Food is My Friend

I have lived my life chunky.  If you have read any of my blog posts, you know I have struggled with weight.  It is my everyday reality.  Ugly, stinking truth.  Maddening, saddening, debilitating truth.  

I am on the cusp of something magnificent.  I am not quite sure exactly what it is yet, but I am convinced that God is leading me on a journey and I am on the edge of huge self discovery.  Of course, He is leading me on a journey every day, but I am specifically referring to a journey about having a healthy lifestyle.  I have always believed that they key to weight loss success is Eat Less, Move More.  I still believe you eat what you want, but not a lot of it.  Portion control.  It is key to weight loss.

But what do you do if you are somewhat at an ideal weight, maybe need to lose 10-15 pounds, but really are more interested in healthy lifestyle changes.  Making better choices.  I have made some discoveries lately about myself and my eating.  Here is what I have realized, as dumb and simplistic as these may be, they were revelations for me:

1.  I love unhealthy food.  I love fast food, hamburgers, pizza, pie, cake, cookies, frosting.  I am using the word "love" when I am referring to these foods.  I don't like salad, fru fru sandwiches, vegetables, fruits, nuts.

  Yes, I eat these things but not as a meal.  If I have a salad, I like my meat and potatoes to follow shortly.  I could go my whole life and never eat another vegetable, salad, fruit or nut.  They are not items I am interested in eating voluntarily.  Adkins diet is great for me.  I tried it once, and lost weight but I can't go my life eating like that.  Another diet tried and failed at.  I need balance.  But I love unhealthy foods.

2.  Food is my friend.  We have a longstanding relationship.  I love food and it loves me.  I enjoy it, I socialize with it, I adore it, I entertain it, it makes me feel good, makes me happy, makes me feel full.  I like to spend time with food.  Daily.  All of these are characteristics of a good friend.  This morning I determined that food is my friend.  Admitting these things is the first step to recovery.

3.  I wish I ate to live.  But I don't.  I live to eat.  I wish eating was something I had to do each day.  Instead it is something I want to do each day.  It is my struggle.  My craving.

Enter onto the scene, an online Bible Study.  I found it through a friend's facebook post.  She wanted to know who was joining in on this study.  I thought, not me!  However, I felt very led to participate even though I knew nothing about it.  The study is through Proverbs 31 Ministries  http://proverbs31.org/.  I did some research and decided I would buy the book.  All the while thinking, "Another book that will collect dust, another attempt at a Bible study that will end in failure to finish."  But, I bought the book and signed up for the study.  The study is on the book Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst. 

 Well I can't put it down.  The study is excellent, the support is phenomenal, and the material is taking me to the next level beyond Eat Less, Move More.  It gets to the underlying meaning of why we crave what we crave.  We can crave all sorts of things from shopping, to food, to rescuing animals, to alcohol, drugs, internet, social media or a host of other things.  We crave them.  Insatiable desire for them.  Everyone craves something different.  This study talks about how God made us to crave.  It gives scripture reference to why we crave things here on earth.  The truth is that whatever we crave we need to steadily tear down the tower of craving and use those same bricks to build a pathway to prayer.  God wants us to crave him.  Instead we crave worldly things like food and shopping.  

This Bible study has brought me to some shocking realizations about myself and my cravings.  It is teaching me how to overcome my cravings.  To crave God rather than food.  I am trying to balance.  Balance food and healthy choices.  Balance God and my cravings.  Balance life.  I crave a balanced life.  

Thanks be to God for compelling me to join this study.  It isn't too late to join me.  Visit the website at http://proverbs31.org/ and sign up if you want to. I bought the book on my Ibooks on my Ipad.  I am sure you can get the book at Lifeway or order it online at the Proverbs 31 site. Maybe it will change your life too.  I am on the verge of something big.  Not sure yet what it is, but it is big.  God is big and He does big things in my life.  I am ready, I am willing, I am listening, God. 

Let me know what you think!  I am excited about this.  Please subscribe to my blog by putting your email address in the box at the right.  You won't miss a single post.  Thanks for reading my post.  Please share it with your friends to spread the word and don't forget to hire me for your next event!  I can speak on your topic or mine.  Visit my website at www.funthoughtsonlife.com

Have a great day and Crave God!  

Jennifer 

Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Taken

Elementary, Middle, High School, even College...spent trying to walk, talk, and be like someone else.  Someone I viewed as popular, I wanted to walk like them, or hold my books like they do when they walk down the hall.  I wanted to fix my hair like they did and it never seemed exactly to work out because in my adult life I learned that different hair textures and kinds just won't go into certain styles.  Explains why we have those "awkward years" where we all look a bit like animals at the zoo.  However, there is always that set of animals or even one animal that we want to look or be like and try to emulate them at all costs.  Even growing up we try to be like our parents and fit into their mold.  Then when we get out on our own we still carry that mold with us and our first meals we cook are the meals we had at home(even though they aren't worth eating at that time because they aren't as good as what momma made).  The truth of the matter is, when we try to be like everyone else, we feel trapped, like we are put into a box and it becomes claustrophobic in that box.

For me, the real transformation to being myself came about 8 years ago when I decided to cut my hair into the spiky do.  I remember at the time I was working very part time at the bank and I mentioned to a couple of my co-workers that I wanted to get my hair cut spiky.  Of course, I met with protest.  Oh NO, you don't want to cut your hair like that!  Well, maybe I do.  YOU may not want to cut YOUR hair like that, but maybe I do.  It took me another month or two before I was brave enough to cut it because I have to admit, it is SO hard to overcome people's opinions and when they seem to be free flowing, it makes it even harder.  I did cut my hair and I have had it like it is now, spiky and sassy, every since.  I am fairly convinced that I will never have another hairdo.  It suits me perfectly.  It is ME.  Anyone who knows me knows that it is ME. I feel so free.  If we all could take a step back and realize that everyone is different, and not to impose our opinions upon other people then there would be a lot less pressure and stress in the world today.  Embrace our differences.  If you are out with a friend and she says, how do you like this shirt?  Say, That would look great on you!  Trying to make other people fit into molds is one of the most debilitating habits that has been presented into our world today.  Embrace yourself.  Be yourself, Because everyone else is taken.  Now that is a point to ponder.

This very point is the reason that dieting never works.  Every diet tries to put us into a mold that we don't fit into.  Diets try to make us eat foods that we don't normally eat or don't normally like.  God made us all different and some of us don't like plain yogurt and blueberries.  Some of us like chocolate and pizza.  And some of us want to be healthy and thin.  

See if you recognize this pattern:  Decide to diet, go on the diet, buy the foods suggested, stick to it for a week or two or a month or two, loose some weight, get excited, stick to it another week or two, feel deprived, binge, go back to what you were doing before, gain the weight back plus some extra.

In my experience with dieting, the reason this happens is simple: we were trying to be someone else.  We can't be someone else, because someone else is already taken, we must be ourselves.  Folks, the secret to healthy dieting and weight loss is simple:  Eat what you want, just not a lot of it. That way, we are being ourselves, and we are setting ourselves up for success instead of failure.  If I want a piece of pie, I eat one, but a very small piece.  You can make good choices along the way, and over time, we are going to talk about good choices and elaborate further upon secrets to dieting.  But one thing at a time.  For now, Eat what you want, just not a lot of it.  When you go to a restaurant, ask for a to go box when your meal arrives and put half of it in the box.  No one needs the absurd portion that is presented at a restaurant.  Order what you want, just don't eat all of it.  This way you are not depriving yourself.  The #1 reason that we don't stick to diets is because we get sick of depriving ourselves of things we love and we cave in.  And when we have deprived ourselves for so long, heaven help the first pie we dive into...  If we eat what we want, just not a lot of it, then we are not depriving ourselves.  We are cutting calories without deprivation.  Can you live the rest of your life without pie or carbohydrates? NO, Can you live the rest of your life eating what you want in small quantities? YES!  Yes we can!  Setting ourselves up for success we are!

Over time, I am going to share my struggles with weight loss and what has worked for me.  Everyday is a struggle.  I have to get up and make up my mind that I want to eat small amounts of what I like and get my exercise in.  Some days are better than others.  But every day I make up my mind to do it.  You can too.