Proverbs 31 - Week 3

I apologize that I have kept you waiting for the update to the Proverbs 31 study. It really has been fabulous and I am more organized and getting more accomplished than I ever thought possible in such a short period of time.

Week 3 of the Proverbs 31 study was entitled Healthy Eating. While I am in no way an organic eater, food purist or vegetarian, I thought that I did pretty well. I went into this week thinking I wouldn't learn much since I have been focusing on eating healthy for some time, but boy, was I wrong!

This week begins with a cleaning out of your pantry. While that may seem like a daunting task, the big challenge this week (and into next week) is a vegetable and water 10 day challenge based on Daniel 1:11-15. You will find, if you read this passage in varying translations, there is a vast difference on the definition of "pulse." Some definitions take this to be literally nothing but vegetables and water, some indicate that it is a mixture of nuts, seeds and grains that were ground together and eaten as a mush, and some give no definition other than pulse and since I am not a Biblical scholar, I don't know what the original language intended this to be. I attempted to use my own definition of anything that grows (vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, grains and lentils) and also include milk for calcium, but exclude any other animal products (meat, poultry, eggs, animal fats). The study also goes on to include limiting your sugar intake. It was hard and I can tell you now that I have not completed the 10 day challenge and have no intentions of doing so. It's not that my body can't handle it, it's that my will-power can't! Maybe this is why Weight Watchers has been so successful for me in the past. They don't tell you that you can't have something, just that you have to use good common sense about what you eat and how much of it.

I did try the cabbage soup that I read about on Donna Partow's website. While the soup tasted good and I'm sure the nutrition content is through the roof, it does get boring quickly. Fortunately, I was able to freeze half for another week. In the actual cabbage soup diet, you do add in other things besides the soup during the week which must make it easier. Since you avoid carbs and have very little protien, it isn't recommended for more than a week at a time and then a two week break between. Do not try this or any diet without consulting your physician.

Here are some of the study highlights from the week:

• "When they [Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego] chose food you provided (vegetables and water) rather than food the world had prepared, they were blessed."
• "It's said that the reason the lions couldn't eat him [Daniel] was because he was all backbone. Unfortunately many Christians today are all wishbone and no backbone."
• "Self-control is your personal city wall. It's your first line of defense."
• "To get an idea of what a reasonable portion of food looks like, draw an imaginary line through the middle of your plate. One-half of your plate should be filled with vegetables and fruits. Divide the other half into two equal parts: one section for protien and the other for whole grains." (Also referenced is a great website: http://www.theportionplate.com/ )
• "The United States recently ranked forty-second in logevity among nations of the world, behind Guam and Jordan."
• "...living a stressful (translate that: refusing to trust God) lifestyle."
• "Is not life more important than food?" Matt 6:25
• "Psalm 103:5 says that God 'satisfies your desires with good things.' Learn to satisfy your hunger with god things: time with God or good friends, fresh air, long walks."
• "Don't live to eat; eat to live."
• "Begin using an eight- or nine-inch plate, rather than the typical eleven- or twelve-inch dinner plate. Don't take seconds of anything but vegetables...never, ever clean your plate!"
• "Because we didn't take time to plan or prepare ahead, our waistlines (and cholesterol levels) will pay the price. You realize, of course, that the reason it's called fast food is because it's better to fast than to eat the food?"
• "...let me suggest the book Once-a-Month Cooking by Mary-Beth Lagerborg and Mimi Wilson." (A great book! I have used it and it works very well, the main point is that you plan ahead and use one day for shopping and one day for cooking.)

The weekly checkup was a breeze this week. I don't know if it is because I got through those struggles with being too hard on myself or what, but it may just be that I am building on the principles from the previous week and leaning on God's grace. I hope you are enjoying these updates, more next week.

In Christ,

Christina