Tame the Crave

Tame the Crave – a few of my favorite healthy things

Ahhh, Fall – pumpkin spice in the air, crisp leaves beneath our feet, cozy scarves around our necks, ……………. and food, food, and more food. Everywhere.

As I write this, there is an apple crisp in my oven. Only the second of the season, so I’m not doing too badly. But, oh, the temptations knocking at the door! Literally. Halloween. I’ve been known to raid my kids’ treat bags for prime chocolate pickin’s. I know I’m not alone on that one 😉

So I’ve compiled this list to remind myself that there are lots of healthy AND yummy options for the upcoming season of merriment, thanks, and full bellies. I hope it gives you some ideas as well.

I’m aiming to make this my healthiest holiday season yet. I’d love to hear your ideas too! If you have any favorite healthy holiday recipes, send them my way – and maybe I’ll post another list in the near future.

Pumpkin Apple Soup

https://www.babble.com/best-recipes/apple-pumpkin-soup/

Beef Pho

http://ahealthylifeforme.com/beef-pho-noodle-soup/

Minestrone Soup

http://www.acedarspoon.com/homemade-minestrone-soup-recipe/

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

For this meal, I simply cook a spaghetti squash (or two), scrape out the spaghetti like flesh, and top with our favorite spaghetti sauce. Simple, scrumptious and healthy!

BBQ Chicken Apple Pizza

http://www.lemontreedwelling.com/2013/08/bbq-chicken-apple-pizza.html#_a5y_p=977978

Oven Dried Apples

http://www.thesatedpalate.com/search/label/apples

*you have to scroll down a little ways to get to the recipe*

Lentil Sloppy Joes

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/10/26/super-healthy-lentil-sloppy-joes/

Homemade Lara Bars

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/chocolate-covered-recipes/fudge-baby-mania/

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bites

http://www.taylormadebytaylorbee.com/2013/10/make-ahead-healthy-breakfast-pumpkin.html

As you probably know by now, dessert is my downfall. These recipes are healthy renditions of the originals, but still require moderation, for me.

Black Bean Brownies

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/161701/black-bean-brownies/

Pumpkin Custard

http://nourishedkitchen.com/pumpkin-custard-recipe/

Pumpkin Pazookie

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/10/24/its-a-chocolate-pumpkin-pizookie/

Recipes I want to Try:

Spaghetti Squash Pizza Crust

http://sharedappetite.com/recipes/gluten-free-spaghetti-squash-pizza-crust/

Oven Roasted Chickpeas

http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-roasted-chickpeas/#more-11494

Healthy Pumpkin Pie

http://thehealthyfoodie.com/healthy-pumpkin-pie/

Pumpkin Granola

http://www.skinnytaste.com/easy-pumpkin-spiced-granola/

Autumn Squash Soup

http://www.kimscravings.com/2014/10/copycat-recipe-panera-breads-autumn-squash-soup/

I’ve also started several Tame The Crave boards on Pinterest if you’re interested.

https://www.pinterest.com/kimrettmann/tame-the-crave-sweets/

https://www.pinterest.com/kimrettmann/tame-the-crave-snacks/

https://www.pinterest.com/kimrettmann/tame-the-crave-mains/

https://www.pinterest.com/kimrettmann/tame-the-crave-breakfast/

https://www.pinterest.com/kimrettmann/tame-the-crave-sides/

The spicy sweet smells of that apple crisp I mentioned are wafting into my room at this moment. And you know it’s actually a relatively healthy dessert. I decreased the amount of sugar this time, and the next time I make it I want to try using coconut oil instead of butter. I’ll try to remember to let you know how it goes! And I’ll try not to eat too much of this one 😉

To Tame the Pain – A Tame the Crave Update

Pain craves comfort –relief.

So I crave salty & sweet.

Though I’ve been silent on my my health journey the past month and a half, Tame the Crave still has occupied many of my thoughts. I’m daily conscience of my healthy and not-so-healthy eating habits. I’m continuing to work in work-outs to my lifestyle. And my weight is still flat-lined. No change for a few months now.

Flat-lined. It’s the summer story of my heart; and becoming my autumn story too.

I can’t seem to find the joy that should clothe me with proof of my abundant life in Christ. It’s like emotional anemia.

No tragic or traumatic event has befallen me or my family; but a deep seeded thorn of pain has grown and begun to wrap its wandering vines around my heart. I’m giving attention, and pursuing healing; but it’s an arduous process.

It’s a process that almost audibly begs me to reach for comfort from ooey-gooey sweets and fancy melty cheeses. And I’ve succumbed on occasion. And it has comforted temporarily. But here I am still – processing the same deep pain.

Maybe it’s a testing? To teach me to seek full-heart comfort instead of full-belly comfort?

On the brighter side – because of the mental and physical changes I’ve adopted this year, my splurges are far less ‘splurgy’ than past splurges. Like a handful of chocolate chips rather than a large chocolate peanut butter brownie milkshake from Sonic.

I know it’s a fairly short update, but emotional anemia makes it difficult to communicate well. This is what I have to offer. And I offer it in hope that maybe one other person out there can be comforted by simply knowing they are not alone in the struggle — can say, “me too.”

“Why are you in despair, O my soul?

And why have you become disturbed within me?

Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance and my God.“

Psalm 42:11

This is the truth I am attempting to feast upon as my source of full-heart comfort. Will you join me at the table?

Where It Should Have Begun

I’ll be honest. It’s been hard to stay focused and motivated on my health journey this summer.
And the results are telling.

I haven’t gained back all I’ve lost, but I just haven’t made much more progress.

But it’s left me wondering why it’s been a struggle of late? The deeper I dig into that question, the more I discover that my motives for this journey have been tainted by vanity – by a desire to look good and feel good about myself.

I think almost all women struggle to some degree with body image – we all long to be wanted and loved. And for some reason we think physical beauty is the ticket.

But what if we are completely missing the point of these bodies God has given us?

The Lord brought this verse to my mind yesterday –

For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

1 Corinthians 6:20

What if the purpose of this body is solely to bring glory to God?

What if it’s not about me feeling good about myself, but about God bringing glory to Himself?

What if the way I care for what He has given me is an act of thanksgiving?

What if acting as an image bearer through this body is an act of worship?

Maybe giving birth to my children is glorifying because it reflects God as Creator of life.

Maybe serving the body of Christ is glorifying because it reflects God’s love.

Maybe even intimacy with my husband glorifies God because it reflects His unity.

And maybe this health journey can be motivated by a desire to bring God glory too.

Though I had tidbits of these thoughts when I began this journey, they’re beginning to settle down in my soul a bit more lately.

How can I glorify God with my body today?

It will probably look a little different for each of us. But as followers of Christ, I think it’s probably the most important question we can ask ourselves on this journey.

So, how can you glorify God with your body today?

Stuck

It’s been a few weeks since I have written an update on my health journey. I guess the primary reason is that not much has happened.

I weighed in again today, as I do every Wednesday, only to find I’m stuck at the same weight I’ve been at for the last three weeks.

It’s most frustrating this week because I took some extra steps toward healthier eating (like not eating after dinner) and being more active. In my mind that all should have added up to some small result on the scale. But it didn’t.

As I contemplate this, I’m reminded of other areas in life that I get frustrated by lack of results, too. Parenting – I can speak the wisest words to my children, but they won’t necessarily heed them. Friendship – sometimes my investment never is reciprocated. Even cleaning! – I can clean for an hour yet still be dissatisfied because it doesn’t stay clean for longer than a day around here.

So, I’m tempted to ask myself, “Why keep trying?”

I keep trying because the unseen results are far more valuable than the seen. The obedience I am learning, the ability to say no to cravings, and the peace and comfort that comes with filling up on God rather than on food – All of these things are conforming my inner self into the image of my Savior.

Whether my outer-self will continue to change, that remains to be seen.

So, I’m not on a diet. I’m on a journey with Jesus to learn the fine art of self-discipline for the purpose of holiness. ~Lysa TerKeurst Made to Crave

My result this week wasn’t what I had hoped for. But, it led me to inspect the more beautiful and lasting results this journey has wrought in my life. In recognizing those results, I’m motivated to keep trying and to endure – to pursue holiness in every area of life.

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

1 Peter 1:14-16

Faulty Feelings

Today, my feelings deceived me. As I woke this morning, I groaned at the thought that today was Wednesday – Weigh-In day. I certainly wasn’t feeling any lighter than last week; truth be told, I felt as if I had gained a couple pounds.

Did I really have to weigh in today?!

If it weren’t for the fact that I’ve committed to report my weigh in to my Facebook group of friends joining me in this journey, I would probably have stayed home from the gym and opted for sugary cereal instead of the scale and exercise.

So I went (out of obligation), exercised, sighed heavily, and stepped on the scale.Up went the numbers as I barely dared to look down at them. Then they stopped. Two pounds shy of last week. Really? I looked stared. It was true! I was down two pounds!!

And yet an hour earlier I was convinced I had gained two pounds. My feelings deceived me.

Had I listened to my feelings and stayed home and overindulged, I would never have felt this victory and probably would have packed on a pound instead.

Today, the truth was much more pleasant than the lie I started to believe.

But sometimes, the truth is much harder than a lie.

Like when I’m feeling good about this health journey and weigh in only to find I’ve gained a pound. Then there’s that other pesky lie I’ve caught myself believing on this journey – the lie that blurs grace and overindulgence. It tells me to give myself a little wiggle room, to give myself some grace and not be so ‘legalistic.’ But the hard truth is that giving myself ‘grace’ is just a nice sounding way of excusing my overindulgence.

Overindulgence is overindulgence. And limitless indulgence in food always has consequences – it compromises our health, diminishes energy to pursue our calling, and affects the way we feel about ourselves, just to name a few.

~Lysa TerKeurst from Made to Crave chapter 13

So today I’m reminded that on this journey toward health and victory (both spiritual and physical), I, we, must always come back to what is true, no matter how painful. Because our feelings are often full of faults, and even full of lies. They will lead us astray if we follow them. The only trustworthy guide is the Truth.

God,

I want to walk in your truth. Walking – it requires movement and initiative. Help me to move in Your Truth and to initiate pursuit of it through study of Your Word. Help me discern between feelings that come from lies and feelings that come from Truth. Help me to stay the course in pursuit of physical health, but even more help me stay the course in pursuit of spiritual health. Thank you for these bodies you have given to us; may we please You, and not substitute You, with them.