A few things I've learned...

This is a list of the things I've discovered in regards to my desire to live a more 'natural' life style.

1. Rice milk is fun to make and surprisingly tasty (and also VERY creamy)

2. Cage free eggs are worth their cost. Not necessarily because they taste better either. Actually I can't tell if they taste any different at all, but I LOVE knowing that the chickens who hatched those eggs are not bound up in nasty coops.

3. Oatmeal pizza crust has a better flavor than its traditional wheat counterpart.

4. I am not an animal lover, and frankly I don't like them at all, but I do care for them because God cares for them.

5. Though I've yet to try it, I'd love to start buying raw milk products - especially for Elias.

6. Organic apples actually do taste better than non-organic (the difference is AMAZING!)

7. I don't care about Elias wearing organic clothes or playing with plastic toys.

8. I don't mind if someone feeds a grain fed piece of meat for dinner. I am grateful that someone would spend their hard earned cash to feed me, in the name of friendship.

9. I see the validity in a vegan diet, though I know for certain it is not for me.

10. Sugar is still my enemy and everyday I struggle with the temptation to pass it off as 'no big deal'. I try to justify that the fact that I am eating healthy meals makes it ok for me to indulge in sugary snacks.

11. Home made bread is awesome and fun to make, even if I can't eat it...*tear*

12. If I could figure out how to ingest garlic in it's raw form, I would everyday.

13. I'm thankful I was able to walk so much this summer and get my vitamin D levels up so high as to only just this month need to start supplementing. (Dr. said to take 4,ooo IU until May, and then get back outside)

14. Water is the best thing to drink.

15. When I do it, making Elias baby food for him is a blessing, because I know whats in it.

16. Until it's proven that vaccines do what they say they do, I'm content with our decision to not vaccinate. *I don't look down on parent's who have/do vaccinate their children. I just hope they judge me as being a poor parent because we've chosen alternative methods.

17. Eating a diet that is 51% raw foods is best for you, though I'm still not on board with it.

18. Exercise is beneficial, but a diet of quality foods is essential for being healthy.

19. Sleep is also essential for being healthy.

20. Though we don't yet do this, I'd much rather have organic (at least grass fed) beef than what is available in stores, because I think it really is much better for you.

21. I still LOVE cloth diapering and would choose it over desposies, I just need more of the cloth diaper essentials to make it a little less gross for me to deal with.

22. Being able to play, sing, laugh, and dance with my precious one year old son is the best motivator to keep up this sort of living!


When I was a teen, and into my early twenties, I allowed myself anything my taste buds wanted to savor. I ate cookies, candy, and cake in replace of nutrient packed meals. I figured that since I was only supposed to have 'x' number of calories a day I would spend those calories on the things I enjoyed the taste of, which was always sweets. I remember during my senior year of HS I was sick constantly with colds. I didn't understand then what it was that was causing me to be so ill, because I didn't understand the truth in the saying "you are what you eat".

After HS I worked at a lodge where homemade cookies and brownies were available 24 hours a day (literally!). When I was 19 I took pictures of myself "to see how bad it really was". I was disgusted with myself. When looking at those pictures the only word that came to mind was "fat", because that is what I was. Compared to most people I was still in relatively good shape, but for me, I was fat. I cried and deleted the pictures off the camera. I didn't want any one else to mistakenly come across them. Now I wish I still had them, so that I could look back and see how far God has brought me. During the days of being at the lodge, where I took those pictures, I would eat somewhere around 12 cookies a day. I worked in the kitchen and because I was young I figured they weren't effecting me. Whenever I saw a picture of myself I thought that there was something wrong with the camera, or maybe the angle the picture was taken at. I always felt thinner than I really was, though clothes shopping had already become a hated event. That night after deleting those pictures I knew I had to change the way I was living (though this thought only took root and later came to fuician) - I was killing my body with food that was not meant to destroy me. I started jogging, but still allowed myself to eat the occasional three or four cookies. It wasn't until after the lodge, while at a college and career event with our church, that I realized I had a serious addiction to sugar. I found myself eating whatever my heart desired until I felt sick, but it was such a bad addiction that after a few minuets the sickness would go away and I would indulge again in treats until I was sick again. I did this over and over that evening. I even jokingly mentioned to my friend that, "I couldn't stop!". She and I both laughed, but inside I was crying. I felt very much that no one would want to marry me if I was 'fat'. I felt ugly, and the thought came, "Who would want to marry an ugly fat girl like me?" It was a hard place to be in, feeling despair over not being able to control even the things I put into my mouth. If I couldn't control my hand from picking up everything I wanted to eat, than what hope was left for me?

When I met my husband I had just started working at a coffee shop. I had been back from the lodge only a short while, but since I was no longer eating several cookies a day I immediately lost a noticeable amount of weight, at least puffiness. While working one day I had this great idea: Since I was losing weight from not eating cookies, maybe if I completely cut sugar out of my diet the results would be even more noticeable. So I did it. For one month I said 'No' to all things sweet and delectable. I didn't even allow myself honey, only the sugars from fruit. Every day I woke up and said, "I will not eat sugars today", and I didn't. And although I don't remember consciously involving God in my resistance, my relationship with Him was steady and I was deeply in love with Him at that point in my life. He was literally my everything, and nothing satisfied me more than to enjoy His presence. I don't advocate any sort of 'name it and claim it' techniques, because I've done that recently in regards to this same issue and it has failed me. With out the Lord it is very difficult to succeed in keeping up life changing and long term commitments. You can try it if you please, but for lasting effects you need the Lord Jesus to be your strength to resist the things that tempt you most.

During that month I also started walking six days a week for 45 minutes in the morning before I ate anything. My healthy younger brother recommended it to me, so seeing how he was the one in shape, I took his advice. It was nice to walk, even if my eye lashes were frozen together because it was a very cold winter that year. I enjoyed those morning walks with the Lord, in His incredible creation, amongst the beautiful frost covered trees and woods.

After only three days of not eating sugars I was surprised to find how easy it all of the sudden was to go without eating it. Strawberries began tasting as sweet as pure sugar, but better! Fruit became what it was always meant to be; the sweetest thing I could eat, and it was deliciously nutritious. I also found a new hope for myself, I actually could say 'No' to something and successfully practice self control! At that point in my life I also was glutenous with regular food, but hadn't realized how deep that sin was until this sugar fast was happening. God also gave me freedom from over indulging myself, because as I saw that I could deny myself all things sugary, I also saw the value in not stuffing myself with nutritious food until my stomach hurt. It became a month full and freedom and new hope for me! I started loosing a significant amount of weight AND I had energy again, for the first time in many years.

Once that month was over I continued to practice my new found self control and did very well at keeping myself from becoming an addict again. Since that time I have had ups and downs in dealing with this issue. I like sweets and I especially love to eat candy. It is a sin that at times tries very hard to ensare me again, but I now know that I am not in chains to it.

Living a healthy life and eating the right foods that support that type of a lifestyle has become one of my greatest passions, and I want it for my family too! We are by no means all about organics, but I am all about veggies and fruits unprocessed and raw (when it can be done). I LOVE that I have energy for being a mommy to an active toddler. I take almost every opportunity I can to play hard with my son (though during the course of writing this he has tried a couple of times to get me to come play with him), because right now I can! I falter a lot in eating the right foods and remembering to eat, but I have come a long way from where I used to be.

Praise be to God for re-directing my path of self-destruction! It was a nasty path to be on anyways.



p.s. I mentioned that I met my husband while working at the coffee shop. I brought that up so that I could say this: He loved me when I thought no one would because of my physical appearance. He later told me that he didn't even notice, that when he saw me for the first time all he saw was "beauty". God has a way of working out for us the things we deem as impossible, doesn't He? I thought no-one would want to marry me because of the way I looked, and yet here God was, giving me a good man during one of my most insecure times.