The view from off of the wagon (Guest Post from Cliff)

"This is too hard."  

"There is no way to keep this up."

fall off the wagon definition. to resume drinking after having stopped. (The wagonis presumed to be the water wagon.) : It looks to me like he wanted nothing more than to fall off the wagon.

Is getting healthy a destination or a journey?

I think for most people, they view it as a destination.  Think about all the infomercials (which I love, by the way) showing folks sleek, tanned, happy and outrageously fit after only 90 days, or 6 weeks or whatever.  They have arrived, and will never have to worry about being the fat, slovenly self they were just a few short weeks ago in their non airbrushed before pictures.   

Look at The Biggest Loser contestants.  Half of them lose weight (the other half get voted off before losing anything) and they instantly start declaring that they will never go back to their old, fat, slovenly non airbrushed selves again.  

And how many stick to it?  

Judging by the fact Biggest Loser only had one reunion/Where Are They Now show in 16 seasons, I'm guessing not many.  

Getting Healthy can only be a destination if your story ends right afterwards.  Which in real life, doesn't happen.  (Unless a funeral is involved.  And then, how healthy were you, really?)  

So, a journey then.  

And a journey can take twists and turns, ups and downs.  

Before Denise and I have seen fitness as a destination.  Or at least, as a 100% in or out equation.  

(reference our two previous blogs about getting healthy, especially the Vegan one)  

And I think this is what keeps most people from reaching their destination.  uh, their goal.  You make huge claims, big goals, major commitments.  Then you slip up, make some decisions and you eat __(insert crappy food here)_.  

That means it's time to quit, right?  Give up, because it's too hard.  No one can keep this up for ever.  

Because if you can't be 100%, why try?  

Sit back and think about that for a minute.  Is that logical?  

There are things in life that require 110% commitment.  Marriage, parenthood, college football, God. 

And surely, the Incredible Health we are seeking after does require commitment.  

But if it's a journey, then we are going to have ups and downs.   

And slip ups.  

So, yeah.  Recently I've made a bunch of less than stellar culinary choices.  

And that leads to another choice.  Whether to quit or keep going.  

Quitting leads back to more miserable food choices, gaining weight, lethargy and for me- a near future with diabetes pills.  

OK, quitting bad.  

How do we go forward?  We take a look at why we are making bad choices, figure out what we can do better next time, or what needs addressing.  

And then we do better next time.  

And, maybe, the time after that.  But the important thing is to keep going, keep learning.  

It's a journey.

More about what to eat for Incredible Health...

In case you are wondering what this journey has looked like lately here's a few of my favorite meals and resources for some of the recipes:

Resources:
No Meat Athlete by Matt Frazier
Eat to Live by Dr Fuhrman
www.rebootwithjoe.com
Some of these I made up and some are from resources I can't remember.  If you see something you want to try let me know and I'll find the recipe for you.

Sauteed Broccoli in coconut oil with sunflower seeds and side of hummus and carrots  (FYI:  hummus is a source of protein as well as 2 cups of brocolli and of course the seeds)

Dinner at church:  Loading up veggies:  Limas, blackeyed peas, quinoa, roasted veggies, corn and green beans (FYI: the corn and blackeyed peas together make a complete protein)

Veggie salad with fruit and nuts and a side of berries

Sauteed Cabbage, peppers, black beans (FYI: Black beans are a great source of protein)

Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding with raspberries - YUMM!

Mediterranean salad with Greekfeta dressing at Durbin Farms

Quinoa mixed with black beans, peppers, squash with a side of berries and peach

Quinoa black bean burger topped with tomato, sauteed squash and baked sweet potato fries

Typical snack of fruit and nuts

July 4th cookout:  Quinoa black bean burger wrapped in lettuce, kale sandwich (sauteed kale, hummus on honey chia bread), sweet potato fries and kale chips, vegetarian baked beans

Oatmeal "cereal":  1/2 cup oats soaked (10 min) in coconut milk add cinnamon, nutmeg and all the fruit you want!  Didn't like oatmeal before this!

Roasted chic peas with Lawrys and Ms dash seasoning (drain, rinse, spread out on baking stone and sprinkle seasoning.  Bake 375 for 30 min or so) - taste a little like boiled peanuts..!

Surprisingly good:  Sauteed carrots in coconut oil with Smokehouse Maple seasoning & apple slices

Zucchini Macadamia Pesto roll ups - too good to take a pic before eating...

Chic pea and veggie stir fry in Romaine cups - very filling!

Veggie Salad with couscous and hummus with carrots at Jason's Deli

Dinner at Whole Foods:  Quinoa Cranberry salad, sauteed green beans and blueberries

My "snack pack" and emergency stash for a 2 day trip:  lots of fruit, can of almonds, Larabars, a couple of servings of superfood smoothie mix that I can add to water in a pinch

Veggie stir fry over brown rice topped with sunflower seeds - my typical stir fry has teriyaki sauce, a little soy sauce and the Makato Ginger dressing from the produce section at the store.

Some days it's an uphill climb...

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted last.  I'm guessing if I ever want to be a professional blogger that's a big, fat no-no.  So, life happens.  Right after Cliff did his cleanse (that he wrote about in the last blog) we went to our church campground for a week and a half.  No internet so no blogs.  Got home and scurried around trying to live life with 2 jobs and 2 kids.  I know, to some people that's a vacation.  Whatever.

So the campground I went to was in Georgia.  Our church has a campground and most of us have a lot with a cabin on it.  When church members get to the point of retirement a lot of them will move to the campground and live in their cabin  then when they can not care for themselves we have a church home a half a mile from the campground then when they pass on they are buried at the campground.  Once a year we have a week long revival where all of our church members from all over come and we have church services 3 times a day, 4 times if you include 7:30am prayer meeting...  The week of church is spiritually the highlight of my year.  Our services from past campmeetings can be found at www.cshc.org and click on Live Broadcast.  I have never missed a campmeeting in all my 41 years.  For the spiritual body it is indescribable.  For the physical body it is atrocious.  We sleep on a pull out couch in the den (kidney bar), we get up 6am to exercise, we get all 4 of us ready for church twice sometimes 3 times a day if we make it to afternoon service while the kids nap (in the care of the inlaws of course).  We eat at crazy hours if we want to visit with everyone because there's food after night meeting so in some cases you are eating dinner at 9:30, going to bed at 11.  How in the world can someone live an incredibly healthy lifestyle while there?  Here's what I did:

• Bought my own food for the cabin (sweet potatoes, stuff for smoothies, stuff for salads, super green drink mix when I can't get enough nutrients in, hummus, lots of fruit, nuts
• Smoothies for breakfast, Salad bar for lunch in the cafeteria, ate at the cabin before night meeting and ate nothing after church.  If I were at home I wouldn't, why whack my system out when I'm already killing it with little sleep?
• Said NO to desserts.

But what about the people who want to live in moderation?  Don't I want to live in moderation?  I don't know, maybe one day.  Now that my 6 week online challenge is over the accountability is up to me.  I find that if I stick to my rules it's easier for me.  Some people (my husband) freaks out with rules, like you are saying you are NEVER going to eat ____ again.  I don't know that I can say never but right now my brain makes too many decisions in a given day and constantly reminding myself to eat right when given thousands of choices a week is too exhausting.  If I know what the rule is for eating right and I know what that means:  The Dos, the Don'ts I can do that.  I'm thinking that soon it will just be second nature, and it's getting there.  When you decide to choose life, choose better health, choose to eat what makes you feel better, cleaner, more energetic, the easier it gets to just do it.  The quicker the decision is.  If you are thinking "ok I'm going to eat healthy 89% of the time", what does that even mean??  How many bad choices do you get to make?  How do you choose when those bad choices are going to take place?  You pick the times in the week when it's hardest to say no and say THAT is when I will eat whatever I want.  Now you just trained your brain to think that there are times that are beyond your control and therefore food has control over you.  You just lost the battle.  You "can't help it".  Well guess what?  Every time the climb is uphill you are going to opt for slowing down or walking in the other direction.  Then the journey becomes too hard and you will bag your efforts until the next 6 week diet plan comes out because anyone should be able to give it 6 weeks right?  After that we are too weak to continue our efforts.  Now it becomes about weight loss, a quick fix and not about living better, not about living longer, not about choosing life.  It all starts with the mindset and the goal in mind.  If it's truly about changing your life you will change what you choose to eat all the time.  Until it becomes a lifestyle, until you have formed a new pattern of thinking, until you have a "why" that's bigger than the need for Chic-fil-A.  Otherwise it will always be a struggle.  It will always be the newest fad diet.  Quick fix diets are external.  This decision has to get to the heart.  It has to seep in and take control of the heart and mind.  

Thanks to the weight loss industry and the whacky meat and dairy industry who power a good bit of confusing "evidence" you hear in the media, no one knows what is right.  THAT, my two friends who are still reading me, is why I'm doing this blog.  Go plant based, maximum nutrients, no processed food, natural sugars and your body will tell you you got it right!  Guaranteed!