Thankful Thursday: Healthy Habits

Tirzah Mae’s development has been occurring in leaps and bounds – meaning lots of changes for mom. By God’s grace, most of those changes have been for the better!

This week I’m thankful…

…for intentional eating
Tirzah Mae’s self feeding, which forces me to be very intentional about my meal plans – coming up with foods that she can finger feed herself that will help her establish healthy eating patterns. This means I’m taking the extra time to cut up fruit (which otherwise might have gone bad in my fridge because I’m super lazy about doing things like washing and stemming grapes or berries when I’m doing it for myself.) It means I’m including a cooked vegetable in addition to a raw one at meals (because Tirzah Mae still has a hard time with most raw veggies). It means Daniel and I are eating better than ever.

…for taking time
Once upon a time, I lamented how much time breastfeeding took. Now, I realize that’s nothing compared to spoon feeding a voracious infant. Meals with Tirzah Mae can take a LONG time – and spoon feeding her (which I still do for most meats and anything gooey or mashed) means I have to put down my own fork or spoon multiple times throughout a meal. I don’t overeat as much because the extra time gives my body a chance to tell me I’m full before I overeat.

…for a cup of tea
We generally do finger foods for snacks – and these too take a long time. Problem is, they don’t necessarily take ME a long time (I just cut up a piece of fruit or chunk up a piece of homemade zucchini bread). So I can be tempted to sit at the table and eat way too much. Until I realized that I could nurse a hot cup of tea while Tirzah Mae does her thing. I eat a small snack while my tea is brewing, and then sip my tea until Tirzah Mae is done. I get a relaxing break from daily activities – and I don’t get the extra (unneeded) calories from continued snacking.

…for exercise in expert mode
I’ve been switching up my exercise routine, trying things with greater intensity and greater resistance. Tirzah Mae’s been switching it up too – crawling beneath me while I’m doing planks or over me while I’m doing pushups, grabbing ahold of my raised legs to pull herself to standing while I’m doing reverse curls (true stories, all). My brother calls trying to do anything with a toddler “expert mode” – hearkening to video game modes that put the player in control of absolutely everything (meaning that the player is going crazy trying to control way too much). I begin to understand the concept.

…for better sleep
We’ve been trying some new stuff with Tirzah Mae this week – and it seems to be paying off. She’s sleeping a little better, and I’m sleeping much better. The last couple of nights, we’ve gotten up for a while during her middle of the night period of wakefulness (which coincides with Daniel’s morning waking – CRAZY!) and have played a while before she goes back to sleep. Then I can eat breakfast with Daniel and we can chat a bit before he goes to work – at which point I go back to sleep for another couple of hours as well. It’s been working well – making me feel more rested AND giving me some additional alone time with Daniel, which is just terrific.

…for payoff
It’s too early to say that these changes are making a certain difference in those externals with which we measure health – but sometimes the little gains (even if they’re flukes) are encouraging. Increasing my workout and still being able to breathe. Feeling the pleasant soreness of muscle use the next day after a workout. Seeing the lowest number on the scale since my weight rose to its present point six weeks or so after Tirzah Mae was born. Having consistently normal blood pressures on the first reading every day (even if I was nursing or Tirzah Mae was climbing over me – yes, this is how I take my blood pressure!)

These are small things. Things of this mortal body. Things corruptible.

Yet I am thankful that Christianity is not Gnosticism, that God does not denigrate the body.

Instead, He created our bodies, he calls us to worship Him with our bodies – and He promises that one day He will transform our bodies.

Today, I am thankful for the body He’s given me – and for the grace He’s given this week to glorify Him with it.

“‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be dominated by anything. ‘Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food’—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. ”
~1 Corinthians 6:12-14 (ESV)