I had some pretty bad last few weeks. We had a lot of colds and flu's in our house and I just felt exhausted for weeks. Which means very little exercising occurred. I also had a very strange and strong craving for dairy. The problem is I am lactose intolerant. Lactose pills and probiotics help so I can have a little dairy, but apparently they are not strong enough for massive amounts of dairy! I ended up being bloated and sick to my stomach for a couple of weeks, which added to my general feelings of exhaustion and blah! So, no weight loss occurred. I even gained a couple of pounds (but possibly that was due to the bloating.) Anyway, I finally started feeling better last week and got back into my exercise routine. But on Friday I started getting a cold again! I was not very happy about this. It looks as though I was able to fight it off with my essential oils, netti pot and home remedies, because it never got very bad and I feel much better today. Anyway, I was hoping to have a little weight loss this week (which I probably would have had if I hadn't felt sick again this weekend) but no luck. However I am back on track to where I was before and can hopefully stay well enough to keep on track!
Something I've been thinking about the last few weeks is how in many ways I was set up for this transition to Clean Eating long before the change took place. I believe a loving Heavenly Father was helping me out to get me all set up so the transition wouldn't be so hard. For one thing we (especially Jeff) has been very interested in Emergency preparedness. So many years before I started cooking with Whole Wheat flour, we had a year supply (or more) of Wheat in our pantry. Not only that but we also had a very nice wheat grinder (that was hardly ever used) all ready for me to break out and actually use. Several years before, I was talking to a friend who has my same model of wheat grinder and she explained that it has the ability to grind wheat really fine so that it is about the texture of white flour. She also sent me an awesome wheat bread recipe that I had made a few times before my life style change. So when I transitioned over to Clean Eating, I had plenty of wheat, an awesome grinder and a yummy recipe (that I only had to replace the sugar with honey to make it clean). This made the change so much easier for me. Imagine if I didn't have wheat or a grinder and had no experience baking with wheat. I think it may have felt much more like an uphill battle for me.
I didn't cook much with rice before the change, but now we eat whole grain rice much more often. A little before the life style change my friend just happened to give me her old rice maker. I took it thinking I wouldn't use it much, but it might be nice to have anyway. Turns out I use it quite a bit and it has been so helpful to throw the rice in and run errands and know the whole grain rice is ready and waiting for us when we get home.
My Mom has been interested in healthy eating for a while and so for many occasions has given us some really pure and healthy cooking items. I already had in my pantry before the change, Organic Virgin Coconut oil, expensive Olive Oil and other vinegars. Of course those have all been used up and replaced many times, but it made it nice when trying a recipe for the first time to have these items already in my pantry.
Jeff has been very big into gardening for many years. The Fall before the transition I finally bought a canner and attempted canning tomato sauce for the first time. Jeff must have like that, because this year he tackled the task himself making a whole cupboard full of jars of clean tomato/spaghetti sauce that will last us until next fall. It has been nice to be able to make a quick an easy whole wheat pasta dinner with this very healthy sauce.
I feel very grateful that the ball was already rolling and things were set in place for me to begin this transition. I am certainly not saying that one would not be able to transition to healthier eating without the above things already in place. But possibly for me it would have been impossible. I really do not enjoy daily cooking and spending time in the kitchen. That was the big hindrance for years on cooking healthier. So when I finally made the change and realized I already had many of the tools that I needed, the transition was no where near as hard as I thought it would be. It was a smooth enough transition that I have been able to stick with it and not feel at all overburdened by it.
I am grateful for the knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father who is looking out for me. That when it was time for me to make a change, he not only let me know, but also had made sure the transition would not be too hard for me to accomplish. My experience has furthered strengthened my testimony of a great scripture: 1 Nephi 3:7 "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."
I know the Lord prepared me in many ways to accomplish this change in my lifestyle prior to commanding me to make the change. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for all of the guidance and help and preparation that I have been blessed with throughout my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment