Self Regulation in Children

For the next generation.

I attended a mental health seminar called "Self Regulation in Children" this last month, the second conference of its kind I've paid for to learn how to better help my children/adolescent clients. As in the last one I saw, the presenter at this conference emphasized the importance of a healthful diet in regulating moods and behaviors in our children. "Three times a day," she said, "kids need to be filling the 'food plate' (pictured above) recommended by Department of Agriculture" (choosemyplate.gov). Three times a day! Most kids don't fill it even once.

I asked her how she recommends this to clients, because getting parents to change food habits it is the single hardest thing for me do. I can sometimes convince them to change their breakfast to include protein, but some can't even do that. Since I am a mental health expert not a nutritionist, I can't demand it be a part of treatment. (If only there were studies that show a healthful diet in combination with mental health intervention provides best results.) This presenter said if she sees a big problem and the clients don't change, she tells them, "Call me when your ready." She knows having donuts and soda before a session interferes with treatment!  Most experts in mental health know it too, that's why it keeps coming up.

Its hard, there are days I wish I didn't have to get up and make breakfast, but I know if my kids get a good start on their metabolism first thing in the morning they will have better self regulation in all aspects of their lives. Are you with me parents? Let's fill the plate!

Testimonial from a young mother: 
"It's the little things that make great things. Today I realized that I am free from my addiction to cold cereal. I used to love cereal and couldn't imagine being happy without it. When I started my health journey, I stopped eating it for breakfast but would still eat it as a treat. But now I have no desire for it. I am so happy, and I am happy to give my daughter a good start at life. The only time she eats cereal is if we are in a rush (or at grandma's lol), and I am happy to see that by having her eat whole food from the start has helped her crave whole food. I know I still have a ways to go but this little victory made me happy and I wanted to share."

On a side note, one of my subscribers saw me at a catered lunch and saw to it that I got a plate of chicken without sauce and strawberries for dessert. It filled me with joy and gratitude that he knew how much it means to me to keep my food boundaries. He "got my back." And I've got yours!

For more information on how to create a wise food mind for life, visit www.wisefoodmind.com

The Avoidance Cycle

Facing Pain

I recently read a great article by Peter Howell called "Emotion and Addiction" that encapsulated what I've tried to learn and teach my clients and children for the past 10 years: avoiding negative emotions only leads to more problems instead of solving the problem. (Excerpt to the right, or follow this link for full article .) And he uses comfort food as an example of avoidance! Yet another reason to have a Wise Food Mind.

Howell refers to our tendency to turn to comfort food in order to avoid or escape distressing feelings. He states, "It is natural for us to seek to reduce suffering, but how we do so is key. Escaping from or suppressing painful feelings in unhealthy ways usually provides limited relief and certainly does not solve the problems that trigger such feelings. I suggest that we learn to approach our suffering and deal directly with painful feelings rather than escape from them in unhealthy ways."  If you look at the diagram above you can see the trap we get caught in when we avoid or mask a problem with pleasure or avoidance, or even when we distract ourselves, instead of facing the pain. How do we face it? Could be to talk to someone you are avoiding, to do exercise even though it hurts, or to admit you're wrong and accept correction. Turning to food can lead to a pattern of avoiding pain, and while not considered a clinical addiction or substance abuse, this tendency serves the same purpose for you as drugs/pornography/food does for those who have addictions.
 
Food is designed to be pleasurable and when eaten to provide health and nourishment can provide satisfaction and enjoyment. So it's natural to turn to it when you don't feel right and I have done so myself many times. But now when I'm struggling with something and find myself turning to the fridge, I pause. Is this undermining my ability to handle difficult emotions?

I believe one of life's greatest tests is learning how and when we need to face pain and build endurance rather than give in to our natural tendency to avoid/escape pain and seek pleasure. Of course we don't want to deliberately seek out pain in order to prove our character, but the test to gently accept discomfort in order to face a problem comes to all, and when done with courage and prayer can increase our capacity to endure problems with less pain. The best way to accept pain? Turn to the Lord and accept His will for your life, and humbly do what you need to do. The next time an issue comes up you will have the strength to face it with less distress.

Regarding the Word of Wisdom, President Boyd K. Packer explained: 'There are many habit-forming, addictive things that one can drink or chew or inhale or inject which injure both body and spirit which are not mentioned in the revelation. Everything harmful is not specifically listed.' We each have a responsibility to learn the do’s and don’ts of healthy living that are not necessarily spelled out in the Word of Wisdom.
I believe that Satan understands the processes that make the natural man susceptible to the enslavement of compulsive behaviors and addictions. the misuse of food to manage stress and emotional pain can operate like an addiction,
"Although food is not addictive in and of itself, certain patterns of eating can become like an addiction. Consuming sweet, fatty, or salty foods (or any combination of these) may help us avoid, escape from, or suppress painful emotions. Such foods function to relieve our stress by activating pleasure pathways in the brain.
"Most of us engage in comfort eating at times, but the consequences of using food to cope with the stresses of life are complex and can be serious. The numerous adverse consequences of persistent overeating include weight gain, self-image concerns, lethargy, reduced concentration, an imbalanced diet, harmful weight-loss practices, reduced mobility, spiritual numbing, and diabetes.
"The Lord revealed, 'In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation' (D&C 89:4). Multi-billion-dollar industries seek to entice us to use foods for purposes and in quantities that are unhealthy. Counter to what many corporations want, the Lord counsels us to use certain substances with 'prudence' and 'sparingly' (D&C 89:11, 12)."
“Emotion and Addiction” by Peter L Howell, October 2016 Ensign

September Wise Food Mind newsletter

Back to school

With school starting, one of the preparations on our checklist to do before the first day was a visit to the dentist. Each member of our family took a turn, and we are all happy to report that none of us has any tooth decay, gum disease or cavities! The dentist said to me in particular, "You obviously take care of yourself, and I don't just mean brushing and flossing." He went on to describe how healthy living and eating contribute to tooth vitality, he even got into a discussion about the benefits of limiting sugar intake. Ha ha, talk about preaching to the choir!
Virtue is defined as "a good or moral quality or ability." In the scriptures prophets exhort us to be diligent in developing faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. (2 Peter 1:4-8, D&C 4:5-6) so we can "escape the corruption that is in the world." Virtue includes moral cleanliness, uplifting thoughts, and "conforming one's life to moral and ethical principles" of any kind. Taking care of your physical and mental health I believe is part of living a life of virtue.
My kids got up late in the summer, opted not to have the breakfast I had made earlier that morning, and sometimes ate convenience foods. Now that school has begun they have to raise the bar of their performance. I have taught them the importance of having a healthy start so they can have optimism, resilience, and stamina. Thankfully they course corrected (somewhat as a surprise to me), they get up and eat what I make without complaining, and even seem to appreciate the breakfast I make. Never too late to strive to live a virtuous life.
Whatever stage of life you are in, take a "virtue" inventory of your eating. Be diligent to avoid corruption. I choose to get up every week day at 5:30 so I can have a healthy meal on the table by6:45 am, how do you choose to live a food life of virtue?

Remember that you can go to my websitewww.wisefoodmind.com and click on the recipe tab to direct you to a link that has all my simple healthy recipes on a shared PDF file.

I want to emphasize the importance of learning how to cook healthy whole foods from scratch, even if you don't eat that way for every meal. Knowing how much work goes into making food healthy and palatable gives us more appreciation for what we eat.

I like to have a mix of the old ways and the new ways--I use convenience foods when I can and whole organic foods when I can. For example, I have a lot of organic garden grown tomatoes and basil, so I make my own marinara, but I use store bought garlic, onions, other dry spices, and chicken stock. I make my own gluten free pizza crust, but I make it from a reputable GF Flour company's box mix. I am a strong advocate of taking advantage of the ways food preparation has been made easier in our day, as long as you maintain your personal food boundaries and optimal diet lifestyle.

For more information on how to eat clean for life, read Wise Food Mind available on Amazon.com or by clicking on the website link above.

Clean vessels

Clean Room Analogy

Definition of the word ROOM: space or extent, especially unoccupied or unobstructed space for a particular purpose. Origin: Old English RUM, "space" (extent or time) "scope" or "opportunity," original sense preserved in "clear space for oneself." 
Living healthfully is like being asked to clean your room, it's not always easy or fun, but there is a reason we are asked to do it. I have to re-learn this reason sometimes!
In June I started feeling defeated in several aspects of my life. I felt like I was pulling the ox out of the mire just to have it fall right back into the mire when I turned my back. If I left things messy they stayed messy, if I cleaned up, it didn't stay clean! For various reasons, I set myself up for feeling "what is the point?" I was tired of the struggle and I was done pretending I could make a difference in the universe. Exercise became sporadic, I didn't want to plan or prepare anything, cleaning minimal, prayers were laced with a "Whatever you want God" attitude. I didn't want to promote my book anymore, I didn't even want to know how to clean up eating habits to improve mental and physical health. As I have already learned, this makes life difficult. My moods were harder to control, relationships were strained, and that familiar feeling of depression started to set in.
Mid June I decided to check back into life and try again. Someone reminded me that one of my talents happens to be organizing and cleaning quickly. I know for some this is incredibly hard. For me it doesn't take a whole lot of mental energy for which I am grateful. But even I was discouraged and disgusted that "cleaning" never ends. Not just cleaning our room, cleaning our space, extent, scope, and opportunity. This includes exercise, healthy eating, hygiene, watching our words, thoughts, and actions, and making your bed once in while! All this is about "clearing space for oneself." Today I am writing my newsletter to clean up! We each have a particular purpose, in order to achieve that we get up every day and clean. If you check out like I did, check back in. Don't give up my friends! Even if we died tomorrow, we will have lived our last day on earth feeling clean, free, accomplished, and at peace that we have been careful with the small space we have been given on this Earth.
To learn how you can clean up your eating habits for life, visit www.wisefoodmind.com

Just like exercise and eating healthful foods cleans our bodies, practicing good "spiritual hygiene" cleans our souls. The acronym CPR illustrates this importance. Instead of jump starting your heart with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, spiritual CPR jump starts your spirit with Church, Prayer, and Reading the scriptures. Like cleaning your room, if you do it every day, a little effort keeps it clean. However, if you go too long without CPR, your spirit suffers and it will take much more effort to get it clean again. 
I have a strong testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. When I am discouraged by the weight of life's problems, my testimony lifts my soul again. I don't know how many times I have had to have this reminder--thousands of times perhaps! Every time I've struggled, if I calm myself a little then the Spirit can bring Heaven's view into mind, and I feel hope again. I attribute this to CPR. I consistently go to church, say my prayers, and read my scriptures. This sustains my forgetful, weak and emotional brain so I can remember my Savior, see the tender mercies of the Lord, and trust Heavenly Father that He is always with me and all His children.
As much as I believe sound eating and exercise and mental health practices will help you through your life, I know that the ultimate answer is the Gospel. I could be a victim of an accident or trauma, I may lose my ability to think and work, my health will eventually go, and death is the end for us all. I find comfort, peace, and joy in the knowledge that Christ has made it possible that when my suffering is ended, I will enter into the rest of the Lord. Healthy eating just helps me access the Spirit so I remember it more often.

Wise Emergency Perparedness

Processed food is generally what is stored for emergencies...

I revamped my emergency supply of food in our 72 hour kits this week. As I threw out the hot chocolate and Ramen noodles from my 2013 kits, and I realized if I (prediabetic and gluten intolerant) had relied on that food supply for three days it may have done the opposite of keep me alive. Yet we still need to be prepared and self reliant! I had to find some options that would be much easier on my system than fruit drinks and ritz crackers. 

Changing my eating lifestyle resulted in restoring my health, I don't want to undo that because there is no grocery store available. If I had to rely on my garden, chickens, and food storage in some kind of economic crisis I would be OK, but the food I was taught to include in a "72 hour emergency kit' you grab in a hurry was completely outside my food boundaries.

If you are sugar or gluten free, emergency food storage can pose a problem. You can't make your own granola bars and expect them to last 2 years in a ziplock. You will have to bend some of your food rules about intaking preservatives and traces of sugar--these are the very ingredients that keep things storable.  Though you may not be able to go completely sugar free, there is a way to get a little more whole food! In the 72 hour kit case, I'm grateful that there are many options so I can stay safe.

I wanted to share my "new and improved 72 hour kit" in case its time for you to revamp yours. Safeguard health, especially in an emergency!

This 72 hour meal kit includes a gluten free, high protein options that will store for up to 2 years. (Click on food item to see website of brand.) 3 of each: oatmeal, raisin box, beef jerky, apple sauce, tuna pouch, GF crackers, nuts, granola bar 1 dehydrated Mountain House Meal (similar to an MRE) Vitamins and medicine as needed Other items to consider putting in your 72 hour kit include 1 gallon water per 72 hour kit Water filter Misc survival items such as toilet paper, bandaids, flashlight, knife, etc. 1 backpack for storage Consider what William Dufty in his book "Sugar Blues" said when preparing your kits, it will keep you checking labels for the very best options. "Refined sugar is lethal when ingested by humans because it drains and leeches the body of precious vitamins and minerals through the demand its digestion, detoxification, and elimination make upon one’s entire system...Sugar taken every day produces a continuously over acid condition, and more and more minerals are required from deep in the body to rectify the imbalance. "As a steady diet, sugar is WORSE than nothing. Plain water can keep you alive for quite some time. Sugar and water can kill you."

The harder right

The quote "may you ever choose the harder right, rather than the easier wrong" by President Monson this past conference has been circulating social media. It stood out to me as well, as it has been a motto of mine for a few years now.
I've buried my head in the sand somewhat sharing information with others because it is hard to ask people to choose the harder right. Allow me to share with you one of my deep sorrows.
As I've changed my eating habits and those of my children, one of my kids has struggled. This child's brain find's meaning in life when there is joy, fun and pleasure, and has difficulty with willpower, is prone to impulsivity, and is a vulnerable teenager. She was trained for the most part of her life to enjoy cereal, sticky buns, candy bars, ice cream, cake, brownies, and cookies on a regular basis. As I have stripped her food life of all this vibrancy, in an effort to help her avoid depression, anxiety, anger, and digestive health problems, I have inadvertently created a very bleak, joyless, hopeless food world, where she not only feels pain or indifference about the food she eats, but guilt, shame and anger about food she enjoys. Sometimes she is brave and positive, other times it's hard for her.
My other kids have brains with enough foresight and willpower to understand that sometimes food doesn't have to be the most wonderful tasting thing ever, they eat and are grateful their bellies are full, and they look forward to their splurge times when they can enjoy more exciting food. But for this other child, there is too much of a drive to have pleasure now to take any comfort in the thought of facing whole foods. Unfortunately, she has lost her appetite for food in general, developed a mild depression, and searches for pleasurable foods outside the home.
Her emotional dysregulation this year has caused her great unhappiness, loss of pleasure in other things she used to find pleasure in, and many physical discomforts (headaches, ulcers, neck and back pain, etc.) Add this to her already present difficulties with executive functioning skills, and being in junior high with all its lovely social pressures and indifferent teachers, and you have one miserable child.
I have suffered long with her, trying to give her other things to compensate like quality time and exercise options, using as much patience and not personalizing her pain as much as I can, pushing as many of my food boundaries as I dare in order to make sure she has some pleasure in eating and her blood sugar stays stable.
Then I watched General Conference, heard the prophet plead with us to chose the harder right, and felt renewed hope. I remembered God's ways are higher than our ways, we are here to learn patience, refine our spirits, and develop trust. It's ok for me to ask my children and others to practice obedience and sacrifice, "there is great purpose in our struggle in life" (Elder Packer).
But what really helped me come back to life in my efforts was when I watched "Zootopia." Judy the Bunny cop wanted to make things better in the world, and instead, because of her diligent efforts things got worse. She became disillusioned and apathetic. In the same way, absorbing my child's sadness, empathizing with her pain, and bearing her anger has put me in a apathetic place. I tried to help change our eating world so she could avoid depression and physical pain, and it seems I made things worse. I flatlined in my desire to share the "good news" that you can do something to prevent and even heal mental and physical ailments in our day. I don't want to suck the fun and joy out of life, if you are happier with a donut in your hands and a soda straw in your lips, I'd rather have you be happy and sick than healthy and miserable. When Judy found the real source of the problem and she renewed her efforts to make it right.
The real source of the problem is our natural man tendency to avoid pain. I used to be the same way, sweets helped me cope, made me feel great, I could face the work and pain with my sugary sweetness by my side. But it took from me my health, my emotional stability, and gave me more pain later. When I asked God to heal me, He asked me to get rid of sugar. For the early saints it was alcohol, coffee, tea and tobacco. For you it may be something else. I'm sure it gave God just as much sorrow to see me withdraw from the vibrant sweetness as it did for me to watch my kids miss it. He knows in the long run avoiding excess sugar was right for me for many reasons.
Right is hard, wrong is easy, but right is still right, and wrong is still wrong. During my child's developmental years while her brain is still developing and her willpower isn't as strong, she will be prone to depression, but if her brain develops more willpower, more coping tools besides food and immediate pleasure, more knowledge about he connection between intake and health, it will be worth it. I'm grateful she is enduring the sadness now while I am here to support her rather than as a young mother, or when I'm gone.
We and our children will be stronger if we are wise about our food intake. When we stress-eat, feed cravings, use food to cope, and impulsively eat what we want when we want it, not only are we compromising our health, we are doing our brains, characters, and spirits no favors. I keep at it because I love my daughter. I'm not alone in imploring my children and everyone, chose the harder right, not the easier wrong.

Safeguard marriage through small and simple efforts

In marriage counseling, I have found that having a sound mind is very important in creating a sound relationship. People with impulse control problems have more problems with honesty, reliability, and communication. It takes a certain ability to put your own agenda on hold to think about the needs of your spouse in order to live by the healthy laws of relationship physics. I've found that protecting your health through guarding your diet can also help your marriage.

Sadly, one of my couples recently decided to get divorced after many session and over a year trying to make it work, and part of the reason is one of the spouses couldn't muster up the willpower and discipline to do the small things like exercise and eat healthy. There were other issues as well, but these small and simple efforts, what Dr. McGonigal calls "miracle cures," would have enhanced this client's ability to be the person they wanted to be rather than being pulled by emotional and environmental forces. Safeguard your marriage by safeguarding your willpower.

Life can be confusing when you are hurt by the dishonest, emotional, and impulsive decisions of others. My client asked me how I knew there was a God since it seems like our physical brains control our fate. I know it is our Spirits that control our cells, our neurons, and our wills, not our brains; however, our brains are subject to dysfunction and can limit us immensely. An optimal working brain, with a sound circuitry and fully developed prefrontal cortex, is a great blessing and gives us the opportunity to be what our Spirits (who we really are) want us to be. The greater your brain function, the greater your will power, the more agency you have, and the more responsible you will be for your choices. Protect your brain to give your Spirit power.
"God created it, Jesus died for it, your Spirit lives in it, let's take care of it." --quote by Rick Warren (referring to our bodies)

Read Wise Food Mind to learn how to take care of your body through overcoming food corruptions for life.
www.wisefoodmind.com

Sugar and Willpower

In doing some research on willpower and how to decrease impulsivity for my ADHD clients, I came upon some interesting information about sugar and its relation to willpower. Of course I have to share it! This quote was spoken in a lecture by Dr. Kelly McGonigal, PhD, a psychology instructor at Stanford, who has written a book called "The Willpower Instinct." Here's what she says:

"Some of the early studies coming out a few years ago suggested that when we exert willpower, it uses so much more energy in the brain than our typical tasks you can see a drop in circulating blood glucose levels...which suggest that the brain is using a real source of energy – or your brain is using up energy--in order to resist temptation or to focus your attention.

One of the ideas that came out of some of this research: willpower is depletable. It’s so easily depletable that you get a temporary drop in your willpower reserve each time you use your willpower. Now, some of the studies that have come out more recently are suggesting that the relationship between blood sugar and willpower is a little bit more complicated than just thinking, Well, I’m going to mainline sugar to make sure I’ve got lots of energy so that my brain won’t get tired, which is how some of this got interpreted initially. 

It seems that the brain monitors fluctuations in blood glucose, and what your brain likes is a steady state of blood glucose. If the brain feels comfortable that you have a steady state of energy, it is comfortable using the energy required to control impulses or focus your attention. The brain doesn’t like big spikes and drops in blood sugar. 

There’s some interesting research suggesting that your brain gets kind of stingy when it doesn’t trust a stable energy supply, so it will be reluctant to use systems of the brain that require more energy. With this more evolved way of thinking about the relationship between sugar and willpower, the best thing you can do is eat a diet that gives you a steady supply of blood sugar.

My students, when they heard the original studies, were thinking, Great,I’ll just eat candy before I need willpower, which of course is not going to make your brain feel very good about its stable blood sugar supply. It seems to be pretty important to eat on a regular basis and eat the kind of diet that’s going to give us a steady state of energy levels that help us be our best selves with the best kind of willpower reserve." 

Dr McGonigal starts the lecture by reminding us that willpower is controlled by the prefrontal cortex and helps us control that mid-brain where emotions tell us to seek gratification and avoid pain right now. Our willpower is part of our logical brain. There is a brain-gut connection once again with how efficiently our brain functions and our diet. The research Dr. McGonigal cites above goes along with the idea that mood follows blood glucose: when you eat foods that help you stabilize and balance blood glucose, like whole foods, you are able to stabilize and balance your prefrontal cortex's ability to manage that emotional brain. 
What foods stabilize blood glucose again? That's right, whole foods! Protein, complex carbohydrates, and unprocessed, uncorrupted food. Eat food as close to the way God created it in the first place. 

Daring Greatly

Last week, I was asked to give a 10 minute lesson on healthy bodies for a women's group activity in my church. Ten minutes to talk on something I could talk about for 10 hours! I accepted the invitation and my brilliant idea was to just have a loose outline and talk about whatever came into my mind. What a mistake! I couldn't have been more disappointed in myself after. If only I had prepared I could have been sure to point out the things that really matter most to me instead of wasting those ten precious minutes with too much back story, not enough hope, too little testimony and inspiration, and too much scaring people from eating corrupt food. I must have done better than I thought because I got nothing but good feedback, but those 50 ladies were all so nice and good I doubt I'd have gotten any negative feedback anyway. It wasn't "bad." But I could have done better.

• I wish I would have pointed out that  I exercised faith that God could heal me when my health problems were getting worse and doctors couldn't help me, and instead of a miraculous recovery God gave me information as to how to heal myself, and that miracle took time, but it did occur. It is amazing to me that 1) God had confidence in me to be able to make my miracle happen, and 2) that there really are ways we can improve our quality of life with the knowledge God has given us if we work for it.
• I wish I would have stressed that though there are food corruptions, there are many blessings in the food abundance we have today, and if we just educate ourselves about what foods may be harmful for our metabolic type and set food boundaries we have no need to fear but to be grateful for all the options of good fresh food we have year round!
• I wish I would have stressed that there is a way to change your eating habits, even if I had to promote my own book a little (which I was carefully trying not to do at a church function), and the way is to gather knowledge, be aware of and fight inner and outside forces, what some of those forces might be, and reassure that it will take time to train your brain but it is possible. Then while introducing the treats had a few examples of the ingredients and talked about the importance of whole foods.
• And finally, I would have taken a few of those minutes to read the scripture that I failed to read because I had run out of time, and borne my testimony that God truly did reveal to me how to improve my quality of life and for me it was nothing short of divine intervention that I am where I am today. Isaiah 58:8 "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward." 

If I had another chance to speak I would make sure to hit those points with a little more emphasis, though I did get to some of that in my little lesson.  I need more practice. If you have any opportunities for me to teach about health of body through diet will you let me know? I promise to prepare a little better this time. Though it causes me pain, it brings me joy to share what I have been taught and what might help others. The only reason I feel I failed is that I might have helped someone more than I did had I been more wise with my ten minutes.
One thing that brought me comfort was that I failed while daring greatly. The next 10 minute lesson was about vlunerability, where my friend talked about "showing up" for life and daring to put yourself out there. I did that! She shared this quote which has always been one of my favorites:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. --Teddy Roosevelt

Vision of Mother Eve

By small and simple things, great things are brought to pass.

We recently took a trip down to St. George to explore and get some sunshine. We had so much fun at Pioneer Park and Sand Hollow Reservoir, small places I didn't know existed but were even more fun than Zion. Sometimes its the simple things that bring us most joy.
Like choosing to have a wise food mind. Though not easy, it's a simple way to safeguard health. Before our trip, I got up an hour earlier than the rest of my family to pack healthy snacks and lunches for the next two days. We enjoy eating out when we travel, and we bring a cooler with non-sugar, home made, whole food snacks for the car rides and picnics! It's part of how I provide and help provide for my family's needs.
Small and simple things like providing nutrient dense foods to my children helps in many larger ways for mental and physical health. Sound health leads to increased will power, patience, and happiness. This in turn leads to increased potential for spiritual strength.
I understand that there are healthy people who are not inclined to have more spiritual strength and stamina, and there are many unhealthy people who are spiritual warriors. However, I have learned that in order to serve in the ways God has asked me to serve, it is a whole lot easier to do so with faith and trust when I feel good mentally and physically. I have enough limitations without creating more through unwise eating choices!
Russel M. Nelson stated: "We need women who have a bedrock understanding of the doctrine of Christ and who will use that understanding to teach and help raise a sin-resistant generation. We need women who can detect deception in all of its forms. We need women who know how to access the power that God makes available to covenant keepers and who express their beliefs with confidence and charity. We need women who have the courage and vision of Mother Eve"  I wish to confidently share with all members of the church that in a world full of food corruptions, being wise about what we choose to eat matters! What we serve our family matters! While we have life guard it, protect it, value it by treating it with love.

Is it what 2016 will bring to you or what you will bring to 2016? This year resolve to have a Wise Food Mind! This book is my journey about fighting food corruptions, why it is so important, and how to incorporate food boundaries in a environment full of temptations. I've attempted to share with as much charity and confidence as possible how you can change. Please share with your friends and family that there is a way to develop healthful eating habits for life. You can purchase Wise Food Mind at Amazon.com in book or kindle form.