I Was Wrong, Part 1

Many moons ago, on this very blog, I promised to tell some of my thoughts on nutrition.

And many moons ago, on this very blog, I said that my first post would be: "I Was Wrong."

I started that post, and it got to be SO! LONG!! You see, there are many things that I have been wrong about.

There are things that I may say now that I will tell you later: "I was wrong." Any good professional will do that: give the best information s/he has with the information available at that time, and continue learning CONSTANTLY.

Nutrition is certainly an ever-changing landscape, and voices clamor from your grocery shelves, your doctor's office, and always the internet. I will do what I can to pass along what I believe to be current and valid information.

Back to me being wrong, though.

A phrase that I have uttered MANY times, perhaps even to you:

"All things in moderation."

Sometimes I even had a really good spiritual reason for that -- God created everything, blah, blah, blah.

But the reality was, that meant I didn't want to give up what I knew I shouldn't be eating and I felt like just a little was okay. And for some of us, it is.

I really hopped on here tonight specifically because I was so blown away by Kris' passionate article on the same stance: Why 'Everything in Moderation' is Killing People. (I rarely read anything on Kris' blog that I DON'T like, and he always puts science-y things in "bottom line" and easy to understand language for all of us). 

I HIGHLY encourage you to take a look at that article -- says it all so much more passionately than I could!

As far as God creating all of our food... yes. Yes, He did. Let's even consider the lovely cocoa bean (YAY!! Chocolate!!) You've got your chocolate, you've got your anti-oxidant -- what's not to love?? Then man comes along and finds a way to process the heck outta that little bean -- and now you have your cocaine.

Wait -- it's "natural"! It came from a plant! God made that plant. It must be okay, right? Notsomuch.

Man has continued to process the heck outta what God has put on this earth as our nourishment so that your body barely knows what to do with it anymore. But that's a whole other blog post.

So... I was wrong.

What do you think? All things in moderation, or stay away entirely from unhealthy foods?

Winds of Change at the Cleft of the Rock

The biggest change here at The Cleft of the Rock you will immediately notice is that I actually wrote something.

Tah. Dah.

And, while making no promises of regularity, I have things on my heart to write about. But it isn't usual Cleft of the Rock stuff.

Last year, it all finally came clear to me.

What I finally wanted to be when I grow up. And, honestly, I can't even completely name what the occupation will look like, but I know the education I must have, and that is enough for now.

In my teens I struggled with my weight. Then in my 20's I wanted to get off the diet wheel and learn to eat healthy. I am still learning, but sharing my knowledge and what I've learned is my favorite thing on the planet. I know the struggle -- it's different for each of us -- but I know how it feels in your soul to feel less than because of the number on the scale or the number on the tag of my clothes. And I don't want anyone to feel that way.

We do not have to be thin to be beautiful, but we all feel better at a healthy weight. And when we care about ourselves, we care FOR ourselves. Feeding ourselves properly, plenty of rest... all those things.

So I've done my "never." I was never going to go back to school. And last spring, I enrolled in General Chemistry 1 (oh, yeah...). And this fall there will be GenChem2. Ugh. But each class is a little tiny step toward my goal of Registered Dietitian (that will take me a very long time to achieve).

Nutrition is on sale!!

So the Cleft of the Rock will be shifting more toward nutrition and fitness.  Of course, I will still tell you about funny life as it comes. (Follow me on instagram at sarah_stir for a peek at the world's worst parking job -- mine - this week). But more and more I will be speaking to my heart and my passion -- which is honoring God by honoring the body he blessed us with to the best of our ability on this day. Whatever our current level of fitness, whatever our current level of nutritional knowledge, we can honor God with our body to the best of our ability on this day.

Can't wait to tell you the first thing that is on my heart. Coming up: "I was wrong." :-)

Stay tuned!

"...You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." 1 Corinthians 6:20

 

You're Stronger Than You Think You Are

I've mentioned running on occasion. If someone says that I'm a runner I make them do air quotes around the word and call me a "runner." It doesn't come naturally to me. I didn't start really running until my 30's. I am slow. My running plans never go how I want because there are few plans out there for 40-something beginners that are turtle-slow.

My last 5k. I finished before they cleared the course. 

Photo courtesy Celebrated Images

If you are a Facebook friend or follow me on Twitter you know that I run in the morning, sometimes horrifically early. I'm not necessarily a morning person, but that is when the running must be done if it is to get done.

My legs don't work well and my brain doesn't work well at still-too-dark hours of the morning. Thankfully, my brain only has to figure out to put one foot in front of the other and stay out of traffic. That much I can usually manage.

My legs take a while to get going on these runs. I give myself a few minutes to warm up and then begin to wonder why I didn't stay in bed.

Lately, though, a sentence has been echoing in my head. A sentence that has propelled me further and faster (relatively speaking, of course) than any training program or motivational thought.

Less than ten words spoken to me over a year ago keep my legs in motion.

When we first moved here (almost 2 years ago) God almost immediately brought me a running partner knowing that I needed the running to keep me sane and the partner to keep me faithful.

She is a much stronger runner than I am but is eternally patient and helped me get on track. I was discussing some training I wanted to do or something I hoped to accomplish but bemoaning my lack of ability.

And there it was:

"You're a stronger runner than you think you are."

I don't know if she was just filling the air -- though she isn't one to say something she doesn't mean -- or if she really believed that.

It doesn't matter.

What matters is that I believed it. Okay -- I didn't believe it at first. But I considered it as a possibility. So I somewhat tested it. Maybe I can run a little longer before a walk break. Maybe this isn't as fast as these legs will go.

My running partner has moved away. I am left to train on my own. It's been a tumultuous winter of illness and injury for me. But out the door I go, starting over again and again. My legs complain. My lungs burn. But I hear it.

"You're a stronger runner than you think you are."

So I keep at it. And run just a little more and a little more.

Turns out -- I really am a stronger runner than I thought I was.

It took just a few words of encouragement from someone for me to find that out. Someone else had to believe in me before I could believe in myself.

The power of encouragement. You are probably stronger -- physically and emotionally -- than you think you are. And you probably need to tell someone close to you that they are, too.

Great video about the power of one person believing in another: