Lately I’ve been talking about food with just about everyone. It turns out I’m not the only one preoccupied with it. Americans love to eat! But when it comes to nutrition, we’re anxious and a little confused. Should we avoid carbs or fat? Is caffeine okay? Are vitamins worth the money? Author Michael Pollan (who I’ve already written a bit about) says, “No people on earth worry more about the health consequences of their food choices than we Americans do—and no people suffer from as many diet-related health problems.” I used to think I knew something about healthy food, but over the past few years and especially these last few months, I’m starting to realize I have a lot to learn.
We have so much to discuss! But first, a little background.
In my late teens I went through a depression and used food to cope. I spent the second half of college running off the weight I’d gained, filling my stomach with coffee and alcohol and whatever else seemed to stop my appetite and make things easier for a while. I was at a Christian university, but God seemed mysterious and distant, and I made a series of stupid relationship choices that of course, ended in a lot of pain.
Near the end of my senior year, I realized my life was missing the point. I had no idea who I was or who I wanted to be. My brother Nelson was always talking about his experiences in Youth With a Mission (YWAM), a Christian missions organization, so a month after my college graduation, I flew out to Hawaii for three months of training and two months of overseas outreach. Through YWAM I met people who loved God so much they were willing to go anywhere for Him. Most of them had little money and no definite plans for the future, but they were the happiest people I’d ever known.
I didn’t find answers for all of my questions in YWAM, but I found I didn’t need them as much. The more I learned about God, the less I worried about my future and my identity. After a month in Hawaii, I decided to follow God with all my heart, soul, and mind. I was baptized in the Pacific Ocean by a local pastor and my friend Jill.
Living for God changed everything about my life, including the way I saw food. I ended up staying with YWAM for three years, traveling back and forth between Hawaii and Asia, working with wonderful people and also very needy people. It’s hard to obsess over your weight when you’re staring into the hungry eyes of an orphan. I tried to eat what I was given without thinking about it all too much.
It was on a trip through India and Nepal in 2002 that Adam and I became close friends. Over the next year we fell in love, got married, and moved to his hometown in Florida. People showered us with presents at our wedding and we had fun setting up our house together. Every day while I taught school, I’d think about the evening ahead and what I was going to make us for dinner. We ate lots of skinless chicken and wheat bread, I drank Diet Coke, and we tried to avoid fat whenever possible. Healthy, right? I jogged a few miles 4-5 times a week, worked out with weights, and felt pretty good.
Until we couldn’t get pregnant.
In 2005, after six months of fertility tests in Ocala, we were referred to a specialist an hour away in Gainesville. He had some interesting things to say about nutrition, fertility, and body weight.
To Be Continued
Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!