Crave God, Not Food - week 7

What's the difference between the person who successfully loses weight and keeps it off and the rest of us?

Is it strategy? I don't think so. I've seen people succeed on all sorts of plans, from Weight Watchers to South Beach, from Curves to P90X. There are "how to" books, videos, and programs to be found around every corner. We are not lacking for information on how to lose weight and get healthy.

For those of us who struggle and whose weight sometimes comes off but often returns, the missing ingredient seems to be the "want to." We lack the motivation to do what needs to be done, or the commitment to keep doing what needs to be done over and over. We fabricate excuses so that we can blame external factors for our struggle (I can't find time to exercise with all these small children...Eating healthy costs too much...My body just prefers to be this weight...) instead of looking for the internal issues that are holding us back.

I've identified a few of the things that keep dragging me back to my old habits (of eating bad foods and living a sedentary life):

Perfectionism
I tend to think "all or nothing," so when I have a small slip-up or a weak moment it's easy to convince myself that I am incapable of getting it just right. If you can't do something well, don't do it at all. Sound familiar?

Comparison
I watch others who are succeeding, or who have never experienced this struggle, and I hold up my measuring stick. Mine is always shorter. Beautiful friends who've had numerous babies still looking as amazing as they did before the first pregnancy... Contestants on The Biggest Loser who rock out dropping ten plus pounds in a week... And then there's me. And I feel about two inches tall. And I think, "Why bother?"

These two internal issues reveal the third...

Wrong Motivations
Am I losing weight to be skinny, to see a certain number on the scale, to wear a particular size of jeans? Do I believe that, by losing weight, I will somehow "measure up" in a new way and feel more beautiful? Or more worthy? What, really, is the goal that drives me?

So I need to remind myself of some truths. Maybe you need a reminder today, too.

The number on the scale does not define me. That number is simply an external indicator of an internal problem.

While looking great and wearing those size eights hidden away in the back of my closet would be fantastic, my appearance is nothing more than a side-benefit (the icing on the cake, if you will). The real benefit is how I will feel, not only physically, but spiritually and emotionally.

The goal is not measurable in pounds, inches, or sizes. Rather, my daily measure of success needs to be obedience. Moment by moment, decision by decision, asking God what He desires for me and then doing it.

For me, carrying this extra weight is symbolic of the burden I am hauling around that weighs me down from serving God and my family fully, completely, wholeheartedly, and with supernatural energy.

It's not about me.

I hope you needed a pep talk this morning, in whatever area your struggle lies. What is your struggle today? Did any of those truths resonate with you, too?


* This post is part of my Crave God, Not Food series, where I'm holding myself accountable to you and to Him on my quest for better health. Much of what I'm learning is based on Lysa TerKeurst's Made to Crave: satisfying your deepest desire with God, not food.

Crave God, Not Food - week 6

Report Card time...

Since last week:
- weight - down 1 lb
- body fat - same
- waist - down 0.75"

Since I began (January 10th):
- weight - down 5.4 lbs
- body fat - down 2%
- waist - down 2"

I have mixed feelings...
Good - progress in the right direction
Bad - slower progress than I'd hoped for
Fired up - to exercise more and harder to speed up the progress
Deflated - realizing that this is unrealistic
Good - that I feel better, healthier, prettier, stronger
Bad - that I haven't shrunk enough to expand my wardrobe options (two pairs of jeans that I am just a couple inches away from wearing)
Excited - that I am only 4.4 lbs away from breaking down below a nasty weight barrier that's had me stuck for 3 years
Discouraged - the barrier would appear to be about 4 weeks away

So, what's a girl to do with such an emotional roller coaster?

I continually remind myself that my emotions are not trustworthy. Nine times out of ten, following my emotions will lead me astray. Instead, I must remember to stick with the plan, make good choices, and press on. Sometimes that's hard to do. So then I remind myself that this plan isn't just for me; I am doing this for God. Not that God needs me to be skinnier, but that He is able to use me more if I am stronger, healthier, and have more energy. The better my health, the greater my ability to serve Him - at home, at church, and out in the community.

While I can't deny how wonderful it will be to feel fit, healthy, and slim, my ultimate goal is (and needs to remain) to honour God.

Never offer any part of your body to sin’s power. No part of your body should ever be used to do any ungodly thing. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have come back from death and are now alive. Offer all the parts of your body to God. Use them to do everything that God approves of.
~ Romans 6:13 (GW)

Crave God, Not Food - week 5

This week I learned something. It's nothing ground-breaking or revolutionary, yet this knowledge will revolutionize my weight loss journey. Here is what I've discovered:

When I don't pray about making choices that honor God, I tend to forget that my choices have anything to do with Him.

Riding on the success of last week, I became confident. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, except when self-confidence overtakes God-confidence. Too much self-confidence leads to "I" thinking. I did great this week! Look how well I am managing my eating! I worked out hard. I lost weight. I did it! I, I, I... All that "I" thinking left no room for God - no room for His glory and no room for Him to work.

It's risky to say that my eating (and thus my weight) is tied to my spiritual walk. Because if I fail at getting my eating under control, I am essentially failing God. At least that's how some people may view it. But I know that I cannot fail God. Whether I have success or not, whether I lose weight or not, whether I learn to manage my anger or not, whether I use swear words or not... I cannot fail Him.

The only way I fail is if I give up. If I give up my efforts to know Him better, to understand Him more clearly, to honor Him in more areas of my life - then I will have failed.

So this week, though I did not lose weight (I didn't gain either, and I did lose 1% body fat), I neither failed myself nor God. I had a momentary distraction and lost my purpose. I got to thinking that this was all about me, forgetting that it's truly about Him and me - our relationship.

Today, my prayer is that what I put in my mouth will be beneficial for my body, for my calling, and for those I'm called to serve. I pray that I will remember to come to Him for help when I face temptation. Mostly I pray that I will feel more intimately acquainted with Him and His love as each day passes.

“Everything is permissible” - but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible” - but not everything is constructive.~ 1 Corinthians 10:23 (NIV, 1984)

Is there something you feel called to do - something that is permissible, but not beneficial (whether change your eating habits, give up TV, start a daily quiet time, get organized, etc.) - that you were distracted from this week? It would be an honor to pray for you this week; how can I pray?

Crave God, Not Food - week 4

I have been following a healthier eating plan now for three whole weeks. I have been exercising more than in the past (though not as much as I think I should). There have been moments of temptation that "caught" me, and others that I conquered. The conquering has happened more than the being caught, and the results are proving it.

Weight down this week:
3.2 lbs

Total weight down:
4.4 lbs

Want to know what puts a great big smile on my face? It's not that number on the scale. I smile because I feel good! As in, not bloated, over-full, gassy, nauseous, and disgusting. I smile because I feel victorious! Not out-of-control, weak, lazy, and trapped.

And for the record, those feelings are not because I am strong or have amazing will power. They are not because I am dedicated and committed. (I've pretty much proven that I am none of those things these past few years!) These feelings are because God is strong and is empowering me, because I am dedicated to Him and He is committed to me.

It's hard to explain... I mean, how can weight loss be a spiritual issue? Yet when I put it in that perspective - when my desire is to honour God with my body, my obedience, and my transformation - it feels more important somehow. More meaningful. Vital, even.

If you're on this journey too, how was your week? Share you victories and your struggles so we can encourage one another. And thanks for letting me share my journey with you.

Crave God, Not Food - week 3

You've heard me talking for the past couple weeks about Lysa TerKeurst's new book, Made to Crave. Today I have the unbelievable opportunity to not only share with you the impact this book is having on me, but to give away two copies that Lysa sent my way! And because I believe in this message so much, one of you will also have the chance to win the six-session teaching DVDs as a special gift from yours truly.

If you're like me, you are probably thinking, "Sure, as if I need another diet book! South beach, Dr. Phil, Cabbage Soup, blah, blah, blah." If there is one thing I want you to know, it's this: Made to Crave is NOT a diet book! Not even close! What you will find between those pretty blue covers are pages rich with spiritual truths - not only what God's Word says about our relationship with food, but how our relationship with God can make all the difference in changing our "issues" with food.

Here's a quick video from Lysa explaining (in a way I never could!) how Made to Crave is different.


Lysa answers other questions here.

Just in case you're not convinced, let me tell you a bit about my weight loss progress these past two weeks. I have been following my healthy eating and exercise plan, reading the book and working through the study questions, as well as watching the weekly webcasts. I have lost 1.2 lbs, 1% body fat, and 1" around my waist. (No, it's not the wild and crazy progress promised by some diet programs, but I've had that before and always ended up back here. This time, I want slow and consistent.)

Here's the more important thing, though - I feel great! I feel empowered, strong, committed, in control, confident, and beautiful. Yup, even beautiful. Having barely changed my body composition at all, I feel prettier by the sheer fact that I am not being a lazy, junk-food eating girl. Don't you want to find your "want to," too?! After all, you (and I) were made for more than this. More than this failure, more than this cycle, more than being ruled by taste buds. We were made for victory. (ch. 4)

Okay, time for the fun!

The grab (3 prizes):
- Made to Crave book
- Made to Crave book
- Made to Crave teaching DVD

Enter to win:
- just leave a comment between now and noon (MST) on Wednesday (Jan. 26): 1 entry
You can increase your odds of winning by doing the following...
- subscribe to the blog, whether by "following," email subscription, or another feed reader; don't forget to leave me a comment letting me know you subscribed (or that you are already a subscriber): 50 entries
- "like" on facebook: 25 entries
- "follow" on twitter: 25 entries
- "share" this post on facebook: 10 entries
- "retweet" this post on twitter: 10 entries
- send a friend to either like/follow/subscribe (and have that friend mention your name): 30 entries
Your name can be entered up to 151 times! So if you really, really want to win... *wink*
Remember to leave a comment on this post letting me know if/when you've done each of the above. (I don't want to miss any entries!)

 And just so you don't worry about hitting subscribe/like/follow only to discover you've wasted your time, here's a sampling of what you'll find here at Titus 2:3-5...
* When God Messes up Your Plans
* Seven Steps to Stop Anger in its Tracks
* How to Repair a Cracked Vase

Later this week we'll be talking about (among other things)...
* Tough Parenting Moments: When Your Own Kid is the "Problem"
* Making Your Faith Real

Thanks for stopping by! I am so excited to spend the next few weeks getting to know you better! And hey - if you just can't wait to get your hands on Made to Crave, you can order it here.

Be blessed,

Crave God, Not Food - week two

First, just a quick reminder that Lysa TerKeurst's Made to Crave blog tour will be coming through the Titus 2:3-5 blog next Monday, where I will be giving away two copies of her book. If you don't have the book already, make sure you stop by to find out how to get your name entered up to 66 times (or possibly more)!
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I learned a lot this week, as I worked to stay focused on eating well, exercising, and going to God with the moments of temptation. Overall, I feel really good about what I did well, and I'm okay with moving on from where I got tripped up.

Monday through Friday were great! My food choices were right on par, I exercised daily (I've got a few videos at home, plus karate class on Wednesday nights), and I tracked calories in and calories out on sparkpeople. I read the introduction and the first two chapters of MTC*, as well as watched the first webcast. Because I couldn't resist, I weighed in on Saturday morning. The scale reported a loss of 3.8 lbs!

Saturday was my day off from exercise with a planned "cheat" meal thrown in. My intention was to eat well all day, have my treat at dinner, and return to the routine on Sunday. At dinner, I decided to enjoy the most delicious spinach and artichoke dip with baked pita chips. The plan was to follow up my yummy appetizer with a bowl of cheddar and broccoli soup. Mmmm! Two of my favourite things.

That's when mistake #1 happened - I looked at the menu. I was hungry, and I looked at the menu! Instead of having the soup, I ordered fish and chips.

Then we went to a movie. I had full intentions of enjoying a couple handfuls of popcorn and a small pop. But it's quicker and easier to purchase the combo meals through the little kiosk. Which brings us to mistake #2 - we ordered a large popcorn, two large pops, and a bag of Rolo minis.

Sunday was a fresh start, though, and I wasn't going to let my two mistakes get me down...

Mistake #3 - Slept in and didn't have breakfast before church.
Mistake #4 - After swimming with the family, decided to be lazy and buy lunch.
Mistake #5 - Ordered my standard choice off the McDonald's drive-though menu, rather than a healthier choice.
Mistake #6 - Decided that I had already written off the day with the fast food lunch, so I may as well finish off the bag of Rolo minis. And join the kids in chowing down on potato chips. And eat the last cinnamon bun (I had picked them up for the kids' Sunday breakfast) from Cinnzeo.

Needless to say, my weigh in this morning did not go as well as the one two days ago. I'm sure there's a combination of factors that contributed - some weight re-gain, some water retention due to all the salt and sugar, less water consumption, no exercising...

Anyway, to the point already! :-) My total weight lost this week was one pound even. My body fat also went down by one percent. AND, my waist measured half an inch less.

When I started, I knew this battle would be hard - harder than I ever imagined. But through it all I determined to make God, rather than food, my focus. Each time I craved something I knew wasn't part of my plan, I used that craving as a prompt to pray. I craved a lot. So, I found myself praying a lot.

Don't rush past that last paragraph. I used my cravings for food as a prompting to pray. It was my way of tearing down the tower of impossibility before me and building something new. My tower of impossibility was food. Brick by brick, I imagined myself dismantling the food tower and using those same bricks to build a walkway of prayer, paving the way to victory.

~ Lysa TerKeurst, MTC, ch 3

It could've been a great week had I not allowed the weekend to go sideways. Lessons learned!

Lesson #1 - Plan, plan, plan; and stick to the plan.
Lesson #2 - A slip-up (or six) simply means I pulled one brick off the walkway and stacked it back up on the tower. It does not mean that the walkway is forever ruined. If I lay more bricks down than I stack up, eventually the tower will be fully dismantled.

A setback is the perfect set up for a comeback.

~ Katherine Lee, MTC webcast

So tell me, how did you do this week?

* MTC is my lazy way of typing Made to Crave.

Crave God, Not Food

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for Him."
~ Lamentations 3:22-24

Over the past twelve years, probably nine of them have begun with a secret resolution in my heart. It's secret for a couple reasons... First, I don't necessarily "do" the resolution thing. Second, I am not too keen on setting myself up for public failure. Nine years with the same resolution pretty much screams the fact that I've messed it up eight times or so!

During my few years blogging, though, I have also discovered the motivation that comes with some public accountability and the joy of encouragement from others who understand. As God and I have been continually lobbing this issue back and forth, I feel that that the best way to keep my heart focused on what God wants for me is to speak my secrets aloud.

They're nothing new, you've heard them before (if you've been reading here for any amount of time)...

I have a problem with food. As a result, I have a problem with my weight and health.

Food is my friend, my comfort, my warm fuzzy on a late night. I turn to food and ask it to fill all my empty places. I go to food to celebrate, to grieve, to get angry, to fill loneliness and boredom. And then I consume until I am so filled up that I feel sick.

I tend to turn to food at times when I should be turning to God. What has happened to my body is the evidence of my idolatry. Once again, I find myself ready to lay this issue before God (and you), so that He can sift me and get rid of the stuff in my life that is not pleasing and honoring to Him.

I will be joining a community of women as we study Lysa TerKeurst`s Made to Crave together. We will have the benefit of weekly check ins with one another, as well as weekly webcasts taught by Lysa. And I will be sharing about my journey here each Monday morning, to keep myself accountable on this journey. As is my prayer with every messy part of my life, I pray that by sharing my journey and the lessons I learn along the way, you will be encouraged in your life as well.

And hey - if you are doing this lifestyle change, too (whether with the help of Made to Crave, another resource, or on your own) - why don`t you stop by on Mondays so we can celebrate our progress together?

Because of the Lord`s great love, I will not be consumed by my desire for food,
for His compassions for me never fail.
They are new every morning, and every time I want a snack;
great is Your faithfulness - You are faithful to fill all my empty spaces.
I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion, not food;
therefore I will wait for Him to satisfy my cravings."

P.S. On January 24, I will be hosting a giveaway of two copies of Made to Crave. If you want to buy a copy now, go here. :)