Obedient Food Choices

I feel like the Lord has been working on the area of food and nutrition with me a lot in the past few months. A lot of it started out of my own complaining and whining about not losing the baby weight after having twins. God started convicting me about my attitudes and thought processes regarding the weight and my body and my health. Was I trying to eat healthier only for the reward of losing weight?

I felt like he told me very clearly to make healthy choices out of obedience to Him, regardless of the results. And that is what I'm trying to do and He is allowing this to be a struggle for me because for 6 months I have had no results. Regardless of what I eat or don't eat or how much I exercise, not one of those remaining 15 pounds has gone away. To say that I am frustrated is an understatement. But I keep pressing on, allowing Him to refine my thoughts and attitudes and trying to make healthy choices out of obedience.

A big part of this for me has been drinking Coke. I really like it. I had gotten to the point where I drank it every day. I became addicted to it. I rationalized it saying that since I don't drink coffee, this was my way of having some caffeine each day. And what mama of 5 kids doesn't need some caffeine???

But I realized that I was using it as more of an escape and coping mechanism, and turning to it when I felt overwhelmed and tired and should turn to God instead. This became very clear when I bought a 1.25 L of coke at the grocery store and drank the entire thing in one afternoon. I then tried to hide the bottle in the recycling so Jay wouldn't see it and know that I had drank that much at once. I found myself planning which errands to drive to based on where I could go through a drive-thru and get a coke. I was having a hard time showing self-control.

At this point, I knew God was asking me to give it up. I've had to do this before. Last year I gave it up from August until October. I know what it means to detox myself from it. I actually do crave it and think about it for days and days, sometimes weeks. I started the process at the beginning of June. I allowed myself one a week for June and then none in July. I have managed to make it through all of July without any at all. Now it is August, and I'm contemplating if I can go back to having one a week?? or should I still completely avoid it?? What if he's asking me to give it up forever?

During all of this process, God also started to convict me about food choices for our family. I buy the groceries, I cook 99% of the meals, I am feeding 6 other people. That's a big responsibility. To encourage me in this area a few months ago, I signed up for an online meal planning site called The Fresh 20 (www.thefresh20.com)  They send you a meal plan each week for 5 meals that are based off of 20 fresh ingredients. It even includes the shopping list and prep work for each meal that you can do ahead of time. This has challenged me to try cooking new dishes, and challenged all of us to eat new foods. Let's just say that I wasn't routinely cooking salmon and lentils very much before. I've been pleasantly surprised at encouraged at how much the kids have eaten of these meals, and Jay loves them. I also really appreciate someone doing the meal planning and making the shopping list for me!

At a class I went to a few weeks ago, the lady teaching it (Sera Johnson, at www.choosinghealthylife.wordpress.com) talked about God convicting her about similar issues of food choices for her family. She discussed Proverbs 22:6 which says "Train up a child in the way He should go..." and challenged me to think about what habits I am teaching and training my children with now that may be hard for them to break later. Am I teaching them to make healthy, wise choices; to choose LIFE in what they eat?

She also discussed Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your paths straight." Am I trusting God with my food choices? Am I acknowledging Him as the creator of all good things on earth, including the healthy food He gives us?

Sera has 4 small children and when she started making changes, her kids were very picky eaters. She was scared they would starve if she got rid of the mac n cheese and frozen pizzas. She gave us six tips to help picky eaters love God's good food:

1. Get the junk out of the house. if I don’t bring it in the house, they can’t eat it.
2. Have kids make a list of good foods they do like (especially fruits and veggies).
3. Make sure the kitchen is stocked with what they will eat.
4. Try one new thing at each meal and keep trying them. Change the atmosphere at the meal from pressure  and punishment to praise. Praise them for trying it/licking it/tasting it. They don’t have to love it, just try it and tolerate it.
5. Make healthy versions of their favorite unhealthy foods (pizza, chicken strips, etc)
6. Speak positive affirmation at the dinner table. Speak life. Pray “Lord, thank you for your good food and for helping me to love your good food.” Also have them help you cook and teach them how food affects their bodies.

I thought these were great suggestions, and I have been trying some with Anna. She's currently our pickiest eater and often tells me she doesn't like what I've cooked for dinner before I ever put her plate on the table. Extremely frustrating!! But I've been encouraging her to just try one bite of each new food and telling her that it's okay if she doesn't like it; I just want her to taste it. Most of the time she declares she still doesn't like it, but one night she found that she did like the chicken I cooked and proceeded to eat three pieces! This was huge considering she rarely eats any meat!!

(For any homeschool mamas out there, she has a great homeschool curriculum called Nutrition 101 which teaches anatomy, physiology and how nutrition affects them.)

The verse that God has given me to memorize during this process is 2 Corinthians 6: 16 and 7:1 

"For we are the temple of the living God...Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."

I am very much still a work in progress in this area, but I'm hoping to make small, sustainable steps in the right direction, out of obedience and reverence for God.