It Ain't Easy Bein' Green

The last few months has brought our family into a new season.  We've been working on our health by way of many different resources and seasons of prayer and fasting.  Each step of the way we are moving closer to strengthening our bodies, hearts, minds, and souls as we seek to honor the Lord with all of our being.

Currently, David and I are in the midst of a Reboot With Joe juice fast.  A couple of weeks ago we watched the documentary, Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead.  It really motivated David to take on the challenge of dealing with his health in a big way. 

Today is Day 9 of the fast.  When we first started last week, I was excited and eager to encourage my guy with his efforts. However, the veggies got the better of me and by the end of Day 2, I was crying for mercy.  The taste was more than I could handle.

David has plugged away, though.  He's down about 15 pounds and almost 4 inches in the first week. We're so proud of him. You can SEE an amazing difference already.

I decided to hunt around for juice recipes that I could do without the gag factor.  I found some replacements for the vegetables that I can use to replace the celery and cucumber that I don't like. So, now I'm back on board with David and we're juicing the week away!

Along with the juicing, we spent 21 days in a Daniel Fast. Since then, I've been moving our family diet to an approach called Nutritarian as explained in the book, End of Diabetes by Dr. Joel Furhman.  My goal with these changes is to prevent Type 2 Diabetes in my own life, knowing I am much more likely to develop it now that I've battled with Gestational Diabetes several times during my pregnancies.

Dr. Furhman has written several books teaching the value of a plant-based diet.  I'll be cracking my next title open this week, Disease Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right by Dr. Joel Furhman.

I'm having a lot of fun trying new recipes and learning how to shift our meals from centering around the animal proteins on our plates to centering around the Beans & Greens that boost our immune system and help us fight disease. You can read more about that on my health blog. I journaled every day of our Daniel Fast and have been recording recipes and other thoughts during this time of transition.  You're welcome to stop in and cheer us on as we learn and grow in this area.

So, the thing is, we eat a LOT of vegetables and fruits now.  Just check out our shopping trip for our first week of juicing!

 

 

 

This makes me SO thankful every time we go out to pick from the garden.

 

 

It also has me ready to get some more garden beds in so we can get growing more of our own greens.  We're starting to look at various plans for more garden boxes and, possibly, even a green house to extend our growing season.  It will be fun to see how much we can eek out of our less-than-half-an-acre yard.

 

Today, Elizabeth and I combined our Quest for Healthy with our Fetish for Frugal.  We took some of the pulp from the juicer and she made up some hearty Pulp Pancakes.  They are loaded with whole grains, oats, flax seed, and tons of fruit and vegetable pulp. 

 

 

True to the Nutritarian way, I used these to build peanut butter and banana sandwiches for the children.  Some of them had a side of yogurt for dipping and everyone got in more greens with cucumber slices.  I'm telling you, the smell of those pancakes is amazing.

 

 

 

Don't worry. I was a good girl and juiced up my lunch, staying true to the fast.  This Red Citrus Juice with the lovely tartness of grapefruit isn't quite the same as a those yummy, chewy pancakes.  But, it'll do.

 

 

This season of watching the Lord work in our lives is exciting.  We're learning, growing, and becoming aware of sin we need to deal with and changes we need to make.  We see how our family can be stronger and where we are already doing well. I continue to find ways to thank the Lord for the ways He's been leading us over the years. 

 

As we work in the gardens, smelling the richness of the soil and plants, I am overjoyed to see how abundantly He has given all we need for life and godliness.  We serve a God that is always at work creating beauty out of that which is marred.  It is an amazing privilege to join Him in this work in our own lives.

 



 

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire."

2 Peter 1:3-4