Thursday 22 October 2015

Hidden Struggles by Susan L.

  I've been doing a lot of thinking about my eating habits which are not good. It's something that came up in my one hour counselling session last week. (Two week ago?)
  It's challenging to cook for one. It's also a bit overwhelming at times. Eating well isn't just about turning the stove on. There's the decisions about what to cook. There's the groceries to be brought in and put away even before a knife touches the cutting board. There's dealing with a limited budget vs. the high cost of nutritious food. Then there's the clean up afterwards. It's so much easier to grab a peanut butter sandwich or something else slapped between a couple slices of bread.
  Which is not good for body or soul. Once in a while I get on a kick and seem to do better for myself but it quickly fizzles. Or maybe I am simply making excuses. Or not. These are real issues for me.
  I used to love grocery shopping. It's about the only kind of shopping that was ever enjoyed. Wandering through the aisles, checking out the different items, experimenting with different meals. It used to be fun. Now it's an exercise in not getting overwhelmed by the variety or the high cost of everything.
  There are "healthy" frozen meals. TV dinners they were once called. Most of them are full of salt which I find unpalatable or are as bland as paper. That and most of them need to be heated up in the oven which seems a waste of hydro for one meal. The amount of processing probably leaches out most of the goodness anyways even if these quick meals consist of mostly vegetables.
  Lord, I lift this up to You. This temple of the Holy Spirit is not being looked after. Forgive me for my negligence and help inspire me to do consistently better. In Jesus' name I pray.
  "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Cor 6:19-20
 

3 comments:

  1. I am a great believer in "you are what you eat". Like you, living alone posses challenges in the cooking department. But my health has required better food choices. My personal guidelines are as follows:
    Eat as many and as much raw vegetables as I can. Carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, cauliflower, celery, sweet peppers, lettuce. I only eat maybe 2-4 out of this list at one time, until they are eaten up before I change it up next shopping trip.
    Eat as many and as much cooked vegetables as I can. The choice is only limited by what I like. Combining raw and cooked vegetables as the main food group will fill me up, and give me lots of good food.
    Eat low fat protein, as much as I can afford. My diet includes chicken (with skin removed), ground beef, cheese, yogurt, nuts (including peanut butter), beans (chili, hummus, etc.), eggs. By eating a selection of these each day, the cost isn't too bad. You don't need a lot of protein at once... if eating meat, the equivalent is the size of a deck of cards.
    2-3 fruits per day.
    A few of servings of fat per day - best choice is good oils, but butter is included too. A serving is a tablespoon.
    I use frozen vegetables for cooking, and the frozen meal-in-a-bags (to which I add more frozen veg's). I do end up eating microwavable frozen entrees, but supplement them as I find they are not large enough for my appetite.
    I find that by avoiding items high in sugar, my appetite is more stable and I eat less (no low blood sugar crash). Same goes for eating lots of wheat products. They digest quickly and boost blood sugar, so I get hungry quicker.
    I end up cooking a couple of large meals on the weekend, to last me in leftovers for a few days.
    Our food is the basic ingredient to the best health. God help you with finding solutions that work for you!

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  2. And on my list I forgot whole grains (which are a great fill-me-up), and fish.

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  3. Thanks for the info. I will keep it in mind.

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