Living Healthfully: {Creative} Soul Food

Two weekends ago we hosted our second Creative Soul event focused on nourishing the mind, body and spirit.

Along with Toni from Food (Just Sayin'), I undertook the challenge of not just feeding but nourishing our guests with food not just cold-weather comfort food but also soul food.

Photo courtesy of Alita Maini.

As Toni and I spoke about preparing a menu for a large group of people, we had a few requirements:

the meal had to be heathy, moderately seasonal and absolutely delicious.

You might imagine that's no small task; but it was made possible by our gracious sponsor Whole Foods Market Deerfield, who provided ingredients for our meal!

So what does one make in the dead of January that fits all of the requirements of healthy, moderately seasonal and absolutely delicious? Glad you asked!

Photo courtesy of Alita Maini.

Our Creative Soul Menu:

• Coffee from Julie’s Coffee and Fruited Water
• White Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls topped with Flax & Poppyseed from Alley Side Bakery
• Roasted Red Pepper Hummus with Organic Vegetables
• Chicken Curry Winter Stew over Organic Golden Rose Brown Rice
• Mango Pudding topped with Organic Strawberry Sauce &  Tajin

Photo courtesy of Alita Maini.

We focused the bulk of our seasonal requirement on the main dish -- the winter stew --  by using local raised chicken and winter root vegetables.

The sweet potatoes and the turnips were absolutely perfect additions to the stew, making it hearty, filling and colorful!

And I learned from Toni that turnips actually taste a lot like regular old white potatoes while obviously giving different nutrients to the stew! Nice!





And, boy, was it a hit with our guests returning for seconds! Here's the Chicken Curry Winter Stew, which we served over whole grain brown rice, in all of its delicious glory.

Photo courtesy of Alita Maini.

Want to make it? Get the recipe at Food (Just Sayin')!

For a nutritious and tasty side dish, Toni and I used my trusty Vitamix to whip up a batch of roasted red pepper hummus and served it with a delectable array of veggies.

I love hummus for a few specific reasons: it's made with a generous portion of the heart-healthy fat, extra virgin olive oil, it's bursting with fresh flavors like garlic and red pepper and it's an simply extravagant tasting dish that almost always proves to be a crowd pleaser!

Photo courtesy of Alita Maini.

One important step I shared in making hummus was the importance of soaking beans in water for 4-8 hours and taking care to rinse them well before blending them into hummus.

Like with grains and nuts, soaking legumes is a way to mitigate the phytic acid, an anti nutrient that binds to minerals. Soaking maximizes nutrient density, which greatly aids in digestion!
Learn more about the importance of soaking grains, nuts and legumes at The Nourished Kitchen.


And then be sure to give the Roasted Red Pepper Hummus recipe a whirl; Toni shared it with us here!

Photo courtesy of Alita Maini.

After our morning spent cooking, I sunk into the cozy couch satisfied. We knew by the second helpings, the conversation and the energy in the room that our meal didn't just nourish the bodies in the room but also the souls with our {Creative} soul food.

Undercover Recipes: Baked Cinnamon Apples with Creamy Honey Cashew Butter

Every now and then I whip up something in the kitchen that no one in my house full of pickies can seemingly get enough of their fill.

This is one of those recipes. And I kind of don't mind. With no refined sugar, no grains and no packaged ingredients while boasting healthy fat and the hearty goodness of in-season fruit, as far as I'm concerned, the kids and hubby can eat as many helpings as they please of this Baked Cinnamon Apples with Creamy Honey Cashew Butter dish.



What began with having a surplus of apples and not nearly enough room in the dehydrator to preserve them all led to a brilliant find: not only are baked apples good when bathed in cinnamon, vanilla and butter.

They are all the more fabulous when they take a dip with homemade honey cashew butter.

Admittedly, this recipe takes a little work, but if you love the cashew butters, as everyone in my house does, we make it in bulk once every week or two and keep the fridge shelves lined with it for such soiree dessert nights.

Honey Cashew Butter 
{this recipe has been adapted from The Rawtarian}


Two cups of soaked and sprouted cashews
1/2 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup of raisins
1/2 teaspoon of pink Himalayan salt or sea salt
1 teaspoon of fresh honey
a couple grates of lemon peel
3/4 cup of water

Toss everything into your blender or Vitamix in the order listed above and blend until smooth and creamy. Consistency should be less dense than peanut or almond butter but not watery either. Refrigerate and use in any way you'd use any other nut butter.

Baked Cinnamon Vanilla Apples



Five peeled and diced medium to large apples in an oven-safe pan with lid
Two Tablespoons of butter {use coconut oil to make this dairy free!}
3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
dash of cardamon
three splashes of vanilla
1/4 cup of water

Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Peel and dice the apples and toss them into an oven-safe pan. Cut two tablespoons of butter into several chunks and intersperse the butter among the apple pieces. In a separate dish, mix dry spices together with a fork. Slowly sprinkle the dry spice mix atop of the apples and butter, evenly distributing among all of the apple pieces. Add three splashes of vanilla to the apple mixture. Pour 1/4 cup of water into the bottom of the pan, taking care not to wash spices from the apples. Cover with a lid and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.



After the apples are finished baking, immediately place a few heaping spoonfuls of cashew butter atop and then mix it all up.

Enjoy! And? Prepare to dish out seconds.

Living Healthfully: When Food Proves It Matters

The heat spread across my face breaks apart and flees the moment the cold wind rushes into me.

I am sweating bullets, and I am grinning like an idiot, riding out the door of a doctor's visit on a windy gale of hope and astonishment, high above the ground I walked in on.

During 3-year-old E's evaluation, she'd said much of what we suspected was happening inside our youngest's body: poor digestion, inflammation, candida overgrowth in the gut suppressing his immune system -- much of which can be helped holistically and through simple remedies like taking digestive enzymes to help break down proteins.

It's good news, yes, that he can be treated well without strong herbs or medications or, gosh, that he can be treated in any way other than just following a life sentence strict elimination diet, avoiding those key foods that seem to irritate those of us whose digestive tracts are far more sensitive than most.

So I'm riding high on that hope, but I'm also thanking God for what has been sewn into our youngest's small body: real, nourishing food.

Little ones with such weak digestion normally have various, plentiful nutritional deficiencies that delay their growth and development; E, our little lineman, is pretty nutritionally rich.

Some parents say that they try to feed their kids healthy food, the doctor says after scanning his body, but you two actually have.

Wait what? We have? Despite the no broccoli and his desire to eat only pasta-esque dishes? Really?

These are exactly the words needed for parents who have been scrupulously trying to help heal a visibly and invisibly ailing little body in any ways they can -- avoiding gluten {his sensitivity} like it's rat poison, making foods from scratch the majority of meals*, sneakily pureeing vegetables into any sauces or meatloaf or homemade breads that promises to hide even the vaguest shade of green.

These are exactly the words needed for parents who have begun suspecting more and more that the list of ailments from which our children, from which we suffer are consider "normal" are rooted deeply in nutrition or lack thereof.

That by the vast grace of God of all the messages that are broadcast constantly about health and healthy food, we heard, amid all the noise, the ones about what it takes to build a healthy body from the inside out, from the cell level.

So I'm riding high and the nervousness bound up and wound tightly in my stomach has unraveled and come apart at the sharing of the words from our crazy-smart doctor:

we are not crazy.

We are not crazy for fighting the school-snack fight with our oldest.

We are not crazy for having a food budget that is almost double that of what it used to be

And we are not crazy for having been so invested -- time, money, energy-wise -- in what our family has been eating.

There is something to this whole food journey we've been wildly trying to navigate that is finally, finally, finally showing itself true and well and alive in a little boy who could be much worse for the wear had he been on the Standard American Diet his mother and father and brother have been weaning off for the past three years since his birth.

I take those words home with me, hold them close as I offer praise to God for E's body and the ability He gave it to heal itself through the foods He intended for us to eat.

I take those words home with me, hold them close as I begin to wonder how I can possibly even begin to share {without sounding like a broken record or uppity or preachy or judgey} how food has been proving it matters in my life, E's life

because I desperately and passionately desire for it to prove it matters in, well, all of our lives.

And I finally feeling a little braver and beginning to think I might not be crazy for it.

{Just keeping it real: we don't eat perfectly all of the time; we just simply strive to eat well 80 percent of the time. My kids would swim in a vat of mac n cheese if we let them, and they can list at least six menu items on the Culvers **shudder** menu from having gone there on non-mommy endorsed dates.}

Living Healthfully: Welcome to Puberty {again}

I couldn't button my size four pants.

And, in the midst of a hectic-Tuesday morning, I promptly had a mini-meltdown, tears of hot frustration running down my face, there in front of my bedroom mirror.

All of this, I'd cried, would be much easier to swallow if my body were pregnant, growing out of my jeans for the sake of growing new life and crying tears of emotional roller-coaster pregnancy hormones instead of just ones of crazy highs and lows.

But I knew better. I knew I wasn't expecting.

In my moment of meltdown, I text messaged Kerry, an integrative medicine doctor who has recently begun working with me on a genetic, biochemical level and nutritional level, and explained the situation.

To which she replied, "Welcome to puberty ... again."

I groaned.

Then I cried.

And then I laughed.

Because actually that's actually much closer to what I'm feeling these days -- like I'm a teenager in the throes of life changes rather than an expecting mother.

I guess I should back up a bit because I've been extremely quiet about my health and what's been happening the past few months.

I haven't shared lately about my health or about Kerry for a few reasons; I've been to so many doctors, all of whom have helped, yes, but none who seem to have ever completely gotten down to root of what's going on inside my body that has been causing such imbalances.

Have I been battling a gut yeast overgrowth? Yes.

Are my hormone levels really out of balance? Double yes.

Was my body detoxing? Yes to that, too.

But all summer long I've had this persistent and lingering feeling buried deep in my gut that there were other issues underlying -- mostly, I felt like something wasn't right at a deeper level. I mean, I've been having neurological problems that affect my balance and my speech and a smattering of other functions, too, and one can only detox for so long and attribute such abnormalities to the detoxing process before something has to give ... before the body has to brought back into a state of symbiosis.

I walked into Kerry's office at the end of August hope swelling in my heart; I knew her as the doctor people turn to when they've seen every specialist, the doctor who turns stage four cancer patients around.

But for as much hope as I felt, just as much confusion and skepticism ran rampant. I think I sweat through our entire 1.5 hour session.

When I left her office? I could barely fathom all of it really.

But, too, when I left her office, I felt like she could. She really seemed to understand what was happening inside my body {as best as a human mind can understand.}.

I mean, despite Kerry being really, really smart {she is a former trauma surgeon and a biochemist who focuses on genetic expression, nutrition and how the body functions at a cellular level and who has written a diagnostic program with MIT to help her read bodies at such levels, so you know, just your average everyday genius}, she has a gift for explaining complex, detailed things in a way that is sort of graspable.
Sort of.

The terms auto-immune disease, hormonal imbalance, neurological chaos and genetic mutations were all part of the conversation.

But also part of our conversation were her bold words of promise.

"Ninety days," she told us. "You should feel like a new person by then."

I left there hopeful but if I'm going to be honest one thought lingered long beyond the rest.

"Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you." Psalm 25: 20-21

Now here I am at 30 days with that same lingering hope in the Lord, but also hope that perhaps she was right -- that He had given her insights to help me really heal.

My energy returned, headaches mostly gone, digestion completely restored, food sensitivities mostly resolved, most of the neurological senses improved vastly, I really do feel different.

This second puberty stuff? It's a sign that my body is deep healing and rebalancing {though I wish I could do that while wearing size four jeans! Demin and bras are expensive!}

And I don't know -- maybe the vast emotions, the unbuttoned pants, the ever-evolving bra size really are signs that I am a women expecting; it's just that right now it's not the kind of expecting that ends with a new life wrapped in the bundle of a baby.

Rather, it's the kind that seems to be more of a rebirth of vibrancy, a rebirth of who I was and who I am and who I'm fast becoming both heart and body, mind and spirit.

He says He makes all things new

in His time

and maybe this time

His time

is finally my time

to be the molded shaped clay to which He's been busy giving new shape

in more ways than one.

Linking with Kelli today for the Healthy Mom Series she's hosting.

Living Healthfully: First Steps, Baby Steps

Every few years, something common-fare gets demonized.

Be it a certain food, supplement or exercise program, what's considered healthy one day can likely be considered the devil's tool the next.

When I was growing up during the late '80s and early '90s, fat was the ultimate evil causing obesity and heart disease, hence the low-fat cheeses and chips and baked goods my generation grew up eating.

These days it seems that gluten is the new bad boy on the block.

And while there certainly are people, my youngest included, whose bodies think that gluten is something akin to rat poison, there are others who wouldn't necessarily benefit from removing it. Now low fat? I don't think anyone really benefits from a low-fat, good-fat diet. And though the fat debate is another story in itself, it perfectly paints clear my point:

this healthy living thing? It's confusing.

Several times per week, I field questions from others asking what they can do to lose weight or stop IBS or rid themselves of eczema or avoid colds and flus  -- what specific diets, supplements, pills, herbs and exercise programs will cure or prevent XYZ? What do I recommend?

And in all honesty, I don't; I don't have a standard, across-the-board answer pointing to the perfect diet or pill or herbs or exercise regime.

Mostly because I don't think that there's one diet, one way of eating, one miracle supplement or one miraculous method of exercise that can benefit everyone. Our bodies, our genes, our unique selves, we're all so different that it's simply impossible to recommend one specific nutrition or exercise plan as the key to success for every single person.

My nutritionist jokes that there's only one food that all of the proponents of myriad diets can agree upon as being healthy: kale. {But then again the Inuits probably never ate kale, and they enjoyed long-lasting health, so that probably goes to pot, too.}

But {You knew there was a but, right?} I do believe there are some healthy living steps that can benefit almost anyone who wants to lay a foundation for healthier living; while it's tempting to dive in, making big changes when excitement and motivation are high, sometimes that's not where the journey should begin.

Most often we need to start climbing that mountain by taking baby steps, as those are the steps that pace us and, thus, lead us to success instead of burnout just up the trail.

Eat Local Food
When we focus our feasts around locally grown foods, we not only support our local economy, but we also increase the likelihood of consuming whole, unprocessed foods. Take a trip to your local farmer's market every week this fall and buy a variety of colorful foods that are freshly picked at the peak of the season. Most veggies can be sauteed over a low flame in olive oil or butter atop the stove, tossed into a homemade stew or soup or grilled to perfection.

Our weekly farmer's market bounty

Eating locally also connects your body to the land by introducing naturally occurring microbes that remain on the food to your body, including beneficial bacteria, viruses and yeasts. This is one reason why natural physicians recommend patients suffering from seasonal allergies consume locally gathered honey -- the consumption helps your body understand the lay of the land, thus giving your immune system a head's up. Read more about eating local and training your immune system in this New York Times article. Want reasons beyond that to eat local? Check out my CBS article.

Consume Pastured Meats, Dairy and Eggs
Sure it's more humane to allow animals to live their lives on pastures, but from the vantage point of growing healthy livestock, it's simply essential. Aside from bathing in golden sunlight, breathing clean air and living amid fresh soil, pasture-raised animals also have access to their natural foods. And that's hugely important for the health of the animal and the health of the person consuming the animal.

This lovely lady provided us with the most delicious raw milk cheese. 

Think about the concept of food chain -- you are what you eat. If an animal consumes grains when it isn't mean to consume them in bulk {like cows}, its digestive system won't function as well, and it's body won't receive essential nutrients. Chickens for example, feast on grains, yes; but they also feed on the little bugs and worms they find in the pasture. And those little buggers are teeming with important nutrients and minerals. Chickens fed a vegetarian diet and confined to indoors don't have access to those rich dietary staples, which means their eggs will also be less dense in nutrients. {Remember: to lose weight, we CANNOT simply restrict calories! We have to provide our bodies with dense nutrients so as to allow fat cells to be converted into more useful cells!} Pasture raised meats, dairy and eggs are much more dense in nutrition, higher in good fats and richer in antioxidants. Read more about the difference between conventional versus pasture-raised meats, eggs and dairy here.

Simply Move
There's no one exercise program that works for a single body all its lifetime let alone a blanket routine that I give as an overarching recommendation. Even as a Curves owner, I still enjoy other fitness routines and classes because at different seasons in my life my body has needed more of one type of movement and less of another. Most recently, I needed to back off of my intense strength-training workouts at Curves as my body has healed and been rebalancing from both gut flora and hormonal imbalances and focus more on core-conditioning centered around stretching and holding poses. As my body has been rebuilding, I've added more days of Curves circuit back in, but I very closely listen to my body and what it needs. If it feels tired or worn down, I almost always opt for a brisk walk or yoga.

Another key to moving our bodies consistently is to enjoy the activities in which we're engaged. We must be mentally aware of what feels good as much as we are physically aware. An exercise routine that is draining and dreaded doesn't give enough physical benefits to outweigh the mental and emotional negativity felt during the training.

In addition to Curves, I often advise women to experiment with yoga, cycling, Pilates, brisk walking with weights, Zumba and The Dailey Method. I'm sure there are other activities that might be as beneficial. Just make sure you enjoy what you are doing and that you are building muscle while working your biggest muscle -- the heart -- well. Anaerobic plus aerobic activity in alternation is like the the pinnacle of the exercise love song, releasing happy endorphins to all who enjoy.


Reduce Sugar Consumption
I know. No, really, I know. It's not easy to reduce our sugar consumption. Not only is sugar delicious, but it's also addictive like alcohol.

And it can be just as damaging to your liver, your immune system, your nervous system and your brain as alcohol or other drugs.

For those who don't know, I went completely cold turkey off of all sugar -- including fruits -- this past January. It was extremely difficult, and such a drastic move sent my body into weeks and weeks worth of detoxing and imbalance. I wouldn't likely do it that way again.

Simply cutting refined sugars, fake sugars and natural sugars alike -- high fructose corn syrup, splenda, agave, honey, cane sugar, sucanat -- and monitoring to see if those sugars show up in your processed foods like ketchup and bread, would be the best start to curbing sugar cravings and mellowing an addiction. Enjoy fruits and higher sugar veggies like sweet potatoes and winter squashes in nice moderation -- a few times per day.

Also, partake in conservative moderation those foods that turn to sugar quickly during digestion -- rice, grain flours, pastas and the like.


Next Monday, I'll share a few more baby steps that can be added in achieving and maintaining a healthy body.

But {You knew there would be another but, right?} in the meantime, pick just one or two steps from this list to take. And then see how your feel.

Every day that you feel better {instead of overwhelmed and stressed and irritable and deprived} acts as fuel for the next leg of the journey up the mountain top.

{My beautiful friend Kelli is starting a new Get Healthy Series for the next 12 weeks, in which she and other friends will be sharing every Monday their journey up the mountain top. Kelli lovingly added me to their group to be an encouragement and resource for those on the journey.}

Everyday Life: The Fight I Will Keep Fighting

Our battle begins early in the morning the first day of school on the shaky ground of school snacks.

At G's school, each child in the class brings snack for the entire class a few times a year.

I love the concept.

In theory.

In practice, it doesn't work for us ... mostly because I know too much and believe what I know so passionately that I can't erase it. At all.

While goldfish crackers and colorful yogurt tubes look innocent, I know these foods beyond the simple breakdowns of calories and macronutrients and ingredient labels. I know what vegetable oils heavy in omega-6s do to the heart muscle and yogurt loaded with processed sugars and dyes can do to the body at the cellular level as well as chemically.

And because I now know all of this {I mean, as well as I can know it without having a degree}, I simply cannot fathom allowing my little ones to eat these foods daily. Now, I'm not totally crazy; we normally follow an 80/20 rule where 80 percent of the time we eat whole foods dense in nutrients while 20 percent of the time we let kids be kids. Or adults be adults, as we would be the case for John and his affinity for cherry-flavored pops.

But every day? Well, I can't stomach it.

So neither will he, even to his dismay.

His deep irritation rises while I'm in the thick of cooking eggs on the stove.

He grunts and groans and huffs and sighs and elaborates a well orchestrated argument. Normally, my ears are all his, but to this particular oration, they may as well be deaf.

There are few things for which I will dig a thick stake into the ground and then sink my heels into the soil just as firmly.

The first is that God is good all of the time. No matter what.

The second is that John and I love each other and them relentlessly and whole heartedly.

The third is that food is more than calories and carbs {and the like} and taste; it's meant to connect us to the soil and each other, to nourish, heal, sustain.

And there's nothing about goldfish and graham crackers or the like that connect or nourish, heal or sustain. There's just not. And those foods have popped up often enough in past daily snack itineraries that even friends who are much less rigid have questioned why we are serving what we are serving in school and other child-centric settings.

Once he's said his peace, he stares at me and stomps one foot on the ground as if to put the exclamation mark on his action-pack deposition; I see the buddings of a lawyer emerge in the satisfied smirk on his face.

But what he doesn't know is that even the world's best orator attorney couldn't sway a jury against a passionately honest mother bear who knows what she knows with every fiber of her being.

I crouch down, and I give my closing statement, feet firmly planted in the soil I know to be truth, concluding that he will be choosing healthy snacks from our pantry, fridge or counter daily and bringing them to school for his snack every day,

and I round out my closing statement with the one truth I know best

-- the one that fuels my fire beyond any knowledge or research or biology or chemistry --

"because I love you."

With that the jury is sold.

And I can even see in the cross-examining attorney's eyes that he, too, has been won.

UPDATE: If you're reading this in the archives, you'll definitely want to read the update to this post because the cross-examining attorney ended up only being sold momentarily! We learned a really important lesson from this that I'd hate for anyone to have to go through. 

Living Healthfully: How to Stay Well During Cold and Flu Season

It used to be that if someone so much as sneezed in my general direction, I'd come down with some sort of full-fledged version of whatever virus or bug the offending sneezer had to offer.

For as long as I can remember fall, winter and spring meant nothing good for my poor hacking lungs, tender nose and achy muscles, and I became well acquainted with my friends lotion tissues, throat lozenges and, of course, antibiotics. 

Sweet relief only came in April for a few weeks or so before flowers started blooming and allergy season blossomed right along beside them. 

In a turn of unexpected awesomeness and grace, my allergies dwindled to almost nothing during my first pregnancy just five summers ago and for the first time ever I could enjoy being outside without my tag alongs of tissue boxes and allergy medicine. 

Even after giving birth, I remained mostly allergy free but I still struggled with illness every September through April, catching some sort of bug or virus almost monthly just until this past year. 

When I began cleansing my body this past January in an effort to reestablish my gut's health with whole, clean foods and cultured foods after a terrible six months of irritable bowel-like symptoms, I noticed that my digestion wasn't the only thing that improved: my immune system did as well. 

In fact, by the grace of God, I've only been sick with a cold once during the past eight months, and I've avoided the stomach flu twice when it's taken up residency in our house on two separate occasions. 

Aside from grace, I've noted several changes that have aided in my staying well, and after researching the validity of each practice, I knew I had to share my experience {in hopes that the minute I press publish my whole house doesn't come down with some sort of ailment in a sudden twist of irony!}.

And though there's no magic pill or herb or supplement for staying well during cold and flu season, there are plenty of practices, that when combined, offer hope even to someone who always seems to play magnet to germs.

Say No to Sugar

I know. I know. No, really; I know. 

Sugar is a tempting little devil and it tastes so darn good that it's hard to even think about saying no to the teaspoon in your morning cup of joe or the chocolate chip cookie ice cream awaiting you after the kiddos are fast asleep. Or maybe you don't think you eat all that much to begin with. Or perhaps you just don't think you can survive the 2 o'clock in the afternoon meltdown that ensues when your toddler wants some sort of sweet treat and you deny him that goodness. 

I know. I've been there, there and there. 

But after a solid six months of life with extremely limited natural sugars {I didn't even eat fruit!} and now having reintroduced small amounts of fruit and tiny amounts of honey, I can feel a major difference not only in  in my energy levels but also my body's ability to fight off stress and illness as opposed to this time last year when I ate some processed foods and more sugars than I realized. {Let's be clear: I feel much better with moderate amounts of natural sugar in my diet than no sugar at all!}

Really. Sugar in excess suppresses the immune system. And aside from that, there are about 76 more ways excess sugar consumption damages or hampers our bodies and minds and emotions.

So as painful as it may seem, cutting processed sugars out and eating natural ones in a good moderation may be one of your best defenses against getting sick. If you can't fathom cutting out the sugar daily, at least remove all of it when you feel an illness coming on. Since reintroducing even small amounts of natural sugar like fruits and honey, I've noticed that if I back off for a days when I feel even a hint of a sneeze coming on that my immune system responds better to invaders. 

Say Yes to {Pro} Bugs

Homemade Ginger Lemon Water Kefir

Fermented foods like real sauerkraut and drinks like homemade milk kefir and water kefir are some of the best preventive medicines for fighting the cold or flu. 

Because 80 percent of our immune system function begins in the gut, it's important to consume cultured foods like homemade kefirs because they often contain hundreds of species of beneficial bacteria and yeasts.

And once consumed, these probiotics take their jobs within their new homes very seriously; the moment they are introduced into their new residency they get to work cleaning. Good bacteria and yeast must remain in high population within the gut so as to keep any detrimental bacteria or viruses in check -- as long as the good guys are numerous, they'll keep the undesirables at bay. 

{Also, our bodies actually are made up of more bacteria than cells; so think about it -- we need to keep the good bacteria in abundance in order to keep our immune systems firing well.}

Hold the Light at Night

On your iPhone or your TV or whatever else that engages you come about 9:30 at night so your body and mind can begin winding down. The light glowing from these screens actually awakens our bodies, which can delay sleep. And we need our sleep, especially during cold and flu season because our body makes major repairs during sleep as well as cleanses certain organs.

Chinese medicine says that between 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. your body restores your adrenal glands, which are responsible for giving us rushes of energy when we need them most. Some of us, especially those who like to burn the midnight oil consistently and others of us who bear heavy stress loads, start to wear down our adrenal glands, fatiguing them, which then in turn begins to decrease immune system function. And that's just one example of how tiny glands even determine our immune system response!

Our other major organs and systems also experience restoration and rebuilding while we rest, as the body increases cell division and protein synthesis during sleep. And we need all of these systems to work well in order to keep illness at bay, so uninterrupted sleep is integral to fighting off infections.

Uninterrupted sleep is sometimes impossible with small children, but doing what we can to promote it for both the kiddos and ourselves goes a long way:

* Keeping the bedrooms cool -- about 65 degrees -- seems to help the body rest best
* Sleeping in darkness also promotes uninterrupted sleep -- that means turning off nightlights, keeping cell phones in the next room {we have a charging station in our upstairs hallway}, dimming clock faces, etc.
* The white noise of a fan often provides a peaceful background noise for maintaining steady sleep

Let Go

One of my major pet peeves is when people tell me to just relax and let go of the stressors I'm feeling heavy on my shoulders -- as if that were an easy and effortless effort! Truth be told, I'm mostly go-go-go personality who thrives on energy and activity, and I like being active and busy. It seems like stress follows those of us who like living life in the fast lane. Unfortunately, though, if we're ever moving and always engaged in busyness and activity, we're likely wearing down those adrenal glands we just talked about, thus weakening our immune systems.



Aside from learning there is beauty in slowing down the fast pace of life, I've learned how to incorporate rest and relaxation into packed days:

* quiet time in the morning spent in prayer and reading my Bible
* 10 minutes during the late morning spent snuggling on the couch and reading books to the kids
* enjoying a glass of tea and staring off into the sky in the afternoon while the kids play and the dishwasher runs
* finding forms of exercise that incorporate stretching and focused meditation



Even just five minutes of quiet meditation and prayer a few times per day can reduce stress levels and restore the body and mind.

Maybe you might need more restoration time than five minutes a few times a day? We have a perfect all-day retreat, Creative Soul, coming up at the end of September, and registration is now open for this day filled with connecting, creating and calming.

Don't Feed; Nourish

When making food choices, especially during cold and flu season, keep one important mantra in mind:

Don't feed cravings; instead nourish the body. 

When craving something sweet, don't turn to refined foods filled with flours and processed sugars; turn to something seasonally available to satisfy instead:

Cinnamon butter apples and coconut flour bread makes a nutritious and delicious treat

* apples coated with cinnamon and nutmeg and baked at 350 degrees in pastured butter
* pumpkin pie coconut bread {recipe coming soon!}
* baked apple pie oatmeal

Instead of eating foods that are abundant in ef="http://www.culturesforhealth.com/waugar, packaged, found in the bakery section of the store --, eat ones that are packed full of the vitamins and minerals that support our bodies' many functions, including our immune systems.

Living Healthfully: When in Michigan {Eat Local Challenge - two}

A few weeks ago when we began packing for our vacation in lovely southwest Michigan, I began to panic a little about how we'd adhere to our Eat Local Challenge while there.

Because you know -- not only do vacations normally include eating out; they also typically don't feature kitchens with lots of room for cooking. They do, though, include things like campfires, and my kids don't think campfires can exist without s'mores and where on Earth do you find things like local marshmallows? {Answer: um, you don't. Those fall under the 20 percent of foods during this challenge that don't come from local sources as well as the 20 percent of our 80/20 rule regarding eating healthy foods versus, um, food that is only very loosely considered food. Blech.}

So there you have my train of thought leading up to vacation regarding our food challenge.

In all honesty, the marshmellow thing wasn't really my big take away while in Michigan; rather, I realized how heavily I rely on our weekly, local farmers market to supply us with the bulk of our food needs for the week; I mean, I don't just buy veggies and fruit at our market. I also buy pork, beef, chicken, eggs and honey. If we indulged in bread and pasturized cheeses, I'd be able to purchase those from our market as well.

Our bounty from the Grayslake Market: $67 for:
3 pounds of green beans
kale
2 onions
2 garlic bulbs
2 pints of blackberries
1 quart of peaches
1 dozen eggs
3 pounds of ground pork
1 pound of ground beef
2.5 pounds of porkchops
2 pounds of pork loin
1 zucchini

The Grayslake Farmers Market has really become my go-to place for local food, so much so that I began to wonder if I needed to stock up on food to take on vacation.

Until John gently reminded me that this was the Eat, um, Local Challenge.

Which naturally means, when in Michigan ... eat Michigan peaches! And eggs! And whatever else you can scavenge!

You get where I'm heading. Or maybe you don't. I'll spell out how we sought to eat locally without totally knowing where to go.

1. We purchased as much as we could from the small farmers market in the closest town

2. We consulted Google and made a stop at the People's Food Co-Op, which is a local health food store that features many locally grown and produced foods

3. Instead of driving past the little roadside food stands and wondering about them, we stopped at little roadside stands and talked to the farmers about their produce and farming practices

4. We visited a raw milk dairy farm we found at the Real Milk site {more about this later! It was awesome!}, and we purchased some delicious meats while there as well as yogurt {that was pasteurized and} cultured locally with the milk from the pastured cows at the farm

This pretty pastured lady produced the milk used to make the yogurt we enjoyed in Michigan. She's from Moonique Farm in Vandalia, MI. 

5. We looked for items at the regular grocery store bearing signs saying the foods were grown locally or locally sourced

Overall, we fared pretty well, ate delicious and healthy food and ended up eating about 70 percent of our food from local sources.

Marshmellows not included.

Living Healthfully: August Eat Local Challenge {Week One}

A few months ago I began feeling like I needed a Ph.D. in biology, botany and chemistry to simply meal plan for my family.

There were so many varied and extensive and conflicting {and funded!} reports about what food is good and what food is bad and what food must certainly be harvested by the devil himself, that it's amazing any of us who are health conscious even eat anything at all besides, of course, kale and dandelion greens grown in our backyards.

As I thought about it and continued trekking on in our health journey, I stumbled across the Real Food Summit and happened an epiphany of sorts: just keep it simple.

And keeping it simple when it comes to food means eating

food that doesn't boast an ingredient list on the package because clearly it doesn't need a piece of paper declaring itself a pepper or a green bean.

food that doesn't come shrink-wrapped in plastic and bound up in a cardboard box.

food that can be traced right back down the street to the farm field or right out my backdoor and to my garden.

You know, in real simple terms, real food.

When I haphazardly stumbled upon Donielle's Eat Local Challenge, I knew that taking it would simply simplify meal planning, prep and so many of my swirling thoughts about food.

After all, if I didn't have the Internet telling me what to eat and not to eat and what's secretly terrible and secretly wonderful and secretly wonderfully terrible or grocery stores selling me every kind of food possible, I'd be doing what everyone for thousands and thousands of years has been doing when it comes to dining; I'd been eating locally and not even giving this food stuff a second thought.

We don't need a PhD to figure out how to best feed our families; we just need to remember a little bit of our high school history lessons and be reminded of how we've always fed our families: with locally and seasonally available foods.

I live in the real world, though.

I do.

And in my real world there are grocery stores. And there are restaurants. And, in my real world of suburbia Illinois there are avocados and bananas, neither of which were grown locally but both of which are huge staples and hugely adored in my house.

Also, I live in the real world of going to Target to buy toilet paper and passing those bananas and avocados while two little monkeys oooh and ahhh for them. And because bananas and avocados have nutritional value, I'm not willing to wage a war about not buying them simply because they are not locally grown.

So I decided that for the Eat Local challenge to work in my family, it had to follow the 80/20 rule by which we normally abide when it comes to eating endeavors. {Yes, children, you can have that icky terrible rice krispie treat at that birthday party, but darlings, it's best we eat this burger, these green beans and this zucchini for dinner instead of the box of Star Wars Hamburger Helper that's calling your name on aisle five. {WHY did I go down aisle five?! Short cut to the bathroom not worth it!}}

I digress.

So we're focusing on eating about 80 percent of our food from locally grown farms -- within about a 150 mile radius from our house here in the northern suburbs of Chicago. The rest -- the avocados, the bananas and all the foods that have traditionally been imported like spices and citrus -- fall under the 20 percent. Anything pre-existing in the pantry or freezer is also fair game. We're also supplementing with locally grown fruits we've frozen from earlier harvests and the tomatoes and cucumbers and peppers from our garden.

Week one began August 1 with a trip to the Grayslake Farmer's Market, which featured an amazing array of farmers and produce.

Here's the bounty:


*one pint of Michigan cherries
*two pounds of green beans
*three organically grown ears of sweet corn
*two pounds of pastured ground beef
*two dozen pastured eggs
*three pounds of ground pork raised in the great outdoors of McHenry County
*two zucchini
*one yellow squash
*six Michigan peaches
*one pound of kale

And all this {cherry-thieving toddler excluded} for $56.50, which is way less than what I used to pay in the grocery store.

So far, my family has happily obliged and delighted over the foods on which we've been feasting. Fresh kale sauteed in pastured butter with homemade ground pork breakfast sausage and fresh cherries for breakfast was a huge win!

Probably this week, we'll have to hit a few different area farmer's markets to keep up with food demands, but it's not really been too terribly difficult to eat mostly local.

And it's been a lot easier than going back to school for a few extra degrees.

It's early in August still! Want to join us for the rest of the month? Perhaps start where you can and build from that point each week? What better way to eat healthfully and deliciously than eating locally during our peak growing season here in North America?

Want to see what we're eating? Follow along on Instagram!
Want locally inspired recipes, be sure to connect via Pinterest and Facebook!

Living Healthfully: Undercover Candy Bars

Especially during summer -- when it seems like we attend parties or festivities multiple times each week -- I'm always on the hunt for quick and easy treats that are not loaded with sugar, preservatives, dyes and other things that go bump in the night and appear in my nightmares.

A friend shared this recipe with me and promised these peanut buttery bars would taste like a candy bar's long lost sister but without all the added gunk. 

I've heard that before, and my husband is notorious for all but dragging out the family tree records to prove, indeed, that the "cupcakes" I made were not even closely enough related to even have cupcake in the name; we settled the argument by calling them cuppins {cupcake muffins that were not good enough to make the blog recipe roll}. 

But this recipe? It's good. {I haven't tasted it yet since I'm still taking baby steps with sugar, but the boys have devoured these bars!}

It's so good, in fact, my hubby even calls them candy-like bars. {See? The word candy is in the name, so they are thisclose to being in the candy bar family.}

Undercover Candy Bars with Vanilla Mango No Cream Ice Cream

Ingredients: 

2 cups of peanut butter {we sometimes use The Peanut Butter Company’s White Chocolate Wonderful}

1 cup of honey

2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons of Maca root powder 

3 cups of rolled oats

Directions:

Microwave or melt on the stovetop the honey and peanut butter.

Mix in the cocoa powder and Maca root powder.

Stir in the rolled oats and mix really well.

Place in a 9 by 13 inch pan and refrigerate to set. 

Enjoy!

Share the Love: The Dailey Method {3/3}

I'm constantly trying new forms of exercise and drinking in fitness and nutrition information like it's a Blueberry Vanilla No-Milk Shake; the only type of exercise I've ever stuck with, though, is Curves.

Until probably now.

More than likely, I'm going to continue with The Dailey Method, a fitness class that combines barre ballet, yoga and Pilates in order to improve posture, develop core strength and promote long, lean, strong muscles.

It's not just because my posture has improved {oh, has it!}. Nor is it only because my core is so much stronger and I've actually toned some of my stubborn areas.

Although, I've been really grateful for these improvements in health, my desire to press on revolves around more than just the physical.

It's mental. 


While I'm in class my mind doesn't wander and chew over ideas or thoughts or situations or anything; rather, I'm focused solely on the task that's presented simply because the movements and poses require so much conscious effort and focus.


Some would call it meditation. 


I call it soul song. Because for those 60 minutes I'm in class, moving and stretching and tightening and pulsing and holding my muscles, very intensely and intentionally working extremely specific body parts, I'm thanking God for this awesome gift of my body. 


For a long time, I've struggled with body image issues and loving my body the way God has made it.

The Dailey Method classes have given me ample opportunity to get quiet in a peaceful, sun-drenched space; essentially these classes have given me time to tune into the body God's given me in healthy way.

Instead of focusing on what it isn't, what it can't do, what it doesn't look like, I center all of my mind-energy during class around gratitude to God for what my body is, what it can do and what it does look like.

Though I decided to begin classes at The Dailey Method to improve my posture and core strength, I also decided to document my journey via photo in order to see whether posture improvement and core strengthening can be measured visually instead of only by feeling.

Week one at The Dailey Method

Week four {14 classes taken} at The Dailey Method

I've been attending classes the recommended four times per week during this month I've been gifted in order to be able to share here honestly and knowledgeably about The Dailey Method. But after this week, I'll probably cut down to two classes per week simply because the studio is so far from my home {30 - 40 minutes} and I'm limited to times when John can care for the boys because the on-site childcare, while fantastic, is expensive at $6 per child when added to the cost of each individual class {$20} and gas money. 


However, if I lived closer to the studio, I'd definitely take advantage of the first month special {unlimited classes for $100} because I absolutely love the class flow, the energy, the encouraging and knowledgeable instructors and the warmth of the space in addition to the way I feel during and after classes.


My time spent at The Dailey Method has exceeded my expectations while enriching not only my understanding of the body and fitness but also my life.

Week One at The Dailey Method

Week Two at The Dailey Method

Fine Print: The Dailey Method of Lake Forest has generously gifted me with unlimited classes for 30 days in exchange for writing about my experiences. All opinions are my own, and I take seriously the responsibility to share my  true experiences and feelings. Please note that I've been engaging in my normal fitness routine at Curves while adding in TDM classes.

Living Healthfully: Quick, Easy and Healthy Summer Treats

We follow the 80/20 rule when it comes to what goes into our –the kids’ especially– mouths.

Eighty percent of what we (knowingly) feed the boys doesn’t come from boxes or packages; rather, their meals and snacks are filled with whole foods from the garden, the farm and the produce shelves at the store and farmers’ markets. We won’t talk about the other 20 percent that makes me shudder in horror while we’re enjoying family outings and festivities.

During the summer, though, the 80/20 rule could easily be buried under the mounds of sand we seem to track everywhere because there are simply too many festivities featuring tables covered with sugar-laden goodies and highly processed foods. We’re lucky to ... {finish reading}

Mango Banana non-dairy Ice Cream and Undercover Candy Bars

{Pop on over to CBS Local to gather five simple, quick and healthy recipes perfect for summer and festivities!}

Living Healthfully: Undercover Cookies

Tomorrow we're celebrating Bigger Picture Blogs SECOND birthday by engaging in two things we do best -- creativity and community.

But what's a party without goodies?

In celebration of our big day tomorrow, we thought it necessary to share our favorite uniquely flavored birthday treats as well as a little peak at the Creative Inspiration packages graciously given by Compendium Inc. Live Inspired for two members of our community who link up a special Bigger Picture Moment* here at the party tomorrow.

A delicious gift for a writer, isn't it?

Speaking of delicious, I'm sharing the recipe for my healthy Undercover {Breakfast} Cookies. We call them cookies, but, says hubby, they don't live up to their name if you're expecting crunch. This cookie is softer, like oatmeal, but holds up well after setting in the fridge.

And, of course, it's sweetened with Stevia, so those of us with inner body ecologies who need to steer clear of sugar can still enjoy a treat. Though my youngest picky eater, who indulges in fruit-sugar all the live-long day, loves these cookies and prefers them to even brownies.

Undercover {Breakfast} Cookies

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups of water
1 cup of quinoa flakes
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon of maca root powder {optional}
1 tablespoon of ground flax seed
1/4 cup of dried unsweetened coconut flakes
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
15 drops of liquid stevia
1/2 cup of dried unsweetened cranberries {optional because of the sugar content}


Directions:
Combine quinoa flakes, cinnamon, spice, maca root and ground flax in a bowl and mix together. 


In a pan atop of medium flames, boil water; add the dry mix, stirring continually until the mixture thickens (about 90 seconds). 


Add coconut oil, Stevia and coconut flakes. Stir well. Add cranberries. Mix well. 
Scoop large balls into a glass container, dividing the thick mixture evenly. Refrigerate until thoroughly cooled and well-formed. 


Link up YOUR favorite treat recipe -- old or new -- with This Heavenly Life today to help us celebrate!

*If you didn't sign up to be part of a Creative Duo and receive a prompt, no worries. You can still participate! We're creating to our second birthday musical mix, and the random card prompt is "For Me This is Heaven" by Jimmy Eat World. 

Share the Love: The Dailey Method {1/3}

Blame it on two babies in two years, unfortunate genetics or having spent most of my life overweight and under-toned.


Whatever the reason, I've come to accept that my core needs some serious work.


Though several health professionals have nicely relayed for quite some time that I've needed to engage in some serious core strengthening to target those minor muscles in the core and back that don't get much attention, I continued to live in denial.


I mean, I own a Curves for goodness sake, and I work out there. Certainly, I have strong muscles, I'd rationalized.


But the neck pain, the lower back pain and my posture were saying -- sometimes screaming -- something else --mostly they were echoing what my health-care professionals knew: indeed, I do have strong muscles in my body; some just aren't nearly as strong as the ones that were getting serious work four days per week at my club.

Nonetheless when recommendations of pilates and yoga were given, I scoffed. Both sounded unappealing and boring. I mean, I thrive on movement during my workouts and all I'd seen from either of those were small, quiet poses.

Call it an answered prayer I didn't know I'd uttered, but an opportunity landed on my doorstep in serendipitous timing when the words core work kept getting dropped in closer intervals: a 30-day unlimited membership to The Dailey Method of Lake Forest, featuring classes that specifically aim to improve core strength, posture and flexibility as well as promote long, lean muscles through a combination of barre ballet, yoga and pilates was offered in exchange for writing about my experiences.

Like any one contemplating adding {more} exercise to the week, I spent about 20 minutes making excuses. I debated internally about committing for several reasons, the first being that we own a Curves. Wouldn't this essentially be cheating on my beloved? But John and I discussed and I knew I really needed to supplement specific additional exercise to gain the core strength I so desperately needed, so I jumped. 

And I'm so glad I did.

After my first week of classes at The Dailey Method, I know I made the right decision for my body.

I spent the majority of the first class trying to keep up with the instruction and get a hold on these foreign-to-me fluid movements and poses.

After my second and third classes, I knew better how to engage, and I felt sore in muscles I didn't know I had, thus further proving that, oh, yes, they do exist and oh, yes, they do need to be strengthened.

The day after I completed my fourth class, my body began craving these new-to-me movements. Thanks to one instructor, Emily, who took the time to reposition me myriad times during that class, I finally feel like I'm really learning the intricacies of the deep poses and what engagement of some of these small muscles actually feels like.

Five hour-long classes later, I feel balanced and lean and energized. My posture has noticeably improved as my muscles are already holding onto the new memory of positions acquired while engaging in the poses and movements during the classes.

Of course, these new muscle memories were hard-fought victories; I silently cried through some of the poses we held as the class instructors rallied us to pull certain muscles even tighter and then add small pulses to the pose. That said, The Dailey Method workouts are quite challenging and require some serious mind-over-matter committment. One woman in my class who has been taking TDM classes since January said it really well: Once you think you've got it down and it's going to be easy, it gets harder again because you know what it means to really engage the muscles and pull them even tighter.

During the next few weeks, I'm excited to experience that for myself and discover whether working these sneakily hidden muscles and stretching them diliberately and thoroughly significantly decreases my neck and lower-back pain while improving my posture.

Though I'm tackling these classes to gain core strength rather than lose weight {my doc advised I let my weight stabilize after such rapid loss from last summer's Curves Complete challenge followed by more drastic loss while healing my GI issues this year}, I decided anyway to post pictures simply to show whether posture improvement and core strengthening can be measured visually instead of only by feeling. 


{Note that I'm doing The Dailey Method classes in addition to my regular Curves workouts.}

So here's week one, two classes in:

Stay tuned for the second of three updates next Tuesday. 

The Dailey Method of Lake Forest has generously gifted me with unlimited classes for 30 days in exchange for writing about my experiences. All opinions are my own, and I take seriously the responsibility to share my  true experiences and feelings. 

Living Healthfully: On Wearing Swimsuits

There's no magical number that makes swimsuit shopping fun.

Not even 129 pounds.

Because at 129 pounds, there's still roundness spread across my hips,

fullness of my thighs

and enough handles at the waist to have and to hold and not quite love all that much.

{Did I mention there's much, much less to fill out the top half of the swimsuit? It's been something like driving from the grand mountains of Colorado to the foothills of the Mississippi River ...}

And at 129 pounds, there's still the same kind of tension holdover from when I weighed 198 pounds -- one I would have expected to have faded into nothingness; it lingers between me and the body I've lived in for 29 years. Though everything has morphed and changed, it remains.

I just didn't completely realize it until I stood in front of a department store mirror donning a swimsuit while staring incredulously at how much thinner I've become

and

how I still don't love the way I look in a swimsuit.



No -- how I still don't love what's beneath the swimsuit.

Even after conceiving four babies, carrying and delivering two of them healthy and full term, nursing and nourishing these boys of mine into strong and healthy small people

even after dealing with so many of my emotional eating issues and finally realizing what it means to feast on the real Bread of Life

even after taking my body on a cross-country-like-epic detox and rebuilding health journey these past six months

even though I've seen first hand that this body is capable of amazing feats, tasks and healing

and even though I've known full well that it was fearfully and wonderfully made

I still don't fully love and unconditionally accept it the beauty of its shape.

I still allow my eyes to undress the imperfections of my reflection while in a cold dressing room as I haphazardly sneak glances of myself while trying on swimsuit after swimsuit after swimsuit.

I have this fleeting, tempting thought while standing half-dressed in the fitting room:

maybe I can hide.

Maybe I can find a long gauzy dress of sorts to live in during pool and lake and beach season.

Maybe I can cover it all up and just not think about what's beneath the light, flowy dress I'm sure I can find on the racks just outside the door.

Because then I can just take another quick glance in the mirror and buy whatever black suit I can find and walk out of the store with a suit and cover in hand ... triumphant in purchase but also

defeated.

Defeated and deflated. Because this isn't really so much about not loving all of the swimsuits I'm trying to fashion onto my body.

This is so much more about loving all of me, including my body.

So, instead I march back to the racks and find patterns I like, styles I deem fashionable

and I march my butt right back into the room to try each on.

And I make myself look.

Really look.

I look long and I look hard, and I'm sure John, who is waiting patiently outside, is probably wondering how long it really takes to remove one set of clothes and replace them with swatches of stretchy fabric.

But I'm not looking at the suits any more even though I'm standing in a black and white striped two piece.



I'm looking at the heart beating in my chest, and I force myself to say out loud thank you.

That's it's beating.

"I only deepen the wound of the world when I neglect to give thanks for the early light dappled through leaves and the heavy perfume of wild roses in early July and the song of crickets on humid nights ant the rivers that run and the starts that rise and the rain that falls and all the good things that a good God gives." Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts

I give thanks for our bodies. For my body.

I move slowly down my body, this good gift, this wonderful hand-knit creation*, thankful for each of the following inches of skin and muscle and bone

the ribs that now show beneath tightened skin

and the pudge that slightly spills over the black waist band

and the breasts that barely fill the cup

and the legs that carry all kinds of weight

and the eyes that crease in smiles of joy

and the creation

standing in front of me.

I pick the black and white two piece and return to my shorts and tank top, relieved to have decided on a bathing suit I like

but perhaps more relieved to have decided to finally start making efforts toward really loving what fills the fabric.

*Psalm 119

Everyday Life: Redefining Beauty by Bathroom Mirror

Size four.

I slip my hips into size four black pants, chic, designer hand-me-downs.

I don't expect them to fit, honestly, but they zip and button and latch.

Haphazardly, I decide to wear the pants, straight-legged and fitted, to my sister’s baby shower, thankful for clothes that fit without cost, grateful for a healing, healthier body and slightly awed at this drastically new shape I have yet to fully embrace.

I’d spent years wrestling with body envy in the name of fashion before I shifted the focus from two-piece swimsuits and skinny jeans to healthy heart, healthy body mass and healthy thoughts. Slowly, my mind has shifted as my body has transformed that what makes the body beautiful has less to do with clothes and more to do with how it’s been created.

That I have strong legs, a healthy heart to carry me after little boys who play escape down the neighborhood sidewalk.

That my hips can carry an extra 30 pounds of crying child, my lips can kiss away hurts.

That my arms can hold tight my husband in full embrace.

That my body has twice grown new life and nourished children and a marriage.

During the middle of the party, I sneak off to the bathroom for a quick break and am confronted by a full-length mirror next to the sink, my long-time worst enemy and truthful friend.

Normally, I look away, but today I take it all in, this new shape.

My sister steps out of the bathroom stall, all belly and beautiful and glowing and her frame, too, is now next to mine in the full-frame reflection of the mirror, and I can't help but stare at two bodies that are perfectly imperfect and capable of so much more than I ever used to appreciate.

I’m absolutely overcome with the lovely she’s radiating, how she’s simply overflowing with life, her shirt and skirt perfectly accentuating soft curves, how her size-four body has lovingly and achingly stretched to make room for another small body, has given and grown to bring forth a tiny gift to our family, our world.

From inside those long-envied size four pants, I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t willingly trade them in for the flowing skirt she’s wearing at that very moment. 

Because beauty to me now is much less about the size four pants and much more about what fills them {baby bump and beyond}.

Living Healthfully: A Mirage in the Desert

Editor's Note November 2012: If you are looking for information on restoring your digestive system, please know that The Body Ecology Diet helped me, but it didn't completely restore my health. My body actually stalled out on the the diet, and I needed to go off it to heal other parts of my body. You can read about my last steps in healing by clicking here. 

At first it was so very much about arriving at destination deep dish pizza.

If I could just make it to the point of indulgence without suffering from a debilitating stomach ache and nausea in the aftermath of such a feast, I'd have successfully arrived at the end of my super-restrictive dieting. 

My eyes were set on a finish line of Lou Malnati's and a piece of Baklava by my January 2013 birthday. 

But at the start of 15 weeks{!!}on the Body Ecology Diet*, which has been aimed at restoring my inner body ecology and recovering my health from a candida overgrowth in my gut, it's becoming clearer now that the finish line I'd set eyes on was a mirage. 

Not an insanely delusional mirage like that of shack taking the shape of a well in the middle of the desert; it's been much more like that of an actual well taking the shape of an actual well ... but one that bears only still, stagnant water.

The kind of mirage that looked so good and so refreshing in the distance but dips its bucket into bitter, smelly water ... 

That's where I find myself at the completion of 14 weeks of eating only vegetables, eggs, protein, good fats and no sugar; I am approaching the well that looked so promising -- my GI tract having been healed graciously by God, in part through this way of fresh and whole eating -- and finding I could dip my bucket in ... but why would I want to?

As I'm approaching the well, there's some sort of off-stench wafting through the air, a screaming, halting warning to bypass. 

I don't dare drink it because I'm realizing this isn't the finish line. 

Though I couldn't see it until I got nice and close to the well, there's actually this fresh spring-fed river flowing just a few miles beyond it.

And destination deep dish pizza just doesn't hold a candle to fresh, whole foods anymore, to health. 

Instead of craving cheese and crust, I'm finding myself craving the foods that make me feel how the healthiness I've felt while eating what I've considered to be desert manna:

Energized, healthy, light, satisfied. 

I just don't want to lose that. 

Now that my body seems to have overcome a good portion of the gut flora imbalance and defeated a good deal of the bad candida, I only want to grow stronger and stronger.

I don't want to take steps back toward the heaviness, the bloating, the stomach pain, the brain fog, the irritability, the intense cravings; it just doesn't seem worth it for a slice of deep dish anymore. Or a piece of coffee cake on a special morning. Or even an occasional frozen cup of sweet java and cream. 

And taking that step back ward actually seems like it would be a welcoming invitation to have to walk through that desert of painful detoxing again; I don't want to relive the hives, the night-sweats, the chills, the exhaustion, the stomach pain, the anxiety, the tightness in my chest and the weakness in my bones. 

This way of eating, this desert manna diet, isn't just a diet aimed at merely sustaining energy and fixing an impaired digestive system; this way of eating is more a lifestyle geared at healing the whole body.

I believe this is how we were intended to eat -- food grown from the soil, unaltered and whole -- food harvested from growing healthy animals in the wide-open space of pasture. 

I'm trading in the dirty well water for the fresh-running river and praising God for the revelation of a promised land overflowing with honey. 

Because I'm just not willing to settle any more for a mirage being my destination point. 

{It's such a huge praise to bring news of such healing! Though I'm not at 100 percent, by the grace of God I am worlds away from where I began in the beginning of January. 

Would you offer praise on my behalf for his goodness in healing my body? And would you also pray for wisdom and discernment as I very {epicly} slowly add back in some of the whole, fresh foods that have a bit of sugar content during these coming weeks? I'll be doing quite a bit of listening to my body to make sure the candida that remains isn't being fed by the new additions of things like Granny Smith Apples and plain Greek Yogurt.}

*I have been following the Body Ecology Diet along with some additional protocol {and food restrictions from the experts at The Candida Diet forum.