Lifestyle and health

This post is a continuation of last weeks post on stress.

Head over to this article  by Dr. Vicki Griffin, Dr. Edwin Neblett and Evelyn Kissinger for some interesting information! 

Then answer this question. How stressed are you? On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being super stressed and 1 being very mellow, how would you rate yourself? 

How do you notice stress in your body? Look at the symptoms of stress above and mark off the ones you notice in yourself. 

Life events can have an effect on how much stress you feel.

Nutrition makes a big difference in how well your body is able to handle the days stress. If you have good nutrition, you can handle stress better, and there won't be as much damage to your body and brain from it. 

Here is what happens when you have good nutrition. 

     1. You have nutrient reserves ready for when your metabolism speeds up in response to stress. 

      2. Enough nutrients means your body can protect and restore your system when damage occurs, like free radical damage to the cells.

If you don't have food nutrient those reserves aren't there, and stress can cause damage. 

      1. This increases your risk of disease.

      2. It affects your moods and thought processes.

      3. And increases your cravings for foods that aren't healthy, that might make you feel good for a short time, but are no good in the long run. 

How can you add power to your nutrition?

Check out these tips below. 

You would be amazed at how these easy solutions can have a positive influence on your health. 

Comment below what works for you! 

Healthy recipe and tips

This week I was introduced by my friend to an awesome little store in our big city that has a ton of produce for cheaper than any other place I've found. They even had a rack of clearance items, so I got a box of bell peppers for $1.00. I spent way less on produce than I would otherwise including melons and strawberries. Another store she told me about was a bakery outlet store where they sell their bread at a discount. I stopped there and got about 6 loaves of bread for $1- $1.50 each. One other place I found, courtesy of my friend, is the 99 cent only store in which most things are 99 cents. Here I found bags of lentils, and some produce and other healthy foods for cheaper than even Walmart! Make sure though to compare the prices, because not everything is cheaper, or may be cheaper quality.

My tip for you is to look around your area for local markets or stands that may sell food items at a discount either because they are local, or because it's overstock items, or close to its sell buy date.

Today's menu consists of some whole grain bread, and a bowl of lentil stew with greens and veges.

The recipe for my throw together lentils is as follows:

1 lb. lentils, any kind
Boil in water until tender.
Add choice of veges and greens. Today we have 2 small bunches of kale, and a package of frozen okra.

I added half a tablespoon or so of vegetable bouillon, then salt, onion powder and garlic powder to taste. Cook until veges are just tender.

We served ours with whole grain bread on the side.

What are your favorite cheap but healthy meals?

Reading

i had a very busy day yesterday and didn't have a lot of time to do a blog, so I will do it now, before I do the next one.

Today's reading is from 2 Kings chapter 5.

Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.

2Ki 5:2  And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife.

2Ki 5:3  And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord werewith the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.

2Ki 5:4  And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.

2Ki 5:5  And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

2Ki 5:6  And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.

2Ki 5:7  And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.

2Ki 5:8  And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

2Ki 5:9  So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

2Ki 5:10  And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

2Ki 5:11  But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

2Ki 5:12  Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

2Ki 5:13  And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

2Ki 5:14  Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Fun Friday happenings

This weeks Fun Family Friday happenings are things we have done in the past few weeks.

VBS on Sabbath

Kids repeating the evening themes

Joshua's sermonette along with 2 other kids

Camping with old friends in Utah! Fun times!

Fun times with friends at our open house!

Watching the eclipse on live NASA YouTube 

And pinhole viewing

Doing Math

Lifestyle and stress

Stress and your lifestyle are connected. You'd be amazed at how simple the answers can be to reducing stress and having better responses to stress you can't avoid.

We will be covering 4 areas in the next few health related posts.
   1. Stress in society and stress on your life
   2. Stress and nutrition needs
   3. How your food choices affect stress
   4. The Power in your plate

We will talk about what to do, how to do it and motivate ourselves to do it.

Today's session is a short video from Dr. Neal Barnard.

Healthy Recipe

Today's health blog is a recipe I tried today. We recently bought a house and invited a bunch of friends over for an open house, so I made a bunch of cookies. This recipe was received well, and many people liked them.

I will undoubtedly tweek it a little since I didn't like it as much as I thought I would and I think it could be better.

This is called Peanut Butter Gems. It contains banana, but the peanut butter tends to be more prominent, while the banana stays more in the background to provide some extra sweetening.

There is no sugar in my recipe which I adapted from this peanut butter banana cookie recipe that I found recently.

I think next time, I will try a different kind of flour, and maybe flatten them a bit more as they ended up a bit dense and sticky.

Try them, both the original and my version, and adapt your own. Then let me know in the comments how you like them, and what you did to make them better suited to your taste buds!


Peanut Butter Banana Gems

• 2 medium very ripe bananas
• 1 TBS honey
• ½ C creamy peanut butter
• 1 and ⅓ Cups flour, I used oat this time
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350˚F.
2. Peel and mash bananas. Mix in honey and peanut butter.
3. Add flour, and salt.
4. Drop in 2 tablespoon size mounds on baking sheet. bake for 7-8 minutes or until edges are barely golden brown.
5. Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to cooling rack or plate.

Changes part 2

One of the first changes in my blog will be its regularity. I haven't been regular about posting. My goal is to post more often.

One part will be in line with my website name, www.readingwithjuliette.com. This used to lead somewhere else, but now will lead to this blog.

The next part will be along the lines of health.

After that, will hopefully be a video from my YouTube channel. I'm not sure about the content yet, but as I said previously, it's a process.

Finally, the last part of my blog, will be family related: homeschool adventures, pictures of the kids, fun things we've done through the week.

I have a goal to be consistent since I have a tendency to start things, have big ideas, and not follow through. This seems to be human nature, but I'm praying God will help me in this.

Tomorrow will be my first post, on health, so watch for it!

Changes

I'm making a bit of a change in my blog. And my life.

We recently moved into a new house and I am trying to be more purposeful in everything I do. Keeping it cleaner, not letting things slide as much, trying to be less lazy.

As part of this challenge, I am including my dream, I guess you could say of a health based business/ministry.
I have recently come in contact with an entrepeurneurial business coach whose ideas in the area of business, and whose philosophy about how to reach others made me realize I don't need to be someone else to help people. I need to be only who God wants me to be, real and true to Him.

So, in that vein, I have decided that I'm going to work with what I've got, the knowledge that I have and turn it into the ministry that I feel that God has given me.

It's a process, which is ongoing, so there may be changes as I go, but I know that as long I am focused on God's will and who He has called me to be, then I can't go wrong. He will lead me.

Psalm 32:8  I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.