If
junk food is so bad for us, why do people keep saturating their bodies with it?
Most of us know that junk food is unhealthy but it can be a real struggle to
let it go. In spite of the fact we know that poor nutrition is related to heart
problems, high blood pressure and a host of other health ailments, many of us
eat it anyway. My own personal experiences
have mirrored this. I have been addicted to eating unhealthy food which are
foods that have no nutritional benefit. Withdrawing from them is just as
powerful as withdrawing from mind altering chemicals like drugs and or cigarettes.
But, changing our old eating habits is possible. It's a process and taking small steps towards the desired changes increases your chances of being successful.
Once I was honestly committed to changing my eating habits, I removed all
processed food from my cabinets. I know
me, if it’s there, I’m not going to eat some of it, I will eat all of it, at
that moment! Next, I started reading
labels to make sure I wasn’t defeating my goal by buying different food with
similar, or the same ingredients. These are very important steps if you are really ready to make a lifestyle change. As
I slowly began to eat healthier foods and stopped buying processed foods, I
noticed I didn’t want pizza, candy, ice cream, cakes and cookies as much.
I found ways to gradually incorporate more fruits and vegetables in my daily
regiment and I cut out all fried foods.
Next, I went on the Daniel fast with my Church for 30 days and we ate
fruit, veggies, nuts and baked or broiled fish.
Once those 30 days were up, I noticed a dramatic difference in the way I
felt inside. I felt lighter, I felt healthier and I was having more bowel movements
than I have ever had before. During the
last week of the fast, I started reflecting on all of my favorite foods I love
to eat. I could hardly wait to be able to eat all of the foods I was accustomed to eating. I couldn't wait to go back to eating foods that had no
nutritional value. My body ached for sugar, salt and fried foods. Before I realized it, I was constipated again and bloated from all of my favorite foods that had no nutritional value.
The blessing is, I could tell the difference
in the way my body felt (inside and out). My body experienced a dramatic difference between eating healthy foods and non nutritional foods, and I wanted to experience those healthy
feelings again. It was a process for me to enjoy eating a large salad every day because I rarely at vegetables. I incorporated salads into my daily eating regiment and started loving
how healthy I began to feel inside. I gave up processed salad dressing
with lots of sugar in it and I gave up cheese. Many of the salad dressing in health food stores
are organic, but many of them have organic sweeteners in them. For me, sugar is sugar and sweet is sweet. My brain can not tell the difference between health sweeteners and unhealthy sweeteners.
Like I said in a
previous blog, I eat (SOS), no added sugar, no added salt and no added oil. I
plan to begin making my own salad dressings soon. Ninety
days after I completed the 30 day Daniel fast, I took a HDL (Low-density lipoproteins
and high-density lipoproteins) test that focuses on low and high cholesterol numbers. These test determine your health level and
your susceptibility to heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, high blood pressure
and other illnesses. This was my turning point because I needed something to shock me into reality so that I could stop playing
“Russian Roulette” with my life. Although I have none of
those illnesses, the doctor told me I had an extensive amount of plaque which
would eventually restrict the blood flow to my heart. I was told I would
experiences all of the illnesses listed above and so many more within a 10 year
period; if I did not change my eating habits immediately.
The Word of God says in Isaiah 53:5, “…..By
His Stripes we are healed.” At that very moment, I realized this was my
healing as promised by God. I realized this was the evidence I needed to validate the Words in the
Book of Life, the Bible. I was given a 2nd chance at life and it was
up to me to take advantage of the blessing. There was something required of
me. Something I needed to do to make my 2nd chance at life possible. I had to be willing to do whatever
it took through prayer and fasting to get rid of that spirit of self-destruction
so that I could claim my healing. That spirit of gluttony that always led to
over eating and eating unhealthy foods had to go and it would not be easy to
get rid of because it had been with me most of my life.
The Word of God says it
is only through prayer and fasting that I can break some strong holds that kept me bound to a life of overweight and eating unhealthy foods. Learning what to eat and how to eat it was my struggle. But I came out of that doctors office determined to live a healthier lifestyle. I came out of that doctor’s office and I have
not given my old eating life style a 2nd thought. I don’t want to
spend my later years struggling mentally, physically, spiritually and
financially. Now I realize, healing simply means I have a choice to do it now
or suffer the consequences later. I am
the head and not the tail. I am first
and not last. I am the apple of Gods eye. My body is the temple of the Living
God. It all makes so much more sense now
and I choose to live a healthy lifestyle now and not suffer later because I
wasn’t willing to embrace God’s opportunity to be blessed beyond my “Wildest
dreams.”
So, I stopped eating all meat and seafood, all dairy, all fried foods,
and all white flour products. If
anything would have been hard to give up, it would have been cheese because I
ate a bag of it every week. To my surprise,
it wasn’t a struggle because I know now I can prevent heart attacks and strokes. I gave up all of my favorite unhealthy foods and I lost a lot
of weight. I used the bathroom so much, I thought something was wrong.
The things I ate that clogged up my digestive system stopped interfering with my elimination process. My body started functioning properly again and I started going to the bathroom regularly. After
6 months on my plant based regiment (Fruits, veggies, nuts
and grains), I learned how to eat to satisfy any cravings I had. I have grown to love beans and rice and I
just incorporated quinoa in my diet.
For flavor I added no sodium pure organic vegetable flavoring.
I
started making my own veggie flavoring out of mushrooms and a variety
of other vegetables. For a beginner like
me, its helps make the food more enjoyable because psychologically I can sabotage
my new eating life style. I know,
because I have sabotaged so many times before. I needed to learn how to include more protein
that comes from a plant based eating regiment to get a balance that will
eliminate any cravings. Determined not to go back to my old habits, I practiced
savoring that natural taste of fruits and veggies so that I could learn to
enjoy each flavor. When it came
to sweets, I hardly ever craved them because fruits satisfied my need for
something sweet.
Too my surprise,
guacamole satisfied my sweet tooth one night.
I took my time eating it and I savored the very essence of that
dish. Afterwards, it was unbelievable. I
was highly satisfied. Ice cream, omg! I
use to love homemade ice cream, but I gave it up without regret. I learned how
to make creamy nondairy banana ice cream and I wondered, why I ever ate ice
cream when this was so good. I froze some grapes and added fresh pineapples and
not only was it very good, the fiber from the fruit cleaned me out as if I took
a colonic irrigation.
Peace, Love, Joy and Good Health!!! God Bless You. Wanda Ross, A Woman of Prophetic Destiny
