Life got you down? Push off!

Remember as a kid, swimming down to the bottom of the pool in the deep end to retrieve a penny, reaching for it with your finger tips, feet trailing behind and then turning around to swim back up? Why did it take so long to get to the top? (Gasp for air) But on your second trip you swam to the bottom, hovered right over that penny, grasped it firmly, tucked your knees, planted your feet on the bottom and pushed off, rocketing yourself back to the top? 

Sometimes you have to stay at the bottom, take the time to plant your feet and the Push Off to propel yourself back up. Use the low points in life, that rock bottom you feel you have reached to Push Off and propel yourself to the next stage in your life.  Don't hang out at the bottom too long, it sucks the air and the life out of you. Push off!

Clean Eating - the original plan

Clean eating is the newest fad, but is it really the newest eating plan around?  I think not!  When God designed your body, it was right after He designed all of the plants and animals on earth.  I think there is no coincidence in how he designed us and how he designed the foods we are to eat.

Have you ever owned or driven or known someone who owned a Diesel fueled vehicle.  When I was 10 years old my parents bought a Chevy Suburban, Diesel fueled.  I remember specific instructions between them that ONLY Diesel fuel could go in this car, otherwise the engine would seize.  Back then (ages ago), there was only one gas station in town that sold Diesel fuel, so it wasn't convenient.  It also cost more than regular fuel.  However, we got very good gas mileage!  Rudolf Diesel designed the diesel engine, but it ONLY ran on Diesel fuel.

I think there is a strong parallel to the way that God designed our bodies.  Our body by His design operates and is fueled best when we consume foods in the form that he designed them.  For instance, we are to eat potatoes the way they look when they come out of the ground, NOT the way that man processes them into French Fries.  Eating clean is really eating foods the way that God created them - non processed.

I realize it is fairly unrealistic to eat whole foods at all times.  But, consider a Clean Foods Continuum where God designed foods are on one end and Man Processed foods are on the other.  We want to eat on the God designed half of that continuum.  So when you are shopping at the store or ordering from a menu, stop and consider, how close to God designed is that food in the form that I will be consuming it.  Does it still look like it did when he designed it, when it was harvested or when the meat was originally cleaned from the carcass (yes, God meant for us to eat meat too, but not processed meats).

So, while main stream society has brought Clean Eating to the forefront as the newest fad, I believe it is the longest running fad around - since the dawn of time.

Healthy Snack Ideas

Healthy Snack Ideas:

AM and PM snack ideas

Consume 8-16oz of water at snack times.

q  1 string cheese and a small piece of fruit

q  1 slice deli meat and 4-6 crackers

q  ¼ c. cottage cheese and ½ c. chunk pineapple

q  ½ bagel with 1 tbsp peanut butter

q  8oz yogurt w/ ¼ c. granola

q  4 celery sticks (3” long) w/ 1tbsp peanut butter or ¼ c. cottage cheese

q  1 c. raw veggies

q  1 c. popcorn w/ paprika (no butter, no salt)

q  ½ c. baby carrots w/ tbsp peanut butter

q  ¼ c. nuts w/ ¾ c. strawberries

q  1 apple wedged w/ 1tbsp peanut butter

q  1 c. pretzels w/ ½ c. yogurt

q  ½ banana and ½ c. dry non-sugared cereal

q  1 rice cake w/ 1 tbsp peanut butter

q  ½ c. dry non-sugared cereal w/ ½ c. dried fruit

q  4 cucumber slices w/ ¼ c. cottage cheese

q  1 slice cheese w/ 2 cucumber slices between – Cucumber Sandwich

q  6-8 baked tortilla chips w/ 2 tbsp salsa or hummus

q  ¼ c. almonds

q  ¼ small pita w/ 1 tbsp shredded cheese melted inside

q  ¾ c. grapes w/ 4oz yogurt

q  ½ c. chunk pineapple wrapped in 2 slices turkey bacon and baked