Healthy Eating

I never knew that the way I eat actually affects the way I feel. Until my husband pointed it out. He'd make comments like, "I don't like that. It doesn't make me feel good," when he'd eat fattening foods. So for years now, I've noticed how other people eat (those who eat different from me) and have added foods to my diet that seemed healthier.

But even as I say this, I feel I must confess that I have not, till this point, cut down on sugar. I love sweets. I love breads. These are my biggest vices. And I don't eat enough fruits because my teeth are sensitive.

A few years ago I took a class on healthy eating according to the Bible. I was informed that shellfish and pork are no-nos. Shellfish was not a big deal for me because I don't particularly like them (shrimp, clams, oysters, crab, lobster). But growing up in the south, the idea of not eating any more pork was a biggy! Bacon, ham, barbecue...mmm mmm. At first I totally rejected the idea of changing my diet. It took awhile for this new information to sink in. However, when I was told how bad pork affects your body and that the worms (yes worms!) in the meat (yes in the meat!) don't die even when subjected to extremely high temperatures, I decided I no longer needed to eat pork!

Still later, I took a class on eating raw foods. After this I began trying to add at least one raw food to each meal. This could be as simple as a salad or some raw veggies.

Years ago I also started drinking water at my meals most of the time, though I'm not religious about it. If I want something else, I'll drink it. But just so you get a more accurate view of our lifestyle, if I do drink something else, it's usually decaf sweet tea. I've even added green tea to my recipe in an effort to help my family be healthier. And we do not, as a rule, have soft drinks in our house.

For years now I have suffered with migraine headaches and have tried and am continuing to try many solutions to get rid of them. (A discussion for another day.) The other day, my husband suggested I do some sort of cleanse or detox to see if that would help.  Having never done this before and having failed when I have tried anything like this before, I prayed about how to go about this for me.  I felt that a long period of time would be overwhelming to me, so I decided on 3 days to start out.

This was my list of do's and don't's:

• no meat
• no added sugars -- I could eat chocolate, just not combined with sugar
• no white flour
• no caffeine or coffee (even if it was decaf)

I could eat

• all the fruits and vegetables I wanted
• raw greens (spinach, collards, etc.)
• homemade bread (recipe to follow)
• lots of water
• tea sweetened with honey or agave nectar
• fruit juices with no added sugar
• nuts and nut butters (even regular peanut butter with added sugar) -- this included a new find for me MaraNatha Dark Chocolate Almond Spread

On this "fast", I intended to exercise lots and rest a lot. I did slow down from my usual get-it-done mentality, but I did no exercise. Though I'm listing this last, this was not the last priority, but I made this a spiritual "fast" as well. I made more time to sit and be quiet before the Lord, praying, reading the Bible, and listening to what He was telling me. This part was very refreshing in itself.

The results? I felt terrific! The end of the 3 days fell at a time when I would normally have a headache or wake up feeling achy. I woke up feeling wonderful! No symptoms of a headache even coming on! Because of this, I am more motivated now to continue eating healthier and to add exercise.

Three days for me was doable. I didn't get caffeine headaches because I was already off of caffeine. Because I allowed myself the particular healthy bread, I could make it easier. I also made a healthy recipe for chocolate oatmeal drops. (Really!)

If this motivates you to try something like this, please let me know! I'd love to hear how it works for you.