You will never hear me say I am perfect. That's partly why I wanted to go public with this juice fast. I know I am most weak in the area of food and the online accountability is helping.
If you know anyone that knows more about what is good for your body and what is not than I do...then I would love to meet them. I am not boasting though, because my implementation of it is a whole different story!
My greatest desire is to obey God in every part of my life and food is the one that always trips me up. That is not a great revelation, but it is truth that needs to be said. I also believe that He gave us pure, wonderful, flavorful food from His good Earth for our enjoyment...and we have completely messed it up.
I also know that while there is nothing sinful about cake, donuts, pie, cookies or any processed food that we can get our hands on...a steady diet of it leaves me feeling tired, run down and even makes my body too sick to function optimally. Processed sugar is not a sin...but it is not necessary for life.
I also believe that in order to "run the race" (see Hebrews 12:1) that we as Christians are all called to...I can not keep up with the pace my Abba has set before me if I'm loaded down with nasty foods that can even cause chronic, debilitating diseases...like arthritis, cancer, fibromyalgia, or osteoporosis. And even as a woman entering a later phase of life, if I am having horrible mood swings, hot flashes, cramping, and heavy, erratic cycles...I feel strongly that these can all be reversed with proper nutrition. I have experienced it first hand. We were not created just to suffer.
So I know all of this and believe it wholeheartedly...but it's still a struggle to implement it daily. Yesterday, was a good example. I did well juicing, but took the kids for a small, fast food, late lunch...and that was the first mistake. I shouldn't feed this junk to my kids either! I attempted to choose healthy, but even a grilled chicken caesar salad is not healthy at Burger King.
I proudly poured my dressing into the lid so I could use the old dieter's trick of dipping my fork in it instead of loading up the salad. I laughed because they gave me two packets of dressing and I used less than a quarter of one. Yet sadly, I know there are people that would use both. I say I was proud...until I finished and actually looked at the dressing ingredients: soybean oil (bad for hormones and is a genetically modified food), buttermilk (dairy is just not good for you, but do your own research) and a few more down the list was mono sodium glutamate. Yep, MSG...right there in my "natural" salad dressing. Here's a website with information about MSG side effects. One thing I do know though, is that it is put in food to make us addicted to it and it is used to fatten up rats for laboratory testing. There is no such thing as a fat mouse or rat. So when testing on obesity is done, in order to "fatten up" the rodent...yes, they feed it MSG. And this stuff is everywhere and under too many aliases to list here. Do your homework though. You can find more information with groups that promote truth in labelling.
Overall though, I felt okay, but probably too full after eating the salad. By dinnertime, I juiced again and was feeling pretty good. Then...I did the bad thing that just threw me over the edge...popcorn.
We make our own...on the stove top...with olive oil and sea salt...so it is much healthier than any microwave version or those made with copious amounts of soybean oil at a theater. But here's what I didn't realize and have never experienced before: issues from salt.
I have never added salt to my food at the table and use very little in cooking. Any recipes that call for it, I never measure it out...I just give a shake over the bowl or pot. Apparently, all this juicing though has pulled the unnecessary sodium from my cells and eating some popcorn last night was not the great experience I was hoping for.
I awakened this morning to a tongue that felt like cotton and my contact lenses sticking to my eyeballs...both indications that I was severely dehydrated. I was also up three pounds from the day before. I know you can have weight fluctuations from day to day...but three pounds was a pretty good indication that I was retaining water.
I say "I'm Still Learning"...but hopefully, this lesson is not one I'll have to repeat to "get it".
A friend asked me today how long I intended to continue the juicing. I realized I don't really have an answer for that. I don't plan on being militant about this, I just want to listen to my body and take cues from the natural ones that God has placed within each of us. My son's birthday is Tuesday, so I know we'll go out that night and I hope to make very wise choices. But my response to my friend was something like, "I think I need to do this until I've eliminated the caffeine, sugar, salt and other cravings I have." My ultimate goal is to continue this healthy, mostly vegan eating forever. I know that will be a difficult challenge. I have attempted it before. But with every day that I juice, I get one day closer to being free from the power of processed, refined foods that are literally killing us.
On the brighter side, I juiced for breakfast and finished it around 10 a.m. and didn't get to start my lunch juice until about 2:30 p.m. Sure, I was hungry...but it wasn't so uncontrollable that I was shoving everything I could find into my mouth. So there is progress. And for that, I am thankful!
If you know anyone that knows more about what is good for your body and what is not than I do...then I would love to meet them. I am not boasting though, because my implementation of it is a whole different story!
My greatest desire is to obey God in every part of my life and food is the one that always trips me up. That is not a great revelation, but it is truth that needs to be said. I also believe that He gave us pure, wonderful, flavorful food from His good Earth for our enjoyment...and we have completely messed it up.
I also know that while there is nothing sinful about cake, donuts, pie, cookies or any processed food that we can get our hands on...a steady diet of it leaves me feeling tired, run down and even makes my body too sick to function optimally. Processed sugar is not a sin...but it is not necessary for life.
I also believe that in order to "run the race" (see Hebrews 12:1) that we as Christians are all called to...I can not keep up with the pace my Abba has set before me if I'm loaded down with nasty foods that can even cause chronic, debilitating diseases...like arthritis, cancer, fibromyalgia, or osteoporosis. And even as a woman entering a later phase of life, if I am having horrible mood swings, hot flashes, cramping, and heavy, erratic cycles...I feel strongly that these can all be reversed with proper nutrition. I have experienced it first hand. We were not created just to suffer.
So I know all of this and believe it wholeheartedly...but it's still a struggle to implement it daily. Yesterday, was a good example. I did well juicing, but took the kids for a small, fast food, late lunch...and that was the first mistake. I shouldn't feed this junk to my kids either! I attempted to choose healthy, but even a grilled chicken caesar salad is not healthy at Burger King.
I proudly poured my dressing into the lid so I could use the old dieter's trick of dipping my fork in it instead of loading up the salad. I laughed because they gave me two packets of dressing and I used less than a quarter of one. Yet sadly, I know there are people that would use both. I say I was proud...until I finished and actually looked at the dressing ingredients: soybean oil (bad for hormones and is a genetically modified food), buttermilk (dairy is just not good for you, but do your own research) and a few more down the list was mono sodium glutamate. Yep, MSG...right there in my "natural" salad dressing. Here's a website with information about MSG side effects. One thing I do know though, is that it is put in food to make us addicted to it and it is used to fatten up rats for laboratory testing. There is no such thing as a fat mouse or rat. So when testing on obesity is done, in order to "fatten up" the rodent...yes, they feed it MSG. And this stuff is everywhere and under too many aliases to list here. Do your homework though. You can find more information with groups that promote truth in labelling.
Overall though, I felt okay, but probably too full after eating the salad. By dinnertime, I juiced again and was feeling pretty good. Then...I did the bad thing that just threw me over the edge...popcorn.
We make our own...on the stove top...with olive oil and sea salt...so it is much healthier than any microwave version or those made with copious amounts of soybean oil at a theater. But here's what I didn't realize and have never experienced before: issues from salt.
I have never added salt to my food at the table and use very little in cooking. Any recipes that call for it, I never measure it out...I just give a shake over the bowl or pot. Apparently, all this juicing though has pulled the unnecessary sodium from my cells and eating some popcorn last night was not the great experience I was hoping for.
I awakened this morning to a tongue that felt like cotton and my contact lenses sticking to my eyeballs...both indications that I was severely dehydrated. I was also up three pounds from the day before. I know you can have weight fluctuations from day to day...but three pounds was a pretty good indication that I was retaining water.
I say "I'm Still Learning"...but hopefully, this lesson is not one I'll have to repeat to "get it".
A friend asked me today how long I intended to continue the juicing. I realized I don't really have an answer for that. I don't plan on being militant about this, I just want to listen to my body and take cues from the natural ones that God has placed within each of us. My son's birthday is Tuesday, so I know we'll go out that night and I hope to make very wise choices. But my response to my friend was something like, "I think I need to do this until I've eliminated the caffeine, sugar, salt and other cravings I have." My ultimate goal is to continue this healthy, mostly vegan eating forever. I know that will be a difficult challenge. I have attempted it before. But with every day that I juice, I get one day closer to being free from the power of processed, refined foods that are literally killing us.
On the brighter side, I juiced for breakfast and finished it around 10 a.m. and didn't get to start my lunch juice until about 2:30 p.m. Sure, I was hungry...but it wasn't so uncontrollable that I was shoving everything I could find into my mouth. So there is progress. And for that, I am thankful!
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