Camping

One of our family's favorite traditions is camping. Here's a glimpse of some of the fun we have each year...

...living in a tent, spending time in nature,

fun at the beach,

going for hikes,

campfires,

enjoying s’mores

and bannock,

playing games together,

and watching the sun set each night...

The list could go on and on!

However, with this special tradition come some unique temptations that I don’t normally face other times of the year… Snacking seems to go hand-in-hand with long drives, lazing around the beach and around the campfire. This is the one time of the year that I buy the chips, pop, special double chocolate chocolate chunk cookies, Reese’s Pieces cereal, licorice and more. It’s also the one time of the year that we have night snacks (around the campfire) every night—s’mores, hot chocolate and bannock.

The first camping trip we have lined up (heading out this Saturday) is starting out as a group trip. So there will also be added complications and temptations that come with eating in social settings…

So I’ve got to do some planning for trials…

First of all, in preparation for trials, when I went shopping I skipped out on buying the pop, extra salty munchies, licorice and extra cookies. We’ll skip the pop or sweetened drinks this year, keeping our cooler jug filled with ice so we’ll have ice water anytime we want (which is always a treat when camping during hot summer days!). We’ll also try to really minimize our munchy and dessert consumption this year (note I’m saying “we” as this will be a family plan of action).

Second, we’re going to be having a family “rumble challenge”, with my eldest daughter in mind, as we really want to encourage her to find out what real true hunger feels like this summer, with the hope that come fall she will have found a way of eating 0-5 more naturally. I’m sure it will benefit us all to try to find “0” as often as possible prior to eating. I’m not recognizing a rumble as the only way of knowing hunger…but simply presenting it as one very tangible and audible sign of hunger, with the hope that she will eventually often experience real physiological hunger. I’m also going to introduce my kids to observations and corrections and turning to God with 0-5 eating.

Now down to the nitty gritty plans….

I’ll make sure to wait for hunger at breakfast so I can start the day off on the right foot…

I’m packing up a bunch of healthy options for each meal with following 0-5 as the aim of course:

Breakfast options: oatmeal or cold cereal (something healthier)
Exception: one brunch of pancakes/bacon

Snacks (only if hungry): aim for fruit, almonds, cheese strings, granola bar, pretzels, yogurt, juice box

Lunch options:

mini bagel & cream cheese & fruit/veggie
tortilla with pbutter/honey and fruit/veggie
tortilla w/ meat/cheese & fruit/veggie

Snacks (only if hungry): aim for fruit, almonds, cheese strings, granola bar, pretzels, yogurt, juice box

Supper plan of action: Eat to a #4, no pop/juice, skip dessert if having campfire snacks

Campfire snack options:

1 s’more & hot chocolate
1 bannock & hot chocolate
no snacks: enjoy herbal tea by the fire…

If I choose to have a sweet…keep it within hunger. If I choose to have a sweet at supper skip out on campfire snacks…

Well, that is the eating plan in a nutshell… Now to actually implement the plan is another matter! I know I’ll need some extra prayer through this time!

I also plan on spending more time with the Lord in His word and in prayer this summer. I bought myself a nice handy-dandy compact NIV bible (with a concordance even!). And I’m really excited to dig into the “Breaking Free” study workbook by Beth Moore! I think I’ll save that for our Mexico trip though (more details coming soon regarding that). I'm still doing the Beth Moore "David" study and reading the TW book daily of course.

Last weekend when we went to the beach the kids were playing so nicely and I didn’t have any reading material with me and was feeling a bit bored… Then I started to converse with God. It was a nice time, although I felt a little at a loss how to even converse with Him for that length of time I confess! I look forward to much more of that this summer! I look forward to growing in my prayer life…being still before God, not primarily praying these arrow prayers or emergency prayers etc… Just spending time really communing with Him and practising His presence!

I think I’ve rambled on long enough here! I will give account for my choices when I return. I hope to have a glowing report of the new thing the Lord has done in my heart.