Fit Tip Friday #77

📃Welcome 

Welcome to this week's Fit Tip Friday.I hope you're hungry, because I'm continuing with the topic of food. 

📃 Becoming a Food Lawyer

Years ago, I read Michael Pollen's book Food Rules. In this book, he lists out 60+ pithy rules to follow for eating, and categorizes the rules under the following 3 headings:

• Eat food.

• Not too much.

• Mostly plants. 

While I would replace "mostly plants" with "lots of protein", there are some good pieces of advice to chew on in his book.And here's one of Pollen's rules that I've chewed on for years: Rule #7: Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce. This is a good rule. But after swallowing this rule, I turned into a food lawyer. With ingredient lists, I read all the fine print. I asked all the direct questions. I did my due diligence. I put every piece of food in my pantry on trial.I cross examined them based on the evidence at hand. Here's what a trial looked like:I'd like to call Gellan Gum to the stand... Are you, or are you not a water-soluble anionic polysaccharide? And what are you doing in my almond milk? Out.  I'd like to call Sodium Hexametaphosphate to the stand... Were you, or were you not made by the chemist Johann Frederich Philipp Englehart in 1825? And what are you doing in my protein shake? Out. I was good in trial. I won a lot.But then I stepped out of the courtroom and into the real world, where I learned that my rules interacted with other people.Which poses problems. Especially for Christians. For example, let's say there's a young couple from church that you want to get to know, and they invite you over to their house for dinner. And when you arrive they offer you chips and queso-from-a-jar as an appetizer.... and this queso has all kinds of ingredients with 10+ syllables and are difficult to pronounce...Things like maltodextrin, sodium hexametaphosphate, monosodium glutamate, sodium citrate, and more.  What do you do?

📃 Fussing About Food Too Much

Again, I'm not a doctor or nutritionist. This isn't a full theological treatise on food.But this is a reminder that not only can we eat too much food, but also we can fuss too much about our food. We can generate all kinds of rules about eating (which we should), but at some point those rules will come face to face with a fellow brother or sister showing some kind of hospitality by serving you food.Then what?There's a very real temptation for Christians to break fellowship with each other over what's on their plates.I'm not eating at so-and-so's home because I know what food they eat.Or I'm not going to the fellowship meal because I know what food is served there.You get the point. 1 Corinthians 9-10 and Romans 14 have helped me think through these scenarios. These passages are worth studying for yourself. So, what if a couple from church invites me over to their home, and brings out the queso from a jar that has unpronounceable things in it? I'd eat it. Thankfully. And joyfully. And to God's glory (1 Corinthians 10:31).There's a better law.  

📃Links & Resources 

----------------------------------------------------

📃Extreme Diets, Hospitality, and Food FussingThis is a great Bright Hearth podcast that tackles the exact question of what do you do when your food rules don't sync with a brother's or sister's food rules, especially when thinking about hospitality. Brian and Lexy Sauvé handle this question practically, thoroughly, and graciously.  

----------------------------------------------------

📃Recommended Home Gym EquipmentAs always, this is my recommended list of home gym equipment. These are affiliate links. 1a. Kettlebell Kings - The Quality Purchase1b. Lifeline Kettlebell - The Budget Purchase2. Pull-Up Bar3. Headphones 4. An Ab Roller5. Exercise Mat6. A Jump Rope7. A Watch Pedometer8. SafeRingz - A Silicone Wedding BandThese are affiliate links, and as an Amazon associate I earn on qualifying purchases. But these are all equipment that I have personally used or highly recommend!

----------------------------------------------------