Healthy Changes

Hello, all! I hope you're doing well. I'm a bit under the weather... hence the sparse posting this week.

Remember my post on What the Bible Says About Healthy Living? Since reading this book I have been making slow but steady changes to our diet. As it's still early in the year, I'm sure many of you are also still in "New Year's Resolution" mode, too, but as the year wears on, it's easy to lose steam! The secret? There are two: begin with a goal in mind; and slow and steady wins the race.

Before reading Healthy Living, I had already been making some changes, but I didn't have a very clear picture of what exactly I wanted to accomplish. "Eat healthier" is a pretty vague goal, especially with so much and diverse information available to us. Dairy or no dairy? Carbs or no carbs? How much meat? If you want to eat healthier this year but aren't exactly sure what that looks like, I highly recommend What the Bible Says About Healthy Living by Dr. Rex Russell. More importantly, I suggest you begin with prayer! It is way too easy to get swept up in the world's ideas and standards for your body, which are generally degrading. Who better to ask for advice than the One who designed your body and cares deeply for you?

Once you know exactly where you want to end up, make a plan but don't set yourself any deadlines. It is really easy to get overwhelmed. The steps you will be taking involve changing the way you think, the way you shop, and the way you cook. You might have to learn some new skills. You might have to rework your food budget. As long as you make one small change at a time, you will eventually meet your goal. Be satisfied with every small change and allow yourself some time to get used to the new routine before trying to add in something else.

This week we took a big step: we switched to grass-fed, organic meat. We have talked about it for several months, but since it's so much more expensive, we have continued to buy conventional meat at Costco. Every time I bought meat, though, I fought a battle in myself: I hated eating meat raised in unhygienic, unethical conditions, but I didn't think I could afford to buy the good stuff. 

Then, a couple of weeks ago I started buying raw milk at a local butcher shop. It's *gulp* $6.99 for 1/2 gallon, but worth every penny! One of the surprising benefits of buying this expensive - but wholesome and delicious - milk is a new respect I have found in myself for food. I used to drink milk without a thought to how much it costs. Now I'm much more conservative with how much milk I pour, and I find that I don't need as much as I thought I did. This realization is what gave me the courage and freedom to switch to grass-fed meat... along with the desire to support my butcher.

Do you live in Snohomish County? If you are looking for a great butcher, check out Bill the Butcher! Click on the icon to view the website.

Need help making an action plan for healthy living? Visit my Resources Page to view mine. I'm not going in any specific order in the changes I make; I'm just tackling one project at a time.