The Pain that Precipitates Change

Really it's only ever pain that gets us to change anything we do in life.  I can not think of a moment I changed my route/mind/attitude/diet, etc. without pain being present.  In our bodies pain is the God-given source that signals to us that change needs to be made.  In our lives, the same is true.

Recently, I attended a women's meeting during which nutrition was the main theme.  Several women brought items I've only thought were crazy...until lately.  Items such as fermented vegetables (eww-- doesn't the word "fermented" just kind of make your skin crawl?) and keifer (again, I don't know why we don't give healthy foods a better name like..."Twinkie 2" ;)  Anyway, our group that day consisted of some mamas who have been on a health-seeking journey for years and some mamas who had never heard of these items and some mamas who had heard of them...but were still skeptical of their application into their life.  The mamas who brought the items to sample and have wholeheartedly embraced the most wholesome eating life-style in our American world made it very clear-- before their pain events, they would have never considered eating this way.  They didn't know about the health benefits and didn't know how "do-able" it really would be to their life.

I have to agree.  I am much further away from where they are in the journey, but I too began seeking out a better way to eat due to pain-- very real pain that was inescapable.  If I wanted relief, my only option was to change my diet significantly.

Perhaps that is where you are today. Or, perhaps you, like so many around me, think they can handle the pain and it'd be a bigger upset to have to change their whole diets.  I'm not here to say it's been easy.  Everyday I find myself at a loss for hours which would aid in more prep for easier meal consumption later on, but it's a fight I have to continue to make.  And I encourage YOU to continue today if you have not already begun a journey to a healthier lifestyle.

Books I Recommend (That I Am Reading On This Journey)
Gut and Psychology Syndrome -- by Dr. Natasha Campbell- McBride (great information on how the digestive track can affect so much of your body's functions/thinking/behavior)
Nourishing Traditions -- by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig (great read on the appropriate place GOOD fats, protein, and carbohydrates need to have in your diet.)
Trim, Healthy, Mama -- by Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison (the current dietary life-style I am using to lose weight and eat in such a healthy way as never before. "Love me some buttah!")


I used to think anyone "natural" (doctors, other health professionals, and everyday people) were crazy and tricksters-- who ever would believe my son's asthma could be healed significantly with food?!  Craziness!  Schmucks!  Turns out...it probably CAN be significantly improved by his diet as well as my children's eczema, my weight issues, irritability...and, of course, stomach pain. And if I can heal from the inside out, starting with good foods, why would I choose another way-- a way filled with medications attempting to do the same thing...only having to overcome an abounding mess of unhealthy diet going in on top of it!? Simply because it's not "easy"?  That's no excuse and I personally am leaving that one behind.  It will continue to be hard...but anything in life worth having IS work-- and good health, as much as it is up to me, is worth having SO THAT I am able to live an energized life IN ORDER to bring glory to God, love to those He places in my path and bring HIS NAME to the nations. 

Weight Update:  199.6!  FINALLY blew that 200 mark! (14 total pounds and counting!)

NOTE:  I DO NOT believe, nor advocate, that food is THE ONLY way to heal anything, including asthma, etc. and I DO NOT believe that regular doctors are "no good".  They are just practicing the medicine they have been taught but many personally living healthy life-styles that they know their patients many times are unwilling to live.  I also DO NOT believe that seeking out a healthy life-style for the sake of a healthy life-style is the end all.  Our health is only to serve us in order that we may best serve Christ and not be burdened with lack of energy, spending time and money in the drs office, unable to be physically fit to do the tasks to which He calls us.