Why Am I Doing This?

By Sweet Basil

Recently I read a talk entitled You Were Born to Lead, You Were Born for Glory by Sheri Dew. I suggest you read it. It is full of hope, inspiration, and direction.

So, while thinking of Embers post, the comments, and this exciting knowledge just gained from Sheri Dew, I found I am doing this because God put his trust in me. I want to prove worthy. I want for myself, my family and friends to be Spiritually, Physically, and Mentally in shape to finish this race victorious against evil. I feel a real need to do my part. Can you imagine the party we will have?

The Primary motto for this month is "The Scriptures are the Word of God." Holy writing. Words of our prophets today as well as in the past. A part of being spiritually fit is being armed with the Word of God. We not only need to read our scriptures but we need to know them and use the teachings in our lives. We follow the examples of those who turn their will, and their lives, over to Father and are blessed for it and we will be too. We recognise when maybe something is not in line with Gods teachings (like our music) and gives us a reason to turn away. We want our children to be armed with the Word of God right? Do you know and use the scriptures? Do you ask Father for help to understand how it applies to your life? When you have a passion for something it inspires others. Arm yourself, and your children, family, and friends will follow. We all want to please him!

There are conspiring men in these last days that, I believe, trick us to think bad things are good. He is so sneaky. Have you ever noticed how most social events have food at them? Not always a bad thing. But most of the time the healthy stuff is sacrificed for the taste and "please we have plenty of food, come and get some more." Start seeing it for what it is. Our bodies are built to have whole foods. Refined foods are not whole. No wonder we crave more. Our body knows there is something missing. Refined foods do not give our bodies the energy we need to get things done. It is hard to keep up day after day after day when our body is not being fed what it needs. A lot of times we end up crashing, but we don't crash to our beds, we crash in front of the TV and get hooked and stay up way too late and then it starts over. Convenience foods become our friends because it takes to much energy to peel a carrot and really, um, those cookies taste way better than a carrot.

Well, after feeding ourselves the right things, our energy returns, and carrots taste good again. Get that junk out of your kitchen, out of your body and don't bring it in again. Break the emotional bond. Every choice you make matters. Stop funding satan's sneaky sneakiness. Turn off the TV! Get strong physically with food that hasn't been tampered with and by exercising those muscles that Father gave us! Our bodies are so complex but it is really simple to take care of them. Take control and conquer the natural man or woman.

We continue to stay mentally fit by learning, experiencing, trying new things and asking Father for guidance. Search for truth. Before we came to earth we learned straight from our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. I know that when we are studying and find things that just make sense, it is because it is connected to our training we received in heaven. It resonates with us because we learned it before. Also, we need to know who we are, who we have always been. Do you know who you are and what you were born for?

You were born to lead. You were born for glory!

Carbos?

By Sassafras

Here is what I learned today. Since I started the Eat Clean Diet, I would hit a wall about 5:00 or so and it would last until 7:30ish. It was awful. I had no energy, I could barely function. I kept thinking "wait a minute here, I am supposed to be feeling all this energy. But I am not. And where is my bed?" I would eat dinner then crawl in bed by 8:00 when I would get my second wind and be good to go until 11:00. At which time I would tell myself to go to bed because I have to get up early in the am.

Then today I was naughty and had Old Chicago for lunch. I will admit that good pizza is my weakness. However, I was a good girl and ate my whole salad first. I had three of the four pieces of the personal pizza. I had a bunch of running around/work to do this afternoon and definitely not any time for my afternoon slump. Then I realized (with the help of Heavenly Father - as I'm not smart enough to figure this out on my own) that I have not been eating enough carbos. Which your body/brain needs. That is why I would be better after dinner.

I wasn't doing it on purpose really. I just don't know enough yet. I was trying to follow the diet but not very well I see. So carbos it is. Good ones. And no more foggy, sleepy, lazy afternoons for me.

Who Me?

By Sassafras

A lot has happened since I last posted. And yet my life has stayed the same. Thankfully.

First and foremost on my mind; I am year older and hopefully, a year more wise. As is often the case, with the new year, I look back and try to ponder on my growths, trials and especially my triumphs and laughter. This year I have been pondering on being a mom. I often wonder what on earth I was doing when I had my first kid at 21. I thought I knew it all. Could I have been any more wrong? I thought it would be so easy and that I would be able to figure it out and be able to get it done generally by myself and if not me, then my better half would step in and all would be well. Yep I could be more wrong. Now I know that I know nothing. I do learn new things everyday. I finally learned that I cant do this all by myself. Even with my better half. I need Heavenly Father. I need the Holy Ghost. I need a living prophet to lead and guide me. To help me in all aspects of my life. Especially with my kids. Dont get me wrong they are good kids. For the most part they are obedient and loving and young. Young, that's the problem. I have no idea how to raise teenagers. I have no idea what the life of a teenager boy looks like. I refuse to even attempt to get them throught this awful, terrible, exhilerating, trying, most changing, most learning, fun, exciting and growing time all on my own. I need Him. I need the partnership and constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. I can not compete with all of the crap (yes crap) that bombards them each and every day. I cant shield them from it, as much as I would love to. I cant take it for them. But we can give them the tools and the foundation to give them the best chance. And that is my plan for this year, among other things.



Second thing on my brain; I told you a year ago when we first started this blog that I kept loosing my hair. I thought that it was my medication. So even though I am not a doc - nor do I play one on tv, which we dont have but that is another post - I decided to start cutting back on my meds. It was fine at first. I didnt notice any real side effects. I did accomplish what I set out to do and my hair didnt fall out so much. But then my body started to show the effects of no thyroid medication. I gained 7 plus pounds, I started not sleeping, my brain became foggy - to say the least and as always I had a runny nose and was perpetually cold. One night after praying for help and reading my scriptures I was prompted to get back on my meds full strength. I cant go against a prompting so I decided that He would show me how to not loose my hair. As I was talking with Ember one day, she suggested that I try some Cayenne Pepper like they tell the men to do. Because Heavenly Father is so good to me, I was once again prompted that I need to change from the in-side out. That if I would change my eating habits that everything would work out. That is when Ember told me about the http://eatcleandiet.com/ . I have been mostly doing it since Monday morning. I say mostly because I still have some food that I am not willing to throw away. Food that is not aweful but not necessarily the best for me. Like cheese, minute barley and taco seasoning. I figure if I just eat them sparingly and follow the rest of the diet it should all work out, right? I have, however, not had any sugar (other than in my food - and no that wasnt chocolate!) and that includes pop. Which I am a huge fan of. I had headaches for three days but luckily they werent bad. I have lost a little over under three pounds - even during my period. Which doesnt happen for me - I usually gain 4. Since I eat every 3 hours or so my metabolism has kicked in and I am not nearly as cold as I once was. Another benefit was/is my nose doesnt run like a faucet. I thought that was a genetic thing.

Now I face this new year with a sense of purpose. I love having control over my life and being able to say no. I have plates of goodies from Christmas and candy in my drawer but neither one even appeals to me. I still crave pop but I can easily walk away from that too. I hope that this is a life style change for me and therefor my family. I actually set goals this year. I never do that. I think they are acheivable and I am so excited to accomplish them. I am so very hopeful this year. I cant wait to take it all on. Yep, even the trials but especially the triumphs and bring on the laughter!

Where to Start? - Part 1

By Ember

*See disclaimer on right hand side.

One of the questions I am asked most often is, "Where do I start?" This, unfortunately, is not a one size fits all answer but I will try my best to bring it to a 'lowest common denominator' and work up. It will take a few posts to accomplish. I am far from an expert and need to take my own advice lots of the time. Here are a few goals to keep in mind: Be willing to change a little, be honest with yourself, try something new, and pray for help. I am a 'foodie.' I live to eat. I love food, so food is naturally my first area of focus. Whenever I need to do some diet tweaking, I've had the best success when I begin my plan with a fast. I love to fast. I love the sense of empowerment I get from telling my body who's boss.

I had a friend who came to visit and suggested we eat out - for every meal. Then it occured to me that she was afraid of my food. I wasn't even suggesting things that were weird. She was convinced that she wouldn't enjoy french toast made from whole wheat bread and homemade syrup or banana muffins made with whole wheat flour. She would make comments like, "My kids won't eat that," or, "I don't want you to go to any trouble," knowing full well that I love to cook for a crowd. So in compromise, since my kids and I were all was sick after eating twice in a row at a restaurant, I bought a loaf of white bread to make french toast with for her kids. Lo and behold, guess which pile they ate from?!? The whole wheat one. So I said to my friend, "Your kids seem to like it. No offense, but I think the problem lies with you." She agreed. (By the way, her kids also devoured the banana muffins and my friend took the recipe home with her.) This was very enlightening for her and she went home and began to make many changes in her family's diet.  The next time they came for a stay, she was very willing to let me cook for her.

This is what I mean about being honest. I think it's vital for parents not to push their food preferences off on their children. Your kids may love something that you hate. For instance, I don't care for raw tomatoes. My husband and kids love them so there are usually tomatoes in the house. I have been trying to like them too. (Implying that I eat them when I can diguise them.)

Start where you are. Meaning - if you eat all processed food (i.e. mac and cheese, frozen corn dogs, boxed sugary cereal, frozen lasagna and McDonald's), change one thing there. Maybe focus on breakfast. Begin by eating whole grain cereal like oatmeal or a multi-grain (like Bob's Red Mill 7 Grain)even if you have to load on the sugar to get your family to eat it. It is still a better choice (for now) because it's not as processed, has few to no additives/chemicals, and has a lot of fiber. I alternate hot cereal and eggs for breakfast. We enjoy pancakes or french toast occasionally as well, which leads me to my next point

If you are junk food addicts, start to make your own junk. This will eliminate some of the chemicals found in the the storebought stuff. Plus, it just tastes better! Check out an ingredients list on the premade breads or cookies at your local grocer's bakery. It's ridiculous! So make your own cookies, cakes, muffins, and breads. This will ensure that you are eating foods you can pronounce. For grins, throw in some healthy foods, like banana, strawberries, nuts or shredded zucchini. Use a little whole wheat flour instead of all white. Make your own syrup from maple flavoring or fruit with a little sugar added. Aim to make your junk less junky. I invested in a bread machine and this helped immensely. You can find them for less than $10 at your local thrift store, usually in near new condtion. If you are in need of recipes, please contact me at hiddentreasures89@gmail.com, or google it.

If you eat out a lot, begin to make informed choices. I have looked up the nutritional information on different fast food websites to see how nutritious (or not) our favorite meals are. I found that most of the items I would have considered more healthy were actually the least healthy. like the chicken menu items, for instance. They usually had the most calories and highest fat content. Beginning to eat more consciously is going to be a requirement if you want to nourish your body more often than you feed it. Everything you put in your mouth has an effect. EVERYTHING. It will either increase or decrease your health to some degree. Don't let yourself be fooled into thinking, a little won't hurt. That, for me, has always led to more bad food choices and the damage becomes accumulative. Just be honest about it. Consciously recognize that you are harming yourself. In the beginning you will probably choose to eat you favorite junk anyway, but this won't last forever. This is part of living a holistic life.

Let's forget for a moment about weight and focus on health. If your diet consists of mostly low/no fat, low calorie, diet foods I encourage you to take a good honest look at the ingredients list. You are very likey not eating real food. I have had an ongoing argument with a family member who thinks that she's choosing the lesser of two evils by eating diet food even though she realizes how many chemicals there are in it and how little nourishment it contains. She fully believes that her wieght is more damaging to her health than the food is. I will respectfully disagree. And let me point out, I personally don't know anyone who is thin who eats pre-made 'diet food.' In order to make those foods taste good, a lot of chemicals are added. Some of these chemicals are addictive. (Google Monosudium Glutumate, for instance, just for kicks.) That's the real problem with food, right? We have to eat. But we are easily addicted to what we eat. Alcoholics can safely avoid alcohol for the rest of their lives and be better off for it. A food addict? You'd last about three weeks without eating. So therein lies the rub. When my diet is mainly comprised of whole (nature made, W Of W sanctioned) foods, the feeling of  being compelled or addicted largely goes away. Sugar cravings for me are the worst but only last about 4-5 days if I don't give in. Fruit can make a nice substitute. I fully realize and agree that the nice full feeling after eating a couple pieces of cake (you know, before the guilt sets in) can't be beat by eating a large salad. But when health is my focus, I am compelled to make good choices for my body and those whom I have the responsibility to feed. These suggestions are what I have found works best for me. It has been a very slow and gradual process, but completely amazing to look back and see the progress my family has made and the impact on our health. Interestingly, weight is only a real issue for me when I'm eating too much fake food.

I have also had my best sucess when I plan out my menus in advance (like a week or two) and rotate them so I always know what we are going to have. It makes it so easy to budget and shop for food when you know exactly what you'll need. This keeps me from making a fast food run because I don't know what to make. I like to include at least two vegetables at dinner. I make smaller main dishes and include more sides, like salad, beans, or fresh whole wheat rolls. Most of us enjoy feeling full, so if we are full of nutritious, naturally low calorie foods and topped off by the less nutritous food we trick ourselves into better health and changed habits.

So here's a place for some of you to begin. In the comments, I'd love it if you'd share your goals. I will start. I will also post a couple of recipes about which I've had very good feedback.

And don't forget - every effort you make is blessed!