Eating on the RUN

Greek Salad

Because I work from home I also have the time to cook. A lot! On an average week I prepare 14 meals and sometimes more than that. We rarely eat out. Actually I enjoy the cooking part but I can't say the same for the clean up.

I am what my mother would  call "a good eater." I grew up on delicious, home cooked food in the tradition of Southern Cuisine and if I had to pick one cuisine to eat for the rest of my life it would be the food I grew up eating from Mother's southern kitchen.

Fortunately I don't have to choose and now as the "chef" of my kitchen, I like to try out new recipes and also tweak the old ones to make them healthier.

For week two of my Run With Endurance Group, our focus was on what we eat. The Bible tells us that our bodies are the "temples" of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we are admonished to give due care to the bodies that house the Spirit of God. One of the best ways to care for our bodies is to eat nutritiously and an easy way to do that is to increase your fiber intake.

Physically ~ Specifically let's zero in on our fiber intake which should be about 25 grams/day for women and 35 grams for men. Fiber is the fibrous part of a plant food that your body does not digest. It acts as a broom to sweep our "temples" clean. It also helps us feel full and as we eat more fiber we will eat less "junk."

Easy Ways to Increase Your Fiber Intake 

 (I rounded the gram counts to the nearest whole number.)

1 serving cooked oatmeal - 4 grams
2 tsp. cinnamon - 2 grams
Lite multi-grain English muffin (Thomas brand) - 8 grams
1 cup of coffee - 2 grams

organic apple with skin - 4 grams
1 cup blueberries - 4 grams
1 medium orange - 3 grams
1 medium banana - 3 grams

1 cup avocado - 10 grams
1 cup baked sweet potato - 4 grams
1 cup corn - 4 grams

1 cup pinto beans or black beans - 15 grams
1 cup cooked turnip greens - 5 grams
1 cup cooked spinach - 4 grams

Spiritually ~ When Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested, He responded to the temptation of turning stones into bread with this, "Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" Matt. 4:4.
In what way will you feed your spirit this week? As you nourish your body, so must you make wise decisions and cultivate healthy habits to nourish your spirit. 

One of the most powerful spiritual disciplines I practice is a routine plan to memorize two scriptural passages each month. I'll be sharing more about this on my faith blog found here.

I'll come back and link the post on scripture memorization when it's up.