Let us take a quick look at what we have discussed thus far. In a previous post I talked about giving your body a great start by doing a detox. This helps your body rid itself of toxins from the foods we eat, the stresses we experience, and the toxins from our atmosphere. Once you have detoxed your body you want to put the right foods in as well as exercise to make sure you are treating your body the best way you can.
However, if we don't deal with this next issue all of the previous post will not help you. What are we dealing with today? We have to have some honest conversations with ourselves about what got us in the place we find ourselves. We have to answer the question, "What's Eating Me?" What does this mean?
I'll be transparent and use myself as an example. When I started in 2013 on the road to better health there where some things I already knew. I knew that I needed to exercise and often I did exercise. I knew somewhat how to eat right, but I still couldn't understand why I would eat poorly. When I asked God to help me because my healthy was really getting worse, He showed me a vision of myself. In that vision I was praying with my hands lifted up and in one hand was a handful of twizzlers. I heard God speak to my spirit and say, I can heal you, but you have to do your part. In essence, what I began to learn was I needed to deal with those underlying issues if I wanted to experience true success in my health.
What I learned in the journey was I was eating sweets to "heal my bitter places". I had many bitter places. Some where from rejections from my youth, some where related to my sexual abuse and some where related to my disappointments in my marriage and with my life in general. I didn't just get an "ahha" moment, it took time. How do you get to this point?
This depends on what is helpful for you. Journalling is one of the best ways to get to these moments and understanding of what's eating you. If you go back and look at your journal entries how often did you eat when you became stressed? What did you eat when you where stressed? Did you eat when you where lonely or alone? What did you eat at those times? When you were angry did you eat? Lonely? Upset? Feeling down or not feeling good about yourself? What where your emotions behind your eating? This information does not come easy, you have to be honest to write these things down at the time you are feeling them. When you do, you'll be able to go back and see some patterns in your eating habits.
So what do you do once you find out what's eating you? As a Christian and a Christian writer, my first answer is to seek God's help through prayer and through His Word. Ask Him for guidance and wisdom, because He tells us He will help us when we seek Him. Then you have to be a "doer" of what you learn about yourself. So for example, when I learned I was eating sweets to cover my bitterness I began to go through each of those feelings as they where uncovered to me. I began to examine them. For some I had to ask God to help me release. For other situations I had to have some crucial conversations and deal with them to get to a resolution. Furthermore, I had to begin to re-program myself (transform my mind) to have healthy ways to deal with those triggers. So instead of eating sweets when I felt frustrated, lonely or discouraged, I would do other things that would help me to deal with the negative side of these feels and end up on the positive side of them. Some of those things where to talk to some friends that I knew where safe places for me to share what I was feeling and knew they would pray for me and not beat me up for what I was feeling. They were willing to walk through with me.
One of the greatest things for me was when I lost my 45 pounds I had this visual of myself. God spoke again to my spirit and said look at the little girl. There in my mind was a vision of me as a little girl. My face at first was sad. But then I saw her smile and I found myself smiling. God said, you can let her go now, she's healed. At that, the little girl (me) smiled again at me, turned and disappeared. At that very moment, I felt a release and a lifting within myself. I finally felt that 45 pounds gone. Your situation may not be like mine but many of us have something that is eating us that we are trying to soothe through food. Some of it may simply be some of our traditions. We do so much around food. We were rewarded with food. When we were sad our parents may have given us candy/food. And as adults we reach back into our past and find comfort in food.
Let me end this session with this. I am not saying you should not enjoy your food. But let's begin to be intentional and aware of what's going on inside of us when we do eat. I still love my sweets. In fact, on Sunday's I treat myself to a 99 cent bag of chocolate cups from Trader Joe's when I go shopping with my kids. The difference is, it's a treat for me, I enjoy it, but it is not something I use anymore to soothe my pain or add sweetness to bitter places. So this week, I challenge you to begin to really look at what's eating you. Why doe you eat what you eat? What comfort do you get from what you are doing? Then once you figure out some of the patterns, I suggest you begin to seek wisdom on how to heal those places and ensure you are on the path to W.I.N. in health!
However, if we don't deal with this next issue all of the previous post will not help you. What are we dealing with today? We have to have some honest conversations with ourselves about what got us in the place we find ourselves. We have to answer the question, "What's Eating Me?" What does this mean?
I'll be transparent and use myself as an example. When I started in 2013 on the road to better health there where some things I already knew. I knew that I needed to exercise and often I did exercise. I knew somewhat how to eat right, but I still couldn't understand why I would eat poorly. When I asked God to help me because my healthy was really getting worse, He showed me a vision of myself. In that vision I was praying with my hands lifted up and in one hand was a handful of twizzlers. I heard God speak to my spirit and say, I can heal you, but you have to do your part. In essence, what I began to learn was I needed to deal with those underlying issues if I wanted to experience true success in my health.
What I learned in the journey was I was eating sweets to "heal my bitter places". I had many bitter places. Some where from rejections from my youth, some where related to my sexual abuse and some where related to my disappointments in my marriage and with my life in general. I didn't just get an "ahha" moment, it took time. How do you get to this point?
This depends on what is helpful for you. Journalling is one of the best ways to get to these moments and understanding of what's eating you. If you go back and look at your journal entries how often did you eat when you became stressed? What did you eat when you where stressed? Did you eat when you where lonely or alone? What did you eat at those times? When you were angry did you eat? Lonely? Upset? Feeling down or not feeling good about yourself? What where your emotions behind your eating? This information does not come easy, you have to be honest to write these things down at the time you are feeling them. When you do, you'll be able to go back and see some patterns in your eating habits.
So what do you do once you find out what's eating you? As a Christian and a Christian writer, my first answer is to seek God's help through prayer and through His Word. Ask Him for guidance and wisdom, because He tells us He will help us when we seek Him. Then you have to be a "doer" of what you learn about yourself. So for example, when I learned I was eating sweets to cover my bitterness I began to go through each of those feelings as they where uncovered to me. I began to examine them. For some I had to ask God to help me release. For other situations I had to have some crucial conversations and deal with them to get to a resolution. Furthermore, I had to begin to re-program myself (transform my mind) to have healthy ways to deal with those triggers. So instead of eating sweets when I felt frustrated, lonely or discouraged, I would do other things that would help me to deal with the negative side of these feels and end up on the positive side of them. Some of those things where to talk to some friends that I knew where safe places for me to share what I was feeling and knew they would pray for me and not beat me up for what I was feeling. They were willing to walk through with me.
One of the greatest things for me was when I lost my 45 pounds I had this visual of myself. God spoke again to my spirit and said look at the little girl. There in my mind was a vision of me as a little girl. My face at first was sad. But then I saw her smile and I found myself smiling. God said, you can let her go now, she's healed. At that, the little girl (me) smiled again at me, turned and disappeared. At that very moment, I felt a release and a lifting within myself. I finally felt that 45 pounds gone. Your situation may not be like mine but many of us have something that is eating us that we are trying to soothe through food. Some of it may simply be some of our traditions. We do so much around food. We were rewarded with food. When we were sad our parents may have given us candy/food. And as adults we reach back into our past and find comfort in food.
Let me end this session with this. I am not saying you should not enjoy your food. But let's begin to be intentional and aware of what's going on inside of us when we do eat. I still love my sweets. In fact, on Sunday's I treat myself to a 99 cent bag of chocolate cups from Trader Joe's when I go shopping with my kids. The difference is, it's a treat for me, I enjoy it, but it is not something I use anymore to soothe my pain or add sweetness to bitter places. So this week, I challenge you to begin to really look at what's eating you. Why doe you eat what you eat? What comfort do you get from what you are doing? Then once you figure out some of the patterns, I suggest you begin to seek wisdom on how to heal those places and ensure you are on the path to W.I.N. in health!
Back to School Healthy Eating (part 5)
Veggie Stir-Fry
Broccoli
Carrots
Mushrooms
Spinach
Olive oil
Peppers (red, green, or which every you want)
Quinoa (which every you like)
Soy Sauce
Agave Nectar
Toasted Sesame Oil
Seasons (your choice)
Preparation: While you prepare your veggies, prepare your Quinoa per the instructions on the package. In a hot pan, add your tablespoon or two of olive oil to saute your veggies. Add in the Broccoli, carrots, and peppers. Begin sauteing veggies. Add in mushrooms and spinach or kale after your other veggies have softened some (you don't want them mushy). I added Mrs. Dash vegetable seasoning and garlic powder and pepper. But you add whatever seasons you like. While the veggies are cooking I prepared the sauce. I took two tablespoons of Flaxseed (note this one had blueberries in it, I simply spooned those out), equal parts Sesame oil, soy sauce and agave nectar. Mix them together. Now, this is a personal choice regarding taste so you may have to add more of one ingredient or another. When you taste it, it may taste salty, however the small amount you see in the cut made less than a cup of sauce and I poured it over the entire pan of veggies. It helps to give the veggies a oriental taste, but it doesn't have that salty taste. Serve over Quinoa along with a garden salad. Makes a great meal and if you have any left overs, great for lunch the next day.
Broccoli
Carrots
Mushrooms
Spinach
Olive oil
Peppers (red, green, or which every you want)
Quinoa (which every you like)
Soy Sauce
Agave Nectar
Toasted Sesame Oil
Seasons (your choice)
Preparation: While you prepare your veggies, prepare your Quinoa per the instructions on the package. In a hot pan, add your tablespoon or two of olive oil to saute your veggies. Add in the Broccoli, carrots, and peppers. Begin sauteing veggies. Add in mushrooms and spinach or kale after your other veggies have softened some (you don't want them mushy). I added Mrs. Dash vegetable seasoning and garlic powder and pepper. But you add whatever seasons you like. While the veggies are cooking I prepared the sauce. I took two tablespoons of Flaxseed (note this one had blueberries in it, I simply spooned those out), equal parts Sesame oil, soy sauce and agave nectar. Mix them together. Now, this is a personal choice regarding taste so you may have to add more of one ingredient or another. When you taste it, it may taste salty, however the small amount you see in the cut made less than a cup of sauce and I poured it over the entire pan of veggies. It helps to give the veggies a oriental taste, but it doesn't have that salty taste. Serve over Quinoa along with a garden salad. Makes a great meal and if you have any left overs, great for lunch the next day.
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