Diet & Wisdom Appetizers

I saw a friend of mine last week that I hadn’t seen in a month or so. Since I had last seen her she’d lost a noticeable amount of weight. Like most people, my first reaction was, “Wow, what have you been doing?”

She was quick to volunteer that she’d jumped on the HCG bandwagon. I’ve got quite a few friends that have tried the HCG diet and some have experienced great success, while others – not so much.

HCG is a hormone women secrete during pregnancy. I’m not a medical expert, but from what I understand, this hormone is harvested and women are voluntarily being injected with this hormone to aid in weight loss. The hormone injections (or drops) work together in conjunction with a very strict diet and help people to lose a considerable amount of weight in a short amount of time. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

From what I’ve learned, the diet itself is limited to 500 calories a day to which I say - hel-lo, anybody who is limited to 500 calories a day will lose weight. This is not rocket science, people. So, why the need for the hormone injections? Supposedly they help to curb your appetitite … but at what cost?

Plus, let’s be honest – women’s bodies are already one big giant walking hormone, so why would anyone want to put extra hormones in them? AND, for anyone who has ever spent a significant amount of time with a pregnant woman, well that goes without saying that pregnant women are emotional creatures fraught with unpredictable mood swings. Most pregnant women will tell you that there’s a certain degree of craziness that accompanies most pregnancies. Oh wait – maybe that was just me.

Why for the love of all that is Holy would ANYONE choose to voluntarily put crazy pregnant woman hormones into their body all for the sake of losing weight? In my opinion, HCG is proof positive that women (and a few men) will go to any lengths to lose weight. Desperate people … desperate measures, that sort of thing.

Personally, I think HCG stands for: “HOLY CRAP, GIRLFRIEND!” What are you thinking??!!??

I’ve had several friends who’ve had some terrible reactions to using HCG. One friend in particular ended up in the Emergency Room certain she was having a heart attack as the result of the HCG. This friend was by no means overweight, but had a slight residual baby belly after a C-section, but like a lot of women, she thought she was a cow. In her desperation to lose weight she put her health at risk buying into the notion that this program was a sure-fire “easy” way to lose weight.

My friend is fine BTW, but does anyone really know the long-term effects of using drugs for weight loss? Countless women have risked their health – or worse – have died from using pills and drugs that promise, safe easy weight loss. Why, why, why do we let society dictate what size our bodies need to be in order to be considered acceptable?

There are no shortcuts to losing weight – only hard work and commitment. Not only do we need to change the way we eat, but we need to change the way we think about food, as well as getting to the bottom of why we turn to food in the first place. And of course, we need to include God in every aspect of our weight loss, our recovery from food addictions and our entire journey to get healthy. This is the only sure-fire recipe for successful weight loss.

The longer I live the less confidence I have in drugs and the greater is my confidence in the regulation and administration of diet and regimen. ~John Redman Coxe, 1800

20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. 21 Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. 1 John 5:20-21 (NLT)

PRAYER FOR TODAY: Lord, I thank you for common sense and wisdom. May I always employ both when it comes to weight loss. Use me to influence others and impart wisdom to anyone who is considering unhealthy approaches to weight loss. Thank you Lord for your presence in my life. Help me to focus on you and not give in to desperate measures when I’m feeling desperate to lose weight. I ask all these things in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Have you ever had a friend or relative who’s only way to express their feelings for you was through food? I’ve had several friends and relatives who’ve done exactly that. Because of my natural affinity for these people I found it nearly impossible to say “no” to their caloric “love offerings.” Which might actually explain some of my excess weight and food addictions.

I had one grandmother in particular who was a bit surly on the surface but a total marshmallow underneath. More aptly, she had a marshmallow center with a graham cracker crust covered in melted chocolate – as describes Moon Pies, her love offering when it came to showering her grandkids with affection. It was hard for her to say “I love you,” so she substituted Moon Pies to say for her what she could not say with words.

Thinking back now, I didn’t particularly care for moon pies, but I didn’t want to hurt poor old grandma’s feelings, so I choked down my fair share of the dessert treats just to keep the peace.

Now that I’m older and more able to express my true feelings, I’ve learned to sugar-coat my refusals when well meaning loved ones try to foist food off on me.

I’m not gonna lie to you though – I’ve personally been guilty of using food to give and receive love and affection in the past with people that’s it’s harder for me to be honest with and share my true feelings with. I would imagine there are lots of folks out there guilty of this same offense.

“Go ahead honey, a little bit won’t hurt you,” may seem like an innocent proclamation, but I’m here to tell you, a little bit can hurt, especially when added together with all the other little bits that wouldn’t hurt me over the course of my lifetime.

We cannot be personally responsible for filling someone else’s love tank, especially if we’ve spent a lifetime filling our own love tank with food. Many of us have mistakenly equated love with food. Oh wait, maybe that’s just me.

If our friends, mothers or grandmothers truly love us they will understand when we politely refuse their love offerings of a little bite of this or little helping of that. Most of us should be old enough and mature enough to comprehend the basics – love does not equal food.

It’s okay to enjoy food with people you love, but beware of those that try to force feed us fattening foods by making us feel guilty if we refuse. Perhaps further investigation might indicate these people are pushing their own hidden agenda that has nothing to do with love – or perhaps they have unresolved food issues of their own.

Like it or not, there are going to be people who will try to sabotage our weight loss efforts because they are jealous … but that’s a blog post for another day.

Wake up and smell the moon pies – a little dab will hurt us, so if we have people in our lives that insist on showing their love for us with food, we need to come up with some creative ways to give and receive love in a healthier fashion - one that is lower in calories.

Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies. ~Author Unknown

25″Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26-26 (NIV)

PRAYER FOR TODAY: Lord, I thank you for all the people in my life who give and receive love so generously. Help me to be able to communicate healthier ways to give and receive love other than through the sharing of food. Help me never to confuse the relationship between love and food. Open my eyes and help me recognize all the times I’ve been guilty of using food to give or receive love and affection. Continue to do a mighty work in me, Lord Jesus. I ask all these things in your name, Lord. Amen.

Do you ever get the idea that we are a race of mindless eating machines? Everywhere we go we’re inundated with free samples, complimentary candy dishes, domed Plexiglas plates of the cookie of the day at the grocery store and free mints when we leave the restaurant. There’s no end. And what’s worse, we all seem to want to help ourselves. Oh wait, maybe that’s just me!

I confess, I do this – stuff food in my mouth without even weighing the cost – or should I say the calories. By the end of the day I’ve probably consumed several hundred calories of mindless eating with foods that weren’t planned.

The weight loss group I used to attend refers to these unplanned impromptu foods as BLTs – or bites, licks and tastes. It’s mind-boggling the amount of empty calories we consume over the course of a day without even thinking about what we’re doing.

When we first begin any weight loss program it’s natural that we weigh and measure everything we eat. We record our calories in our food journal and we can tell you to within in a few calories how much we’ve eaten for any particular day.

Once the honeymoon is over though, we tend to get a little more relaxed and slack off on our diligence and our commitment to tracking our calories; which is exactly how I got myself into so much trouble earlier this week.

My lack of commitment which translated into simple laziness combined with the fact that I was sleep-deprived and the two together equaled an ugly combination; a recipe for disaster. I slipped, I fell, and I wallowed around in the sludge of frosting, cake and donuts and then ended up hating myself when I went to bed that night.

It’s such an unhealthy feeling to go to bed feeling that way again after having kicked all those habits months ago. Once you fall it’s surprisingly easy to roll around in your failure – if even for a short while because the self-induced pity party – table for one, seems justified.

The healthy thing to do is drag yourself away from the pity party and begin anew. I’ve got to force myself to weigh and measure food portions again. I’ve got to record everything I eat and keep careful records of exactly what I’m eating and make a conscious effort to bypass any and all BLTs.

We may think we’ve graduated and are above the elementary steps necessary for weight loss, but speaking for myself, occasionally I need to go back to kindergarten and start fresh.

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. ~Confucius

32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; 33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” Proverbs 1:32-33 (NIV)

PRAYER FOR TODAY: Lord, I thank you for the simple reminders that I’m oftentimes lazy and I need to think more before I act. Help me to get back on track by doing the basic things I know that work when it comes to weight loss. Help me Lord Jesus because I am frequently so weak willed. I ask all these things in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.

I went to my group support meeting last night after having missed last week because of vacation. Once I heard what the topic of discussion for the evening’s lesson was to be, I started to get a little hot under the collar.

I felt like someone must have ratted me out about my fall from grace the previous night as the theme for the class was “Temptation.” Seriously, did someone call the group leader and tell him to read my blog post from yesterday? Or worse … has someone placed a hidden camera in my kitchen and chronicled my slide off the Weight Watcher wagon and posted it on You Tube?

Once I settled my racing heartbeat last night and opened my mind and my spirit to receive the teaching, it became abundantly clear – I’m not the only person who’s ever given in to temptation. Regardless of whether we are food addicts, drug addicts, alcohol, shopping, sex or gossip addicts – we all are tempted with our own special brand of kryptonite.

I suppose if I were an eternal optimist I would be rejoicing in the fact that at least I’m normal. But somehow, that news doesn’t make me happy.

The fact that I was convinced I was rock solid in my convictions to eat only healthy things and the mere fact that I gave in so quickly when confronted with cake and donuts just reinforces the knowledge that I’m still so far from cured. I’m still very weak when faced with the mother of all temptations. I have not arrived yet!

I know many say that “once an addict, always an addict” but for some reason, I thought I was above that logic. Clearly I’ve got some pride issues I need to confront, because none of us are perfect. I really was convinced I was stronger.

With each shameful fall comes the knowledge that we are never in control and we must continually turn our will over to the Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from Him I can do nothing – especially resist temptation, and certainly I cannot lose weight without His help.

Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure… it just means you haven’t succeeded yet. ~Robert Schuller

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 (NIV)

PRAYER FOR TODDAY: Lord, I thank you for the constant reminder that under my own strength I can do nothing. Thank you for getting my attention and opening my eyes and for helping me to understand that none of us are immune to temptation. Help me to learn from this experience; grow stronger and always keep you the focus of all my efforts. I ask all these things in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.

I have to remind myself that I’m not superhuman or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, see through steel walls with my x-ray vision, or run faster than speeding bullets. I have my own special kind of kryptonite that renders me as a weak as a new born babe. No, it’s not some kind of mystery meteorite flung from the outer reaches of deep space, but my energy and strength are zapped from me being in the presence of baked goods.

Last night as my marriage small group reconvened after a brief summer hiatus, we celebrated with a smorgasbord of snacks, 95% of which contained massive amounts of sugar in the form of frosting, fillings, icings, chocolate and general overall dessert kryptonite.

Because my husband and I host these group meetings at our house, when people filter out from the meeting, they quietly say their good-byes leaving all snack donations to the mercy of the hostesses. It becomes our responsibility to clean up in whatever fashion we see fit and last night – just got plain ugly for me.

Somehow it just seems wrong and a crime against all things dessert to cast knives that collect all that excess gooiness liberally slathered from knife point to hilt carelessly aside in a sink full of soaking bubbles without first wiping excess slathered gooiness into one’s mouth. Again, that would be me, my job and my responsibility.

And of course it’s a proven scientific fact that those few broken cookie bits and pieces left lying carelessly in the bottom of a cookie box, are virtually calorie free so what’s the harm in snorfing those down.

The frosting smooshed to the tops and sides of the plastic lid hardly bears discussion as that’s clearly un-American not to grab a finger full of that frothy temptation. And I can’t even openly discuss what happened with the glazed donut holes without breaking out in a cold sweat. Let’s just say that replaying the depth and scope of that carnage and debauchery will probably give me nightmares for quite some time to come.

Bottom line, even the strongest, seemingly most reformed hard core food addict succumbs to temptation once in a while when faced with their own special brand of kryptonite, and I am far from immune.

I failed the test last night - miserably. But today I got up looked myself in the mirror and rather than giving in to the urge to hurl insults at my reflection … I simply stopped and thanked God because if you would have seen the amount of food left at my house last night you would know, like I know – that it could have been so much worse.

Even though I slipped, I didn’t fall so far that I know I can ever get back up again. Today is a new day and even with all that excess sugar slowing me down today, I will prevail. I will succeed. I may not be superhuman, but I serve a mighty God who is better than any fictional superhero. One who not only can restore me, but He forgives me, as well. Thank goodness!

All men are tempted. There is no man that lives that can’t be broken down, provided it is the right temptation, put in the right spot. ~Henry Ward Beecher, Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit, 1887

12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)

PRAYER FOR TODAY: Lord, once I again I’ve seen firsthand that I cannot fight this battle under my own strength. I confess that I’ve stumbled and ask forgiveness and pray for mercy and strength to pick myself up and start all over again. Help me not to dwell on my failures but to receive your grace and strength to learn from this misstep and do my best to move forward. I ask all these things in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.