Headed Toward Healthy

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I’ve heard this verse many times growing up — have you? I’ve heard it taught in many different settings and used in regard to many different aspects of life depending on the point trying to be made. In fact, I’ve heard it so many times that I started to tune it out when I’d hear someone start talking about it. I’ve felt various convictions around this verse for years, but put them off or tried to get rid of them by using other verses to tell myself that I didn’t need to change anything about my life in regard to my body. I made so many excuses that I honestly thought were really good — and then my dad passed away. I used pasta and ice cream for that and like I’ve said before — food is a terrible replacement for Jesus.

Within a few months of my dad passing away, Marc and I found out that we were expecting another baby and I proceeded to eat lots of pasta and ice cream and whatever else I felt like with little regard to the nutritional value as long as my blood pressure was in the normal range. I gained more weight than I ever have in my entire life and every time my midwife asked me what I was doing for exercise, I said “nothing” and felt absolutely zero desire or care to change that in any capacity — not even walking. Now, I wish I could purely blame the grief for all of that, but the truth is — as soon as I get a positive pregnancy test, I fall for the trap that I can eat whatever I crave because “the baby wants it.” Yes, I struggle pretty bad with morning sickness and go through times when I just eat what I can, but I do that the whole time — as long as my blood pressure stays in the normal range.

Now, some of you might think I’m being too hard on myself — being pregnant and grieving the loss of my dad was bound to have an impact. Mixing the hormonal roller coaster of pregnancy with the crashing waves of grief is rough, but that is hardly a pass to treat my body however my tongue wants without any regard for the impact my choices have on my children. When I choose — yes, it’s a choice for me — not to take care of my body to the best of my ability, it has a direct effect on Marc and our children. If I choose to lead a lifestyle that is honoring to my tongue — it will most likely impact my ability to live the life I want to in a negative way. If I choose to lead a lifestyle that is honoring to God by stewarding the body that He’s gifted me with well — it will most likely impact my ability to live the life I want to in a positive way.

As the one year anniversary of my dad’s death came and went in May of this year, I found myself so frustrated that he didn’t take better care of his body. I wondered why the love he had for his family and his desire to watch my kids grow up wasn’t enough to prompt him to make lifestyle changes. Do I know if that would’ve led to a longer life — no, not for a fact — but I firmly believe it would’ve been worth it to try. As I was telling God how incredibly frustrated I was that my dad didn’t do the hard work of making lifestyle changes for the sake of himself and his family, a short question came to mind that I know was from God — “Are you?” I was stopped in my thoughts and a little irritated to be honest. This was supposed to be me being frustrated and annoyed about how my dad lived, it was not supposed to be about how I lived — or so I thought.

That question, “Are you?” stuck with me and led me to a new path. It caused me to wrestle with the truth about how I was stewarding God’s temple (my body) and how that would impact the people I love the most in this world. Losing my dad has impacted me in more ways than I ever imagined it would and has brought me to a place that I didn’t realize I needed to get to. I made the decision after he passed away that I wanted to learn as much as I could from the loss because I knew that God would teach me — if I was willing to learn. I thought the lesson I needed to learn was simply that life is short, so love God, live well, and love well because you never know when your last breath will be. In reality, there were — and probably still are — many lessons I needed to learn. One of which has been that I need to do the hard work of making lifestyle changes for my sake and my family’s sake.

July 10, 2023 was Marc’s 28th birthday and it was the beginning of a new lifestyle for myself and our family. I’m not somebody who can count points or calories with much success because that’s just too much — I’ve tried it before and it’s not something I feel is sustainable for the rest of my life. I’m also not someone who desires to say never again will I eat or do “xyz,” but I’m also not someone who can handle having a “cheat” day on a weekly basis — my self control isn’t strong enough for that at this time in my life. What I am able to do, is to focus my attention on eating more nutrient dense foods and not feasting on multiple helpings of pasta. So, that’s what I did — that’s what I’m doing.

I’ve been so blessed by Marc because he loves me enough to change with me and our boys are so young that making changes now is pretty easy (plus I’ve been pretty conscious about what they’ve eaten ever since they were old enough to eat, so there hasn’t been any drastic changes in their world). I saw and read many differing opinions on topics like gluten, dairy, soy, starch, etc. The one thing that I failed to find any true nutritional value in was refined sugar, so that’s where we chose to start. We have made the decision to eliminate refined sugar. I can’t believe I’ve been able to do that, but here we are two months later and I’m still going strong and I’m so grateful. Yes, I still use raw honey, maple syrup, and coconut sugar but not nearly as often as I was using and consuming refined sugar. Again, I’m not saying that I will never eat it again, but I don’t have any intention of going back to it as a regular thing.

So, why is this what I chose to write about today? Because I think that it’s important for me to. I think it’s important to share what I learn and to put it in writing. I’ve shared it a couple of times in my Social Media stories, but never even made an actual post about it. Accountability is important and while I don’t need the accountability of everyone that reads this, it helps me mentally to write it out. I’ve made a commitment — by the grace of God — that as much as it depends on me, I will choose to steward my body in a way that allows me to live well. I know that I can’t control everything, but at this point, I have the responsibility to treat my body in a way that gives it the nutrients it needs to thrive. I have a husband and little ones that want me to be healthy — and I finally want to be healthy too.

I have so many thoughts about this, that I could go on for a while, but I’ll end with this for now. Health is more than only eating nutrient dense foods and paying attention to portions. It is about multiple areas of our lives — physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally — and I’m heading toward healthy in each of those areas. We’re complex beings, so those areas all intermingle with each other. I want to be balanced — striving to be healthy in all of those areas, not just one. I want to set my body up for the best future possible — however long of a future I have. I dream of being the grandma that can play with her grandchildren and be active with them. I dream of being the couple that has a lot of energy even when we’re older, so that we can live all of our days well. As much as it depends on me, I don’t want my children to lose me unexpectedly from unknown health problems like I did my dad. I can’t control everything and I know that God knows how many days I will get to live — I just want to do my part to live out those days as healthy (in all areas) as I possibly can. As a believer, my life is not my own — it was bought at a price — therefore, I want to honor God with my body. That desire is now stronger than the desire to please my taste buds for a moment — for which I am truly grateful.

Song(s) of the Week: This week I chose “Get the Glory” by Jonathan Traylor — if you’ve never paid attention to the lyrics, I highly recommend it. I think they’re great. Enjoy!