pt 1: natural, feminine beauty...

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       Good morning! :D

      It is a truth universally acknowledged that health is something most of us women strive for. It's true. There are so many diets out there that say that they are THE one, and it can be really confusing. I know from experience. After many years of eating the typical junk-food diet, I was eight years old when my brother Levi was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. We did everything the American Diabetic Association told us to do: consume sugar-free, fat-free--EVERYTHING--but we felt no different. In fact, we felt worse. We still felt tired and sick, and my brother was still unable to control his blood sugar. Some of our friends told us over and over again about the dangers of aspartame and hidden MSG and other additives, but we refused to listen to them, unfortunately. Then my mom developed migraines. And I mean the kind that are ten-days long and you're literally in bed 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Then, after all that, she got stomach issues. Last year, my sister Tessa was also diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. So, long story short, we went on a long journey through raw foodism until last year. It wasn't an easy diet, but we were determined to make it happen none-the-less after being inspired by the famous FoodMatters and Fat, Sick, And Nearly Dead documentaries. It HAD to be the one. It just had to. But yet, I wasn't happy. I couldn't enjoy the foods which I had grown to love so dearly, such as (whole-grain) bread, meat, or dairy. I felt *so* pressured to follow this perfect diet. 

      

      But one day, I grabbed one of my mom's health-books (because we had been buying quite a variety in those years) for a quick read on the way to Seattle. I knew it wasn't a raw-food or Natalia Rose book, but, hey, why not? I read it. I studied it. I learned from it.

      

      It changed my life. It changed all those myths of the perfect "eat-only-raw-fruits-and-veggies-and-you'll-have-perfect-health-and-body" diet. I had accepted so many lies. So many misconceptions. So many wrong ideas about how God intended us to eat, and why.

      That book was Real Food by Nina Plank. It's not a Christian book, but it's about eating food in the form that God intended it to be in. Yes, there are raw fruits and vegetables, but that's not all. Un-processed meat. Raw milk. Raw cheese. Raw nuts. Farm-fresh eggs. Yup. You probably just went,"UUUUUGGGGHHHH!" when you heard me mention raw milk. I had finally found not a diet, but a lifestyle of eating right. I won't always be perfect. I won't always discipline my flesh when it comes to binging. I won't always be perfectly trim and toned. I won't always make the right (food) choices. 

      But I'm still happy. Happy that I can still eat meat. Happy that I can still enjoy food. Happy that I can (occasionally, of course :D) eat a nice, big platter of Fettuccine Alfredo from the Olive Garden and not feel guilty. Happy that I can skip a day or two of exercise and not be afraid of becoming fat. But, please, don't get me wrong: I don't think you should indulge on pasta all the time or stop exercising or eat all the food you want all the time. But we shouldn't feel guilty to try some of our little niece's first batch of brownies or Great-Aunt Sue's homemade dinner rolls.

      We do, of course, need to eat healthy on a day-to-day basis. We need to strive to honour our bodies, which are temples of God. Do we want a body that is sick and tired and lacks in the energy to do the things God has called us to do in this life? I don't know about you, but I don't! And yes, there are times to decline an unhealthy choice to make a more healthy choice. I'm still working on how to balance that. I'm not perfect at it. But I want to be able to feel my best. A big reason I've chosen this lifestyle is so...I can be the best me I can be, and be able to do the things which God has called me to do.

stay tuned for pt. 2!