Vacation... a health nightmare!

I haven’t posted in like 2 weeks… I’ve been on vacation. Well, one might call it a vacation; it was 8 days at my sister-in-law’s house in FL with my husband’s family. Wine and margaritas got me through, it got us all through. I will say nothing more J

Pic from 'the dock of the bay' by Aunt Janna.

Being that the clean eating (and in our case, plant based clean eating) is a journey for us, I thought this was a part of the journey that was very eye opening. One think I realized through all of this though is that my home is definitely my “safe place” with food. What ever is let in will be the dominantly consumed foods. If its snacks, I will eat snacks. If it is sweets, I will eat sweets. I actually posted not too long ago something about not being someone who eats a ton of sweets or not being someone who will polish of a bag of potato chips in one sitting, well, I should have kept my filthy mouth shut because this past week I DEVOURED some potato chips like some kind of weird potato addict. I ate sweets (note the margarita reference above) like they were going out of style and although the meals I ate were relatively healthy, there were a large number of seafood dishes consumed and what was inhaled during snack times and the evening doesn’t need mentioning. It was bad. Real bad.

My little man was AWESOME
with a fishin' pole.

I came home feeling bloated (yeah, you all wanted to know that, I’m sure), tired and completely addicted to food. You know that feeling when you’re not REALLY hungry but you just kind of want to eat? Well, that is a food addiction popping up to say hello and reminding you that you are not in charge quite as much as you would like to be. My addiction is usually kept at bay by planning meals, having a number of healthy snack options available and also by doing recipe and food research. When I am filling my body with essential nutrients and not wasting space in my stomach and cells with crap, then I find that my cravings subside and I don’t have the nagging desire to ‘munch’ all day long. I’m scared of the self-discipline that will be required to re-boot my toxic body but ever fiber of my being is screaming for good, solid nutrients.

At this point I wish I could have been the amazing person who could “Just Say No” (remember that fancy drug slogan?) every time a bowl of chips were left on the counter or when a bag of starbursts were found lying around after the 382^nd ‘treat’ was given to the children. Some of you might say, “Um, it’s a vacation, you’re supposed to eat bad and have a good time”, and I would not be sure that I agree. (Seriously, I’m not SURE yet, I’m working this all out in my head.) I don’t like the shock and fatigue I feel when I chuck this way of eating to the wind. I mean, I adopted this life-style because I felt like it was the right thing to do, not just for my family’s health but also, for environmental sustainability. I don’t want to ‘take a vacation’ from health, I don’t want to feel like the way we eat is so hard so that I need a break from it a few times a year. I want to love our life, just as it is today, will all the benefits it offers. Now, if I can enjoy this life, health and all but just transplant it to the beach a few times a year, then I’m golden!

Until next time!!!!!

This trip was good for me. I realized how weak I am. I was humbled. I pray that in the next venture to the mental land of ‘vacationing’ that I will hang in there and be true to who I am and not go running the opposite direction. We’re all a work in progress and I’m thankful that there is grace for me J

So what IS Tuesday Night Dinner? Well, let me tell you.

So Tuesday night dinner is a little something that started when I was in college. A pastor from our church and his wife used to invite a bunch of us college students over for dinner so that at least once a week we could have a good home-cooked meal. It gave me a little bit of community where I needed it most. Well, here I am, a wife and mother of three little people who sees a need here in my town for community so the Man and I decided that once a month we would invite couples in our church over for dinner who just needed a night to connect. We invited people that we knew were in the same place in life as we are (i.e., young children, busy schedules) but we left the invitation open to each of these people to invite others who may need to connect. And so Tuesday night dinners began. (They used to be on Monday, so if I ever type Monday Night Dinner, that’s why!) Now once a month (every week would take a miracle) we fill our house with 25+ adults and an even larger number of children and we provide a “main course” and most people bring a side, drinks or a dessert. It is so much fun and we all just talk, let our kids play and do life together. It is wild… wildly refreshing. We all need community, we need people around us to see our good and our bad and then just be okay with it. God created us for fellowship and I am so glad He did. I get to hang out with some of the most amazing people I know because of it!

Introduction

Hi, my name is Rebekah Nysewander and I’m a recovering sugar-aholic. Seriously, I love sugar. I would eat it around the clock if someone did a research study and found that a diet of pure sweets was all you needed to feel good and be healthy. Sadly, however, it is not and the idea of that research paper being published is right up there with pigs flying and hell freezing over. So, how do I live in the light of that?

Well, I have been a fairly ‘clean’ eater for the past couple years. I shopped organics at the local Whole Foods, we would visit our town’s farmers market on Saturday mornings, and we ate homemade food around the table 6 out of 7 nights of the week. Some how though I still didn’t have the energy I longed for and I still struggled with massive cravings. I realized that even though we were eating organic food, we were still consuming large quantities of sugar in breads, snack foods, desserts, etc.

Family adventure at the dollar store (never a dull moment)

So this blog is my journey to health and whole living. We will be experimenting with recipes, some organic, vegan, gluten free, vegetarian… Look out! It’s going to be fun! I will be posting my weekly menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as some recipes that coincide and also give updates to how I feel as I walk through this. Let me mention that I am married with three children (5,4 and 2) so I’ll let you know what the verdict is after each week of CLEAN eating! Thanks for joining me in this journey, it should be interesting  :)