You are what you eat....

I sit here nursing a headache that plagued me most of the night and despite medicine and an icepack, still woke me well before the sun peeped over the horizon. I had done it again...I had a "bad eating" day yesterday and today I was paying the price.

Now don't get me wrong...I am in no way a health nut that lives on berries and granola. I love a good burger, and cake is a weakness of mine; but lately I've been trying much harder to watch what I eat. I am trying to drop a few of my middle-age-spread pounds and get back to my "fighting" weight as it were. In doing so, I've been a LOT more careful about what I eat...well, most of the time. There are days when I fail, like yesterday, and today I can feel it.

You'd think that by my age I'd remember that what I take into my body makes a difference, but I still fall prey at times to whatever is "easy" or "looks tempting." Yesterday it was a huge bar-b-que sandwich - make that TWO huge bar-b-que sandwiches - and a really big handful of sugary creme-filled cookies. It sounds awful now, but at the time it was easy and sounded good, so I ate them.

A couple of weeks ago I did something similar...I woke up and was feeling kind of lazy so instead of fixing myself something for breakfast, I decided to eat one of those Swiss Rolls that look so yummy and all I had to do was open the package. Immediately after eating it I felt awful - not guilty - just yucky! My body almost yelled at me, "What are you doing to me?!?!?! Couldn't you have at least eaten cereal?!" After a night of rest, instead of reaching for something that would fuel my day, I chose junk. Bad move. It took hours to shake that sluggish feeling and get on with my day.

All this food...make that junk-food...has got me thinking. If what I put in my physical body makes such a difference, doesn't it make sense that what I put into my spiritual body makes a difference as well? My physical body will rise up and yell at me with a headache or that weighed down feeling. My spiritual body sends me signals, too if I'll just pay attention. I start to worry, I feel a lot of self doubt, I get jealous...you get the picture. I just feel yucky.

Don't get me wrong. I see nothing wrong with eating that snack cake occasionally or those cookies. The key is that FIRST I have to have consumed what my body NEEDS to function, then I can have the treats on the side in moderation. My problem comes when I reach first for the easy option and then realize I've stuffed my day's intake with junk. I only have some many calories in a day; I can choose to use them on junk or on something that will fuel my body. (Honestly, no one needs too much sugar in their tank!)

This takes planning. If I don't decide ahead of time what to do, when I am tired I will almost always pick the easiest option. That snack cake will seem too enticing and those cookies will seem an easy source of energy if I don't use my head and realize both are just empty calories and will only serve to pull be down.

Spiritually, I also have to think ahead and make decisions of what I will and will not do. Otherwise, I will be tempted to go with the flow or just fill my hours with sweets (you know what I mean - junk tv, computer time, etc.), and I will find I've filled up on junk with no room left for the nutrition of the Word and time with God. Before long I'll feel yucky and out of sorts and wonder why!

If the old saying "You are what you eat" is true, I need to take a good hard look at what I consume both physically and spiritually. As one commentary I read put it, "Our body can work only with the food it is given." I only get so many calories and hours in my day. How I use them is up to me.

Oh, and by the way, after a healthy breakfast and some water, my headache is gone.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:1-4)

"Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11).

For a good article on spiritual food, check out this link: Spiritual food

I hate to cook.

I admit it. I hate to cook. I know this makes me appear as less than the perfect wife and mother, but to be very honest, I've never liked cooking! I do however love to eat. My most favorite food is something prepared by someone else...and of course cleaned up by someone else. While we have a number of television shows and even an entire network dedicated to the joys of cooking, I have to wonder if I'm not the only one out there who has this aversion to food preparation. I'm thinking if I were, the number of restaurants and fast food places would be significantly LESS!

Of course, this aversion to food preparation does nothing at all for my health. I will eat a little powdered donut that contains little or no nutritional value before I will take the simple steps to scramble myself an egg. (I do, however, take the time to make the coffee! Some things just can't be skipped.) After a hard day at work, I'd much rather call in a pizza order to pick up on my way home rather than stop by the grocery and choose something to prepare, then take it home and have to cook. In a pinch, I even buy some frozen concoction that only needs to be heated in the microwave. The results, I gain weight, lose energy, and shorten my productivity considerably....and I become less and less adept in the kitchen!

I find I'm having more difficulty even knowing WHAT to prepare so that my diet has variety and value! I may look online just hoping something will tempt my taste-buds and somehow be effortless to prepare! Somehow nothing really fits both options...so if money allows, I go elsewhere and have someone 'feed' me.

This morning, however, I realized my lack of food preparation ability is not just a physical problem. I can easily fall into the same "poor diet trap" with my spiritual diet as well. I'm worn out, so it's easier to feast on the junk food provided by the television rather than pick up a book and read. The thought of picking up my Bible and actually preparing a meal from scratch never even enters my mind. I fill up instead on whatever is placed before me. I may know that it's not good for me, but I'm tired and just want to consume something. Then, just like with those little powdered donuts, I'll feel better for a moment; but it will be followed by a crash and a craving for more of what gave me my momentary high. Talk about a vicious circle!

Occasionally I may pick up some already prepared food by way of a devotional provided online or in a book. These offer nutrition that is much needed, but to be honest, I wonder how it was prepared. How did they know where to look? How did they think to combine the ingredients in this way? I like the 'taste' but I wish I knew how to prepare this for myself.

At least once a week, I go out and eat at a full meal prepared for the masses - church. It is delicious and I leave full and satisfied and happy. Too bad I won't get to eat like that again for an entire week.

I think I'm getting a bit tired of suffering spiritual malnutrition because I'm just too lazy, or afraid, to prepare my own spiritual food. It might mean I have to pass up the powdered donuts and actually dig to find the ingredients, but I'm pretty sure the Bible can provide something that is much sweeter and definitely a whole lot healthier than what the world has to offer. Maybe it's time I started to "read the labels" as it were and figure out just what kind of junk I have been consuming. I can still learn from others, but it's okay to try my hand at preparing food from scratch. I'll be sure to keep a few recipe books, (Bible dictionaries and commentaries), nearby should I get stuck on how to prepare an ingredient for the meal. I'll probably mess up a few dishes, and maybe create a disaster or two; but perhaps in the process I'll also learn how to "feed" myself.

I wonder what will happen to my spiritual energy and zest for life when I start doing this. Who knows, maybe I'll prepare something delicious and even convince my children to try their hand at doing the same!

For now, I think it's time to go and fix some breakfast. Something simple should do for a start.

Psalm 34:8~ "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."
Psalm 119:103 ~"How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"
1 Peter 2: 2-3 ~ "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."