Thursday, August 27, 2009

Nutrition: Where To Start




I want to begin this post by reiterating one very important thing from my previous post, How Then Shall We Eat. Please only pursue feeding your family in a more nourishing way if the Lord is leading you. If this is not the right season for big or even small changes, then please do not take this on just because some woman wrote about it. Okay?


As a woman with much on her plate I realize how easy it is to get overwhelmed with what I read on various blogs. This 'overwhelmedness' is NEVER my intention. It is only to encourage and inform.

Let me also state that if you are feeding your family to best of your ability, knowledge and budget, then you are right where you need to be. We all have different situations, seasons, levels of skill and budget. My hope is to encourage, challenge and inform, with the hope that you pray, let the Spirit lead you, and find what is best for YOUR family.

Today I am going to provide you with a few links that I think will be helpful as you begin this journey or seek to take it further.

The first is an ebook by Stephanie from 'Keeper of the Home'.

A 52 Week Journey of Baby Steps to Help You Move Towards More Natural, Nutritious and Sustainable Living


I think she does an excellent job providing lots of information and it is in an easy to understand and apply format. She really makes it 'doable'. There are tons of links included in the ebook.


I have mentioned the Weston A. Price Foundation in a previous post, but there are a few lists that I think are useful in evaluating where you are and where you might want to be.

The first on is called Dietary Guidelines


You could go through the list and see how many of the things you already do and pray about which ones you should seek to implement. Some of them might be easier than you think.


Another list is called Dietary Dangers
You may not be familiar with the reasons why some of these things are bad for you and this list might help generate things for you to research. (You all do know how to 'google' right? Google is a keeper of the home's best friend! ;)

So many of the things on this list could easily be avoided if all packaged food was removed from our homes. If you never learned to cook from scratch and are a 'hamburger helper and cream of mushroom soup' kind of gal, this could be very challenging. But, take heart, if I can do it, so can you! My mom left when I was thirteen, she didn't know how to cook from scratch nor did she teach me. My grandma, who helped raise us, used packaged foods and canned products, so that did not prepare me either. Where I am today was pretty much self taught, by His grace, of course;-) You can do this!


Cooking from scratch with wholesome ingredients is probably the single most important thing you can do to improve your families health. More on this in another post!
Lord Jesus, You alone are our Wisdom, guide us even in the details of how to nourish our families. Thank you for Your Holy Spirit who guides us in all things. You have a distinct and perfect plan for each one of our families and we submit this area to You, looking for You to lead.

2 comments:

Camille said...

Thanks for posting this...I have been seeking to feed my family as naturally as possible in our city life. We are not farmers, but we value the "old fashioned" way of eating and desire to do the best we can with the resources we have. I appreciate the time you took to add links to help us all in our research. Have a wonderful day!
Blessings,
Camille

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

I grew up eating processed foods as well. I was absolutely astounded when I realized how bad it really is for our bodies. I found the best way to start eating healthier was to use up the bad stuff or give it away to a family in need and then replace those ingredients with healthy alternatives. I haven't had white sugar in my house for 3 years. I didn't think I could do without it at first (I had a headache for a week because I was so addicted to refined sugar), but when it isn't around, if I can't modify what I'm making with the good stuff, then I do without.