Hydrate! Hydrate! Hydrate!

I admit, water and I were not friends for years.

I was born with a sweet-tooth (as some like to say), so naturally, anything that didn't have sugar was my enemy. Throughout the years, as my diet changed, I began to actually enjoy fruits and vegetables and other natural/unsweetened foods, but I still struggled with one foe:

Water.

Yes, pure, unsweetened, unflavored, unadulterated water and I just didn't get along. Growing up in the Caribbean, whenever a parent or family member encouraged me to drink water, they ALWAYS gave me ICE-COLD water. It was not enough for me to sip it either; they always gave me a whole glass full of the cold stuff and expect me to down the whole thing at once. This was very painful to me (I didn't know I had sensitive teeth until much later) so I didn't enjoy drink pure water for years because of it. But, a few years ago, I learned that one should really consume room-temperature water instead, so with this amazing piece of news, my water reform began ;-)

I started to (somewhat) enjoy drink room temperature water, but with that, I still struggled to drink as much water as was recommended. In the past, it was believed one needed to drink 8 glasses of water (at 8oz a glass), but quite recently, that is believed to be erroneous. A nutritionist I saw a few years ago suggested drinking 1/2 my body weight in pure water, so I have been using this guideline instead.

With my water reformation, I still struggled however to get 6 to 7 glasses of water. I tried using water apps and water charts (lol) but still was non-compliant until I bought a water bottle. Yes! A water bottle. With this apparatus (I bought water bobble! It filters the water as you drink!!) I was able to both cut down on the number of bottled waters I purchased, and measure my water intake easier, and it works!!!

As added incentive, my wedding is coming up, and I have been (for a few months now) concentrating on my diet and water intake. I do believe very strongly that what your skin puts out is directly correlated to what you put in (what you consume), so as I concentrate on hydrating, cutting down on processed foods, deleted food with added salt and sugar, I am seeing the wonderful changes in my skin.

So to all I encourage you to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! You can thank me later ;-)

Diet Reform Anniversary

Today is June 12th, and it's not just my cousin's birthday, but it's also my anniversary!

It is the sixth anniversary of being a vegetarian! That's right! Since my first mission trip in 2009, I challenged myself to eat more vegetarian which then turned into being vegetarian from that summer onwards.

I want to glorify The LORD in all that I do and in all that I put into this bodily temple, so this continues my journey into a healthier diet.

When I initially started to cut meat and animal products out of my diet, I immediately saw a change in my health. The biggest improvement has been seen in my blood results whenever I go for my physical check-ups. I recall one check up when my cholesterol was lower than average and the nurse got worried and said she couldn't read it! She didn't even know how to decipher it so she called for the doctor but he explained my numbers were perfect. :-) Yes, my blood testifies about my diet. 

Society sometimes concentrates so much on external beauty (facials, cleansers, make-up, enhancements, plastic surgery, etc), that it sometimes forget it is more important to concentrate on the internal health of the body. Ultimately, what you put into your body will come out (i.e. it will reveal itself physically).

I thank the LORD for keeping me and teaching me how to live life-after-meat, haha. I also praise HIM for I recall in scripture that the life is indeed in the blood and I have witnessed this in my own body. Is your blood testifying about your diet. Be sure even your blood and diet glorifies The LORD!

 

Counsels on Diet and Foods (Chpt 2)

I am still reading through ''Counsels on Diet and Foods'' and I am in chapter 2 right now. It is not a book you speed through, but a book you read and reform as the Holy Spirit convicts your eating habits.

 

Here are some quotes that woke me up:

 

I call this one ''Sabbath Meal Reform''

We should not provide for the Sabbath a more liberal supply or a greater variety of food than for other days. Instead of this, the food should be more simple, and less should be eaten, in order that the mind may be clear and vigorous to comprehend spiritual things. A clogged stomach means a clogged brain. The most precious words may be heard and not appreciated, because the mind is confused by an improper diet. By overeating on the Sabbath, many do more than they think, to unfit themselves for receiving the benefit of its sacred opportunities.

 

On preparation of food for Camp Meetings:

I have been shown that some of our camp meetings are far from being what the Lord designed they should be. The people come unprepared for the visitation of God's Holy Spirit. Generally the sisters devote considerable time before the meeting to the preparation of garments for the outward adorning, while they entirely forget the inward adorning, which is in the sight of God of great price. There is also much time spent in needless cooking, in the preparation of rich pies and cakes and other articles of food that do positive injury to those who partake of them. Should our sisters provide good bread and some other healthful kinds of food, both they and their families would be better prepared to appreciate the words of life, and far more susceptible to the influence of the Holy Spirit.

 

On moderation on good foods:

Even if you are strict in the quality of your food, do you glorify God in your bodies and spirits which are His, by partaking of such a quantity of food? Those who place so much food upon the stomach, and thus load down nature, could not appreciate the truth should they hear it dwelt upon.

 

Bad eating leads to bad attitudes at church!

The abuses of the stomach by the gratification of appetite, are the fruitful source of most church trials. Those who eat and work intemperately and irrationally, talk and act irrationally. An intemperate man cannot be a patient man. It is not necessary to drink alcoholic liquors in order to be intemperate. The sin of intemperate eating, eating too frequently, too much, and of rich, unwholesome food, destroys the healthy action of the digestive organs, affects the brain, and perverts the judgment, preventing rational, calm, healthy thinking and acting. And this is a fruitful source of church trials.

 

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I am still on chapter two, but wanted to just highlight these on here. I will be posting those that speak the loudest to me in my blog with little to no comment; I will let the words speak for themselves.

 

*** To read ''Counsels on Diets and Foods'' online, go to  The EGW Estate or Words of Truth (with this site, you can download in PDF and/or print out).

Counsels on Diet and Foods

I have started reading the book, "Counsels on Diet and Foods" by Ellen G. White. I am just in the second chapter, and already, this book is FILLED with reproof, rebuke, correction and instruction in righteousness. It is not enough to keep the laws The LORD gave us on Mt. Sinai, we have to keep the laws the governs God's property; our bodily temples.

 

Here are quotes that got to me in chapter 1:

 

"The living organism is God's property. It belongs to Him by creation and by redemption; and by a misuse of any of our powers we rob God of the honor due to Him."

 

"A failure to care for the living machinery is an insult to the Creator. There are divinely appointed rules which if observed will keep human beings from disease and premature death."

 

"It is as truly a sin to violate the laws of our being as it is to break the ten commandments. To do either is to break God's laws. Those who transgress the law of God in their physical organism, will be inclined to violate the law of God spoken from Sinai."

 

"In the ancient Jewish service it was required that every sacrifice should be without blemish. In the text we are told to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. We are God's workmanship. The psalmist, meditating upon the marvelous work of God in the human frame, exclaimed, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. There are many who are educated in the sciences and are familiar with the theory of the truth, who do not understand the laws that govern their own being. God has given us faculties and talents; and it is our duty, as His sons and daughters, to make the best use of them. If we weaken these powers of mind or body by wrong habits or indulgence of perverted appetite, it will be impossible for us to honor God as we should."

 

"God requires the body to be rendered a living sacrifice to Him, not a dead or a dying sacrifice. The offerings of the ancient Hebrews were to be without blemish, and will it be pleasing to God to accept a human offering that is filled with disease and corruption? He tells us that our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost; and He requires us to take care of this temple, that it may be a fit habitation for His Spirit."

 

"God will not work a miracle to keep those from sickness who have no care for themselves, but are continually violating the laws of health, and make no efforts to prevent disease. When we do all we can on our part to have health, then may we expect that the blessed results will follow, and we can ask God in faith to bless our efforts for the preservation of health. He will then answer our prayer, if His name can be glorified thereby."

 

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I have a work of reform to do in my own diet. I pray you may read this book in it's entirety. It will greatly enrich your soul and will encourage you to do a diet reform in your life! You can read it for free online at The EGW Estate or Words of Truth (with this site, you can download in PDF and/or print out).