The (handsome) hubby and I have been brainstorming.
Actually we were brainstorming a couple weeks ago, and have finally, after much painful and hair-pulling debate, decided to be brave and do what we decided! 😉 As I’ve said before, my health is so much improved from two years ago it’s hardly believable, but… I want to be healthy, not just better than I was. I want to stop having constant minor (and major) setbacks. I want to give my immune system the chance to rebuild. I want to give my body the chance to heal. I want to give my kidneys a break so that those stones that showed up a year ago can never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, never, ever, ever, never, ever come back. Ever.
Never, ever.
So we were brainstorming about other steps we could take to try to help those things come to pass. (Or not come to pass, as in the case with the stones. 😛 Do you know the pain levels of a kidney stone are rated up there with child-birth? I haven’t been able to compare yet, but at the time, it was very believable.) One idea was to take a break on one part of our (clean) diet. Grains, even good ones, are known to cause inflammatory responses in the body, which then draws attention away from healing and to digesting and properly removing said not-so-super-friendly-foods.
So we are doing a 2 week challenge! 2 weeks of total grain-free breakfasts, lunches, suppers, snacks – meals. Idk why we picked two weeks. I think cause one, it’s longer than 1 week, and two, we are pretty sure we can survive that long. Statistically speaking, I think there’s upwards of a 90% chance we will. And in the off-chance we don’t, we’ll be in glory anyway so either way it’ll be good! 😉
Other than going grain-free for this time, we are going to maintain the other parts of our lifestyle – which is no processed white sugar, no processed, chemical-laden foods. That part is easy now, and praise God, I don’t crave it! My life used to revolve around breakfast cereals (especially the “healthy” ones like Fiber One, Raisin Bran, etc.), Ritz crackers, Red Baron frozen pizzas, Kraft Mac N Cheese (especially the character ones, like Cars & Despicable Me shapes! That’s still a little hard to walk past in the grocery store… especially if Ryan sees it. 😛 ), and canned wedding soups. Yet I don’t crave the stuff! If something is hurting you enough, and you associate it with that, often you lose desire for it anyway. Some things that’s not as true with, like sugar and GMO wheat, as they have literal addictive qualities. So I want you to know, if you’re trying to give up sugar – it CAN be done! YOU can do it! 😉 Don’t do it too fast tho, and most of all, don’t beat yourself up for slip-ups. It is a process and life changes are never ‘pieces of cake’. (Thankfully, or we’d all be on the fast track to having life changes daily.)
Today is Day 1. Ryan had a homemade banana, cherry, peanut butter, maple smoothie with cultured yogurt for breakfast. I’m about to have a blueberry, cherry, peanut butter, raw honey smoothie with cultured yogurt. I plan to post daily on the menu for the day and recipes for the new suppers we are going to be trying! Maybe someone out there will have the desire to do all or part of this challenge with us and I love sharing resources! So if you find this post now, or some time in the future, I hope you enjoy the fruits of our struggle. Er. Labor? 😛 I’m actually very excited to start this. We’ll have new recipes, new pictures, new info and maybe at the end new measurements! 😉 Whatever happens, we are believing God to bless our efforts to take care of the bodies He gave us in whatever way He chooses. And I am going to remember to smile and ‘Rejoice in the Lord always!’ (Phil. 4:4) because I love bread! (Pray for my husband. 😉 )
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
What is one of the hardest things you’ve ever had to give up? Either for a time, or for good?
