Day After Easter

So, Easter has passed, and today is the first day of the rest of my dietary life (it occurs to me that I'm aaaalll the tiiiime.
going to have to find something new to fast from next Lent). Lent is, of course, over, and I have chosen to continue with the no processed sweeteners with the exception of parties and holidays and situations where it would possibly damage relationships/important impressions. Lent was quite easy this year, once I got past the first week or two and the headache and the feeling crazy hungry

It was much easier than last year, even pleasant. I feel that I learned a lot about eating food in a more godly way, but not a lot about God. Though, I did begin to have Bible times again, so that's something. However; I'm not sure the fast directed my focus to God as much as I was hoping it would. Ah well, there's always next Lent.

That said; I feel that I have a much greater appreciation for food now, for flavors, for the subtlety of flavor. I feel as though I understand more clearly the concept of food "for my joy and nutrition." I also feel much more confident in eating. I don't think anyone could look at anything I eat now and reasonably claim it's unhealthy. Not unless, perhaps, they were a local-organic-raw food-vegan. ;-)

This morning I woke up and knew that I had to work out. I think I was in Korea the last time I woke up and was like "I need water, and exercise, stat." Worked out for 55 minutes instead of my normal 32 and drank a nice amount of water. I watched the Christmas episode of Doctor Who while I was on the stair machine. it was awesome. I felt awesome afterwards. I love working out and feeling awesome! I mean, I hated making myself work out to get thin and feeling guilty afterwards! I love working out because it feels good!

Wasn't really very hungry today but I was really craving healthy food, which was kind of a tough place to be in because I didn't want to eat, but I wanted to eat. I think my body just wanted to make up for what I ate yesterday. My stomach has also been making crazy rumblings all day long.

Today I had:

A banana
A small apple with 1/4 cup of whole fat Greek yogurt
Two scrambled eggs with a sprinkling of cheese
Two pieces of whole sprouted grain sweetener free toast with "buttery spread"
a serving and a half of grass fed beef cooked in a cup and a half of water with organic tomato sauce
1/4 of a large white onion
about 2 cups of steamed kale
extra strong coffee with 1 cup of milk and 2/3 of a tablespoon of local raw honey
a fruit leather
2 (3?) cups of 100% whole grain curly noodle pasta
Oh, and a handful of organic cherry tomatoes



I think this could work.

Greek Yogurt and Why we Eat

I want to take a minute to give a shout out to Greek Yogurt. Particularly, the Greek Gods brand plain Greek yogurt. I love it. Love might actually be an appropriate word. I enjoy it every time I put it in my mouth. I put it on top of beans and cheese, in sandwiches, and, mostly, dip my fruit in it. My cat also loves it and more than once I have turned my head away from my bowl only to look back moments later and find his head, or his paw in the yogurt.. He says "I licked it, it's mine now." Haha, silly cat. I ate the yogurt anyway (and probably have a cat disease now, but that's beside the point).

I've noticed that a lot of people have an issue with the thickness, and the flavor. I'm not sure what that issue is since I've loved Greek yogurt from the first time I tried it. But then, I've lived abroad and tasted a lot of things that most people here in America would find pretty unpalatable, so that may have skewed my perception of flavors (for the better, I say). Also, as I've mentioned before, I'm off sweeteners, so it may be that even the slightest bit of sweetness is detectable to me. To me Greek Gods plain (fatted, no 0% fat) Greek yogurt tastes like cream. Really, who wouldn't want that? It's also really low in sugar and high in protein (I noticed right away when I first started eating Greek yogurt that it kept me full for a long time), and it has healthy fats and bacterias that aid in the digestion and the processing of nutrients. I would suggest it to anyone. I would suggest it to you. You should try it. Chop up an apple and dip it in the yogurt. It's awesome.

While I'm on the topic of awesome food, I wanted to talk a little about the purpose of eating and why we eat.

I feel like food, and food perception is really skewed in this country. I don't think many people would disagree with me.

I feel as though food as become the great comfort, or the great enemy. You either consume as much of it as you can, using it like a blanket to ward off the difficulties of life, or you treat it as a necessary evil, consuming as little as possible in order to be sociallymorally <-this is a new word, I made it, dibs) good.

There is a pastor at my church (yes, this is related), who I have lovingly dubbed "the crying pastor," because he's a guy with emotions, and he's not afraid to show them. Honestly, sometimes I tune him out when he gets really emotional, but that's one of my issues, not his, and I try to listen, and something he said did get through. Let that be a lesson to all the pastors who think none one is listening, even the ones who aren't, are.

He kept saying that we should use food for the reasons that God gave us; for our joy and our nourishment  For our joy and our nourishment. Our joy, and our nourishment  Not just nutrition, not comfort at all, not as a balm, not just because. He's said it many times (or it felt to me that he has). I ignored it the first time, thought about it the second, and then by the third time it started to sink into me. I heard another pastor say the same thing, and started to wonder if there was something I was missing. How often would I eat lovely foods, but not for joy? When was the last time I enjoyed my food; just took joy in my food? Was I eating for nutrition, to feed my body, to nourish it? Or, when I ate, was it with the goal of "making up" for the "sin" of the bad food, or with the goal of "thinness" rather than health? I knew the answer to that, and I didn't like it.

Around this time I was also thinking heavily about body perception, fat shaming, and body acceptance. I'd started reading books like Fat? So what? I thought 'I should start enjoying my food.' So I did. I tried to stop eating ice cream with guilt. If I was going to eat it, I should love it. I stopped eating with guilt. I put on some weight. I made every effort to love my body. And then I started to think about eating for my nourishment. What did I think that looked like? (What could I afford?) Lent began. I gave up sweeteners.

I still do my best to enjoy my food, to let it bring me joy. It's a fight, to see food at something to nourish my body and bring me joy, but I'm trying, just like I'm trying to love my body, no matter what size it is. Greek yogurt is one of those foods that brings me joy.

So, eat food for nourishment, eat it for joy. And, if you're feeling adventurous
. Try some yogurt.