"We consume what we think about. And what we think about can consume us if we're not careful. (p23)"
It's true! Whatever our mind/body/spirit desires is what we tend to fill our time with - our thoughts, our time, our lives are consumed by what consumes the deepest longings of our souls. Considering that, why on earth would we want to consume and be consumed by anything other than our God?? Well, because we're sinful humans of course. God created us to crave, but he wants us to crave Him.
"Truth is powerful. The more saturated we are with truth, the more powerful we'll be in resisting our temptations. (p24)."
Also true! Lysa reemphasizes the idea of praying for God to accompany us on this life changing journey of becoming healthier individuals and she also introduces the idea that quoting scripture (just like Jesus did when he was tempted) can help us battle those moments when we feel overcome by our desires. While this can apply to any temptation a person has, my focus here is my temptation with food, so I'll bring it back there.
I was a bit ahead of myself this week - since I had already read through the book once, I knew that one of Lysa's key verses is 1 Corinthians 10:23. The version she includes in her book reads, "'Everything is permissible' - but not everything is beneficial." So, as an encouragement to myself and a reminder of the truth that I am to follow, I put this verse on a bright pink post-it note on our pantry door. Our pantry houses most of our snack foods, and those are what I venture toward when I'm craving something unhealthy. Reading this first chapter tonight has just reminded me of how necessary it is for me to continue to quote scripture and call on Jesus to help me through those tough moments. I definitely noticed a change in my desires and attitude this week. It wasn't an easy first week, but I made it through and I feel a strong sense of accomplishment today. :)
One of the practical things I've started doing is making all of my lunches for the whole week on Sunday afternoons. I make all the sandwiches and put them in baggies, I also divide up all of my healthy snacks into accurate portion sizes and put those into baggies as well. Now all I have to do in the morning when I'm gathering up food for lunch is grab a baggie or two of each thing and throw it in my lunch tote. It's easy and I already know I'm choosing healthy foods with the accurate amount of calories allotted for my lunch meal. I have also cut back to eating 5 smaller "meals" throughout the day, instead of 3 big ones and lots of snacks. I like this schedule because eating more often helps me to feel like I'm not depriving myself, but at the same time I'm eating filling foods at all of these "meals," so that I'm not actually getting hungry later.
During the day, when I think I'm feeling hungry, I'll chew some gum or have a large glass of water - this was a trick I learned back when I was doing Weight Watchers. If I'm truly hungry, the feeling won't go away after a few minutes of chewing gum or finishing a large glass of water. If the feeling does go away after doing such things, that is a sign that it was just a craving or a "mental hunger" and I needed a distraction. What Weight Watchers won't advise its members to do is to pray in those moments. So this week, in view of the fact that this is a spiritual/mental battle as much as physical, and desiring to change my focus on the issue, I took it upon myself to pray MANY times this week in those moments of weakness. And you know what I realized? Most of the times I felt like I was hungry, it wasn't real. Know what else I realized? Jesus was listening to me and caring about what I was going through and then seeing Him help me get through those trying moments was so amazing!
The last thought I want to share with you is from the sermon we heard this morning. I was again amazed at my Lord's amazing ability to hit me with the truth I need when I need it most. Our pastor was preaching on Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. He (pastor) said, "Most people focus on the miracle of Lazarus coming back to life, but I want to focus on the lessons learned in the preceding passages." He went on to show us that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus' other friends and family learned how much Jesus empathized with them and cared about them in their circumstance. Even though Jesus knew he was about to raise Lazarus back to life, He was deeply moved and wept with them! (John 11:32-35) How incredible is that?! Jesus LOVE us SO much - He desires us as much as He wants us to desire HIM! I witnessed this in my own life this week - what an empowering truth!
"Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."
It's true! Whatever our mind/body/spirit desires is what we tend to fill our time with - our thoughts, our time, our lives are consumed by what consumes the deepest longings of our souls. Considering that, why on earth would we want to consume and be consumed by anything other than our God?? Well, because we're sinful humans of course. God created us to crave, but he wants us to crave Him.
"Truth is powerful. The more saturated we are with truth, the more powerful we'll be in resisting our temptations. (p24)."
Also true! Lysa reemphasizes the idea of praying for God to accompany us on this life changing journey of becoming healthier individuals and she also introduces the idea that quoting scripture (just like Jesus did when he was tempted) can help us battle those moments when we feel overcome by our desires. While this can apply to any temptation a person has, my focus here is my temptation with food, so I'll bring it back there.
I was a bit ahead of myself this week - since I had already read through the book once, I knew that one of Lysa's key verses is 1 Corinthians 10:23. The version she includes in her book reads, "'Everything is permissible' - but not everything is beneficial." So, as an encouragement to myself and a reminder of the truth that I am to follow, I put this verse on a bright pink post-it note on our pantry door. Our pantry houses most of our snack foods, and those are what I venture toward when I'm craving something unhealthy. Reading this first chapter tonight has just reminded me of how necessary it is for me to continue to quote scripture and call on Jesus to help me through those tough moments. I definitely noticed a change in my desires and attitude this week. It wasn't an easy first week, but I made it through and I feel a strong sense of accomplishment today. :)
One of the practical things I've started doing is making all of my lunches for the whole week on Sunday afternoons. I make all the sandwiches and put them in baggies, I also divide up all of my healthy snacks into accurate portion sizes and put those into baggies as well. Now all I have to do in the morning when I'm gathering up food for lunch is grab a baggie or two of each thing and throw it in my lunch tote. It's easy and I already know I'm choosing healthy foods with the accurate amount of calories allotted for my lunch meal. I have also cut back to eating 5 smaller "meals" throughout the day, instead of 3 big ones and lots of snacks. I like this schedule because eating more often helps me to feel like I'm not depriving myself, but at the same time I'm eating filling foods at all of these "meals," so that I'm not actually getting hungry later.
During the day, when I think I'm feeling hungry, I'll chew some gum or have a large glass of water - this was a trick I learned back when I was doing Weight Watchers. If I'm truly hungry, the feeling won't go away after a few minutes of chewing gum or finishing a large glass of water. If the feeling does go away after doing such things, that is a sign that it was just a craving or a "mental hunger" and I needed a distraction. What Weight Watchers won't advise its members to do is to pray in those moments. So this week, in view of the fact that this is a spiritual/mental battle as much as physical, and desiring to change my focus on the issue, I took it upon myself to pray MANY times this week in those moments of weakness. And you know what I realized? Most of the times I felt like I was hungry, it wasn't real. Know what else I realized? Jesus was listening to me and caring about what I was going through and then seeing Him help me get through those trying moments was so amazing!
The last thought I want to share with you is from the sermon we heard this morning. I was again amazed at my Lord's amazing ability to hit me with the truth I need when I need it most. Our pastor was preaching on Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. He (pastor) said, "Most people focus on the miracle of Lazarus coming back to life, but I want to focus on the lessons learned in the preceding passages." He went on to show us that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus' other friends and family learned how much Jesus empathized with them and cared about them in their circumstance. Even though Jesus knew he was about to raise Lazarus back to life, He was deeply moved and wept with them! (John 11:32-35) How incredible is that?! Jesus LOVE us SO much - He desires us as much as He wants us to desire HIM! I witnessed this in my own life this week - what an empowering truth!
"Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."
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