I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything. As usual, I'm in an organizing mood and "trying to survive" mode at the same time! I've been extremely exhausted lately. I wish I could attribute it to being pregnant, but I truly don't think that is the case. Lately I've been very convicted about eating habits and have a true desire to shape up my body to be a wonderful dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. In the process, I must teach my children about eating the way that God desires us to. He created all kinds of wonderful fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds for us to eat and yet how many of these do we actually get into our diet?
It doesn't have to be complicated, but I think I have made it much more complicated because I've tried to take our "normal" diet and make it healthy and I just don't think that's the way to go about it. Doing things that way has you purchasing all kinds of processed foods with an "organic" label or paying double the price because this is the "healthy" brand. Soon enough, your pantry may be filled to overflowing with organic/healthy processed foods that are doing no more for you than their conventional counterparts.
Several years ago I was turned onto green smoothies by Serene, Pearl and Vange. That was probably 2005. I tried to make them and even kept it up for a while, but I was eventually turned off because they weren't a regular part of my diet and I was the only one drinking them. It's just not as much fun when no one else is on board. Can I hear an "Amen!"?
As I read through the book of Daniel and contemplated my exhaustion, I knew there had to be a better way. God could not really desire for me to live in a lethargic state with all my littles running around. With the desire for more children but lacking energy to keep up, I started going back to the Bible on the matter, and thus, back to the basics. Even before I purposely went to the Bible on the subject, God was using my quiet time with Him to spark in my heart a desire for eating right.
Searching for a raw granola recipe for a friend, I came upon a site that really caught my eye - www.greensmoothiegirl.com. I'm not hyperlinking yet - so don't go anywhere! Robyn has such GREAT information, that is very sound so far, and very much in line with the Biblical principles I have been searching out. She makes climbing the mountain to a whole foods with 60-80% raw diet, possible. She has "flattened the learning curve" for those that want to massively improve their diets.
Warning: I believe that Robyn may be Mormon. I'm not sure of that, though. She mentions God several times in the portion that I have read, but she also has several references to evolution. Now, I'm stable enough in my beliefs that I can look beyond that to see the truth in what is written, as all truth is God's truth. Evolution is not from God and it is NOT the truth - so I ignore those references. It's a case of "chew the meat and spit out the bones" and in this circumstance there is plenty meat (Truth) with a few bones (Lies). I'm VERY leery of reading anything that is not Biblical and therefore, keep my secular reading down to a VERY MINIMUM.
My plan is to document my journey through the next year as I rejuvenate our family's diet always going back to the Bible and what God says on the matter, while using the 12 steps to Whole Foods plan to get us on track. I'm evening plotting the plan out on the calendar.
Because Robyn offers the 12 Steps to Whole Foods ebook on her website, I'm going to try not repeat information here, but I would like to share a bit about what I learn from all the resources I'm reading right now. I'm also reading: Serene Allison's Rejuvenate Your Life!, Renee Ellison's booklet Turbo-Charged Nutrition for Peak Performance Kids, and Stormie Omartian's Greater Health God's Way.
So onto more good stuff...
We all know that we need more greens in our diet and yet how much salad can one actually eat in a day. The serving sizes that the government recommends are really hilarious when it comes to veggies; as a 2" piece of cucumber is considered a "serving".
Anyone can make a green smoothie. I have a bosch blender currently and it is working fine for making my green smoothies. I have to work it a little for frozen fruit, but it's still going. The plan is for us to save and purchase a Blend-Tec HP3A. We used to own a Vita-Mix, but sold it so that I could get a grain mill. The Blend-Tec will do both grains and literally almost anything else you would want to blend and it's the same price as the Vita-Mix.
You want to drink about a quart of green smoothie a day. So, I'm issuing this challenge to you and would love to know who is going to take me up on it. Get your children in on the action. You simply must read what Robyn has to say about getting your children on board - they should not have a choice! You are the parent!!! Renee Ellison says the same exact thing.
1cup of water
lots of spinach or chard - you want to stick with the neutral flavored greens at first
blend the heck out of it for 90 seconds
put in a banana - to make it creamy
add in your fruit
Robyn makes it easy on her youtube video:
So who's in? 30 days! 1 quart a day! 15 servings of raw fruits and greens! Leave me a comment!
picture from: http://www.rawfamily.com
6 comments :
You go you green smoothie girl. I love how both of us searching for answers to our health issues when we turned to the Word we both came to the same answer. His Word is truly living for us today.
I got a few great raw granola recipes from the TR gals and on line. Thanks bunches.
Love ya Girl and Blessings
Raye Ann
I am in with ya honey... I have been drinking a quart a day for awhile now though, but I need to change it up a bit. Mine is always spinach, banana, cherries, raw cacao, water and some ground flax or chia seeds.
I have founds lots of info on this ladies site also (she has 5 kids she is feeding this way!) www.veganfamilyinc.com . She never metnions being a Christian, but never says anything to the contrary either. Like you said, I can look past as long as she is not directly attacking..... who knows, we might be her guiding grace someday....
Okay, sounds gross... I know I could use more veggies, I just don't see getting this - um, what? Down. I can't see myself getting this down the tube... And my kids? Sorry to be a downer. Guess I should taste it. I sure hope you'll do it. Did I understand the lady when she said what was in that blender was a quart for herself, then 4 pints (8 cups) for each of her kids? Wait, I don't know how many kids she has. Anyway, it didn't look like very much in that blender. Is that the one you want to get? Well, she sure is in gooood shape. I'll check in on you soon to see how it goes. :)
Christine, I am so in! This is exactly where the Lord has been taking me about the nutrition of my family as well. I am totally in line with that whole post... I feel ya!! =) I can't wait to watch the little video and read some of the website you mentioned. It's funny cause just this weekend I really felt the Lord convicting me about trying green smoothies again and then I read this... amazing! Very cool! Thanks for the challenge. Maybe when I see you at the AR retreat this spring we can touch base in person on how we are doing! What day did you / are you starting?
Green smoothies are a great way to improve your health. I've been drinking them every day for almost two years now. My entire diet has changed for the better and I lost almost 30 pounds, effortlessly maintaining a healthy weight I had not seen since high school. I've noticed fewer cravings for junk foods too and slowly transitioned to a mostly vegan diet.
The Blendtec is a fantastic blender. I just got mine a couple months ago. It completely changed my green smoothie experience for the better!
Hi Christine,
I'm in, I found Robyn's website about a month ago and started green smoothies on 9/1/09. When I got back on mail from Texas Rubies I was so excited to see that you were doing the green smoothies too. Like you, I did Serene's Greens to Go, but couldn't really stick to it. We've been doing the green smoothies every day for over a month now. My husband loves them, and out of five kids, I only have my 16yo daughter who won't drink them. I'm also making carrot juice and she will drink that. I have more energy, and feel better overall. I'm encouraging everyone I know to start drinking green smoothies. Thanks for issueing the challenge!
Jeanette
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