I feel a bit schizophrenic...

I was hanging out with a few good friends today, and the topic of grocery budgeting came up. Ugh. Chances are you already stopped reading. I would have. ;)

The three of us have also read Jen Hatmaker's book "7 : An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess". If you haven't read it you should. It's awesome. In the book there is a part where she describes her different personalities that come out when she goes grocery shopping. The part of her that wants to spend less looks for the cheapest food, the part that wants to care for the environment and her body wants to buy organic food which is definitely not the cheapest, the part that wants to support her community and local commerce wants to buy local, which may not be organic or cheap, etc. etc. (I'm totally paraphrasing and probably got that totally wrong, but you get the picture!)


I feel this tension every week when I go grocery shopping. For me health wins out, and I always end up spending more than I want to. What's crazy is that I'm spending more on what really should be less. Less processing, less factories, less genetically modified organisms that I'm sure cost our country millions to create and implement, less packaging, less potentially harmful non-food ingredients. Just real food from nature. Why it is so much more expensive to eat this way I just don't understand. 


In many countries, people don't have all these choices when it comes to food. They don't get to go to big supermarkets and make these choices between cost and health. Many people are not getting to eat at all. I realize this "problem" is trivial in light of the suffering of millions around the globe, and I would be lying if I said that doesn't make me feel just a bit ashamed of my selfishness. However, I also don't think adopting a minimalist approach and not taking care of the bodies God gave us is the answer. 


So what do you think? Is it better to spend less? Eat healthier? Buy local? Somewhere in the middle? Leave a comment, let me know what you think!

Real Food

Food has become a recent obsession of mine. Well, that's not entirely true... I've always been a little obsessed with food, and not in a good way.

 I've seen people make food into an idol in two ways. Some let food control them by obsessing over every calorie they touch. They want to control something, maybe their appearance or level of fitness, whatever it is food becomes a god that can get them what they want. When they feel out of control in this area, their joy, sense of worth, etc. is gone. Then there are the people, like me, who have no control when it comes to food. They see a cookie and they just cant be satisfied unless they have it. They spend their day thinking about the next time they get to eat. If they don't get to enjoy the object of their desire, their joy is gone. Either way, it's idolatry.

Just to be sure we are on the same page, idolatry is when you look to something other than Jesus to be your ultimate source of joy, worth, satisfaction, etc. Remember, I said ultimate. It's ok to find joy in a mouth watering piece of turtle cheesecake. It's not ok when food is constantly dictating our emotions. Do you ever snap at people when you are hungry? When you have a hard day, do you ever feel like you "deserve" a treat to make you feel better? For those of you who are strict eaters, how are your emotions after you "mess up" and eat something you feel you shouldn't? If Jesus is enough, why should these minor things effect our emotions so much? Just a few things to think about...

When we began our struggle with infertility, I began doing a little research on how what we eat may have an impact on our ability to get pregnant. This resulted in switching to organic eggs and dairy. A small first step, but a step in the right direction nonetheless. After a few more years, I began to have multiple other small and not so small health problems, including asthma, digestive problems, severe insomnia, chest pain, increasing cycle irregularities, and of course there was still the infertility.

A little over a month ago, when my health seemed to be getting out of control (with no answers from doctors), Jeremy and I decided to try something called the whole30. No grains, no beans, no dairy, and no sugar or sweeteners of any kind for 30 days. 30 DAYS! For a whole month we ate nothing processed... just meat, veggies, fruit, eggs, and nuts. Our food was cooked in coconut oil or olive oil. We only put real food that came from nature into our bodies. On days 3-7, I felt like death because of the sugar withdrawals. By day 14, pretty good. By day 30 I had lost 15 pounds, and felt amazing. Not only does my body seem to be working more as it should, but how freeing to learn how not to be controlled by a desire to eat whatever I want. For a month I said no to foods I usually obsess over. I survived a wedding without eating cake, a wedding shower without eating all the yummy goodies, and multiple parties and get togethers surrounded by people eating things I could not.

Oh, and the pictures in this post? Dinner the other night. Homemade meatballs and marinara (made with fresh tomatoes) served on a bed of spaghetti squash. I got the recipe here. Delish.




¹⁸ For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.Their mind is set on earthly things. ²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Philippians 3:18-20