Eat This Not That

Do you ever get overwhelmed by all of the voices directing you to which diet is best.  Food can be downright confusing at times.

Recently I reached a place where I was just tired of it all.  Tired of trying to get it all figured out.  It started with this paranoia that I had done something wrong.  I was doing some research on baby food when I came across countless articles, testimonials etc. about how vegan fed babies really suffer and lack key nutrients only found in meat, dairy and eggs.  Some even died because of it!  Luckily we were just getting into the whole solid food stage, which is pretty much a vegan diet, but where were we to go from here?

I was reading everything I could, doing countless hours of research and feeling quite overwhelmed.  I was just tired of food in general.  Why was it the cause of so many problems?  Why do people get so passionate about it?  And who was I supposed to believe?

And then all of the sudden I became very aware of a fact that had been there all along...Food was never going to be perfect no matter what I ate, what diet I followed to a T or how strict I became.  And it all goes back to an incident that happened oh so long ago.  I don't think Eve would have ever had to worry about her figure or calories had in not been for that very wrong bite she took.  Food has always been to sustain us, and I think even to be enjoyed.  But in that one moment - it changed everything.

But just as we can find freedom from any sin that so easily insnares us, we can be liberated from the restraints that food has on us as well. It saddens me that so many people are suffering because of food.  It's no lie that it is one of the biggest factors actually killing Americans.  I come from a family riddled by obesity.  But that's not the only side of it.  In fact I think there are many sides to it.  People dealing with all kinds of eating disorders, and even being obsessed with all things healthy can be damaging.  But there is a choice in the matter.  A better way.  And that's what I'm choosing.

To continually trying to seek balance.  To fuel my body in the right way.  A balanced way.  For me it's a matter of keeping myself in check and not letting food become the place of my contentment, where I run to seek comfort.  Nor is it to be obsessive over health and become so fixated on it that it rules me.  I feel like I've always tried to be gracious towards others and the way they eat, but I wasn't being gracious with myself.

Just some food for thought.