EATING SIMPLY
For most of my teenage and adult years I have been somewhat obsessed with food. Some of those years I was obsessed about not eating it. At other times and seasons food became a close friend which was not healthy either. Over the past several years I have enjoyed learning more and more about the health benefits of different foods and teaching others what I have learned. That brings me to what I want to share with you today.

About 4 months ago Mitch and I decided to make a major change in our diet. We have always eaten pretty healthy, but with all the transition that had gone on over the past year we had gotten off track a little bit. One of our friends, Forest, told us about a diet called the Paleo Diet. It's a little out there in some ways because it talks alot about evolution, but the principles it taught were things I knew were right - having a diet based on what is naturally provided to us through nature. This meant having diet that consisted of only fruits, veggies, lean meats, and a few nuts. A few weeks ago I came across a book that I have had for years, "What The Bible Says About Healthy Living." As I have revisited the pages of this book, it has verified from a Biblical perspective they way Mitch and I have desired to honor our bodies with what we eat. The author points out 3 basic principles:

1) Eat only substances God created for food. Aviod what is not designed for food.
2) As much as possible, eat foods as they were created - before they are changed or converted into something that humans think might be better
3) Don't let any food or drink become your God

As Mitch and I have been trying to eat at leat 80-90% of our meals this way, we really have experienced such freedom. Freedom from not worrying about what we are eating. Freedom to enjoy exercise instead of being burdened by trying to burn of something we shouldn't have eaten. And for me, freedom in my schedule because menu planning and grocery shopping is so easy and simple. In the past month, we have added some grains back into our diet, like brown rice, Big Sky's whole wheat bread, and I have started making homemade granola which has a base ingredient of rolled oats. We do still splurge on the weekends and eat out, enjoy a DQ blizzard :), and I get my baking tank filled by trying to find healthier alternatives to not so healthy treats. Interestingly, though, we have found that the less we eat junk the less we want it.

I wanted to share all of this because I really do feel like God designed our bodies to eat food that He created. Good clean food. When we eat this way, we lower our risk significantly for disease. When we eat this way, we allow ourselves some freedom from the bondage that our love for food can have over us. I hope that you can find some encouragement to make some changes in your eating habits and make choices that will greatly benefit you and your family.