Daniel Plan 1/31/17: If You're Looking for a Quick Fix, This Isn't the Program for You

Hi folks!

Today we want to continue on our exploration of the faith component of the Daniel Plan. I quote from page 24: 

"One of the most famous statements by Jesus is John 8:31-32 “If you continue to obey my teaching, you are truly my followers. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

Jesus promises that the truth will make you free. But first, the truth is likely to make you miserable! We don't like to face the truth about ourselves, our weaknesses, our bad habits, and especially our motivations. But until you face the truth about why you do what you do and get to the root of your habits, change is likely to be shallow and short lived.

Too often popular fad diets offer fast formulas, easy pills and secret cures that supposedly will melt the fat away. By contrast, the Daniel Plan helps you to face the truth about yourself and your relationship to God, to food, to your purpose in life, and to other people. If you are looking for a quick fix, this isn't the program for you. But if you want to build an authentically healthy life based on the truth of God, and you're willing to be honest with God, yourself and a few trusted friends, then by all means keep going.

Nothing will change permanently until you dig down to the bedrock of truth about your life and God's purpose for it.

This program is meant to be a starting point on a journey that will take you the rest of your life!"

Some slight editing, for the online reader, was made.

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Today's Bible verse

“If you continue to obey my teaching, you are truly my followers. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. ”

— John 8:31-32

-Noel

Daniel Plan 1/30/17: Build on the Rock

Happy Monday!

Today we are going to start talking about the true basic pillar of the Daniel Plan: faith.

Our "'bodies are temple of the Holy Spirit' (1 Corinthians 6:19)", and to build a temple you need to have a strong foundation.

In the Book of Matthew, Jesus tells us that those who hear His words and put them into practice are like a wise man who builds his house on the rock.

“The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

— Matthew 7:25-26

Strong foundations make good construction. Build on the rock. 

This means spending time in the Word. After all, if you are going to heed His words, you need to know what they are. Many Christians spend their time on this earth as "fans of the Jesus team" without ever knowing the riches of participation with Him at the core.

When faith is the foundation, you can build habits and perspectives for health in any area of your life.

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Today's Bible verse

“The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

— Psalm 118:6

-Noel

Daniel Plan 1/27/17: The Daniel Plan Detox

Welcome to today's installment of the Daniel Plan from Well Within.

One of my patients stopped in today and said she has been following the installments and was grateful that it was online since she was never able to make the weekly meetings during previous iterations of this program. Thanks for the encouragement! I would always like to hear from you if you are participating.

Today we are going to talk about the Daniel Plan Detox.

It is laid out starting on page 294 of the book (get the book, it is great!). The Detox has you follow the same Daniel Plan Plate portioning, but also wants you to eliminate everything that could potentially trigger health issues.

What you will eat: Real, fresh whole food.

What you will let go of: coffee and alcohol, processed or fast foods, artificial sweeteners of any kind, sugar in any form, all dairy, all gluten.

Bye bye additives and chemicals. See you later stimulants and sedatives. Adios milk, butter, yogurt and cheese. Adieu to wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt.

Do this for two weeks (or longer) and see how you feel.

I am sad to report that, despite hailing from dairy country in Western New York, I feel better without dairy. I especially love cheese, but I've seen that it causes bloating and I feel worse when I've tried to reintegrate it.

Oats on the other hand haven't seemed to bother me when I add them back in. Strictly eliminating sugar is a benefit for us all and only allowing the very occasional cheat would be the best for everyone in my opinion.

For more tips, check out this article, 7 Reasons You Need to Detox.

I'll be back on Monday and we'll talk about the role of faith in our overall wellness.

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Today's Bible verse

“being confident in this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”

— Philippians 1:6

-Noel

Daniel Plan 1/26/17: Factory-Made Science Projects

Hello to all!

Today, I want to encourage you to keep trying every day!

Sometimes we fail and think that we're never going to get it right, but it is the moment-by-moment effort that pays off in the end. Even if you have to keep repeating the same mistake over and over, if you don't give up you can't lose! 

Today I am going to quote extensively from the book because it says this part as well as I could ever hope to. I want to remind you of our last couple of days of discussion, foods that harm. What is the common denominator? Mankind has been tinkering with the food in such a way as to make it harmful. Today's theme is more of the same. Factory-made science projects are unnatural food additives that are designed to make food taste better and more addictive.

There is a story about a noodle stand in China that always had much longer lines than their competitors. Eventually their secret was discovered. They were putting opium in their noodles and people were getting addicted to them. Sounds like a crazy plot, right? But food manufacturers do this very thing all the time with a flavoring called monosodium glutamate , better known by it's acronym, MSG.

In recent years, people have become aware of the harmful nature of MSG, so manufacturers have been finding creative ways to disguise it and sneak it into our foods. Here is a list of ingredients that have properties that are similar or identical to MSG in their effect on the body:

MSG not only cause headaches and brain fog, but it's often utilized in experiments involving animals, including those on obesity. The animals are fattened up using MSG to induce binge-eating. It causes the same effect in humans, leading us to overeat, triple our insulin production, which leads to the storage of belly fat.

And now, a few tips, courtesy of the Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life, on how to avoid these unnatural "factory-made science projects", and several other dangerous substances, such as pesticides, hormones and antibiotics:

             Dirty=best to buy organic
        Clean=best to buy conventional

• Eat organic, if you can afford it, to avoid pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics in food.
• If you are budget strapped, use the Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen list (to the right) from the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org) to choose the least contaminated conventionally grown fruits and vegetables and avoid the most contaminated versions. Click here for a shopping guide to avoid pesticide-riddled foods. It is a bit more expensive, but being selective here can help the budget and your health.
• For dairy, we suggest buying organic and eating less. Organic foods have about 25 percent more nutrients than conventionally grown plant foods. Beef, poultry and eggs are also items that are better for you if organic or sustainably raised. If more people used organics, the prices would come down.
• Eat sustainably. Try to buy sustainably raised animals and animal products when you can. This will help you avoid pesticides, antibiotics and hormones. Look for the terms "grass fed", "pasture raised", "free-range" or "organic", or "made without hormones and antibiotics.
• Ask your butcher where things come from and how they were raised.

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Today's Bible verse

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

— 1 John 4:18

-Noel

Daniel Plan 1/25/17: Choose the Right Cooking Oils!

Hi from Well Within!

We are so blessed to have the opportunity to share the Daniel Plan with you.

You may notice that we have chosen a slightly different order for the five pillars (food, faith, fitness, focus and friends). We wanted to get the eating part out there right away.

Today's topic is a continuation of yesterday's: foods that harm.

The first harmful food that we talked about was sugar. It's interesting that sugar cane and beets, by themselves, are healthy foods.  Together, they are two of the major sources of refined sugar, but the refining process strips away the fiber and nutrients and leaves us with crystalline sugar, which has become a huge health concern.

This pattern continues with the next unhealthy substances that we recommend you avoid: refined vegetable oils and trans fats.

Refined vegetable oils include corn, canola and soybean

Refined vegetable oils are usually sold in jugs in the supermarket oils and are marketed as corn, canola, vegetable and soybean oil. Despite the names, which often trick consumers into purchasing them, these oils are unnatural and can cause serious harm. They are high in omega-6 fatty acids, cause inflammation and can drastically raise your risk for cardiovascular disease, asthma, depression and cancer.

Futhermore, refined vegetable oils are often loaded with trans fats.

Which brings us to trans fats. The most recognizable example of trans fat is the blue can of Crisco you probably had in the cabinet growing up. Like most trans fats, Crisco is created by a process called hydrogenation, in which the liquid oil is converted, under pressure, into a solid or semi-solid form that has a much longer shelf life. 

Depending on the environment, an unopened stick of Crisco can last up to two years on the shelf. Sounds good right?

Wrong!

Crisco is loaded with trans fat.

According to the Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life, "trans fats increase your risk of the following health problems: increased bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol, risk of heart attack, obesity and type 2 diabetes, cancer, impaired brain functioning and dementia and increased inflammation."

Extended shelf life in exchange for a litany of critical health issues. Not the kind of trade off we're looking for.

While it has become easier, it is still difficult to find many packaged goods that don't contain hydrogenated fats, making it especially important to read nutrition labels obsessively. Look for the phrases "partially hydrogenated", "hydrogenated" or "shortening", since these ingredients contain trans fat.

Also, if a product says 0 grams (0.0 oz) of trans fat, it might not actually be 0. If you see the word "hydrogenated" anywhere on the nutrition label it means it contains trans fat. The FDA allows food manufacturers to list trans fat as 0 grams (0.0 oz) if it contains less than 0.5 grams (0.02 oz) of trans fat. Those grams can add up fast if one is consuming large amounts of the product.

Frequent offenders include: potato chips, donuts, cakes, pie crusts, frozen pizzas, margarine, and nearly everything from fast food restaurants.

Check your labels. When you're out at a restaurant, check with your server to see what kind of oil they use in the kitchen. Avoid anything fried. And don't forget there are healthy oils out there for you: olive, avocado, sesame and peanut oil.

Like anything else, it will be tough at first, but after a while it will become second-nature.

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Today's Bible verse

“For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm”

— Proverbs 1:32-33

-Noel