Ripe Fruit Would Make This Easier – Healing Journey Day 61

Journal:
I woke up today uncomfortable just as I had assumed I would last night. I had too much in my stomach and my body just didn’t like it. However, I was productive this morning with work, not so much with getting breakfast.

I packed the rest of last night’s soup to take with me today, as well as a box of strawberries and some dates. However, all I had the chance to eat today was the soup which was nowhere on the Summer Days of Fruitrition after having it for supper last night. It also is just not as rich as it could have been had the mangoes actually been ripe. So what ended up happening? I fell apart when I came home. Instead of making my raw foods (and also the frustration of finding out that the fridge froze my lettuce), I went to what was easy: Hummus and this Indian cracker stuff. And that’s what I ate. Tons of it. And to add to the awful food I was eating, I ate some vegan ice cream that has been sitting in the freezer for over two months. I HAVE TO find a way to get in more food during the day. My job is just not the greatest at allowing that to happen.

I made it through work fine today and simply continued working at home. I also watched 3 documentaries tonight: Prescription Thugs, Fed Up, and Food Matters. They are wonderful documentaries and I highly recommend them!

While I was watching these documentaries, I also worked on some hip flexor stretches and exercises. It doesn’t hurt badly at this point, but I can definitely tell when I’m using it and when I’m not. So the rehabilitation continues.

Review of Symptoms:
-Acne is still bad.
-Woke up with an uncomfortable stomach.
-Energy was decent.
-Hair is not good. Ugh… Regressing slightly thanks to bad foods…
-Need to eat more throughout the day.
-Hip Flexor seems to be holding up through exercises and stretches.

Weight at the end of the day = 169 lbs (same as yesterday)

Total Calories = 1835 (59% carbs, 35% fat, 6% protein… awful macros)

Rawsome Healthy Day 2/5 – Healing Journey Day 53

Journal:
Today was a much better day. I prepared my grapes last night so that they were ready to go today. I had them rinsed, stems removed, and put in a portable container so that all I had to do was pop the container open and eat. 2 lbs of beautiful green grapes were consumed this morning.

It was after the morning snack that I ran into semi-trouble again. I did not have time whatsoever to go make the smoothie for lunch. In fact, I didn’t end up making the smoothie until after I had a meeting, then packed and cleaned up my classroom and finally came home. Seriously, that was way too long to wait to eat and it led me to eat some leftover junk from yesterday. I didn’t eat near as much junk, but some nonetheless. I have to somehow find a way to manage my time a little better.

So of course, as soon as I came home, I made my smoothie out of bananas and Romaine lettuce. This seriously is not my favourite smoothie, even with my bananas ripening properly. After this program, I don’t think I will make this combination again.

I later had to do some errands in town but did not go to the gym. I’m giving my body the rest it was demanding from me today. Tomorrow, I will hit the gym hard again. So instead of going to the gym, I jumped into making the pre-dinner snack which was fresh orange juice blended with kiwis. Now this was an interesting combination. Try it out sometime!

Finally, I made the supper which was a spiralized zucchini dish. Oh my goodness you guys, this sauce was DIVINE. If anything, it actually felt extremely rich and flavourful, almost too rich and flavourful. I actually think it would make a great gravy for a future recipe. It did feel very salty even though my sundried tomatoes were oil and salt free. And because it was so rich, I did not eat all of the sauce. It was too much. I ate lots of zucchini and that was that for the night.

**I did the breakfast and lunch from Day 5 of their diet plan, and the supper from Day 3. Still using their recipes, just making them as things become ripe.

Review of Symptoms:
-Tongue needed minor scraping
-Stomach still not feeling great (gotta stop the junk food!!)
-Digestion is trying to do its job but running into issues (again, no more junk food!)
-Hair still feels dry and easily becomes static. Not enjoying this.
-Acne is bad. Thank you junk food….

Weight at the end of the day = 170.4 lbs (down 0.2 lbs form yesterday)

Total Calories = 2032 (75% carbs, 14% fat, 11% protein)

Persimmons – My Favourite!

Have you ever had a persimmon before? Did you fall in love with them as much as I did? If you’ve never had a persimmon, you’re missing out!

The first time I ever had a persimmon, I was in a RV of a youth group leader for breakfast. She had this strange, orange fruit that was hard. She sliced it up and told us to give it a try. It was different, but it was good.

Fast forward to today, and I can’t get enough of them! I would even dare say they are my favourite fruit! But enough about me, on to the persimmons.

As the picture shows, there are two types of persimmons: Hachiya and Fuyu.

The one that gets eaten while hard is the Fuyu. It’s smaller in height, and almost does resemble a small pumpkin. The flavour is sweet and very good. Go ahead and eat the peel on this one!

The Hachiya should be eaten when it is almost jelly on the inside. It should be very soft to the touch, and even some black on the peeling is good. The last Hachiya I ate had half of its peel turn black, but the inside was so delicious that I almost cried I didn’t have more. It was so good. And no, I did not eat the peel. Black peel is not my thing.

Seriously people, if you’ve never had a persimmon before, go buy one right now and try it. You won’t regret it! Check out the some of the health benefits below!

We Are Going to Have NO Clean Water Left…

I’m going to cut right to the chase because I know we live in a world where everyone cares about themselves. So let’s take a good hard look at this: we are soon going to have no free clean water left. Which actually means, we will have no clean water left. Any water we will drink will have to be cleaned, filtered, treated, etc… How’s that for a hard fact?

I know, I know. Having clean water is a basic human right that us in first world countries should always have access to while we try and help those in third world countries get access to it. But the reality is, the water in our own countries is getting worse, much worse. Why are we going to be out of clean water? Keep reading.

For starters, it’s been in the new for quite awhile that Nestle has been in British Columbia, leeching every bit of fresh, clean water that they can get for a steal of a deal. Meanwhile, they are turning around and selling it to us to drink. In fact, the CEO of Nestle stated that he doesn’t believe water should be a human right. He believes that everyone in the world should have money to pay for water of which he in turn will become rich from. How’s that for caring for fellow humanity? I don’t know about you, but Nestle got knocked down in a big way in my books. I’ve been on mission trips and seen how bad it gets to have any water in third world countries. Do we want it to become like that around here too? Aren’t we supposed to be helping those less fortunate than us because we have plenty? I think we’re on our own way downhill faster than you think.

Secondly, have you done any research on the condition of our oceans and seas? Not to mention, have you ever just driven down the roads or looked in parking lots in the cities? Humanity has no concept of keeping things clean! People throw out their garbage everywhere. There are islands of birds and sea creatures that are dying because of the pollution and garbage in the waters. We are killing the very species we all love to see. Why? Because we waste so much and don’t contain where our waste goes. Did you know that some sea animals (including birds) can’t even tell the difference between garbage and actual food anymore? That’s how messed up we’ve made the world!

Thirdly, and this is where this conversation has arrived from. In one day, in 3 or less stores/restaurants, I had to turn off running taps, left running full blast, 4 times. What is wrong with people? I mean, these are ADULTS. And we can’t even have enough value to turn off clear running water? Are we really that stupid? Are we really that wasteful? Are we asking to be in a third world country? This angers me so much. A simple, MANNERISTIC activity of turning off the tap when you are done. It’s not that hard. In fact, listening to your parents growing up, it’s the right thing to do. And if you are terrified of getting germs from the tap, then grab a piece of paper towel and turn it off with that. There’s no excuse. Take responsibility for the world we’re living in!

*Deep breath* Ok. This issue bothers me a lot, as you can tell. What are your thoughts? Does it bother you like it does me or am I alone in this feeling? Leave it in the comments below!

Debunking Car Sales: What You Need to Know!

I have come to learn that there are a lot of misconceptions in the world about car salesmen, so I’m here to fill you in a little bit.

#1: Salesmen usually only make a commission, which means no sales, no income. Which leads to #2.

#2: When you go in without an intention to buy, you are wasting their time to have a chance of making money for their families.

#3: You may think that every salesman is ripping you off, but here’s the deal. They only make 25% of the profit the dealership makes, which means, if you refuse to pay much over the wholesale price, that salesman is only taking home $250 or less. And when you calculate how many hours they spend with each customer explaining everything, taking test drives, dealing with you, taking you through the finance process, they really are not becoming “rich” off of those deals.

#4: Sales do not happen everyday. So put together the profits from above, mix with days that people don’t show up for the appointments they said they would, plus a dead day at the dealership. Sorry, food is not produced from love alone. Most salesmen have kids at home just like you do.

#5: If you ever wonder why salesmen can get upset, it’s because people do crazy things. In my husband’s short time in sales, he’s had people come in and ask to go for a test drive just to get dropped off somewhere so they didn’t have to pay for a taxi. He’s had countless people CONFIRM their appointments with him, and never show up. He’s had a ton of people even put deposits on vehicles, and then go out of contact for weeks, often before saying they are no longer taking the vehicle or fighting for a lower price than was agreed on. He’s had people yell at him for giving him their name before going on a test drive, although it is typical for the dealership to know who you are before they let you drive tens of thousands of dollars down the road. He’s had people come back and yell at him for not noticing things (including a ripped seat…) when they drove it off the lot. He’s had people yell at him for not being approved for financing because they haven’t paid their bills in six months. I mean, seriously people… you can’t be a jerk to people and expect them to be happy all the time. It doesn’t work that way.

#6: There are times that dealerships will let vehicles go for less than what they paid for it. Now, before you go jumping for joy, remember the profit we talked about above? How much do you think the salesmen are bringing home for their families if the dealership isn’t even profiting off the vehicle? Yeah… think about it.

I know there is probably a ton of things I’m missing, but this is a good start. Car sales is not the typical way I’ve thought of it before. I’m that wife at home with our three dog-children. There is not even a chance I could be a stay-at-home person for the very facts I mentioned above. It’s so easy to think that you’re the one being wronged all the time, but unless you truly understand how it all works, you’ll never realize what you’re doing to the people behind the scenes.

Are there rich car salesmen? Of course there are. Some people have enough money that they never bat an eye at the sticker price and will pay whatever the dealership originally asked for the vehicle. And depending on the vehicle, that can be a decent profit. But that’s not how most customers are, and that’s where the problem lies.

So next time you buy a vehicle, sure, ask for a lower price, but don’t beat them over the head until your salesman has to go home and tell his kids he’s made almost no profit again, and he’s upset because someone gave him a hard time for doing his job yet again. Please think of the people you interact with. Your purchase is their bread and butter on the table. Remember, no sales mean no money. Love is important, but it doesn’t pay the bills.

And Next Up: My Sense of Smell

As crazy as it seemed that my tastebuds were “awakened”, I’ve also noticed another sense changing… Keep in mind, you body completely replaces its cells every so often, and I’m definitely sure that this is the case.

My sense of smell has change.

My husband was eating his typical key lime greek yogurt. I used to love that stuff! Rich, creamy, and just a peak of sweet sourness. But this time, while he was sitting beside me, I smelled this sour, awful smell. It wasn’t to the point I was gagging, but I did not like it at all! What has happened to me? I used to be the dairy queen (mainly cheese), but now I don’t even like the smell of it. Stinky cheese? They were never stinky to me before.

Things have definitely changed…

Dairy? No thank you!

Why the Name “Christian” Can Cause Such Anger

I’ve delayed in writing this blog post. The past few days have been a whirlwind for me. Not because I’m cleaning up my classroom, preparing for a new grade, but because the world has changed ever so quickly, and I needed to make sure my own emotions were not mixing and leading my thoughts but that rather my beliefs were the driving force behind my words.

When I decided I wanted to turn vegan, I thought what better place to learn than to join vegan groups on Facebook where people are continuously discussing ways of doing things better and on improving lifestyles. What better place would you get a mix of people who are starting out in their vegan adventure, as well as though who are tried and true veterans to the lifestyle. I did enjoy these facts, but I wasn’t prepared for what was coming.

As many of you know (and if you didn’t, I don’t know how you could have missed it), but the states have just legalized same sex marriage. To some people it’s no surprise, to some people it’s a reason to lash out, and to some people it’s a reason to celebrate. I was prepared for those reactions. What I wasn’t prepared for was the anger backing people’s responses. And it took a few days for me to truly understand what was going on.

Unfortunately, one of my vegan groups posted about this legalization and stated that you will never find a “homophobe vegan”. A man simply stated (though not in words I would have used) that he was not a “phobe” by the meaning of the word “phobia” as in being scared. He simply was using Biblical pieces to back-up the point that he did not support the movement. The backlash he received was incredible. And as I noticed he was the only one defending his beliefs, I decided to try and approach the conversation in a loving but understanding way. You see, I’ve noticed people are very quick to criticize Christian beliefs as being old and not modern day. But I knew that this is often because Christians have made a bad name for themselves.

I once saw a conversation where Christians were attacking an atheist. I could see where her comments and attacks were coming from. I couldn’t stand Christians reacting in this kind of way so I entered the conversation as well and simply responded to her questions and comments in a loving, non-judgemental way. It took quite awhile, but believe it or not, she thanked me for talking to her the way I did and explaining things the way I had. Of course she assured me she wouldn’t become Christian anytime soon, but that wasn’t the point of my discussion. The basis of my discussion was love.

So I figured that maybe if love was presented the right way in this vegan conversation, then maybe the hatred I was seeing would dissipate and the group could go back to the original purpose of becoming vegan and standing for animal rights. However, I’m sad to say it did not work that way. No matter how many times I reassured that none of the Christians in the conversation weren’t hating them nor judging them (all 2 of us), they served critique after critique back. No matter how many times I assured them that Christians should be focused on loving and loving all people, hate was served back. No matter how much love I tried to show about loving people but not supporting decisions they make, I was not supported. I even told them that the God of the world, Himself, has given us the power to choose what we do, regardless if we choose sin or not, and thus everyone in the world should have the power to choose what they want without anybody telling them otherwise, I was still considered judgemental. I brought up how I have a great uncle who has been a married gay my whole life and how I love him dearly and will never treat him otherwise, but that I do not support his lifestyle, I was still considered a “homophobe”. I was called a jerk, ingenious, told to take a nap, told I have mental sickness, that somehow someone loved me but in the same sentence told me everything I am is a sin, that God was going to send me to hell to burn for eternity, etc. And I was reminded again and again how listening to a 2000 year old book is so wrong.

I was not prepared for the hardness of hearts I was presented with. This is why I did not write this blog when I first thought of it. In fact, it’s been sitting as a tab for the past however many days since the law was passed. I’ve changed the name 3 times. I needed time to sort through what was going on, and to make sure my emotions were in check. And now I think I’m ready to help explain where I think things have gone wrong.

There happens to be a girl many years younger than I who was feeling the same way I was – being attacked by so many people, being pushed with no rest, exhausted from having to defend herself. The message came clearly in her Facebook post and the response from someone questioning the selection of beliefs, specifically pertaining to the lack of support on the same sex marriage issue.

I really thought about it before I posted this time, and I provided a very prominent issue among different Christians about the “clean” and “unclean” foods. I stated it as the fact that many Christians don’t support eating pork. Some claim that because it is an Old Testament law, that we no longer have to follow that distinction. Although many Christians disagree on this issue, we don’t hate our own family members just because they eat differently than ourselves. The best way to influence anyone in a positive way is through a loving manner. I also added that I grew up as a hunter’s daughter. When I turned vegetarian, my grandfather was convinced I would die. In fact, for the almost 10 years I was vegetarian, the very first question he would ask me is if I was healthy and had gone back to eating meat yet. The amount he would try to sneak meat onto my plate was crazy. He did not support my eating habits whatsoever. But he never stopped loving me. In fact, I can’t recall a day in my life where I did not feel loved by my grandfather, and that’s the way it should be.

To go a little further than that, she said she was going to put it bluntly and ask how same sex relationships is one law we believe from the Old Testament, but there were a host of others such as wearing jewelry, having tattoos, and premarital sex were things most Christians don’t follow anymore, yet we can choose to not stand for the same sex marriage issue.

This is where it truly sank in. The reason I believe that most people are so angry with Christians and our beliefs is because we have compromised on so much! Seriously, look around at your churches. I know for a fact that people drink, do drugs, party, have non-marrital sex with people regardless of being married or not, have problems with pornography, steal, cheat people out of money, etc, etc… There are people in almost every church who are the kings and queens of gossip. Churches are seen as judgemental because they’ve become that way. What have we done to ourselves?

Now, I’m not saying that all churches or even all people are this way. I do believe we have the sweetest, loving Christians still on this earth, and unfortunately that’s something we desperately need more of. But when Christians in themselves are out in the world claiming to be Christian and yet are caught in such horrible acts, what else is the world to think of us? Can you really blame people for hosting anger when they grew up in a church but like my sister, left because people were judging the clothing she wore? Do you really think that made her feel at home rather than winning her over with love? Personally, I’m ashamed at some of the things we’ve done to people. We should be opening our doors and welcoming, not just greeting, but truly welcoming people into our midst with the goal of letting love take over. When Jesus saved the prostitute, or sat with the tax collectors, you don’t see Him attacking them. He loved them and that’s what created the difference. Why can’t we do the same?

Of course I’m not saying we should kick out all of the people who are having problems either. What better place to receive help with healing than a church family, as long as we are being just that – a loving and supportive family.

Now, I know my beliefs may differ from yours, and that’s ok. Like I said, I have no judgement. The Bible, unfortunately, is not the most easily understood book at times, and some is left to our interpretation though hopefully somewhat unfolded with divine help (always pray before reading the Bible!). So yes, topics like jewelry and tattoos are a little more difficult to defend for some. However, I know the Bible clearly points out that our bodies are the living temples for the Holy Spirit, and we are to take care of them to the best of our abilities. Putting needles unnecessarily into my body, causing a stain that God did not put there in the first place that is ridiculous to remove, and putting holes all over my body does not seem like preserving the “holy temple” as God stated it. To me, that is clear enough definition as to why those are not the best idea. Jewelry that does not require holes (such as necklaces, rings, and bracelets) are a little more in the grey area. However, if you look at history, you will see that only the rich, and those who placed themselves above others wore jewelry. So at the time, it made total sense that jewelry was a way to separate the classes of people, and as far as I’ve read in my Bible, God doesn’t view us that way, nor does He want us to develop an attitude of being better than others. So to me, that makes sense. When it comes to premarital sex, it’s a no-brainer to me. You don’t need a Bible to tell you it’s not the best idea. Look up science reports and the reactions in the brain with sex. Look up psychology reports. The more sex you have before marriage, the less you are bringing to your marriage. Imagine if everything was brand new coming into your marriage. No past relationships to discuss, no past comparisons to make, nothing bad to bring into your forever relationship. I think in a way, we’ve lost sight of how sacred and special marriage was supposed to be. It was a union, a joining of two people. And in Mark 10:9, it states clearly, “Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” We say vows, vows that are actually supposed to mean something. God blessed the union between husband and wife and specifically said that NO MAN (that means nobody on this earth) should be able to separate that union. I don’t know about you, but there are an awful lot of divorces going on. A lot of “man” separating what God told us not to. And that’s in the New Testament, not even the old.

Again, I hope you are not taking offence to this. I am the product of a divorced family who married other divorced people. Divorce is around me, and although I love my family more dearly than anything, I will fight with all I have to preserve my marriage union because I believe that is what is right. (I may continue this conversation at another time. It’s a whole separate Bible study.)

So those are my thoughts. I’m not sure if Christians will ever recover. If we’re going to stand for our beliefs, we need to learn not to compromise. No, it’s not easy being criticized. If anything, becoming vegan has opened my eyes to a whole new way of being criticized (not enough protein, not losing weight fast enough, not going to be healthy, etc…). But if you truly believe in something and seek to receive the rewards at the end, then you need to stand for whatever it is. But remember to stand in a loving way. Hate is fuel to the fire, but love (usually) softens the hardest of hearts. So speak to and treat each other in love, regardless of what a person chooses, but stay strong to yourself and don’t compromise on the beliefs you hold. Nobody in this world has the right to force their beliefs on people. But rather, keep an open ear and seek to find the Truth, and once you have the Truth, hold on to it. As humans, we are master justifiers, master liars, and master convincers. Don’t let someone talk you out of being yourself and believing what you’ve sought to be true.

For another pastor’s perspective, I found this to be a good, well-written, loving read with Biblical back-up.
http://todaychristian.net/a-detailed-explanation-of-why-christians-dont-accept-gay-marriage/

Day 3

I am paying for what I did last night. I never want to eat that much deep-fried food again.

I woke up in the middle of the night as dry as the desert. My mouth was so dry and I craved water. I did not get in near enough water yesterday, possibly not even half as much as my goal is. I feel awful.

I chugged down some water and realized as I was laying in bed trying to fall back asleep that I had pains from my neck to my lower abdomen. Greasy food… I strongly dislike you. My body is paying for my stupidity.

After I got up and made lunch for my husband, I took a 4L jug of water, and started drinking. My goal is to have the 4L finished today. My usual goal is only 3L, but I think I owe it to my body, especially after all that unhealthiness last night to give it some extra water to flush the nastiness out. Ugh… hopefully you’re sensing how awful I feel.

After drinking about 1L of water to start off my day, and waiting about a half hour, I ate my breakfast. Today, my bananas from the Organic Box were ripe and ready to be eaten. Remember, when you eat bananas, they shouldn’t just be yellow. They should have lots of dark spots on them. That is when they are the best ripeness. I attempted to eat 6 (I know it would even be awesome to eat 10) but because I’m still getting used to eating so much, I could only get in 5. So a 5 banana breakfast it is!

I had to run to meet a lady at a different mall today. It was good. Got there on time. Found her. Everything went smoothly. But I decided to take a quick run to the health food store there to get some hairspray that I needed. Of course, I walked by the food court, really wanted some Korean potatoes, but since I’m trying to do raw foods until 4 p.m. each day, I continued to walk by. Instead, I picked up some Solar Raw kale chips with my organic, cruelty-free hairspray. Oh they are delicious! You could never guess it’s not cheese on them. Almost completely organic, and the Solar Raw brand is a farm that grows all their own organic products using solar power! Love it! Look up the brand and see for yourself! The only thing was, they are so rich that I could only eat a small handful. I will be snacking on these later (or tomorrow).

As a late lunch, I put together a massive salad. I used some 50/50 Organic Green Mix, 1 organic raspberry (unfortunately one had moulded and spoiled a whole bunch of other ones), organic blueberries, three sliced organic strawberries, some organic cucumber, a yellow rainbow carrot, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds and soya nuts. For a dressing, I mashed 2 small avocados with a teaspoon of vegan cream cheese (not my favourite, so masking it with other things) and salsa. Oh so delicious, and very full!

After my husband came home, he suggested going out for frozen yogurt. It’s a hot day, our first “hot” summer day, so I said, “Let’s go!”

They had two vegan flavours today: blueberry sorbet and peach sorbet. I totally forgot how flavourful sorbet was! So sweet and fruity. Yum! Of course I put some fresh fruit toppings on it, as well as a couple candy embellishments as a treat. This is a late snack/supper. I’m still very full.

We went to the gym, and I had a good workout. I focused on different variations of squats, push-ups, and some planks. I did a variety of stretching, my chiropractor’s exercises, and 25 minutes of quick-paced walking. It all went very well.

For supper, I finished off the little bit of kale chips my husband left, ate 3 mangos, and then sat around with my husband trying not to fall asleep (sometimes I’m a night owl, sometimes I’m not). However, my husband mentioned that he wanted pizza, so we ordered pizza, non-cheese breadsticks (for me), Coke Zero, and Cinnamon Sticks. I was so proud of myself that I did not even look at the pizza (cheese, chicken and beef), and I didn’t even take one gulp of that Coke Zero! Not that Coke is not vegan, but of all the chemicals that are inside that thing. I did eat my cheese-less breadsticks with marinara sauce (normally would be so unhappy that there was no cheese on them… talk about cheese-addicted!), and I ate a couple of the cinnamon sticks (could have definitely gone without these). But overall, not bad with all the temptation around me!

Just before I went to bed, I finished my 4L of water. Definitely the most I’ve ever drank in a day, and I was so happy!

Week 4 Day 3

Two words come to mind when describing today: exhaustion and stress. It was so hard to get out of bed this morning. My body aches, my mind needs more rest, I’m nothing short of totally exhausted.

The school day went fine, and I had to stay after work for another 2+ hours for a meeting about a tutoring program that we’re trying to start up at the school. This alone was not necessarily stressful, but extremely tiring when you’re already exhausted.

After the meeting was over, I didn’t even go home. Our dogs were out of food, our skinny pig would be out of food soon, and my husband needed some “sick foods” replenished. So I went to the mall. What should have been a half hour trip turned into an hour and twenty minutes or so.

First, there was a homeless (or maybe not so homeless) man standing outside the grocery store. He was asking people for food or change. Now, I’m all for providing people with food because I know it will go to good use. I’m usually a little more cautious with money in fear of feeding an alcohol or drug addiction. He didn’t specifically ask me, but I heard him asking others as they went by. As I’m sure God would have it, I went inside, kicked myself, and walked back out, asking if I could buy him a sandwich or something he liked. He looked so surprised and happy and told me his preference of cheese and mayo (simple) and that he would really enjoy some milk. I’m not sure about you, but it has been my experience that if someone has dropped to the level of begging for food, that person has passed the level of humiliation. It is not easy to be someone who is at the point of standing by the grocery store door begging for food. And so, with this in mind, I went in and found a loaf of bread, a package of cheese slices, a jar of mayo and a jug of milk. He didn’t mention any meat so I was unsure as to whether he even ate meat (knowing a lot of vegetarians myself). But I got the bulk items so that this man could not just have food once but several times. And I did not pick the cheapest items because I know the blessings the LORD has given me. What pride if I shared some of my gifts with someone in need. Am I rich? Far from it. In fact my husband and I are in the middle of trying to balance our budget and get rid of some of our debt. By many financial standards, we are just getting by. But by someone, like a homeless man’s standard, we are doing well. And so I wanted to give this man not just quantity but also quality and selected items that were a little better than others while still trying to think simplicity to ensure he liked what I gave. When it came to the milk selection, however, I went organic. Not necessarily for the health option, but also because it was the only milk that came in a jug instead of a carton, and not knowing how far he had to go, a jug seemed like the better carrying option.

Either way, the whole point of that whole tangent of a story is not simply to boast about something I did, but rather to encourage you to pass on some good will. I don’t know the man’s story. I don’t know if he was really homeless, but the fact is that I’m not supposed to be the judge, God is. And so I can only do what seems to be the right thing. If I was hungry enough to beg for food, I can only imagine how thankful I’d be for someone to share with me. It’s definitely something to consider the next time.

So after that little time block of a detour, I went back into the grocery store to find the things my husband needed. I had a list, so it wasn’t really that bad. What was bad were the line-ups. It was like several busses had come and dropped everyone off. Plus they had like 3 promotions going on at the same time so the transactions took twice as long.

Finally, I got the stuff to my car. By this time, I’m starving, I can tell my blood pressure is low, and I’m not feeling good at all. So I made a bad choice. I bought a small package of candy and a small chocolate bar. Was it quick carbs to elevate my sugar levels? Yes. But were there better things I could have chosen? Absolutely. This was a weak moment. I moment that caused me to over my macros for the day. A moment I would go back and change. It didn’t even taste as good as I thought. This was a food fail.

I went to the second store, finished buying the things I needed, but tried to carry everything without a cart (14 kg dog food bag, skinny pig food, bag of hay, dog bones). Needless to say, this did not work so well. I ended up leaving the stuff and getting a cart. Lines were long again, and eventually I made it to the car.

But this particular mall has a parking lot challenge. It seems to contain many impatient people. I almost got hit a few times. For example, as I was leaving and slowly backing out of my spot, a car flew behind me, barely squeezing between my car and the car parked behind me. There was no thought of waiting until I had finished pulling out. Those kinds of things.

When I finally got home, I was so happy. So exhausted, tired, and just worn out. It felt so nice to be home. I was going to make today a rest day, but my husband really wanted to go to the sauna. So while he sat in the sauna, I did 25 minutes of steady state cardio on the elliptical.

To be honest, I feel really bad about the food. I know better than that. But I guess this is a reminder, a lesson to remember. There are better choices and I made a bad one. But this is a reminder to prepare even for the worst situations. And should the event arise where things take longer than expected, I can make a better choice.

Off to bed and a better day tomorrow!