Healthy Changes

I have become increasingly aware of the lack of proper nutrition in my family and in many other young families in our society.  When I was growing up, my parents were health nuts.  We were allowed candy once a week and even then it was those sesame-honey things or something made with carob.  We were even vegetarians for a few years.  At dinnertime my Dad always had his glass of water filled with his raw beans, which he munched happily while we probably ate something just as “good for us”.

My little family is not as healthy when compared to my childhood.  I'm afraid too often I have settled for the convenience of  packaged and processed foods to make my culinary life a little easier.   I believe that God has brought me to a place where I finally want to be healthy more than I want the bad foods that I love.  I want to raise healthy children who know how to choose proper foods for their bodies.  My hubbie and I also need to eat better.  We have weight to lose and we also want to be good stewards of our money and our bodies.  I think that the major mental shift I am making is that I not only want to eat right to lose weight and look a certain way, I really want to eat right because it is better for our bodies longevity, quality of life, and it is the way God created us to function at our best physically. 

I have also come to realize that unhealthy eating is a sin issue for me.  I eat wrong foods or too much food because it is one area of my life I ( seemingly) can control.  Ironic how it ends up controlling me in the end. 

The funny thing about all of this is that I really do know how to eat healthily.  It must of been all of those years eating right as a child.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!  For those of you who don't have that kind of upbringing, don't worry, there are so many aids out there to help you learn how to eat right.  Start out looking for cookbooks using wholefoods.  I have been reading someone's blog and she mentions a book which is her favorite “nutritional guide” entitledEncyclopedia of Natural Medicine  by Michael Murray and another that may be an easier read called, Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A. Balch.  If you order these through Amazon you can choose a “used” copy and they're quite inexpensive.
As for my plan of attack, which every mom needs, I have already begun to substitute basic grocery items like white flour for whole wheat and I have immediately cut out  buying  cookies, crackers ( I'm sure there are good whole wheat ones out there but we're getting rid of the “goldfish” and “Ritz”).  I did make homemade cookies this past week with oats, peanut butter and whole wheat flour and they were pretty good.  I am also buying whole wheat pasta's and breads.  Make sure that it is really WHOLE wheat as some labels are suspiciously misleading.  We have also started drinking smoothies made with protein powder( Wal-mart now sells an inexpensive version of this), strawberries( any fruit will work), plain yogurt, ice and Splenda( too much is up for debate).  We are now eating a lot of fruit but I still need to work on incorporating veggies into eveyday life.  There are so many resources out there-I need to get organized and start trying recipes that may sound “yuck” at first blush.  I'm afraid that I need to train my palate to enjoy whole foods again.  I'll keep you updated.

( funny how this post comes right after the “Ice Cream Man” one! ) And speaking of that, I do not want to become legalistic concerning food.  My family will have the occasional treat and when we hear that certain “man” coming through our neighborhood my children will be allowed to gather their bits of change together and enjoy being young and sticky ( at least once a week!)