Holiday Health Support

Hi,

I just got an e-mail from a group of women who support each other in following the raw food life style. They were offering to e-mail a different smoothie recipe each day for the 24 days before Christmas (I assume) as a way to help support one another in getting through the holidays unscathed. They are charging $24 for the service. (If you are interested in maintaining your weight loss during the holiday you may be interested in trying it out. Here is the URL: http://www.greensmoothiequeen.com/ )

I am not willing to cough up the moola, but I think it is a great idea to have a plan to help get you through the holidays.

I have been considering what I shall do about Thanksgiving. I had three different invitations from friends, and have chosen one in particular and may visit one of the others afterward. But the thing that concerns me is that I have now found out that after eating good healthy raw vegetables for quite a while now, my body no longer tolerates a lot of cooked food. I have on occasion eaten some cooked food but I am no longer satisfied with the results that I can now distinguish in my body. Cooked food just sort of "sits" in my stomach so I am becoming reluctant to eat it. The day after eating cooked food I find that my sinuses start to drip again, my feet swell up again, and I really do just feel "out of sorts" the next day.

I had originally thought that I could go off the program for one day but what popped into my head was recalling last year when I went off the deep end three times at Thanksgiving, alone and started the eating machine that lasted for months. I can not do that anymore. I don't want to do that anymore. My body will not let me do that anymore. So maybe I should plan on taking a couple of raw dishes to add to the dinner and then only partaking of them, plus a little turkey.

I am thinking that maybe I should make a good salad and a fresh raw apple pie. I have not made a raw (unbaked) apple pie before but I have seen a video on YouTube about how to do it and think it should be pretty easy. In the video they used walnuts that had been blended to very small pieces and mixed them with a little raw apple that was also blended to applesauce texture. They mixed these two things together to make the crust which they pressed into a pie plate. Then they put in a layer of fresh raspberries, piled on the thinly sliced raw apples and some seasonings (cinnamon and nutmeg, I think) and topped it with more walnut bits. That is it. No baking needed. They cut it and tried it at that point. It truly is an uncooked raw apple pie.

I was beginning to balk at the raspberries because of the price, but I saw some in the store for about five dollars and if I only buy one box (1/2 pint), I should be able to afford it. I am sure it really added to the flavor of the apple pie even though I don't really care so much for raspberries. Maybe blue berries would suit my tastes better. I will have to consider it.

Perhaps I should make and take the raw stuffing that I saw Ann Marie Gianni make instead of the pie. It would be a little less costly than the pie, but appetizing and appealing none the less. Here is the link if you'd like to see it: (  http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2010/10/06/raw-food-recipe-for-a-fall-apple-cranberry-stuffing/  )  -- there is an odd blank spot in the middle where everything goes black, but it soon continues. This recipe seems very promising to me.

The next thing to consider is how to respond to offers of sweets and other pornographic food. You know they are called "goodies" but they are really "badies." The only proper response is "No, thank you." You may have to repeat yourself many times, too, because well meaning loved ones don't like to take "No, thank you" as a response to what they have lovingly but misguidedly prepared. You will have to be prepared to disappoint someone. I am thinking that since I have always been tempted by them, I may be tempted again, but I cannot afford to indulge in them. "No thank you" must be my consistent response. What if they ask "Why?"  That is a perfect opportunity to share what you are doing and why, but that could take up the rest of the conversation for the afternoon. If you need to keep it simple, then "Health Issues" is usually a response they will respect and not continue to press you with.

I remember what Dr. Mercola said about each meal affecting your body. A good meal affecting it in good ways and a bad meal affecting it in bad ways. Just because the holidays are coming is really no good reason to start eating dirt. I said "dirt" to shock the mind. We don't eat dirt and never have, but what if you have finally come to know that the food you grew up eating and loved to eat because of addiction is not really better for human consumption than eating dirt? Those "goodies" are made from ingredients that have been striped of any nutrition they may have originally had, then blended with artificial ingredients to make them look good for a l-o-n-g time on the shelf. Even if they are home made they have been baked, boiled and fried in order to change the consistency which makes them more like imitation food or a science project, than what the Good Lord has created for us and given to us to eat raw and naturally.

I know how I am and I might just happen to forget all this when faced with temptation. So I shall begin to pray about that now. In the Bible it says to "watch and pray" lest you enter into "temptation." I am going to include all the verses I found on this:

Mt 26:41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Mr 13:33  Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

Mr 14:38  Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

Lu 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Not only prayer is needed but watchfulness. You have to stay on the alert and remain on guard, especially in the area of your addiction. The Lord will help me get thought this, and He will help you, too, if you ask Him too. Then continue to pray and continue to watch and be on guard during the entire holiday season.

My Holiday Health Support is Jesus and following His instructions. There is not anything or anyone who is able to help me more than Jesus is able to. He has said that "watchfulness and prayer" is my part.

1Pe 1:2  Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

According to Peter in the above verse, obedience comes from the Holy Spirit, so if I watch and pray and let His Spirit work in me, in my heart, I shall overcome through obedience to what I know to be the truth.

May you be blessed to remain actively engaged in supporting your own health during the Holiday Season. Jesus is the reason for the season. Let us not turn this season into a reason to disobey Him.

Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation, for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

It is the watching and the praying that helps a weak flesh to overcome the jolly folly of the world.

What are your plans for the holiday season? Are you planning to obey or disobey what you know is right for your body and your soul? What about your family? What are you planning to feed them?

As concerns my health: I am planning on taking fresh raw food I can eat to gatherings. I am planning on saying "No, thank you" to the temptations of pornographic food. I am planning on being on guard and praying to stay on track for every meal and get me through victorious. I am trusting the Holy Spirit to bring to my remembrance the reasons I need to stay on track, too.

Lord, please help me to remain faithful, even during times when I know beforehand that I have failed before. Please help me to not fail again. Did you know that a synonym for the word "fail" is "quit."  Don't quit doing what is right. Trust in the Lord and you will come out victorious on the other side.

Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied through trusting in Jesus Christ,

God bless you and your endeavors,

Be back soon,

--Marcia