Two Birds, One Stone

I'm not really into killing birds, but I've discovered a very simple principle that has helped me with two significant issues in my life. How I got here is an interesting story.

In my former life, I used food as an emotional escape. I didn't know this about myself until I started cutting out other escapes. As my options were narrowed, I noticed that throughout the day - when I felt stuck, weary, confused or any variety of other difficult emotion - I turned to a little snicky snacky to get me over the hump. Several times a day. Not so healthy snacks. Not to mention that in my former life I was dragging my feet about meal prep - so that even our meals weren't very healthy. Translation: days on end with no vegetables being served.

As God began to shine the spotlight on the escape I was deriving from food, I began to panic. NOOOOOO, I don't want to deal with this too!! Take my computer, take my iPod, take my books and magazines, but don't take my peanut butter and honey sandwiches!!!!

Alas, God, in his extreme goodness, did not let me off the hook. I remembered a "cleansing diet" I had been prescribed by a naturopath several years ago (6 1/2 to be exact). It is set up with rigid guidelines to help a person cleanse the toxins from their system without agitating their compromised digestive system. No dairy, no breads, no pasta, no sugar, no red meat, no flour. . . basically, nothing processed. The closer to it's original form, the better. You might be asking, "What can you eat on this torturous diet?" Which, I feel, is a very valid question! I was "allowed" fruits (not citrus), vegetables (not raw), whole grains (think oats, barley, quinoa), and 10% of my intake could include chicken or fish. You might be thinking, as was I, "What about Dairy Queen and Red Robin, and Fettucine alfredo for goodness sake?"

Well, it became abundantly clear to me that this was what God was asking of me. They were parameters I understood, and I knew it was a safe diet, because I had done it before. To be clear, this was more for me about nutrition than weight loss - although the side affect of weight loss is major icing on the cake for this kind of self-torture. And torturous it seemed at times. I did not do this easily. I wrestled. Oh, I stayed true to my commitment for the most part - although I did eat that piece of pizza because my sister-in-law made it and she volunteered that she would feel offended if I didn't eat any so that I could have one with a clear conscience about my "diet." Surely personal relationships should outweigh any voluntary dietary restrictions? But I digress. For the most part I respected my God inspired, self-imposed diet, but I didn't like it. I "kicked against the goads."

However, an amazing thing was happening. After the first week of feeling tired, starving, and generally grumpy, I began to feel great. As the weeks progressed I found myself with more bounce in my step, more healthy inclinations in my food choices, and even out for a run one day. (In case you didn't know, running has been on my list of taboo items in recent years - not because I don't want to, but because in my former life it hurt too bad.)

So, since time has gotten away from me and it's time to go get the kids up a rolling this morning, I will wrap this up in a hurry. The bottom line is that there were so few foods I was allowed to eat that sounded good, I just quit eating so much.

Which brings me to the second area of life that needed help. In my former life I routinely stayed up too late and was tired all the time. In order to support my late nights - I almost always had a bedtime snack. In the midst of my "cleansing", nothing sounded good to eat - so I just went to bed.

So, that's the simple principle I have to offer this morning - When you're hungry, go to bed - it kills two birds with one stone.