I was about to start this sentence, "At church last week," but I didn't want everyone to turn tail and run. Yes, what I am about to unveil is in regards to what I believe, but at most, I'm just sharing my own experience, not preaching, not trying to set the example, not trying to sway anyone to my opinion, not trying to, well, do anything other than write about myself and the reasons behind my choices because I like sharing information and feeling understood.
To make a long story as short as possible, I was inspired by Matthew 13 - the parable of the sower. I have all intentions of being like the 4th type of soil, that hears and receives the word, understands it, and does it/gets results. But I think with all the good intentions in this world, it's easy to forget to actually set things in motion, to go and do. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that the heavens are still open and that God calls prophets today, just as in the Bible, and that we still receive present day revelation. The Word of Wisdom was originally given as revelation in the early 1800s. For it's entirety: http://lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/89?lang=eng
It is the reason we believe we shouldn't drink coffee, tea, or alcohol, or smoke/chew tobacco. But so much attention is paid to the don'ts that the do's have all been overlooked. Just to level the field, and be little more relatable, this is very much the same as Daniel 1, particularly after verse 8. http://lds.org/scriptures/ot/dan/1?lang=eng *pulse is foods made of seeds, grains, etc.
So on Sunday, my first meeting a lot was said, but the only part that stuck with me was on listening to God's prophets. Sunday School focused on the parable of the sower and scripture about experimenting on the word, likening the word to a seed. http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/32.28%20-%2034?lang=eng#27 And my last class was on the word of wisdom. These three principals really clicked together for me and I felt impressed to 'experiment on the word,' and see what happened if I 'ate meat sparingly,' particularly in 'cold and famine,' when there are no crops. (reference link above - the 1st one) I live in the desert, and crops are shipped in from all over the world, so I don't think cold or famine describe my situation. I did some scientific research on vegetarian diets and learned some things about animal by products as well, and as far as health is concerned, have grouped them with meat to suit my purposes.
I have always always always struggled with weight. I only lose weight if I starve myself or eradicate carbs from my diet. So if I'm not starving myself or dangerously restricting healthy foods, I am gaining weight. That has naturally made me feel like carbohydrates are to blame. And to be honest, I love WHOLE grains and am very picky to not let processed/white products in. But WHAT IF "in consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days," no carb diets that really do take weight off are a decoy, distracting us from truth, that to heal our bodies we need to nourish them the way God intended? All the success I've had over and over and over again from losing weight by restricting carbs has surely blinded me. The key phrase is 'over and over and over again.' Maybe instead of looking at carbs being at fault for making me gain weight back, I should be looking at the method I lost the weight and figure out a way to lose it for good. Our bodies need plants: grains, vegetables, legumes, fruit. We can only restrict for so long, and at what cost? Trading fiber, antioxidants, nutrients for saturated fats and animal protein. Except, it's not a trade because I always have the latter in my diet. The first two weeks when restricting carbs, I lose almost a pound a day. After two weeks, it slows to half that, and by four weeks I very rarely continue to lose and have never made it to six weeks. And I shudder to think what my blood chemistry looks like at that point. I can't keep up the restriction because the 'high' of losing weight is gone, since it doesn't last more than a month. Plus our bodies are designed for healthy grains and fruits.
On my carb-less diets, I rarely feel hungry because my blood sugar is constantly neutralized and don't have the natural dips and peaks. But I still FEEL restricted. I still LONG for fruits, or some fresh baked multi-grain bread. I get to tame this craving with an artificially sweetened fudgsicle.
Today, I made some whole grain pitas. I made enough dough for 8, and between me and the girls, I thought we'd polish them off. Well, the first two were a learning experience and in the garbage can, the girls split one, while I stuffed some brown rice and veggies into another. I was SO full. And it wasn't very big. I cooked up two more because half each for the girls wasn't enough, but another whole one was almost too much. (These things are seriously only five or six inches in diameter.) I put a very thin spread of jam (like if you dipped a knife in juice and wiped it on your bread) on the last little bit and we each had a bite or two and were done. There are still two balls of dough I had to put in the fridge.
So it seems to me that this new regime makes it so I don't feel hungry, and not just by stifling changes in blood sugar. I don't feel restricted that there was no meat or no sour cream or no butter. I wanted just a tad of sweet at the end and I got it, completely remorse (and artificial ingredient) free.
So here is my experiment. I am going to focus what I eat around grains, vegetables, legumes, and fruit. I will not eat meat, eggs, or dairy for at least two weeks, though I endeavor for a complete lifestyle change longterm and hopefully my children will learn correctly how to nourish their bodies so they don't have the struggles I have had. I'm also going to limit vegetable oils as much as possible and essentially eat a fat free vegan diet, eating only the fats that occur naturally in plants (olives, avocados, etc.) complete with the fiber and nutriets the plant offers (as opposed to just oil that's been squeezed from a plant, sitting fiberless and nutrient-less in a bottle on the shelf.) I don't know if I will cut out the sweeter side, I want to learn how to make desserts out of natural ingredients, but won't do it daily - maybe once a week, and definitely no white sugar or processed sweets.
I'm very excited for this change and to be able to focus more on taking care of my body, listening to what it needs rather than continuing the cycle of having an obsessive need to lose weight and recovering from the restriction with an emotional binge.
