Summer is a great time to boost your nutritional level because of the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables available. Several women in response to my posts on eating raw expressed their desire to do so but listed a host of obstacles to eating healthier, which includes a more plant-based diet full of fresh produce. I addressed the obstacle of cost in my Friday Feature: Ways to Save and Buy on Organic. As each woman explained their obstacles to implementing better health habits their main issue was time. So today I want to deal with the obstacle of time by giving you three ways that have helped me:
Programming—I find it imperative to meditate on God’s word as it relates to healthy eating. My favorite verse is John 4:34: “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him that sent me and to accomplish his work.” This verse speaks of God’s assignment for our lives being that sustaining force in our lives that nourishes and strengthens us and gives us direction for our daily activities. Focusing on God’s will being the strength that I need to do what He has called me to do helps me. First Corinthians 3:16-17 says: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” These scriptures are talking about the body of Christ but apply to us as individual Christians. If we destroy with bad food our temple, the dwelling place of God, our bodies will be destroyed. We will all die one day, but I don’t want to hasten my death. These are the main scriptures that help me program my mind and strengthen my spirit to do what I should for a healthy temple.
Planning—One of the worst things you can do is to have your mind made up to eat right but you don’t have the food purchased to do so. I think about what I want to eat for the week and how much food I will have to buy to execute my meal plans. This helps me not to buy ‘two for one’ when I only need one and get more than my refrigerator or budget will allow. Planning helps me save money and a lot of time. I not only save time in the market but also when I am ready to consume the food.
Preparing—You may have thought my choice to use “consume” instead of “eat” was lofty, but I wanted to include eating and drinking, by way of juicing. So many women have told me that they want to juice but they don’t have a juicer or dread cleaning their juicer after use. Many of you said you don’t have time to clean the fresh produce in order to use them when you want. First, like you save to buy a new dress for a major event, plan to purchase a juicer for your new body. Second, replace a full meal with a fresh juice and some toast. Most times I replace a meal, usually breakfast, with a fresh juice and perhaps some almonds. I am fully nourished and full and haven’t spent a lot of time preparing a meal. The time I would have spent preparing a meal I now use to clean my juicer, which takes no more than 10 minutes. Third, I clean my produce in bulk. Read my post here for how I do that. I set aside time to clean all my items and then store them in plastic bags. When I am ready to prepare a meal or juice, I just grab them and get to work.
I have given you three ways that have helped me but I want you to know that I didn’t incorporate each tip at the same time. As a recovering strong black woman, you know I tried to do them all at the same time. Doing so overwhelmed me so I decided to take one tip at a time, one step before taking the others, and now I do them all without much hesitation.* I want you to take your healthy eating journey one step at a time. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1) You can do this by first renewing your mind. Your body will follow.
*(I love my bulk method, but it can be tedious. I just remind myself of how grateful I am to have fresh, clean produce available when I need it).
Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith
