A Whole Life

I've been thinking a lot about food lately, about what really constitutes a "healthy" diet, what kinds of foods have gotten us all in this gain/lose cycle from hell, and how to fix it.

Stress and hormones, for me, are the number one culprits of dietary disaster. Add to that the fact that I am NOT a great planner [although I am working on it!], and I end up with take-out crapola and delivery disasters that wreak havoc on all that working out I did this week.

This week, I've been reading Jonny Bowden's excellent book "The Healthiest Meals on Earth," in which he creates "polymeals," or meals that seek to incorporate the benefits of what I call the heavenly sevenly: red wine, chocolate, almonds, garlic, fish, fruits and vegetables.

This book is both a nutritional guidebook and a cookbook all rolled into one. I highly recommend it. He gives recipes for four-course polymeals and one-pot wonder polymeals (which are probably the ones I'm going to try out first).

At any rate, it's REAL FOOD, and food that is nutritious, delicious and good for your waist. I'm going to try some meals out this weekend, and I'll let you know (if anybody is actually out there) which ones are winners and which ones to skip.

This weekend, my goal is to focus on wholeness: in relationships (spending face-to-face time with actual people as opposed to over a phone or a computer); in food (focusing on real foods, not prepackaged); and in my spiritual life (talking to God while walking, focusing on being a more loving person). This should be a good test, because the girls are all home from school this weekend. This is a not-so-subtle way of saying, Pray for me, people!

Prayer for the day: God, thank you for giving us people in our lives to love and test us. Thank you for creating such interesting and delicious food. Help us to live lives wholly devoted to loving You with all of our hearts, minds and souls and our neighbors as ourselves. amen.