One week left! I feel great! My energy is up, my pants are falling off, and I am SO ready to be done with this month. haha
There's something about a rainy day that makes me extra productive; I suppose it's because I don't feel that I should be outside or something. I love rain, it's so soothing. So I thought I'd post today since I just know the creative juices are flowing...
I was really challenged in Bible study last week. Phil 3:16 Let us hold true to what we have attained As I was sitting there thinking about the next 6 months of this fast, I was instantly convicted. Let us hold true to what we have attained. Why am I always looking toward the future and what it holds for me, or striving for the next stage in life, when I haven't quite finished the work in front of me?
I'm just finishing up my month of a food fast. And instead of going over what I've learned and applying it to my life, I've just been focusing on what comes next. We can't be making judgements today on what our future holds when we haven't experienced the journey to get there.
Is it just women who fantasize about the next stage in life? Somehow I can't see men yearning for a white dress or little feet running around the house...hmmm
Regardless of the fantasy, I think we are all yearning for what comes next. We don't want to be obedient to what we know, but if we don't use what we know and just continue searching for what's next, we will never truly grow. Matt Chandler challenged us: Do we need to stop and repent before we can move forward? Complacency is not the high road to success.
It's time to start applying the basic truths to my life consistently! More prayer, more time spent in the Word, more awareness of what is going on RIGHT now. Less less less time worrying about what the future holds and less time focused on what I can learn to benefit tomorrow. It's about NOW
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
Day 19
This is hard. I knew it would be hard, and I've slipped up a few times, but I didn't really realize exactly how hard it would be. I love experimenting with food and flavors...being so limited is a nightmare. It's hard to live in a society that centers around food and going out to eat when there isn't much that you CAN eat. Boy am I thankful that I don't have any health issues that cause me to stay away from certain foods.
I am constantly reminding myself that this is only a few more weeks and asking God to keep me motivated to continue. At least God understands our shortcomings and the end result will bring growth!
James 1:2-4. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers [and sisters], whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance. Perserverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
I am constantly reminding myself that this is only a few more weeks and asking God to keep me motivated to continue. At least God understands our shortcomings and the end result will bring growth!
James 1:2-4. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers [and sisters], whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance. Perserverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Day 16
I'm a little sad today. It's National Pancake Day. One of my favorite meals in the world is brinner...breakfast for dinner. I've gotten TWO invitations to go to IHop for free pancakes today, sigh.
Maybe I'll break out that yummy sweet potato pancake recipe from last week:
Find the recipe here
Refrain from commenting about how good your pancakes taste. Please and Thank You :)
Maybe I'll break out that yummy sweet potato pancake recipe from last week:
Refrain from commenting about how good your pancakes taste. Please and Thank You :)
Monday, February 27, 2012
Day 15
Half way through and Praise the Lord for new recipes for sweet potatoes! I was about to throw in the towel. I was ready to let the starving people of the world shake their heads at me as I threw away all of my sweet potatoes. And then I was reminded that, although a complete time suck, my life is much more complete since the invention of Pinterest. (If you haven't been to Pinterest go there now!) Pinterest has been my life saver. I would be stuck eating a dry chicken breast on spinach for every meal of every day, if it had not been for Pinterest.
Word of warning...the following is a completely optional, light-hearted, complaint that you may find funny or...just don't take offense:
I spend a lot of time with women of all ages, and when I explain what I'm doing, I get this a lot: "Well that's how I eat anyway!" Maybe it's because I'm in the health and wellness field and women like to look good in front of other women, or maybe it's because people truly don't know what they are putting into their bodies, but I will contend, no you do not.
You may often eat chicken and spinach salads. But I am willing to bet you have that as your lunch no more than 4 times a week, which is 16 times per month. And even if you do eat them "often," I bet you add other veg and maybe cheese, nuts or a great dressing. I'm willing to bet a lot of money that you do not eat these salads with the same ingredients every time and without dressing or the other tasty additions of my dreams. And I would surmise that you would be in my shoes if you had committed to eating exactly that for 93 meals straight. So please, my friends, spare me the "this-sounds-easy-and-not-a-challenge-at-all", it's definitely not encouraging because right now, I would absolutely kill for anything else but what I'm eating...I'd even settle for the edible food-like substance that Mickey D's has to offer...and for me, that's really a stretch.
/endrant
So back to these new recipes, ones worthy of another go:
Sweet Potato Pancakes.
YUM! They would have been amazing with some syrup or honey, but they were just as tasty plain!
Sweet Potato Meatloaf
Let's just be honest here, I had to omit a few seasoning items, but oh my goodness the addition of mashed sweet potato with the ground chicken makes for an extremely moist meatloaf! I was expecting completely bone-dry.
Chicken and Spinach Meatballs
I took A LOT of artistic liberties here. Specifically, I put the spinach in ground chicken and without all the goodies it says. They were good, not spectacular, but good.
I have nothing profound to end with. Nothing special that I've learned in the time since my last post, but to tell you how much you NEED to go check out Pinterest. Now.
Word of warning...the following is a completely optional, light-hearted, complaint that you may find funny or...just don't take offense:
I spend a lot of time with women of all ages, and when I explain what I'm doing, I get this a lot: "Well that's how I eat anyway!" Maybe it's because I'm in the health and wellness field and women like to look good in front of other women, or maybe it's because people truly don't know what they are putting into their bodies, but I will contend, no you do not.
You may often eat chicken and spinach salads. But I am willing to bet you have that as your lunch no more than 4 times a week, which is 16 times per month. And even if you do eat them "often," I bet you add other veg and maybe cheese, nuts or a great dressing. I'm willing to bet a lot of money that you do not eat these salads with the same ingredients every time and without dressing or the other tasty additions of my dreams. And I would surmise that you would be in my shoes if you had committed to eating exactly that for 93 meals straight. So please, my friends, spare me the "this-sounds-easy-and-not-a-challenge-at-all", it's definitely not encouraging because right now, I would absolutely kill for anything else but what I'm eating...I'd even settle for the edible food-like substance that Mickey D's has to offer...and for me, that's really a stretch.
/endrant
So back to these new recipes, ones worthy of another go:
Sweet Potato Pancakes.
YUM! They would have been amazing with some syrup or honey, but they were just as tasty plain!
Sweet Potato Meatloaf
Let's just be honest here, I had to omit a few seasoning items, but oh my goodness the addition of mashed sweet potato with the ground chicken makes for an extremely moist meatloaf! I was expecting completely bone-dry.
Chicken and Spinach Meatballs
I took A LOT of artistic liberties here. Specifically, I put the spinach in ground chicken and without all the goodies it says. They were good, not spectacular, but good.
I have nothing profound to end with. Nothing special that I've learned in the time since my last post, but to tell you how much you NEED to go check out Pinterest. Now.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Day 10: To live is Christ and to die is gain
My young adult group at church has been studying Philippians with Matt Chandler. It's been a completely refreshing perspective and I've felt he teaches in a way that clearly gives us opportunity to take things away and apply them to our lives.
This past week has been every kind of stressful you can imagine. Put this fast, extra-curricular activities and the promise to write to you all as often as possible on top of it, needless to say I sleep pretty hard. Last Thursday (and yes I'm just getting to writing about it today), our study reminded me of why I feel that this mutiny against excess is so important to my walk with God. It was complete confirmation that I had made the right choice in doing this fast, and it was encouragement that the end goal will be worth the issues it is creating in my immediate existence.
Here is what we studied and the notes I took:
Philippians 3:7-12
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
In Phil 3, Paul intensely outlines the reasons to pursue Christ and then how to pursue Him.
We pursue Him because we are broken people with issues in our lives that will never be able to be fixed with any earthly effort.
In our darkest moment, in our deepest sin, God chose us. Cool thing is...there is never a day that we don't fall short, yet He still wants us to chase after Him! God rescues the dirty to the praise of His glorious grace. What do we have in our lives that is blocking us from pursuing him?
We are imperfect people chosen by a perfect God, our priority should lie with pursuing Him. Nothing can compare to the riches of His grace!
To live is Christ and to die is gain. Amen.
This past week has been every kind of stressful you can imagine. Put this fast, extra-curricular activities and the promise to write to you all as often as possible on top of it, needless to say I sleep pretty hard. Last Thursday (and yes I'm just getting to writing about it today), our study reminded me of why I feel that this mutiny against excess is so important to my walk with God. It was complete confirmation that I had made the right choice in doing this fast, and it was encouragement that the end goal will be worth the issues it is creating in my immediate existence.
Here is what we studied and the notes I took:
Philippians 3:7-12
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
In Phil 3, Paul intensely outlines the reasons to pursue Christ and then how to pursue Him.
We pursue Him because we are broken people with issues in our lives that will never be able to be fixed with any earthly effort.
In our darkest moment, in our deepest sin, God chose us. Cool thing is...there is never a day that we don't fall short, yet He still wants us to chase after Him! God rescues the dirty to the praise of His glorious grace. What do we have in our lives that is blocking us from pursuing him?
We are imperfect people chosen by a perfect God, our priority should lie with pursuing Him. Nothing can compare to the riches of His grace!
To live is Christ and to die is gain. Amen.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Day 8
This was possibly the longest week ever. So many hours, so much stress, so many things to do and definitely not enough time to do them in!
I had no time to prepare my food at all. So I was forced to eat the same exact meal for lunch and dinner all week. While that was the easiest thing to do, it was the most annoying thing. I have never purposely thought about skipping a meal, so twice I found myself actually forcing myself to eat. I was hungry, but definitely not for a chicken and spinach salad 100 times this week.
I've never repeatedly eaten the same thing on purpose ever. It's a little bland, it's a little boring, it's going to be a long month. Of course there are plenty of things I could do if I allowed myself access to my spice rack and pantry, but alas I can not.
Today I am just not hungry, maybe the idea of the same foods over and over is unappetizing...This week I'll have much more time to fool around with different preparations. I'm actually looking forward to my break today so I can run home and get cooking!
I am however grateful that, this week, in my haste, I never had to resort to eating a Chicken Nugget. Which, let's just note, I would never do anyway, but still, you may find this funny:
...perhaps the most alarming ingredient in a Chicken McNugget is tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ, an antioxidant derived from petroleum that is either sprayed directly on the nugget or the inside of the box it comes in to "help preserve freshness." According to A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives, TBHQ is a form of butane (i.e. lighter fluid) the FDA allows processors to use sparingly in our food: It can comprise no more than 0.02 percent of the oil in a nugget. Which is probably just as well, considering that ingesting a single gram of TBHQ can cause "nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse." Ingesting five grams of TBHQ can kill.
Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilema
If you haven't read Michael Pollan, do it now. You're life will never be complete until you've read Michael Pollan. The Omnivore's Dilema is quite possibly one of my favorite books ever, and In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, is the most thought provoking book besides the Bible. Seriously. If you want a real, balanced, and honest report on how we eat today, go get In Defense of Food from the library before you take another breath.
I had no time to prepare my food at all. So I was forced to eat the same exact meal for lunch and dinner all week. While that was the easiest thing to do, it was the most annoying thing. I have never purposely thought about skipping a meal, so twice I found myself actually forcing myself to eat. I was hungry, but definitely not for a chicken and spinach salad 100 times this week.
I've never repeatedly eaten the same thing on purpose ever. It's a little bland, it's a little boring, it's going to be a long month. Of course there are plenty of things I could do if I allowed myself access to my spice rack and pantry, but alas I can not.
Today I am just not hungry, maybe the idea of the same foods over and over is unappetizing...This week I'll have much more time to fool around with different preparations. I'm actually looking forward to my break today so I can run home and get cooking!
I am however grateful that, this week, in my haste, I never had to resort to eating a Chicken Nugget. Which, let's just note, I would never do anyway, but still, you may find this funny:
...perhaps the most alarming ingredient in a Chicken McNugget is tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ, an antioxidant derived from petroleum that is either sprayed directly on the nugget or the inside of the box it comes in to "help preserve freshness." According to A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives, TBHQ is a form of butane (i.e. lighter fluid) the FDA allows processors to use sparingly in our food: It can comprise no more than 0.02 percent of the oil in a nugget. Which is probably just as well, considering that ingesting a single gram of TBHQ can cause "nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse." Ingesting five grams of TBHQ can kill.
Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilema
If you haven't read Michael Pollan, do it now. You're life will never be complete until you've read Michael Pollan. The Omnivore's Dilema is quite possibly one of my favorite books ever, and In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, is the most thought provoking book besides the Bible. Seriously. If you want a real, balanced, and honest report on how we eat today, go get In Defense of Food from the library before you take another breath.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
The Makings of a Plan
So I'm sure you are all waiting on pins and needles wondering what in the world I'm going to attempt on Monday. Well...without all the details, they will definitely be coming soon, month one will focus on FOOD.
I chose food as my first endeavor for a few reasons:
1. Curves just put out a new program in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic to help women have the strength, and ALL the tools they need to combat the obesity epidemic. My members, my mom, and myself have been wildly successful on the program. I have a club of 320 members who are completely changing their lives, and not just incorporating exercise into their lifestyle. EXCITING! You just watch, I truly believe that we have positioned ourselves to be pioneers and envisionaries in this industry in ways that no other company has; but that is beside the point. So, as a certified coach, I teach my members ways to actually be healthier...not just telling them to diet to lose weight...food and how our bodies respond to what we feed them, is ALWAYS at the forefront of my mind.
2. I have eliminated almost all high fructose corn syrup from my diet, I eat relatively organic and mostly unprocessed foods, but I still struggle with excess. Buying too much of this or that and then letting it sit in my fridge until it expires because who wants to eat the same big tub of greek yogurt all week when there are so many other choices. Limiting my choices will help to reduce my waste AND my bottom line...and maybe even my waist and bottom as well (I have never used the word bottom before in my life HA)
3. Eating out. Americans have such a weird sense of community around food. Almost all cultures gather around food, but few gather FOR food. There's a difference between enjoying an amazing meal and great conversations with your friends, and not knowing how else to commune with your friends unless it's around food or drink. I experience both, but needless to say, I spend too much money on going out to lunch, dinner, coffee...a snack in the middle of the day... None of those things are necessary to have any kind of relationship with me, so why do we feel so obligated to gather soley around food?
I laugh when people talk about eating to live and living to eat, but really, as clique as it is, it's a legitimate concept. Why do you think "they" say it's so important to eat dinner as a family as opposed to separate or in front of the tv? It's because the aspect of being together solidifies our existance as relational beings. We give our attention to those relationships and food becomes the point of nourishment. When we're sitting in front of the tv or computer, it becomes about what do I want to eat right now that will satisfy whatever emotions I'm feeling...had we been present with our families, we would have nourished that primal relational desire we simply cannot quench by texting and tweeting.
Americans focus too much on food; or at least they take for granted the abundance that we have here. I'll admit, I'm an absolute foodie. I would rather cook to relax than take a bubble bath. So that is why I know this first topic is going to be baptism by fire for me, but where my allegiance with food lies will change as I let God and His Word become the food to nourish me.
Psalm 107:9
God satisfies the thirsty and the hungry he fills with good things.
I chose food as my first endeavor for a few reasons:
1. Curves just put out a new program in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic to help women have the strength, and ALL the tools they need to combat the obesity epidemic. My members, my mom, and myself have been wildly successful on the program. I have a club of 320 members who are completely changing their lives, and not just incorporating exercise into their lifestyle. EXCITING! You just watch, I truly believe that we have positioned ourselves to be pioneers and envisionaries in this industry in ways that no other company has; but that is beside the point. So, as a certified coach, I teach my members ways to actually be healthier...not just telling them to diet to lose weight...food and how our bodies respond to what we feed them, is ALWAYS at the forefront of my mind.
2. I have eliminated almost all high fructose corn syrup from my diet, I eat relatively organic and mostly unprocessed foods, but I still struggle with excess. Buying too much of this or that and then letting it sit in my fridge until it expires because who wants to eat the same big tub of greek yogurt all week when there are so many other choices. Limiting my choices will help to reduce my waste AND my bottom line...and maybe even my waist and bottom as well (I have never used the word bottom before in my life HA)
3. Eating out. Americans have such a weird sense of community around food. Almost all cultures gather around food, but few gather FOR food. There's a difference between enjoying an amazing meal and great conversations with your friends, and not knowing how else to commune with your friends unless it's around food or drink. I experience both, but needless to say, I spend too much money on going out to lunch, dinner, coffee...a snack in the middle of the day... None of those things are necessary to have any kind of relationship with me, so why do we feel so obligated to gather soley around food?
I laugh when people talk about eating to live and living to eat, but really, as clique as it is, it's a legitimate concept. Why do you think "they" say it's so important to eat dinner as a family as opposed to separate or in front of the tv? It's because the aspect of being together solidifies our existance as relational beings. We give our attention to those relationships and food becomes the point of nourishment. When we're sitting in front of the tv or computer, it becomes about what do I want to eat right now that will satisfy whatever emotions I'm feeling...had we been present with our families, we would have nourished that primal relational desire we simply cannot quench by texting and tweeting.
Americans focus too much on food; or at least they take for granted the abundance that we have here. I'll admit, I'm an absolute foodie. I would rather cook to relax than take a bubble bath. So that is why I know this first topic is going to be baptism by fire for me, but where my allegiance with food lies will change as I let God and His Word become the food to nourish me.
Psalm 107:9
God satisfies the thirsty and the hungry he fills with good things.
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