Food. aka give me a cookie.

The first week of 7 is super hard: Food. The author, Jen Hatmaker, chose 7 foods and that’s all she ate for a month (whole grain bread, chicken breast, eggs, sweet potato, spinach, avocado, and apples) with modest amounts of salt and pepper and olive oil. The cool thing about 7 is you’re free to make it your own. I started out thinking that I wanted to exclude 7 foods, but in the end I decided to pick my own 7.

I included Jen’s chicken breast and eggs, but I wanted to try going gluten free for a week, so I swapped for gluten-free tortillas. I also included balsamic vinegar (very importantly, this does not mean sugar-laden dressing, just real balsamic vinegar and one particular dressing that’s just vinegar and oil and no junk or gluten). I was going to limit my list to pears, sweet potatoes, spinach and avocado, but in the end decided to include all vegetables and fruits. I also have had some 100% fruit juice mixed with sparkling water, salt and pepper, and olive oil for cooking.

What isn’t on this list… cookies, bread, cheese, milk, ice cream, candy, cookies, brownies chocolate, soda, wine, beer, coffee, iced tea…. A lot of more. Those are the ones I really miss. Especially iced tea, and super especially baked goods.

I have had a few moments when I thought I might lose it. The first was day 1. I drink coffee or tea every day. Lately, I’ve been drinking a glass of iced tea every morning. The night before day 1 included a trip to urgent care for a massively painful canker sore, which meant I was already limited what I could actually eat. And it turns out that my body is pretty accustomed to caffeine, so by the afternoon of day 1 I was completely useless, laying on the couch, a combination of the migraine from the caffeine withdrawal and feeling generally blah from the canker sore and resulting antibiotics. Normally that’s exactly when I want sugar. Day 2 was a little better, the headache more mild, and then we went to church. Being on the hospitality team, it’s my job to put out all of the trays of goodies after the service. And one person was so kind as to bring a full tray of caramel brownies (my kryptonite). I had to prepare, set out, clean up, and wash that tray. Oh, and then Carter had to go to urgent care immediately after church. Fun times right off the bat. Yesterday in Sprouts I almost cried in the bakery section. Seriously. It’s also Easter time and Cadbury eggs call my name from my very own pantry, along with their friends Starburst jelly beans. Today I ate some clandestine food, a salad with turkey breast and a little avocado mousse which probably had a little cream, but that’s been it.

But in all of this complaining, there’s been a lot of good perspective. Our entire culture revolves around food, almost to the point of worship. My so-called problems are really nothing compared to the millions of people who are actually hungry. We have over 650 food items in our house. That’s a real problem. I’m hoping that over time we have far, far less. SO much less! I’ve had to focus on why I’m doing this, and I really like how Jen Hatmaker sums it up as a prayer of less of me and my junk and more of God. Our bodies are temples, and Little Debbie is not the high priest. Day 1 we watched Hungry for Change, which was mostly stuff I already know and yet altogether convicting and encouraging. We super blessed to live in America, where we have so many healthy food options. And I have an amazing supportive husband who did this all with me and even made dinner every night. I also found out that I tend to eat little things mindlessly, which I noticed when I almost accidentally popped a jelly bean in my mouth about 50 times.

So tomorrow is the end of my 7 days. I don’t physically feel much different, but spiritually I really do want to be conscious in this area of food. 

7

Obligatory Hello Neglected Blog! Okay, now that that’s out of the way…

I recently embarked on a new book journey. Back in September, some of my new neighbors asked me to join their Beth Moore study. I did, and I liked it and I liked them. We just finished that and started 7 Experiment: Staging Your Own Mutiny Against Excess.

Here’s the little blurb about the book:

Do you feel trapped in the machine of excess? Jen Hatmaker was. Her friends were. And some might say that our culture is. Jen once considered herself unmotivated by the lure of prosperity, but upon being called 'rich' by a child who was living in poverty, evidence to the contrary mounted, and a social experiment turned spiritual journey was born. This study will lead you through this same experiment, at whatever level you choose, in seven key areas: food, clothes, spending, media, possessions, waste, and stress.

What's the payoff for living such a deeply reduced life? It's the discovery of a greatly increased God a call toward Christ-like simplicity and generosity that transcends a social experiment to become a radically better existence.

I felt like all of those things had been stirring in my heart. Something about needing 2 FULL loads in a 20 foot Uhaul to move four people (plus more stuff crammed in cars and vans) makes one stop and think about how much stuff is really necessary. So I knew I needed to do it, and I was a little scared. Okay, a lot. I'm on week 1, and I sincerely plan on writing a little about each week to reflect and remember.