings, dragging a soul down to earth by weight of the flesh and the heart.

And I work. And I sweat. 

And when the workout is over, even still, I have not changed myself into a good, self-controlled girl. Not a choice, not effort, not even vigorous effort, can make such a change.

And I find myself exhausted, humbled, and sitting quietly with open hands.

And again, I am comforted by the basics, by the Solidness of Christ, of God’s love for me, and of the certainty of the Holy Spirit’s work in me.

 (From the Small Catechism by Martin Luther)

The Third Article.

Of Sanctification.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; one holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

What does this mean?--Answer.

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. 

This is most certainly true.

Father, thank you for the certain hope we have in Christ. You are a God who seeks and saves the lost, who helps the weak, who forgives the sinners.  As we struggle on our way, broken people traveling through a broken place, we look to You- Call, Gather, Enlighten, and Sanctify us, Father.  Keep our heads up, and our eyes fixed  on You, as we look forward to our certain eternal rest in You.  Amen.

Are you trying, by healthy living or any other way, to make yourself into a good person before God?

We can't bear this burden, nor do we have to, thanks be to Jesus.

There must be one thing you can do right. [Monday's Challenge]

 I’ve been having this conversation with myself lately. I invite you to listen in.

Me: This healthy eating stuff is just too complicated.

There is no way to do it 100% right all the time. It’s just not possible.

I might as well just eat what I crave and stop worrying about it.

The other me: What do you crave?

Junk food.

Did you know that eating junk food is likely to make you crave more junk food?

Uh, yes, I know that very well. I’ve been living it.

Wonderful Wonky Tortillas (best made with shirtless little boys.)

Quesadillas are one of our favorite lunches.  So this week, I tried making tortillas at home with our fresh ground whole wheat flour.  They were wonky, but they were wonderful.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour (I used King Arthur’s white whole-wheat flour)

1/2 cup oil (she used avocado oil, I used olive oil)

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup warm water (heat in the microwave for 1 min)

(See the full recipe here- follow hers!)

Also needed (in my opinion)

Good music playing in the kitchen

Shirtless boy helpers

an iPad for backup

My notes 

Make me healthy, a little. (A prayer.)

Click here for more

Soul and body are not separate issues. They are tangled together, in a wonderful, exhausting, beautiful, frustrating mystery.

I've been exploring this in my own head and heart, and because I can't help it, I've been exploring it in writing. Now, I'd like to explore these things  with you, here on the blog.

Don't worry, this blog will not turn into a health or food blog.  There are others who do that job wonderfully. I cannot see myself as any kind of expert in the realm of food, except eating it. 

But God is working on me, and my conscience is nagging at me, and I am uncomfortable.

So let us begin with a half-hearted prayer (because it's all I have!)

Father, it’s about time I have prayed this prayer. 

I've put it off for a long time. It’s stupid really, but I guess this weakness is one I have not wanted to admit.  Or, maybe I have wanted to overcome it on my own, or maybe I don't really wanted to overcome it at all.  Contrition, resolve, denial, failure, guilt, and more denial- these things I know full well. And I wonder if the cycle will ever end.  It's time to confess it all.

I confess my addictions to food and drink; my reliance on what I consume instead of you. I do this all the time. I am selfishly and stupidly trying to fill myself, comfort and encourage myself, with good edible things… to the point of my harm and my shame.

I cannot free myself from my sinful condition.

I cannot overcome this. I can’t even want to most of the time.

If this sin is going to die in me, You are going to have to fight it. You are going to have to hold my hand and walk with me and fight for me and in me and with me.

Ok… I’m ready.

Wait, no.  I’m not ready, not really.
But I have a tiny bit of want-to in me, and today I’m daring to say it- I want You to help me with this, Father.

Forgive me in the name of Jesus. Cleanse me from this unrighteousness, from idolatry and slavery.

Teach me to see your gifts rightly, to receive them with thanksgiving, but not to rely on them to fill what only You can.  Teach me self-control and gratitude.

Teach me to see my body as you do-- Your blessed creation, meant to be cared-for and enjoyed.

Into your hands I commend myself.

Amen.

I wish that were the end of it: a simple prayer, a change of perspective like turning on a light bulb, and then, POW! easy victory. But it is a mere beginning of a journey.

Are you coming along?

Now, I'd like to hear from you:

What are you praying for?

Do you struggle with the want-to?

And, have you been drinking your water?

This week's challenge: Pray, daily, and honestly, about your health and your body, 
and ask God to help you see yourself as He sees you.

Remember, you can read the rest of the series here,
and join the facebook group for extra support!