Most of my blog entries have been about what God is teaching me, my spiritual experiences, and His intense love for us. I'll continue to write those posts, but since taking care of our bodies is important to Him, and is healthy for us, today is the start of "Work Out Wednesday" blog entries: all about my diet and exercise plan for life. Each week I'll post a favorite healthy recipe, a link I've visited, or book I've read that I think is worth your while. Though it's been a while since I've eaten processed foods, I decided to ramp up my diet and launch into "clean eating". There are variations of the clean eating diet. Some claim vegan is the way to go (sorry, that's not me). Others advocate organic only meats in small quantities. Then there is the whole "fat" debate: Some fat, no fat, don't worry about the fat....I'm pretty sure I've read or heard about every combination out there that would be considered clean. Throughout the spectrum of clean eating plans, though, eating less meat and more of a plant based diet, seems to be key. Without wanting to sound too much like a fanatic, I would like to recommend the documentary "Forks Over Knives", to those of you who are curious about the benefits of a plant based diet. You don't necessarily have to agree with everything you hear in the film. It was for me, however, convincing enough. It is not the only source I've used for my research. A quick search on-line will lead you to hundreds of research articles and books by scientists, medical doctors, PhDs, and lay people who have changed over to clean eating and miraculously improved their health. The diet I've chosen is moderately easy to follow: four meatless days, two fish days, one lean beef or chicken day. Minimal dairy is allowed. (I've yet to find a dairy free cheese that is worth eating, and low fat yogurt is allowable.) The other food item I'm giving up is flour. I just purchased some flour-less, truly "whole wheat" bread. (Delicious!) So far I'm not experiencing hunger pangs and the meals are incredibly satisfying. Finally, I intend to get some kind of exercise every day. Walks are great- but at least three times a week I'll be choosing one of my many exercise DVDs and working out for 30 minutes in addition to my walk. Though it might sound radical, I am serious about committing to this diet and exercise regime because I know it will be good for me.
Feel free to comment below or email me at: tijanet@tangibleinspirations.com with your own experiences and ideas. Hopefully I can be an encouragement to anyone out there who would like to eat well and get into better physical condition!To start, here is an incredible meatless recipe I tried last night with my son. (Loved it!) We used plain organic yogurt instead of sour cream, organic regular cheese instead of non-dairy, and skipped the chips.
Here is the link-lots of other great recipes there as well!
http://ohsheglows.com/2011/12/13/naughty-nice-vegan-enchilada-casserole/
Some more interesting tidbits:
http://www.forksoverknives.com/
http://battlebuddydiet.com/
(I'm reading this book!)
Finally, I always loved this part of Daniel's story, where he and his men declined the "kings food and wine" and instead chose a diet of veggies and water. Result: After 10 days they looked healthier than the men who ate the king's assigned diet! Check it out!
Daniel 1:12-16
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