Autumn Grace #2: A Change in My Eating Habits

Hello friends! 

Here is another late night short note for the Autumn Grace series. 

Today, I'm thinking about the changes I want to make in my life. I see plenty of areas for improvement in my diet and my homemaking and my relationships. It's hard to know where to start. 

I suppose the most dramatic change over the past few weeks is that I have pretty much stopped eating sugar. I have also cut way back on drinking milk and juice, as well as eating wheat and soy products. (I am trying to deal with candida, arthritis, thyroid, digestive issues, a lot of extra weight, and the risk of diabetes and heart disease.) This is the most success I have ever had in changing the way I eat. I've always had so much trouble with will power, especially with the sugar. I had to tell myself, "I don't eat sugar anymore," and even "I am allergic to sugar." It is just not an option now. And it hasn't been nearly as hard as I thought to go nearly cold turkey on the sugar. I say "nearly" because I know there is a small amount of sugar in a lot of other food products, so it's highly unlikely that I will ever entirely eliminate it. I am just staying away from anything that has much of it at all. That means a change in my shopping habits, too! Why have it around? My kids can always get their sugar fix somewhere else. 

Where this dietary change really relates to autumn is that there are certain holidays coming up which could tempt me to give up on my resolve - namely Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the entire Christmas season. I am trying to plan ahead. I do allow myself some acceptable versions of treats, especially sugar-free peppermint Lifesavers and an occasional sugar-free peppermint patty. That will do nicely for Halloween. For Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'm planning on cinnamon baked apples with some sugar-free ice cream. I'm already eating fresh apples every day.

If you think of me, please say a prayer that I will stick with these nutritional changes and that I will know how to tweak them to be most effective for enhancing my health. This is such a vital way for this mom to grow up.

Thanks!

Virginia

P.S. I actually spent much more time on a new post on my Watch the Shepherd blog, which was prompted by a friend's Facebook status. As I mentioned, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so please take a little time to read Why Couples Counseling is Not Recommended for Abusive Marriages - Even Christian Ones.