Getting healthy

A few times I've blogged in brief about our attempts to get healthy. My whole life I've struggled to wrap my brain around that concept and live it out. Try and fail. Try and fail. There have been the numerous exercise tapes (haha! Tapes! Hello, 80's) purchased, tried, and set aside. Oh, Cindy Crawford. I still get a tiny adrenaline rush when I hear Seal's "Crazy". Then the Women's Workout World membership that a teaching friend inspired me to obtain with her. It took a looong time for James to quit reminding me how little I actually used it. More recently, there were the half dozen attempts to make it through South Beach Phase 1, just to detox all the junk out of my system. Never made it past week one due to my carb addiction. Also, there was that BRIEF stint of attempting to be a runner. There have been several of those throughout my life.

This past year I've felt a more pressing need to get my act together. You just can't be mid-30's and subsisting on Coke, coffee, and pretzels & cheese and/or anything fried. One step we made in the right direction was to join a gym. It's one I've wanted to join for a LONG time but was just too pricey. Enter the "It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know" principle. We had a connection at one location of said gym who was able to get us in on a Friends and Family special, so we went for it. Two hours of childcare a day for a low, low price was what sealed the deal.

Food is really a big trip-up for me. I'm just in LOVE with anything that's not good for me. Have I mentioned fried, carb-y foods? So I've done some reading this past year about food plans and food in general and basically just felt really overwhelmed. I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a plethora of opinions out there about what's good for you, and it's always changing. One thing that keeps popping up and has really resonated with me is the idea of eating more naturally, as in, foods in their natural state as much as possible. As a believer in a sovereign Creator God, I figure, if He gave it to us, it's gotta be good. I have a cookbook I love called "What the Bible Says About Healthy Living":

that I bought after hearing one of the authors speak at a MOPS group. Listening to her speak was an "a-ha" moment for me because everything she was saying just made sense to me:

1) Eat only substances God created for food; avoid those things that were not designated for food.

2) As much as possible, eat foods as they were created (no processed stuff!)

3) Avoid food addictions - don't let any food or drink be your god.

I wish I could say the a-ha moment meant an immediate life change, but I think we all know that's not the case. It's a process. But I think it was one of the first times I thought about food's true purpose and origin.

Anyhoo - I hope to share a little more, as time goes along, about our journey to health. It's been slow going so far, no doubt about that. I hope, if you're reading this, that maybe you'll share a little with me too: suggestions, resources, recipes, etc. I can use all the help I can get!!