Jason and I have been searching for answers, pure truth about the foods we eat. We are "sick and tired of feeling sick and tired!" We have dabbled into holistic eating over the past 3 years but never really gotten EXTREME about it. And we love that word, it reveals passion and we are passionate about becoming extreme in our health.
God created our bodies to do amazing things, to live off of certain foods and to heal itself. One can pray for healing, but running out and filling our bodies with unclean foods can hinder that process. I do not discount the power of prayer at all, we have experienced healing in our family and know God is in the healing business as much today as when His son Jesus walked the Earth.
We've been playing tug of war with our bodies, eating mainly holistic foods and exercising for a while, then going back to the SAD(standard American diet) with little to no exercise. We have been immature, rebellious, whatever you want to call it. Personally, I know a TON about holistic living, and they say "when you know better, you do better." Yeah, I've done a little better but often find myself purposefully ignoring what I know so I can enjoy my pizza, hamburgers, and Dr. Pepper without as much guilt. After we eat those things we always know why we shouldn't because of our body's reactions and vow to change our ways.
Easier said than done, I must admit. Jason and I are as different as night and day, but we also have this annoying similarity. We "food pout" together, or as some put it, look to food for comfort. We sit on the couch talking about what to eat for dinner, taking way too much time to figure out what will make us feel "better". And that usually ends up being some sort of processed piece of crap and a Dr. Pepper. Sometimes we even watch "The Biggest Loser" while we eat this junk, how lame is that!?!
To give myself some credit, I could give the biggest organic hippy a run for his money at the grocery store. I know all about buying the healthiest organic, whole food choices and how to save money eating this way. My cart usually looks amazingly healthy with very limited bad ingredients. And when I have an extra hand to grab them, my reusable bags hold my purchases. I'm doing my part for the environment. :) I stock my fridge and pantry with things many Americans have never seen/bought. We've been teased for having "everything" organic, from produce to condiments to cookies. When I buy eggs, they are organic and free range. My butter is always organic. We don't drink cow's milk because we are all lactose intolerant, but use coconut, rice, and almond milk. During this pregnancy, meat really makes me nauseous, but if I do buy it it is free range, grass fed, organic, hormone free, all that good expensive stuff. Whenever I can, I get organic food because I know it's a better choice and it just tastes better.
Since I am a stay at home mom, I prepare a lot of meals. The boys and I always have a healthy breakfast and lunch at home using all those wonderful things I buy at the store. The boys love to snack, so I either cut up some fruit or give them a snack free of HFCS(high fructose corn syrup), preservatives, etc. Praise be to healthy Mom. (angelic music) Then dinner time rolls around and angelic Mom morphs into a tired, unprepared to make dinner Mom and all those good habits go down the drain. Dad gets home or makes a call and typically either goes to the store to buy all those convenient things I don't put into my cart, or brings home take-out. Yep, all those good choices are pretty much cancelled out by what we make for dinner. I will say that being pregnant has increased this behavior because I honestly do not like cooking things that "smell". I am accustomed to cooking big dinners with lots of flavor and rich smells, and that just can't happen right now. So here we are back into our "rut" of eating processed dinners foods and "food pouting" on the couch together. We knew this must STOP for the sake of our family's health and our pocketbook.
So what are we going to do? We are going to do a healing experiment with our bodies. It will become extreme, an invitation to comments like "you're crazy", "is that healthy for you?", and "you make your kids eat what?" Yes, we are ready to put all that great knowledge to good use and heal our bodies from the inside out and we want you to experience the journey. We both will blog about our experiences. Jason jokingly said his grammatical errors will shut down the blog site, so be gracious with his spelling mistakes. lol We know this is going to go against our "food pouting" sessions, but we are ready to stop pouting and start feeling GREAT! I am really excited about the changes we are going to experiences and ready to tackle the challenges. I am ready for this because I understand the GRACE of God in my life on a different level, and true change comes from this revelation. I know that's a whole different topic, but it's the basis of this experiment. Together, because of who we are in Christ, we are going to start living healthy and trusting our bodies to heal the way they were created to heal. Hallelujah!
I want to end this post by leaving you with a few statistics on "being the average American." These come from a great motivational holistic speaker Dr. Richard Schulze:
They eat a low nutrition high fat and sugar food program.
A diet high in over processed nutritionally deplete food.
They consume 300 soft drinks a year, 170 pounds of white refined sugar, 400 candy bars, 500 doughnuts, and will eat over 12 entire 3,000 pound cows,
6 whole pigs, 3,000 chickens and other birds and another 3,000 assorted fish and sea creatures and over 30,000 quarts of milk and pass all of this through their digestive system and bloodstream.
They will get very little exercise if any, be 25 pounds or more overweight, have hypercholesterolemia with a average level of 200 and have high blood pressure
They take over 30,000 aspirin and assorted other pain killers in their lifetime along with over 20,000 over the counter and prescription drugs and over 2,000 gallons of alcohol.
They will have an average of 2-4 bowel movements a week coming up 70,000 bowel movements short in their life time, definitely having diverticulosis and digestive/elimination problems.
I don't want to be the average American, how about you?
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Quick Update
Noah had his eye and ear doctor appointments the first week of the month so I wanted to update you all.
His right eye is responding well to the drops and his vision was much better in that eye. He is so cute during his exam, talking really silly when they ask him what the shapes he sees are. Elijah is just all over the place trying to push buttons and pull cords and climb in the exam chair with Noah. My own personal "curious George."
He still has the hole in his left eardrum. :( But we have 6 more months of waiting and praying to see if it can in fact heal on it's own. Our bodies are miraculous healers and I believe it can! He will also have a hearing test then to determine his true level of hearing. It is hard to get an accurate test until they are 4 or 5. He doesn't seem to have any issues hearing unless it happens to just be convenient...like "Noah pick up your books that you threw off the shelf for the tenth time today!" lol Somehow he just doesn't respond to that.
On the positive side, Noah was released from physical therapy this week!! YAY!! His strength is not 100% on the right side, but she believes he will get stronger as he grows a little more, and of course we'll continue to work with him at home. No more Therapy Tuesdays! Noah was actually kind of sad because he likes therapy and his therapist. I told him we would have to make a Wiggletime(toddler play place) date each week instead, and he decided that would be super. lol :)
Everything is going good with the whole family. I am very pregnant now, and entered the third trimester yesterday. It won't be long until we get to meet "sister", still yet to be named. The next 2 months are going to be spent cultivating my "nesting" commands. I'm sure Jason is going to love it!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
'Tis the Season
For those of you who check in here to see how we are doing, I apologize for being so slow to write again. Life with two little boys can keep you busy. And now that we are expecting a little girl, I am sure I'll have my hands full.
Noah is doing great. He turned 4 on October 11th and I can't believe it's gone by so fast! He is such a sweet little guy and makes us laugh all the time with his quirky little personality traits. Jason thinks he acts just like me, and I think he acts like my Dad. LOL He is a super special boy and I am loving watching him grow everyday.
Health wise, we are still dealing with a few small issues. Currently, Noah has to have eye drops daily to improve the strength in his right eye. His vision is good, but he prefers to use his left eye since the muscles are a bit stronger in that eye. So to prevent loss of vision in the right eye we are trying these drops instead of patching since that is such a challenge. In 6 months, we should see improvements in the right eye if all goes well.
We are also still in physical therapy once a week to help improve strength in his right arm and shoulder. The curve in his spine causes the weakness, but he has gotten so much stronger the past few months. The therapist thought we might be able to slow down a bit, but after a few missed sessions, his right side had weakened a bit, so we are going to continue weekly for now.
As of the last doctor's visit, he still had the hole in his left eardrum. The ear doctor is giving the ear plenty of time to heal on it's own, but if it hasn't done so by this summer, he will have to have surgery to repair it. I am really believing/praying/hoping for his ear to heal on it's own. I know that there are complications that may come about from the surgery and I hope to avoid it if possible. I am glad the doctor is giving it time and isn't rushing him into surgery before the body has a chance to heal. We have been told by another doctor that he rarely sees them close on their own, but we believe in healing and trust that whatever the outcome, he is in God's hands.
We have several appointments coming up in the first of the year which will outline how the rest of the year will go. We have had a nice break this year and we have enjoyed being out of doctor's offices so frequently! We are hoping that we can be out of them even more in 2010.
Those things are small in comparison to the life Noah experiences every day. He is FULL of energy and love. We are still amazed at how far he has come and how strong everyone has become because of this journey. Even though there are some health issues to overcome, we view everything with trust in our Lord to take care of him completely. To experience how far our Father has brought him has strengthened our faith. Going through it isn't always easy, but looking back after the storm helps walk through those upcoming showers with greater ease and trust. God is so good! :)
Noah is a good big brother, most of the time. He helps me keep Elijah safe since he tends to live on the wild side. lol Noah always lets me know if he is climbing furniture or into something he shouldn't be. Elijah has the best personality, I am absolutely in love with his charm. He is ALOT like Jason, and even looks almost identical to him when he was this age. He is very curious and I have to keep a constant eye on him. He loves to entertain and wants ALL eyes on him, which is easy since he is so adorable. He is 19 months old, but looks and acts like a 2 year old already. He weighs as much as Noah and mimics his every move. They play together really well, as long as Noah is in the sharing mood. My days are so much fun watching them interact and grow together. I am thankful to be able to stay at home and raise them, it is an amazing opportunity.
My due date with Baby Girl (still yet to be named) is May 7th. We are so excited to be having a girl, it will be a wonderful experience. It seems a bit weird to even think of having a girl after 4 years of raising boys, but I know it will seem perfect the minute we meet her. I think Jason is in for a big surprise. The saying "Daddy's girl" seems to always be true, and I know he will experience that bond the way I have experienced it with my "mama's boys. " Children are amazing, and I am so glad God gave me each of them to love and care for on this Earth.
It is Christmas Eve as I write this post, and I am looking forward to a wonderful celebration of our Savior's birth. Every year I become more thankful for Jesus' amazing presence in my life. The stress of the holiday season seems to have taken over this amazing acknowledgement of His life in our culture, but as I grow in Him, it has become so much clearer to me. I was shopping yesterday and the familiarness of the chaos rose up in my heart, the urge to be like the "world", but as soon as I acknowledged it, a bigger presence overcame that feeling and reminded me that I am not of this world, but He who lives within me. It is almost strange when that really sinks in, all those years of going with the world's pace disappears and it's hard to let that peace take complete control. But that is what I'm learning to do, day by day, is trust in His presence and let go of all I know and allow Him to show me true peace. So may the love of Christ give you that peace through this and every season of your life. Thank you for taking time to read my blog, I hope it inspires you to experience the love of our amazing Father.
Noah is doing great. He turned 4 on October 11th and I can't believe it's gone by so fast! He is such a sweet little guy and makes us laugh all the time with his quirky little personality traits. Jason thinks he acts just like me, and I think he acts like my Dad. LOL He is a super special boy and I am loving watching him grow everyday.
Health wise, we are still dealing with a few small issues. Currently, Noah has to have eye drops daily to improve the strength in his right eye. His vision is good, but he prefers to use his left eye since the muscles are a bit stronger in that eye. So to prevent loss of vision in the right eye we are trying these drops instead of patching since that is such a challenge. In 6 months, we should see improvements in the right eye if all goes well.
We are also still in physical therapy once a week to help improve strength in his right arm and shoulder. The curve in his spine causes the weakness, but he has gotten so much stronger the past few months. The therapist thought we might be able to slow down a bit, but after a few missed sessions, his right side had weakened a bit, so we are going to continue weekly for now.
As of the last doctor's visit, he still had the hole in his left eardrum. The ear doctor is giving the ear plenty of time to heal on it's own, but if it hasn't done so by this summer, he will have to have surgery to repair it. I am really believing/praying/hoping for his ear to heal on it's own. I know that there are complications that may come about from the surgery and I hope to avoid it if possible. I am glad the doctor is giving it time and isn't rushing him into surgery before the body has a chance to heal. We have been told by another doctor that he rarely sees them close on their own, but we believe in healing and trust that whatever the outcome, he is in God's hands.
We have several appointments coming up in the first of the year which will outline how the rest of the year will go. We have had a nice break this year and we have enjoyed being out of doctor's offices so frequently! We are hoping that we can be out of them even more in 2010.
Those things are small in comparison to the life Noah experiences every day. He is FULL of energy and love. We are still amazed at how far he has come and how strong everyone has become because of this journey. Even though there are some health issues to overcome, we view everything with trust in our Lord to take care of him completely. To experience how far our Father has brought him has strengthened our faith. Going through it isn't always easy, but looking back after the storm helps walk through those upcoming showers with greater ease and trust. God is so good! :)
Noah is a good big brother, most of the time. He helps me keep Elijah safe since he tends to live on the wild side. lol Noah always lets me know if he is climbing furniture or into something he shouldn't be. Elijah has the best personality, I am absolutely in love with his charm. He is ALOT like Jason, and even looks almost identical to him when he was this age. He is very curious and I have to keep a constant eye on him. He loves to entertain and wants ALL eyes on him, which is easy since he is so adorable. He is 19 months old, but looks and acts like a 2 year old already. He weighs as much as Noah and mimics his every move. They play together really well, as long as Noah is in the sharing mood. My days are so much fun watching them interact and grow together. I am thankful to be able to stay at home and raise them, it is an amazing opportunity.
My due date with Baby Girl (still yet to be named) is May 7th. We are so excited to be having a girl, it will be a wonderful experience. It seems a bit weird to even think of having a girl after 4 years of raising boys, but I know it will seem perfect the minute we meet her. I think Jason is in for a big surprise. The saying "Daddy's girl" seems to always be true, and I know he will experience that bond the way I have experienced it with my "mama's boys. " Children are amazing, and I am so glad God gave me each of them to love and care for on this Earth.
It is Christmas Eve as I write this post, and I am looking forward to a wonderful celebration of our Savior's birth. Every year I become more thankful for Jesus' amazing presence in my life. The stress of the holiday season seems to have taken over this amazing acknowledgement of His life in our culture, but as I grow in Him, it has become so much clearer to me. I was shopping yesterday and the familiarness of the chaos rose up in my heart, the urge to be like the "world", but as soon as I acknowledged it, a bigger presence overcame that feeling and reminded me that I am not of this world, but He who lives within me. It is almost strange when that really sinks in, all those years of going with the world's pace disappears and it's hard to let that peace take complete control. But that is what I'm learning to do, day by day, is trust in His presence and let go of all I know and allow Him to show me true peace. So may the love of Christ give you that peace through this and every season of your life. Thank you for taking time to read my blog, I hope it inspires you to experience the love of our amazing Father.
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