Miniature Eating

Miniature Eating

At age 70, twenty years post-menopause, it takes a lot less to get me to a “5” than it did in my younger days! That has been very difficult for me, and at times very angering. So the idea of “miniature eating” has a softer, gentler, more fun and enjoyable feel to it, especially since I love miniatures! I even have a miniatures collection! So this has a sweet connection for me.

I enjoy using my miniature bowl, cup, and plate. Here are the two I got at a thrift shop – the best place to find them!

And here they are with food on them, and my hand in the picture so you can see how tiny the portions are…

  

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“RESTRICTIVE” EATING?

When I first shared this concept and a few photos in a TW group I was in, someone expressed concern that this was “restrictive eating.” This is where we can get into some semantics, so I’ll just explain my heart and my thinking… 

As far as the amount of food I’m eating, I’m still eating 0-to-5. 😁  In one way, eating 0 to 5 is “restricting” for me, but since I do not have any “bruises“ from my dieting days, which ended decades ago, using the word “restrictive” is not a bad thing for me. I never liked or did well with dieting back then, and once I heard about this intuitive, kind of eating, I knew it was right, and never looked back or felt connected to my dieting days.

However, actually DOING it was another thing! My sin habit has been eating what I want, when I want, and how much I want – regardless of whether or not I’m physically hungry. I call this “food greed” or “lust.”

So eating 0-5 – eating miniature – is a much-needed “restriction” of my gone-rogue appetite. 

 

But it is kind and wise restriction, in the same family as self-control, self-discipline, cutting portions in half…  So it’s not a restrictive “dieting mentality” thing; it’s just following my exact same Thin Within boundaries.

HOW MUCH FOOD?

I don’t measure or count calories. If I put what little I eat – the miniature amount it takes to get me to a 5 – onto a regular dinner plate, it has just a few little – and I do mean little – dollops of food on it. It looks pretty sparse. Thus the idea of using miniature, or just “small” plates and cups. This first picture is actually a doll plate that I got out of the grandkids’ toys. People know I love miniatures, so someone got me the miniature Coke glass. 

Here’s a meal on a dessert-size plate. And I had made myself a mini biscuit along with the regular size ones.

Here’s another dinner on another dessert plate…  (I realize there’s nothing special or amazing about what I’m showing you; just sharing out of my life.)

A friend had made a carrot cake for my birthday, and, knowing my “miniature eating” boundaries, served me this mini amount…

A miniature serving of popcorn…

A donut cut into fourths, three of which I put in the freezer…

And here’s a miniature pumpkin pie I made…

LEGALISTIC?

This is not at all legalistic! It’s just a “boundary inspirer” to help me think in terms of “less” and thus put my unbridled flesh to death.

What if the amount of applesauce I have in one little bowl is not enough? I have another little bowl! But just enough to get me to my comfortable 5.

You can be certain that my flesh is not fooled one bit into thinking that this tiny amount of food, just because it’s served on something proportionately cute and tiny, is actually the same [larger] amount of food. It’s just a way of helping the “boundaries fall for me in a pleasant place.”

I’ll close with a couple of truth cards that I made…

 

 


 

Boundaries, Battles, and Spiritual Armor

Boundaries, Battles, and Spiritual Armor

by Marge Purvis

with a little enhancement from Barb Shelton 

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What makes sticking to boundaries so difficult? Why do we struggle with just doing it?!

I am convinced that this is a spiritual battle. We are in a battle for healthy bodies and souls.

Battles, by their very nature, are hard and require the right equipment and preparedness of heart and mind.

Our enemy likes wimpy warriors – strong warriors who fall on their knees and seek their Heavenly commander terrify him.

Every time we put on God’s Armor and fight with our spiritual weapons, we gain ground… not to mention terrify the enemy.

But battles are not usually won once and for all. The enemy keeps coming back to challenge our reserve and our resolve.

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STANDING FIRM

The Apostle Paul challenges us to “Stand Firm.” The only way to fight is by putting on the whole Armor of God as laid out in Ephesians 6:10-11.

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We’ve all read and heard this passage many times, but let’s read it again and ask God to take it deeper in us, especially in this arena of our battle with our boundaries with food and eating:

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  (Ephesians 6:11-17)

We fall when we put on God’s Armor in the morning and then lay it down and forget about it…  until we all of a sudden find ourselves experiencing defeat. Even though our Heavenly Father is with us 24/7, we get busy and gradually weaken.

Then comes the condemnation that we put on ourselves. “The club of condemnation” is not a piece of God’s Armor. It’s definitely a weapon, but it’s one the enemy uses to advance toward and against us. What we need is to take on weapons of righteousness. Like those found in 2 Corinthians 10:4:

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”

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HELPFUL, PRACTICAL ARMOR

So today choose to wear that Armor of God all day. Here are a few forms it may take:

Reminders posted where you can see them. Like truths God shows you as you are putting on that Armor at the beginning of the day. (These Love Notes from Jesus are in the form of a free printable by Barb Shelton. The video and this form are in Barb’s “Let’s DO This” group on Facebook.)

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Truth Cards and Verses are a great way to keep these handy. Write them on cards or sticky notes.  (Here’s an article – Truth Cards 101 – with lots of ideas and helps for making your own Truth Cards:)

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A written prayer (by Barb Shelton) to pray when you start to weaken and realize you are open and vulnerable for a sneak attack.

Lord, my heart’s desire is that my thoughts, focus and purpose – now and in life in general – would be based on and all wrapped up in YOU, not in desiring more food or longingly looking forward to what and when I can eat next.

I do not want to give up my birthright of having a well-functioning body for “one more [unneeded] bowl of…” any food I just had for a meal that would take beyond my boundary of “5” if I were to eat more of it.

Lord, by your mighty power at work in me, I do not want to listen to or heed my head hunger, to give in to the temptation to eat outside of my boundaries.  In­stead… I am choosing right now to DIE to my “flesh machinery” that just wants to eat eat eat, more more and more! YOU are my food and drink, my highest joy!!!!! ALL the time!! Not just when I’m walking in victory!

I bring my broken appetite to You at the foot of the cross and ask You to put it to death…  and replace it with the appetite You designed for me when You created me.

Would You show me one more good thing about abiding in You? Lord, I want to be normal-in-You! And I know my only hope for this is walking close to You, allowing You to do Your work deep in me!! “For apart from You, I can do nothing”! 

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(And back to Marge as we close:)

So today I join you in fighting this battle.
God is on our side and He will give the victory!

~ Marge Purvis ~

 

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Marge Purvis

See her bio below.

When It’s Not Right to be Thankful for Food

When It’s Not Right to be Thankful for Food

Imagine a pile of gifts under the Christmas tree. Actually, no need to imagine; here’s the exact scenario I’m talking about…

 

Now imagine that one of the gifts has this message on the tag: “Do not open until December 25!” (See further down.)

Of course, even if that message is not stated right on the tag, the expectation is still there that it is not to be opened until “the appointed time,” be that Christmas Eve, Christmas morning, or whenever your family chooses to open gifts.

So let’s say it’s a week before Christmas and I spot a gift with a tag that says “To Barb from Dave.” I grab it, shake it a little, say “THANK YOU, Dave!” and start tearing off the wrapping paper.

Dave says “What are you DOING?!?!?!? You can’t open that!”

I say “What do you mean?? It says right here that it’s from you to ME!”

Dave answers “But it’s only December 18th! It’s not time to open presents yet!”

Reluctantly I put it back…  to wait for December 25 to get here.

 

 

So let’s take a closer look at what I was really doing…

Was I thankful? Indeed I was! Wasn’t that enough? Nope! I was thanking Dave for a gift that, while it had been bought and even wrapped for me, and was going to be mine eventually, it was not yet the appointed time for me to receive and open it. I was starting to open something that had not actually been given to me yet.

The Lord showed me that this is what’s actually taking place when I give thanks for food I want –  and even start – to eat, but I am not yet at a zero.

Yes, the food was chosen for me (perhaps by me) and it’s intended for me, but the Giver is not yet giving it to me because it is not yet time.

So I really don’t have any business thanking God for it until it is actually “the appointed time” for me to eat. Which is when I’m actually hungry!

If I sit down at the table and start to say “Thank You Lord for this meal,” no matter how appreciative I am, it’s not going to change the fact that I should not actually be thanking God for it when he has not actually given it to me – YET.

“The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy desires of every living thing.“ (Psalm 145:15–16)

 

He gives us our food “at the proper time.” I looked up proper, and one of the meanings is “appropriate to the purpose.”

Okay, so what is the purpose of food? … To nourish our bodies and keep us alive and healthy. 

So “proper time” doesn’t mean we have to have meals at a certain (or proper) set time, like breakfast at 8am, lunch at noon, and dinner at 6pm. It means that when our bodies are actually getting hungry, then is when it’s “the proper time” to refuel them.

So what we want to aim for is eating in the right timing – as in when we actually need the food. And I do not actually need it physiologically until I am physiologically hungry.

Head hunger cannot be satisfied with physical food. God alone, as it says in verse 16, satisfies our desires – our head hunger – with Himself.

He opens His hand to me, but my part is to take from His hand. At the proper time  when I’m actually hungry.

And it is at that point I can – and, of course, should – express my gratitude to Him, because He is actually giving it to me then. That is the right time to be thankful for my food!

 

 


 

 

Boundaries That Fall in Pleasant Places

Boundaries That Fall in Pleasant Places

“The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” (Psalm 16:6)

In Fresh Wind, Fresh Desire, Heidi wrote regarding boundaries: “The wooden fence protects a family dog from wandering off into a forest where predators lurk.”

It was interesting that I read this just a few hours after hearing some nearby animal predators doing more than just “lurk” in the woods we live in. I knew they were causing all the howling, screeching, and yelping going on not too far from our house! I didn’t see them, but the predators had to be a pack of hungry coyotes attacking a dog. The frantic, pathetic howling of the prey went on for several awful, horrible minutes.

It was agonizing for the animal, but it was also agonizing for us who were listening. By no choice of ours! Inside with the front door and windows shut, we still heard it loud and clear! And we could do nothing about it. The screeching and yelping eventually got quieter and quieter until, finally, the tormented prey was “quieted.” 😞

Living in the woods, there are no fences around here that would actually keep a dog safe, if we had one. We have fences that keep cows in and people out…

…and fences that keep horses in…

(I took both of the above photos out on my walk recently.)

 

…but neither of these fences would keep a predator out. And neither fence would have helped that poor dog, as both the coyotes and the dog were quite capable of slipping through them. Maybe not unscathed going through the barbed wire fence, but they could still make it through.

But I’m certain that if we did have a “thorough” fence around our property ~ like maybe a concrete wall or an electrical fence ~ and if the dog had been on the inside of the fence, and the coyotes on the outside of it, unable to get to the dog, that dog would have felt that “the boundaries had definitely fallen for it in pleasant places.”

The point, of course, is that, without any boundaries, those coyotes were free to attack whatever animal they wanted, and that dog lost any and all freedom it thought it had living out in the country.

 

BOUNDARIES ABOUND, ALL AROUND!

Boundaries are everywhere and come in a variety of ways. Let’s take a quick look at a few…

Marriage boundaries: We state our marital boundaries in our vows, which include loving, honoring, and cherishing this person, and no others ~ in the same way.

 

Road boundaries:  The lanes, lines between lanes, shoulder, the concrete divider between freeway lanes all provide boundaries that, unheeded, have very unhappy consequences.

Getting more specific, if a vehicle goes outside of these road boundaries, they will literally land in the water ~ and most likely, their demise.

 

Clothing boundaries: It covers parts of the body that need to be kept warm and/or private; exposes (at least) the hands that work and face that needs to see, smell, and eat.

 

Organizing boundaries: Shelves, boxes and bins keep items separate and able to be quickly and easily accessed.

 

Time boundaries:  Many aspects of our day ~ like getting up, going to work, meetings, naps, eating, shows on TV, and bedtime ~ have time boundaries that keep our day regulated and in order.

 

Relational boundaries:  There are certain things we do and talk about with people depending on their relationship to us. Like I talk with my husband and closest friends about deep and personal matters, but not to mere acquaintances, bank tellers, or grocery clerks.

 

Geographical boundaries:  Borders between states and countries keep citizenship ~ and the responsibilities and privileges thereof ~ clear; residency defined.

 

Property boundaries:  Fences, lawns, landscaping define yards and boundaries between properties. (Clearly this fence would not keep the ocean out! But it would delineate property lines.)

 

Store sections:  Certain things can be found on Aisle 8 and others on Aisle 3; certain things in the bakery, and certain things in the produce section ~ all of which have boundaries within those boundaries!

 

Train boundaries:  The tracks are very clear boundaries, and a train going off of them results in a literal “train wreck” and “derailing.” Tracks might seem very limiting, but a train has complete freedom to go anywhere the tracks can go only when it stays on the tracks! When it derails, all freedom is instantly lost!

 

Building boundaries:  A home consists of boundaries in the form of rooms, which are made of walls, ceilings, and floors. And the outer walls are a boundary, too:  I live in this house, and not in the yard, sidewalk, road, or next door.

 

SO WHAT CAN I LEARN FROM THIS?

I’m sad to say that I have not seen my food boundaries as “falling for me in pleasant places.” So, knowing the Lord wanted to teach me some things about them, I started pondering the above pictorial boundaries, and their various roles and advantages. Some pretty amazing truths surfaced. Boundaries…

::  close the gap on wondering if this or that is beneficial to me ~ like getting down to a zero is beneficial; getting to a 7 is not.

::  help me love and honor my body; overeating is not cherishing myself.

::  make me stay aware that there’s a heavy (pardon the pun) price to pay for a few moments of out-of-my-boundaries eating.

::  keep the eating dynamics of my life regulated and in order.

::  help me to not become discouraged, ready to throw in the towel, and thus “derail.”

::  keep me aware of the limits of food’s capabilities: it can feed and nourish my body, but it can’t satisfy my innermost needs and desires.

::  make it clear where I’m to be in my eating any given moment. (Eat when I’m at a zero; stop when satisfied, not stuffed.)

::  keep eating from becoming something it isn’t:  a pastime or hobby. (I’m already there, so my boundaries are retraining me.)

::  not allow the enemy to devour me ~ along with my peace, hopes, desires, and goals.

::  give me freedom! I am free to go where the Lord wants to take me only as I stay on track and heed the wisdom-based boundaries He has given me!

 

Do “all the above” seem like they might be a lot more pleasant than I have been thinking? Living boundary-less – as my flesh would like to – leaves me wide open to be preyed upon by the enemy and every temptation he brings my way with the intent of basically devouring me. He wants to destroy my success, my peace of mind, my goals, my vitality and health, along with any possibility of a long and productive life.

Let me ask you:  Are inheritances pleasant? How about prizes? How about joy? Guess what…  These are all contained in this verse:

“The Lord Himself is my inheritance, my prize, He is my food and drink, my highest joy!” (Psalm 16:5)

 

When we have the Lord, and when we seek Him, and allow Him (as opposed to our flesh) to determine our boundaries ~ in anything, including but not limited to food ~ we have the Ultimate in pleasant! And, as such, I need to partake of Him more frequently. When I don’t, I am lacking in pleasantness in my heart, and I am prone to look for false, fleeting, momentary, or imitation pleasures ~ including but not limited to food, or at least eating it outside my boundaries.

But it could be anything ~ for some it might be alcohol, for others drugs, or excessive shopping, or porn, or…  doesn’t matter ~ nothing satisfies our deepest needs other than the One who made us.

“Be delighted with the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalms 37:4)

That verse is easy to misunderstand, turn around and get mixed up, even disappointed about. Why? Because we are actually delighted with our own earthly pleasures, not really with the Lord. When we are truly delighted with Him, we will get ~ from Him ~ the desires of our heart because our heart is in alignment with how He created it to be delighted. Not with things that destroy us, mess us up, or steal our joy.

This actually goes right along with:

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33)

And one of those “things that shall be added unto us” is a fresh new view of godly boundaries regarding food! What we have seen as UNpleasant, God will turn to being a “pleasant place” that’s filled with delight, as (and only as) we surrender our will to His. For me, that means surrendering my (supposed) right to eat all the food I want when I want it, even if I’m not hungry! I have thought that eating without boundaries was the essence of pleasant and delightful. But nope! This is the essence of pleasant and delightful:

“The one thing I want from God, the thing I seek most of all, is the privilege of meditating in his Temple, living in his presence every day of my life, delighting in his incomparable perfections and glory.” (Psalms 27:4)

Those are the boundaries I want to live within and enjoy! The rest of the verse actually sums up what happens when I do:

“There I’ll be (in His presence, delighting in Him ~ the ultimate in pleasure) when troubles come.”

What kind of trouble? … Trouble overcoming temptation to overeat…  Trouble with getting peace in a difficult situation. (Food will only take my peace; not give it!) … Trouble with feeling overwhelmed. (Food does NOT help me get UNoverwhelmed!) … Trouble making a decision or knowing what to do next. (Food has no power to help me make a decision; it only subdues the anxiety ~ for as long as it takes to eat it.)

If I enjoy peace, God’s presence, joy, not derailing or being destroyed, then yes, God’s boundaries definitely fall in the most pleasant of places. Not flesh-pleasing places, but truly, deeply pleasant places!