My him can best be described as a man who seeks wisdom. This takes on many forms but one of the ways we connected was the pursuit of a healthier life. Granted he was much more advanced than I was, but my pursuit of all of God's truth fit well with his pursuit of wisdom. 

Now. This pursuit of mine, even with the encouragement of my him has taken a REALLY long time to move from the stage of gathering information and perhaps making a change here and there, to actual full-blown, putting into practice.

Going Holistic...

or going all natural; detoxifying; leading a well informed and intentional, God-centered life through the resources He has given us; really taking care of this body of mine has been a growing desire since my time as an undergrad, BUT it has been VERY difficult for me to make the changes I know must be made.

What Changed it All?

NOT marriage, though my him would have loved me to have been more serious about this earlier in our marriage. No. It was OUR him. Our little guy who is at this moment 27 weeks in the making. When we had passed the 3 years we had initially agreed upon to wait, the reality that "any day now" could be the day our family would start to grow, became so much more of a reality. SO I looked at myself and I did not like what I saw. I knew back from child psychology class that the health of the mother and father are crucial to the health and development of an infant. And it did not take much self-assessment for me to realize that my body was not in a good place to give our future baby the best start we could give.

Again, we had been toying with this idea of a healthier way of life for some time. We had already made "a few changes", trying to keep up with workouts, attempting to eliminate gluten and unnecessary sugar, keeping up with the intake of natural supplements, trying to eat organic.

Do you see those words?

They all indicate a lack of consistency. And that is what it was. NO discipline, especially on my part. Emotional ups and downs, an addiction to sugar, plain stubbornness, laziness, lack of information... all these made up my excuses as to why I should not make the changes I knew I had to make. BUT now it was time to STOP the EXCUSES. Soon it would no longer be just about what I wanted or needed, soon I would be growing another human being inside of me. Much had to change.

FIRST

I listened to some of what my husband had recently been sharing, and to what the Holy Spirit was making me uneasy about, and we both did an intensive detox. We got the information we needed, and we planned for it, and then, despite the fear and also that little emotion in the back of my head telling me it would be much easier not to do it. Telling me it is not really that necessary, WE DID IT! That was a major first step, but I admit even after that, we went back to some unhealthy habits. 

Nothing changes over night! Consistency is key.

Soon enough after that time, I started suspecting I was pregnant, and I started planning how I would tell my him when I finally let myself find out. On the cloudy day of October 4th, 2016 I went to the store and for the first time in my life bought a pregnancy test. Perhaps the first of many more new and strange experiences.

I would like to vent my resentment here... that stick stole the last 3 minutes before my life would change forever. The instructions said the result would take 3 minutes. In fact, every movie I have ever watched shows the woman impatiently waiting for the results to show! Not for me. I looked away from the stick for less than a second ready to enjoy my last 3 minutes, only to innocently glance at the stick the next second and find the unavoidable result staring me back. My first thought was NOT of excitement over the news. It was indignation that my 3 minutes were stolen. I had plans for those last three minutes. Self-reflection, preparation; but no. The truth is I could have waited another 9 months to find out the truth but the truth was already set in stone. Our baby was conceived regardless of how healthy our bodies were or were not. He had already started forming and developing.

I couldn't and I did not want to wait to tell him. So although my plan to tell him was ruined I did tell him that very night as he relaxed in bed.

SECOND

Phase two started here. Now I was equipped with the truth that I was pregnant, I had my him (my partner and health seeker), and with me was my Creator. Shopping for organic food and eating all organic except when we went out to eat (and we started minimizing this because I felt I was poising us every time we did) was the next major step we took. The more we learned about what organic really means and then GMOs also, the better we became at choosing our food. We also became more and more frustrated to learn all the lies we are fed constantly. In the grocery store, by doctors, by the media, on and on. Lies about what is "ok" to put in our bodies! Soon we started changing what we cooked in and learned to avoid BPAs. Next, we started becoming more selective of the natural supplements we were taking, including my prenatal pills. Keeping and maintaining these changes has gone well. We are consistent despite the discouraging moments. But this iceberg gets bigger.

THIRD

Consistent exercise has been something I have desired in my life for a long time now. Except for my time in Japan, I have never been able to keep up with it. And to be honest, even today I could be doing more. But the next major change was to learn about exercising during pregnancy and committing to it. I kept up weight training and walking for a few months (also on and off based on energy levels). And then I transitioned to Pilates and yoga for pregnancy. I love it! As the weather warms I will continue with the walking outside as well, but overall I am proud of my continuous efforts to work-out despite those emotions in the back of my head. I do listen to my body and I rest when it says "not today".

FOURTH

This is the phase where we are now. It started back in undergrad when I learned about the harmful side effects not only of medications in general but also of vaccinating infants. I knew I wanted to avoid both on myself and any future children, but I pushed that way back to deal with later. Later arrived! This section of my blog will address all of the above when relevant but especially this fourth stage, so I will not go into details here. I will only say that this stage has me exploring two areas homeopathy and nutritional therapy/Orthomolecular medicine. There is much to explore, much to put in practice and no time to waste! Yes because I am pregnant and our son is at this moment forming inside of me, BUT also because I have been sick with a cold for a few days now. Decisions have had to be made.

No time like the present!