What finally convinced me: healthy choices matter

A few months back, I started listening to podcasts, as I shared here, and one of those podcasts was The Wellness Mama’s called The Healthy Moms Podcast. In it she shared a statistic that

“our children’s generation will be the first to not outlive their parents.” 

I didn’t let it sink in right away. But it came up again that week in another podcast. And then it came up again when I was reading something online! I ended up hearing this statistic 3 times in one week. You better believe it’s having an effect on me now. 

This stat seems unrealistic because we’ve never seen this to be the case, but it actually makes perfect sense.

• The processed foods, fast-food meals our generation had access to as kids were so minor compared to our kids. I know me and my siblings didn’t even entertain the idea of as many fast-food meals Vivi has the potential to eat. We’ve had maybe half a lifetime eating the way we do, while our kids will have it their whole life. Of course it will take it’s toll.
• Decades ago, sweets were a once a day (or less!) occurrence. Today, it’s everywhere and even for a mom who avoids most sweets, it’s still hard to say no to all of it. 
• I got my first cellphone at 16, which I shared with my sister and was primarily used for letting our parents know when we arrived somewhere. No texting. No going to bed with our phones. Now we are glued to our phones and all the EMF that comes with it. 

This post is not meant to cause fear, but to call us to action. You can’t do everything. You can’t be afraid of everything. It can be paralyzing. But we should be aware that our world and the choices we make will have it’s affect on our kids. Does this mean every disease, issue or cough is your fault? Of course not! But if we let that truth that there are things out of our control stop us from doing anything, we lose. 

We aren’t taking responsibility for the whole enchilada, just the things we can change for the better. 

My intent is also not to tell you all the things you need to do. I’m honestly still trying to figure it out myself. I’m no doctor or nutritionist so do your own research. My hope is to share what I’ve been recently woken up to: I am my child’s advocate in the world of health. No one will take greater care to their health needs than me and my spouse. It’s our responsibility to make educated choices and advocate on their behalf. 

A thought that for some reason haunts me is my daughter, after a childhood full of unhealthy choices I have made for her comes to me and asks me why I chose for her such unhealthy things. Right now, my daughter does not have the education to make decisions for herself in regards to food. Would she really want that daily (insert treat here) if she knew it was what made her cranky, her belly ache, her focus off (and possibly grades worse)? Would she really want all the processed food if she knew that was what created her addiction to sugar, her weight frustrations later in life, her hormone imbalance, her all-to-often colds or even allergies? Would she be upset that I treated her health so casually and didn’t steward that as much as I stewarded her education, sports dreams or even faith? Would she be upset to know that my inability to develop a thick skin to handle any criticism for our strict choices was a factor in her future health concerns?  

[bctt tweet=”Would she be upset that I treated her health so casually and didn’t steward that as much as I stewarded her education, sports dreams or even faith? Would she be upset to know that my inability to develop a thick skin to handle any criticism for our strict choices was a factor in her future health concerns? ” username=”@valmariepaper”]

I want to spend this season teaching my girls about health so they can make educated decisions when they are old enough to do so. And I don’t want them to have to backpedal and have to recover from choices I made for them that they maybe never would have made for themselves. 

I thought about sharing some basic suggestions on where to start, but like I said, I am not an authority on health. I’m just a mom trying to give my kids a bright long future ahead.

My one practical tip is this. PRAY. 

• Pray that God would give you the wisdom to figure this stuff out and know who is trying to sell something and who is trying to share truth. (This is my prayer so often!)
• Pray that God would protect your heart from overwhelm as you start researching.
• Pray that God would give you a motivation and energy to make any changes.
• Pray for a strong heart and thick skin to not be swayed by what you know is best for you kids.

So where do you start practically? Here are a few resources that I have found particularly helpful:

• Wellness Mama blog. – Soooo much goodness! 
• Thrive Market – This online shop has lots of healthy products for less. It’s helped me fight the excuse that money is the issue. 
• The Chalkboard Magazine blog – My health kick was accelerated when I found this blog. Info on all the weird new studies and super foods. 

And I’d love to hear from you!! Leave a comment below if you have any resources you’d like to share!