Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

  • Home
    • About
    • FAQs
  • Recipes
    • Bread and Breakfast
    • Condiments
    • Dairy
    • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes and Snacks
    • Desserts
    • Gluten Free
    • Instant Pot
    • Crock Pot
    • Heavenly Homemaker’s Weekly Menus
  • Homemaking
    • Real Food Sources
  • Store
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
  • Simple Meals
  • Club Members!

Food Is Nourishment. What a Concept. {31 Days to Real Food Reality ~ Day 6}

January 5, 2014 by Laura 10 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

31 Days 300

It was way back in my “eating low-fat” days as a college student and young married gal. I would eat a bowl of low-fat cereal with skim milk for breakfast. Lunch might be a turkey sandwich with low fat mayo on “light” bread, and a side of fat free chips (aka salted cardboard). For a snack, I’d have Pepsi and Twizzlers, which are both fat free. Dinner would be any variety of food made with skinless chicken breast, white pasta or potatoes, and maybe a salad with fat free dressing. At the end of the day, I would feel great about how I’d eaten for the day. “I’ve had hardly any fat today!” I would say to myself.

That’s what I thought it meant to eat healthy.

There is a common truth in the way I used to think about eating and what I know believe about eating:  I need to be aware of what I’m putting into my mouth because it is important to eat a healthy diet.  What I didn’t recognize then, however, was that food isn’t just meant to fill a hole. Food is meant to nourish us.

Nourish.

I was getting very little nourishment when I ate a low-fat diet. Why? Because nourishment wasn’t my focus. My focus was on avoiding fat, not on consuming nutrients. Somehow, candy and soda made it on my “healthy” list.

Is It Nourishing

Whether eating low-fat or not, I’m going to venture to suggest that there are many who are consuming very little nourishment. Even people who over-eat. How can this be? Well, there are many edible products on the market that fill a hole, but offer very little nourishment. What nutrients are found in a bag of chips? A slice of white bread? A box of crackers? A box of cereal? A slice of American cheese?

Please don’t hear me heaping on guilt to those of you who are still eating many of those foods. Hey, I eat chips, cereal, and crackers sometimes too. It’s fun, it tastes good, and we enjoy the occasional treat. But I also know that if that’s all we were eating, we would not be receiving much nourishment – I don’t care how fortified the box claims its contents to be.

When making healthy food choices, we must always consider how much nourishment it will give our bodies. Crackers are a fun snack and may hold our kids over until dinner, but are they doing much to give their bodies needed nutrients and fuel?

A well-balanced diet of healthy fats, lots of fruits and vegetables, meats, dairy, rich broths, nuts, and few whole grains will give our body what it needs to thrive! When not given foods filled with nutrients, our bodies can make do for a while, but then we become depleted and sick. Sickness takes on many forms, from sluggishness to disease to everything in between.

So when making food choices, ask yourself, “Is this going to nourish me?”

Fill your body with food meant to nourish! What’s great: Nourishment comes in all forms of deliciousness. Our list of options for real food nourishment is longer than my leg, because God is good to give us wonderful variety! This real food thing just keeps getting better all the time, doesn’t it?

What’s your favorite form of nourishment? When you picture foods that fuel the body well, what foods comes to mind?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Filed Under: 31 Days of Real Food Reality Tagged With: healthy food, low fat, nourishment, real food reality

Comments

  1. Sheri says

    January 6, 2014 at 6:41 am

    Well said, Laura!

    Reply
  2. Cindy says

    January 6, 2014 at 8:39 am

    Oatmeal! In fact, making some baked oatmeal muffins right now.

    Reply
  3. Kendra Burrows says

    January 6, 2014 at 10:07 am

    Just took your whole wheat overnight bread out of the oven and looking forward to slice. (LOVE that stuff!) We added sunflowers and craisins to the dough and are wondering if it is going to turn out the way we think it is. Not sure I’ll be able to wait for lunch to see!

    Reply
  4. Erin says

    January 6, 2014 at 10:55 am

    Quinoa is my newest love. It tastes as good as oatmeal with milk and sweetener and cinnamon! I make it into tabbouli and use it as rice, too. High protein.

    Reply
  5. Rebecca says

    January 6, 2014 at 11:25 am

    Protein! I think protein is the key to feeling full and eating less and not needing to snack. It has helped our family feel better in so many ways. Bring on the nuts, meat, cheeses and eggs!

    Reply
  6. Barbara says

    January 6, 2014 at 12:54 pm

    I’m in total agreement with Rebecca. When I eat nuts (specifically safe, raw almonds) eggs, meat & cheese, I feel good!

    Reply
  7. Lauren says

    January 6, 2014 at 1:10 pm

    In college I had the same thought process! If I didn’t eat fat I was eating healthy. When I got married I became more interested in eating wholesome foods. I highly recommend Eat to Live by Dr. Fuhrman and Alive!: A Physician’s Biblical and Scientific Guide to Nutrition (by Scott Stoll, you can find it one Amazon).

    I also wrote about my thoughts on the Bible and Food in this post – http://heartofdeborah.blogspot.com/2012/10/lets-get-back-to-eden.html

    God bless!

    Reply
  8. Turq says

    January 6, 2014 at 4:25 pm

    I find Greek yogurt to be very nourishing. I have a dairy intolerance, and yet this food does not make me sick, it makes me feel strong! Low in fat, high in protein, smooth and creamy, and so versatile.

    Reply
  9. Tara H says

    January 6, 2014 at 8:27 pm

    Garlic! :)
    I made your raspberry oatmeal bars tonight. I used mashed strawberries with a little honey as the filling. We loved them!

    Reply
  10. Barb says

    January 7, 2014 at 11:34 am

    I am so glad you are doing this series. One of my items on my to-do list for 2014 is work on my family’s eating habits. More whole foods and a lot less processed junk. Thank you! Blessings!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Join Our Community!

 Facebook Twitter RSS E-mail Instagram Pinterest

Popular Posts

~ Will All of the Real Moms Please Stand Up?
~ Easy! Stir-and-Pour Whole Wheat Bread
~ How to Make Gatorade
~ 31 Real Food Breakfast Ideas
~ Dear Teenage Girls...
~ When Mom Takes a Step Back
~ The Inexpensive Health Insurance We Love!
~ Let's Talk Real Food Grocery Budgets

Check out our latest posts!

  • Simple Bran Muffin Recipe
  • Easy Meatballs with Sweet Sauce (Freezer Friendly)
  • How to Make Uncrustables
  • The Easiest No-Bake Cheescake
  • Do I Still Buy Organic Food?
Home  ~  Simple Meals  ~  Club Membership  ~  Shop  ~  Privacy Policy  ~  Disclosure  ~ Contact

Copyright © 2023 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in