Eating Healthy!?

Daniel Plan? 

Most of you have been following our journey that began at the end of September. 10 years ago while I was in college I learned a lot about nutrition that goes against what we are taught in the USA. When I heard about the Daniel plan it was pretty much exactly what I had heard from my nutrition professor. I was so excited because I thought maybe now is the time I will actually put my knowledge into action. I wasn't going to overhaul my eating without my husband wanting to do it too. A couple days later Ben woke up made some oatmeal and said he wanted to change.

We took 6 weeks to detox our body and fast from certain foods. We didn't eat anything with gluten, dairy, or sugar for 6 weeks! It was crazy hard at first but by the middle of it not so bad anymore.

After the 6 weeks we decided that we were going to eat a lot more healthy but, we were NOT going to ONLY eat organic whole foods for the rest of our lives. One reason we couldn't afford it. Another I like some processed foods with chemicals in them! :-)

So we choose to try and keep "healthy" foods in the house. I can't eat a whole bag of chips if I don't have a bag of chips to eat. Although we do like to eat corn chips with salsa or hummus! We buy organic when we can. Which isn't very much. We stick to whole grains, (in the house) and eat a lot more fruits and veggies. Oh and hit up the farmers market!

One example of a change for me. I used to eat white pasta every single day. For real not kidding. Now we buy whole wheat pasta. Which I can tolerate but still don't enjoy that much. And only have a couple times a month.

If you have been following me on facebook you might think that I'm a nut job being crazy strict with my eating. (I had a friend say I was coming across that way) I'm sorry if you felt I looked down on you if you ate certain things. I DON'T AT ALL. I really enjoy fast food and bamboo garden! I just don't eat it as often as I used to. I had bamboo garden last week and don't feel guilty about it one bit!

I don't even call it "cheating" if I eat something I believe to be unhealthy. If we feel like we are doing something wrong we will be more likely to binge because we will feel like we won't be able to eat it again. So we have freedom to choose. Ben and I feel a WHOLE lot better by making changes to our eating.  Most of our marriage we haven't even been able to afford some of the healthier options. I know as the demand for healthy food rises the prices will go down. So hopefully as American's start to eat healthy we can start to afford more options!

As we begin this new year trying to be healthier it is going to look different for everyone!

I've had many conversations with people at church as we talk about beginning the Daniel plan as a church. They ask me what they are "supposed" to do. I am not part of the Daniel plan ministry team. But I think they might say there is nothing that you are "supposed" to do. You get to make choices and decide what, if any, changes that you want to make to become more healthy. Drink more water, give up pop, eat more fruit and veggies, go for a walk, etc.

Each person and each family will decide for themselves how they are going to adapt or modify the Daniel plan to fit into their life.

Its not about weight loss. Ben has lost weight and I'm proud of him! I've maintained my weight. Its about being healthy. You feel so much better and have so much more energy when you make even small changes.

Grace Vs. Mercy

We always get Mercy and Grace mixed up. 

Grace is: Getting something which you have done absolutely nothing to deserve. 

Mercy is: Not getting something negative that you absolutely deserve. 

I am so thankful for both. By God's grace I have a relationship with Him & home in heaven. I have done nothing to earn or deserve it. 

I deserve Hell because I'm a sinner. But God had mercy on us and sent Jesus so we don't have to have that punishment. 

Let me help you see maybe a bit clearer. 

Lets say you were caught stealing a car. You went before the judge and instead of sentencing you to jail, he decides to award you with an all expense paid trip to Tahiti. You obviously don't deserve that trip. You deserve to go to jail or at least have a fine. However the judge gave you unmerited favor (Grace) 

Look at mercy under the same situation. You are before the judge obviously guilty. You have even admitted your guilt. This time the Judge lets you go. Instead of going to jail he gives you a 2nd chance. The judge doesn't give you the punishment you deserve he was merciful. 

Grace and Mercy aren't the same thing but I'm so thankful for BOTH of them! I pray that in 2013 I will be reminded of the grace and mercy that I've been given & I will freely extend it to others! 

2013

Wow can you believe my last post was in July of 2012? One of my goals this year is to blog a lot more. With my LD I have horrible grammar. So I hope you can continue to read through my typo's, grammar mistakes and misspellings! (That spell check doesn't catch)


I just spent a week with my husbands family in Florida. (they are my family too) I really enjoyed my time with them. Although I did wish that Florida had been a bit warmer. But who am I to complain?

Its sad to say goodbye to family.  They all live hundreds of miles from us. I've never been one to get home sick much. Yet its hard to say goodbye and not know when you will see them again. The next time you see your niece or nephew's they've grown a foot! I was excited that I got to hear my niece say her older brothers name for the first time on this trip. She would always only say Eli but while they were with us she started to say Logan too for the first time! Its rare that we would be around for a first!

I'm thankful for my church family who really are my family here in SW virginia. It will be hard if and when I begin to have children of my own. Not having my family around to help. But I know my church family here will love my kids and help us as we need it.

I was able to meet up with my cousin Dave and his family our last day in Florida New Years Eve. They are from Canada and he is in seminary living really close to Ben's grandparents.

I slept through the new year because we had to leave early in the morning. When I woke up it felt like 2013.. okay not really. Its now time to think about my goals for ministry this year, goals for life, goals for marriage etc.

Most people decide to loose weight at the first of the year. You might be aware Ben and I started eating healthier back in September. We started something called the Daniel Plan. We stuck to it through Halloween, Thanksgiving, and NOT Christmas! :-) Can you imagine passing out candy and not eating a single piece of sugar on Halloween? I know what its like!

Starting tomorrow we will detox and begin eating healthy once again. We will not eat organic, whole real food for every meal and every day of our life. But we will eat a WHOLE lot healthier than we have the first 28-30 years of our life.

I've never had to loose weight but I've had symptoms that I was unhealthy without realizing it. I never knew how bad I felt until I started to feel good.

I'm going to start exercising on a regular basis. (Which I haven't done in over 10 years)

I look forward to sharing my journey with you. My blog will not only talk about my physical health journey. There will be youth ministry, family, random thoughts that come across my head, etc. But I hope you enjoy following me through 2013. In a non stalkerish type of way. :-)