Tag Archives: healthy eating

Clean Eating

15 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by in Clean Eating

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

My Garden Bounty

My son is 42 years old and recently was given a clean bill of health from his family doctor. His once high blood pressure has returned to normal and his life-long history of allergies have disappeared and he has the body of a 20 year old man. Two years ago he started a regime of eating clean. According to Fox News Health, “The primary principle of eating clean is to replace processed foods with fresh and natural foods. This means foods that haven’t had anything added to them, and haven’t had anything valuable taken away. “

“In addition to reading ingredient lists, so you can ditch products made with artificial additives, including flavors, sweeteners, colors, and preservatives, clean eating is about steering clear of foods made from genetically modified organisms, and those treated with hormones and antibiotics, and going organic when possible, to reduce foods grown with man-made pesticides and fertilizers,” writes Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian with master’s degrees in both nutrition science and public health.

She goes on to explain that clean eating is not a trend but a movement focusing on how food we eat affects our body as well as our planet. My son says he doesn’t “live to eat.” Instead he “eats to live.” He doesn’t eat clean to change or influence others but he is an inspiration. At the same time he began this way of life, he gave up alcohol and meat. He eats fish and sea food and eggs, but no dairy.

I do not eat clean totally, however I do read labels and try as much as possible to eat fresh organic foods especially ones I’ve grown myself. I do eat meat and drink a glass of red wine every day and I understand that high fiber foods that are good for me are also high in calorie. Combine that with the wine, odds are losing weight might not be in the picture.

However, like my son, I have the power to choose how I want to look, feel and weigh. When I turn to the Spiritual connection I have within I realize what a young girl suffering an eating disorder realized, “A turning point for me, I can remember,”  says Emily, “it was as if God was speaking to me directly, saying, ‘It’s not how you see yourself but how I see you that will heal you.’ And I started seeing more of what God sees. God doesn’t see imperfection, God sees good and only good.” And like my son, she went on to not only heal her eating disorder but also the need to wear glasses.

It occurred to me that if I combine my healthy eating habits with my connection to God and begin as Emily suggests: to see me as God sees me, I can then truly become the person I want to be.

To Age or Not to Age?

12 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by in Aging

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Resa Alboher asks in Spirituality & Health Magazine, “Why resist aging when you can celebrate the triumph of still being here?”  Afraid of aging, her life changed when she was faced with a diagnosis of a rare cancer.  She began seeing herself grow old and looking forward to it.

Mama and Claudie

Mama and Claudia, my Grandmother

Fortunately, I have never faced death from a disease, but I have questioned my mortality especially when I saw both my mother and her mother die in their early 60’s from cancer of the pancreas.  It took me years to realized I did not have to die like them; that in fact, I could easily live years longer.  And so I embraced my aging.  Not comparing myself to their deaths placed me in the present where I belonged.

By embracing my age and how I looked, I was able to also embrace the wisdom that came with aging.  I then began to celebrate my aging by sharing my experiences and writing about them.  When we tell our stories, according to Dr. Lissa Rankin, in Psychology Today, “It transforms our lives.”  She goes on to say, “There is strength in telling our stories.” Why? “Because telling your story—while being witnessed with loving attention by others who care—may be the most powerful medicine on earth.”

Today, I keep my dreams alive.  Five years ago when I celebrated turning sixty I had a tiny fleur-de-lis tattoo inked just above me left ankle.  A symbol of my love for the place I grew up, Louisiana, I shared that experience with my forty year-old son getting like me his first and last tattoo. I have much still to do in this life and I have no plans to just sit around and wait for opportunities.  Instead, I make them happen.

I eat healthy, exercise generously if not regularly, volunteer in the community, take care of my grandchildren and serve as my oldest granddaughter’s Girprisl Scout leader.  I stay balanced writing in my daily journals and meditations. I grow vegetables and herbs in my backyard and cook most of my meals from scratch.  My goal is to not compromise what I’ve accomplished by having any regrets. Yes, there is always room for improvement, but I feel really good about having no regrets.

Finally, at sixty-five I’ve come to accept how I look now.  I realize I will never look like I did ten, twenty or thirty years ago, however, I feel I look better.  Every wrinkle, blue vein, age mark, and white hair on my head makes me who I am – unique and grateful for each day that I can grow older. My answer is clear; how about you?

Temptation

17 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by in Tempting Foods

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Today I baked a cake.  Not just any cake but my sister-in-law’s very own “Deluxe Chocolate Pound Cake.”  Delicious beyond measure, it is hard to pass up, but I will.  Not because I don’t like it, but because it will make me sick.  Not literally but emotionally.  I am addicted to foods I should not eat and there are probably over a thousand calories in one slice of this cake.  And because my diet is based on eating healthy foods, (without butter, eggs, and sugar), I’m pretty sure I could not stop at one piece.

I baked this cake for several reasons.  One is that I love to cook and baking is just as fun as making a big pot of bean soup filled with garlic, onions, flax seeds, and kale.  The other is that it brings back such great memories. When I was a young mother I got this recipe at a ZETA alumni party.  Our alumni chapter at LSU made cookbooks and sold them to each other at the “Kandy Kitchen” fundraiser.  My sister-in-law, Wesley Anne submitted the recipe and so I baked it as a treat one Sunday when her mother, my mother-in-law came over for dinner.

We sat at my kitchen table, drinking coffee, listening to my oldest son, Brian who was three play outside in our backyard.  We had a fenced in yard with a swing set and patio for him to play on.  He could hear us talking as we could see and hear him playing.  The smell of the chocolate cake was just like it was today, wonderful.  Finally, after the required one hour and twenty-minute bake time, I pulled the cake out of the oven.  It was a mess.chocolate pound cake

I looked at my mother-in-law and could not tell if my face was red from embarrassment or from the heat of the oven.  We just looked at it – a crumbled, uncooked glob of chocolate.  I carried it the table and together we tried to figure out what went wrong.  With the recipe card, she started calling out the ingredients to confirm I had indeed not left anything out.  But when she got to five eggs, I hesitated, checked my refrigerator and sure enough, the eggs were still in the carton and NOT in the cake.  However, it was not a loss.  For you see, how can you go wrong with rum, butter, coconut extract with chocolate, butter and sugar?  We sat and ate our cake with a spoon and enjoyed every minute of it.

Temptation – to desire or crave something; I have the power to say no to eating this cake, but that won’t stop me from baking it or sharing it with those who can handle its delicious treats.