Diet & Wisdom Appetizers

Like many people, I’ve been on just about every diet program out there over the course of my dieting career. There’s no denying there are some great programs out there that all work well when the right amount of effort is applied. Most of us know about Weight Watchers®, Jenny Craig® and Nutri-System® to name a few. Those are all excellent programs with great success stories.

I’ve been on a few other weight loss programs which you may or may not recognize as well, such as the Seefood diet. This of course is the ever popular program that literally translated means if you see food – you eat it. I’ve been on that diet innumerable times and while the program achieved the results one would expect given the name, I can’t say as I’d recommend this program.

Another popular program is the No Holds Barred program, which is code for get out of my way before I stab you with my fork program that is a license to do bodily harm to anyone daring to cut in front of you in an all-you-can-eat buffet line. Again, I can’t recommend this program either.

One of my favorite programs was the Amelia Earhart Diet, which basically was me committing to a program and then getting lost along the way, never to be heard from again. As you can imagine, this is not a great program because too many people were constantly bugging me about “What ever happened to that diet you were on?”

Without a doubt the most popular diet program available may be one that I’ve been on repeatedly throughout my life. Thousands of us have been on this diet without even realizing it. I call it the “Wonder Diet.” This is EVERY program rolled into one, which has us crying out to God and praying and hoping … I wonder if this will be the program that finally works for me?”

If we are honest with ourselves, this is what we’re ALL thinking each time we invest money in a new diet program, diet pill, exercise program, exercise equipment, etc. Aren’t we ALL secretly praying that THIS TIME we will have success?

The bottom line is diets all basically work IF YOU FOLLOW THE PROGRAM! Clearly it’s not rocket science, but when you restrict your calories and increase your activity level you’re going to lose weight. Period, end of story.

Most of us know diets don’t work long-term because they are so restrictive and most of us don’t like to deny our flesh on a long-term basis. When the body is denied something it really likes for long periods of time, it tends to became like that forbidden fruit thing and the more we deny – the more we want it. Which is why making long-lasting lifestyle changes is so much healthier and smarter for us.

When we get too far out of balance one way or the other, we end up snapping which oftentimes leads to a bingeing meltdown. Or in my case a full blown incident of stabbing people with my fork. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

Balance and moderation will go a long way to seeing you through to a happily ever after success story and hopefully will keep people from asking you, “So … whatever happened to that diet you were on?”

There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable. ~Mark Twain

27 And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline. Lamentations 3:27 (NLT)

PRAYER FOR TODAY: Lord, help me to submit to Your will and live in balance and moderation with both my eating and exercise programs. I thank you for the many varieties of food available for us to eat. May I make an effort to mix things up so I won’t get bored eating the same things all the time. I thank you that eating healthy and cutting back for a season doesn’t mean I will never be allowed to indulge in treats again. Help me to accept that for this season I must abstain to gain control over my flesh. I ask all these things in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.