Sometimes I worry about myself. It probably isn’t normal to pick up a book and quickly decide to become the book. Apparently I’m not the kind of person who can just cheer people on from the sidelines. I need to participate too. I haven’t always been this way. Being a pleaser by nature, I’ve spent most of my life doing what was expected, not rocking the boat. I didn’t really know who I was.
Call it a midlife crisis if you must, but I call it getting healthy. At the beginning of the year, I decided to take control of my health. I started by going back to the chiropractor after a 10 year hiatus. He discovered a lot of issues, mainly adrenal, which helped explain my fatigue and anxiety issues.
Next, I embarked on a Whole 30, strict Paleo diet challenge. You can read about that by going back to February 1st in the archives.
Then I discovered Young Living Essential Oils. I made some radical changes in my lifestyle by eating clean foods, dumping OTC and prescription medications, and using the oils successfully as a healthy, natural alternative.
But clearly I wasn’t don’t yet. I wasn’t weird enough. At a recent clergy spouse retreat, I thought this book looked interesting and decided to buy it.
Before even cracking it open, I did a Facebook shout out to see if any of my friends were interested in a virtual book club. I got some very positive responses right away from people who had read it and one taker on the book club. So I pried myself away from the internet and settled in with the book.
Good job, Jen! I was hooked before the introduction. By the end of the introduction, I was trying to sell my teenaged daughters on the vision and reading laugh out loud excerpts to my husband. I also decided to try the experiment.
Here’s the concept. We are a culture of excess as Americans. A household income of over $50,000 per year puts you in the top 1% of the world’s wealth. Gulp. Is it possible in our society to eliminate excess and lower our standard of living? I sure hope so. That is my main goal here. I’ve been seriously stressing out about finances even though we are in the 1%. So the experiment is to focus on one of 7 areas of excess each month.
Month #1 is food. For a month, I can only eat 7 kinds of food. Jen chose: eggs, chicken, whole wheat bread, sweet potatoes, spinach, apples, and avocados. I think it’s a good list. I was tempted to do rice instead of bread but decided to go with it. It’s not about the paleo diet or even eating really cheap items. It’s more about making do with fewer choices. I’m interpreting the bread a little differently. I’m thinking wheat. It doesn’t have to be whole wheat. It can be a bagel, etc., just not a sugary baked good. The only flavor extras are olive oil, salt, and pepper.
It will be interesting to see how I do with bread since I’ve been mostly avoiding it for 9 months. I was just talking to a friend about sourdough being beneficial because of the fermentation process. I plan to make my own. While that’s cooking, so to speak, I stocked up on some Central Market sourdough. Note to self: stay away from Central Market. It’s like a Texas version of Whole Foods. I stocked up on the other 6 items as well as some household products, dog food, and healthy choices for the rest of the family. Total? Barely under $200. At least I resisted the temptation to buy ground bison for our last meal tonight.
Observation #1: It is too dang expensive to be healthy in America!
I am not going to make my kids eat like this (read: starve), but I’m going to gradually pare down their excess. And yes, I spent way too much on that coffee …
Tomorrow is October 1st, so that will be day 1. Feel free to join the discussion! This is a month long fast of sorts, and I look forward to seeing what God teaches me. I would love to hear your observations as well.
Outside the Cave 