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natural living: the 80/20 rule

remember how i told you i'm sort of an all-natural gal? how i don't take medicine or use sunscreen or eat certain foods? well, since half of you think i'm crazy, and the other half showed tons of interest, i figured i'd expand on a few things this week. i'll mostly be talking about food.


i'm not a complete fanatic when it comes to food, but i do [very loosely] follow an 80/20 rule. basically, this just means that i make sure 80% of what i do and what i eat is one-ingredient, healthy, not processed, and super good for me, and the other 20% is free game. since i went on that cold turkey sugar fast a few months back, i don't have the sugar addiction i once had, but i do definitely indulge every now and then. 20% of the time, roughly.

why 80/20? why not 100% all-the-time completely and totally healthy? because i'm not sure there's any cause in life, besides Christ, that's worth 1)straining your relationships or 2)sacrificing your sanity. i don't want to drive my husband crazy or make my kids' lives miserable or spend all our money. i do wish we could budget more toward it, but i also know that day will come when we can. as time goes on, i'll be able to afford more and more products and foods that i know are really beneficial for us.

the other thing is, my husband thinks i'm nuts. he doesn't come out and say it that way, but i know he thinks it. he thinks [and says] that i'm turning into my mom, which is totally true when it comes to this area. so i don't want to force him into changes that he's not ready for. i'm not going to serve him spaghetti squash when he wants a steak [straining relationships] and i'm not going to cook three different meals in one night either [sacrificing sanity].

it all comes down to this: ultimately, God is the author and sustainer of all life. [yes, i do spiritualize everything. even food] even though i believe that our "standard american diet" is killing us, if i'm putting my faith solely in the good foods that i eat and products that i use to keep me from disease or health problems, i'm practicing idolatry. plain and simple. if i'm living my life in constant fear of the effects of certain bad foods or products, i'm not enjoying the full and free life that God intended. i believe in being a good steward of the information i have, but i don't believe it's okay to place my hope and trust in that information alone [and my subsequent action] to save my life.

God is sovereign, end of story.

so that's the 80/20 rule. and some weeks it's more like 50/50. and that's okay too. this isn't about being perfect, but it is about being responsible with the knowledge i have, when i can.

i'll probably devote the rest of the week to meal planning, i'll give you a typical grocery list and what the staples in my pantry are, and then i'll share some tips about getting your kids on board. please please ask any questions that you might have, i love sharing this part of my life with you guys! [and feel free to add more info i the comments, i'm always up for learning more]


Comments

  1. I'm totally on the same page. On everything you just said. And I'm having a bowl of ice cream and indulging in my 20% right now. ;-) But you're so right. We need to be careful of putting too much trust in things so that they become idols. I have to constantly check my heart in that area. Great post!

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  2. Great post! It's so hard bc the more you learn the more responsibility there is with that knowledge, but you are so right about it being able to become an idol! I have to remind myself all the time that God is the sustainer of our lives! Plus, all of the statistics can make a really hard math problem!!! ;D

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  3. I love this! Thanks for the encouragement and reminding me that God is the author of our lives :)

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