Even if you don't eat everything, you won't starve!

Every Lent, I fast for the six weeks. I often forget to keep other promises during the season but with fasting, I'm at least getting that done. Too many people think of the word 'fasting' and worry immediately about fainting, being hungry (uh, kind of the point!), etc. Fasting, to me, is more of a discipline. You have a small meal for breakfast, a small amount of food for lunch, and then a reasonable dinner but only one helping. You soon find out how much you can cut down on your food and still be active and healthy. Fasting also encourages me to eat the right foods at meal times. Your body soon figures out that fruit keeps you going more happily than a candy bar. Water won't make you hungry like a soda.

Over the six weeks of Lent, I noticed that I was feeling more energetic and making better food choices. When Lent was over, I decided not to break out of the fasting mold and consume large quantities of Easter goodies because now I could.  I stayed on my Lenten meal plan and now look forward to my small and large meals and don't even think about eating between meals anymore.

As the weeks have gone by, I've also started to realize that eating the right foods meant having a good supply of apples, carrots, berries, etc. on hand and since they were readily available, my children were also eating more of the good stuff. It made me stop to think about how much responsibility we have to insure our children eat the right things and learn to enjoy the fun stuff as a treat and not a way of life. What we do to ourselves and what we eat will be reflected in our children and their lifetime health problems are pretty much decided by us and how we raise them.

We now have the happy problem of keeping enough fruit and vegetables in the house. Fruit and vegetable smoothies are more fruit and vegetables than anything else these days. We don't eat out much because it is less expensive and more productive to how we feel by eating our own food at home. That's not to mean that my children are not allowed treats. We do have ice cream in the freezer (slow-churned, low fat!). I think it means we consider more carefully what we need over what we want to eat.

Someone once told me that she was resigned to the fact that she would probably develope diabetes when she got older based on her current diet. I was shocked. Diabetes isn't anything to be complacent about and comes with so many complications. Seems that if someone has the sense to realize this possibility, they would have the sense to do somethinga about it now.

Basically, what we eat is what our children will eat. Will God understand one's resignation to future ill health through bad choices or will He consider the example we set for our children on our personal Judgment Day?