Go to God for everything else that has lured you to eat for other reasons than to fuel your body.
But as simple as this is, it isn’t easy.
What is the road block?
The core of many of our challenges on our Thin Within journeys can be pulled out and dismantled if we deal with two really important issues…
Are you convinced that God is calling you to the Thin Within approach of eating any food between the parameters of physical hunger and physical satisfaction?
Do you wonder if it will work?
Without a rousing YES answer to the first of these two questions and a definite NO to the second, it will be hard for anyone…even with the help of a coach, book, material, testimony, blog article…to convince you that you should get back on the horse, back into your Thin Within journey. You will be likely to struggle a lot with consistency. Perseverance isn’t likely to happen when the going gets tough.
Ask the Lord to meet you and show you if this hunger/satisfaction approach is for YOU because He has called you to it or if it is the most palatable “diet” that you selected from all the options that you could have chosen…is it your will? Or is it what God wants for you, His child?
The FIRST STRATEGY to overcoming obstacles in your Thin Within journey is to prayerfully evaluate if either of these are missing:
–>a conviction that God wants you to use this approach for your eating/body issues
–> an assurance that Thin Within will “work” for releasing weight (if your body requires it) and to give you peace with your body and with food
SOLUTION: If you lack the conviction and assurance that God wants this for you and that this approach will “work” to accomplish what *HE* intends for you:
So often when we have been on diets, we did it because we wanted to get thinner for a reunion, a trip coming up, a friend’s wedding, swimming at the beach, etc. When these are the reasons we begin Thin Within, then–like in our experiences with dieting–when our motivation lags to keep at it because we want to look great for the upcoming event, we end up lacking commitment. We burn out. We throw in the towel. We quit.
But if there is a conviction that God wants me to do this, it takes my motivation to a new level.
The SECOND STRATEGY to overcoming obstacles is to realize the impact of our dieting years and the influence of our culture. We are bucking a long standing system! Be aware of the dieting mentality and how it can undermine our efforts in Thin Within.
Dieting teaches us that we are either successes or failures when we try to lose weight. Our culture is all about performance.
For years we did the pendulum swing…at the one extreme we would commit (like at the first of the year) to a new eating program or maybe even Thin Within. We could hold on for only so long and then we felt like we weren’t doing it well enough and we bailed…or quit…or stopped trying…and swung to the other extreme…threw all caution to the wind.
What we have to do is allow the cross of Christ to stabilize and stop the pendulum swing.
I have often likened our Thin Within journeys to being on a trail ride. In dieting and in other areas of life, the whole point is riding the horse from here to our destination perfectly. It is all about our accomplishment. It is not about the journey. In fact, success or failure seems to be determined by getting to the destination or not. We have been results oriented. Not process oriented. Dieting taught us to be self-focused and very black or white in our thinking.
BUT On the Thin Within journey, riding down the trail and never falling off–as wonderful as that may sound–isn’t our goal! Being really good at getting back up ON the horse instead of wallowing around in the dirt each time we fall off IS the goal. THIS is doing the journey well! When we fall off our horses, we don’t wallow in the dirt. We get back in the saddle and evaluate what we can do differently next time to be victorious. This IS doing “Thin Within well!”
SOLUTION: If you know you are being affected by perfectionism or all-or-nothing thinking:
A. Accept that FAILURE IS A TEACHER, not an UNDERTAKER. Failure is what you do, not who you are.
B. Allow God to use your failures, mess-ups and mis-steps to show you what hasn’t worked. In this way, you can develop a plan of action for emerging victorious the next time by doing things differently.
The THIRD STRATEGY to overcoming obstacles on the Thin Within journey is to see that God’s grace isn’t just a one-time event when we come to Him for salvation. It is an ongoing power, presence, and provision even in my failures.
This is where we apply God’s grace in the tool called Observation and Correction.
With Observation and Correction, God redeems my failures. HE can redeem whatever has caused me to fall off the horse (or eat outside of my hunger and satisfaction boundaries). He turns my failure into a learning opportunity–if I am willing.
Recently, our Coaching Groups were having their last group conference call for the current coaching session. The assignment I had given them ahead of time was to consider looking back over the time since they began their first coaching group and jot down a list of lessons God has shown them through observation and correction. What “corrections” had God given them that are keepers as they go forward?
The results were nothing short of inspirational. It is the heart of grace. It is the heart of Thin Within.
Each one of the participants experienced failures in their lives. By God’s GRACE and wisdom, they had used what they learned from the failures to write down options for making different choices in the future or to prepare for challenges in a new way…like by developing needed skills or renewing their minds.
Counter to our performance culture or dieting mentality, we need to know that messing up with our eating is something that happens on this Thin Within journey. Consider each time you “hit the dirt” to be an opportunity to learn how to “get back on the horse again.” View each time that you are on the ground as an opportunity to practice getting going again.
SOLUTION: If you know you need to grow in applying God’s grace to your journey:
A. Develop and add to a Victory List – each time you recognize that you stopped eating before you would have in the past, or if you pray or renew your mind, or…whatever it might be! Jot it down and keep an ongoing list of the many “baby step” victories that God gives you. Review this list often and go through it, thanking him out loud for each one!
B. Make liberal use of the Observation and Correction tool. (Even better if you keep a running list of the “corrections” that God has given you.)
God may be up to something larger and more important than what size your body is!!!
How About You?
What specific challenges are you facing? How might applying these ideas help? We want to hear from you in our comments section here at the blog!
Sun rises on a new day, but I’m still a creature of habit. I roll out of bed and head for the scales which draws me like a Siren.
Surely there’s a mistake. I wiggle my feet on the scale’s cold glass, but the digital numbers remain the same.
So I drag myself to the kitchen for my next habit—coffee. While it’s brewing, I open the refrigerator to get Half and Half. The carton sits on the second shelf next to last night’s leftovers.
“What should I make for dinner?”
My husband hates that question at 7 a.m., but I have to plan ahead. Thaw the meat; buy the ingredients. Meals don’t just happen. If I was the only one in the household, I could eat a bowl of cereal. Pop some popcorn. Have an apple, but I’ve others to consider.
After I’ve been caffeinated and studied the scriptures mentioned in my Thin Within Workbook, I drive to the grocery store. My irritable stomach grumbles. Are you nuts? How dare you take me here when I’m a zero. Look at all this food. You’re killing me.
I pat my belly. Behave yourself. You can have some peas and carrots when we get home.
I weave the shopping cart among the vegetables and fruit. Avoid the ice cream aisle. I came for fresh produce, eggs, and chicken breasts, but a bag of Fritos sneaks into my cart.
I frown, but then I’m reminded: “Just because You’re losing weight doesn’t mean Hubby stopped eating snacks.”
Good point. I head for the check out line…before I’m tempted to visit the cookies…and set my groceries on the counter’s conveyer belt.
While the female clerk rings up the food, I notice I’m conveniently hemmed in by two metal racks. Candy on my right. Magazines on my left.
One offers worthless calories and a quick sugar high. The other offers me recipes and a fast pass to lose weight. I study the headlines which are designed to bait my vanity.
“New Water Cure—Drop 8 lbs in 7 days”
“Lose 10,20,30 Pounds—in Just Weeks!”
I’d buy these magazines in a heartbeat if I thought losing weight were that easy. Only, I know better. The female models on the magazine covers are string-bean thin and half my age. I suck in my gut. I can lose weight, but I’ll never look that good.
Time for a Truth Card. “God doesn’t look at my outer appearance, but on the heart.”
The clerk pauses. “Anything else?”
I glance at the candy bars in their brightly-colored wrappers. My stomach begs me like a spoiled child sitting in a grocery cart, “Can I have one? Pretty please with a cherry on top?”
I remember 1 Corinthians 6:12 from Thin Within’s introduction.
“Everything is permissible for me – but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me – but I will not be mastered by anything.”
“No, thank you.”
My stomach sinks. It’s not used to hearing me say, “NO.”
I pay for the food and escape the store waving my receipt like a victory banner. Who knew? Renewing my mind with God’s Word really works!
But my smile fades fast because my belly’s turning somersaults, and it won’t give up. “Yippee. Let’s eat something to celebrate! Got any Fritos?”
One particular morning, just recently, I was writing in my journal and talking to the Lord about how maybe I need to hold particular foods with open hands. Then He stopped me in my thoughts and this is what I wrote: You are showing me that I’m trying to go back to food focus. I’m thinking too much about it. You want me to leave the [food] issue alone and to walk in freedom.*
Then He told me to look up Galatians 5:1again:
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not letyourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (NIV)
In [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hamperedandheld ensnaredandsubmit againto a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off]. (AMP)
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangledagain with a yoke of bondage. (NKJV)
Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. (The Message)
The words underlined and orange indicates what CHRIST has done. He has set me (us) free! The blue words are what my (our) responsibility is in that freedom. “Do not let”. “Let” means that I have a say in it; I am responsible. No one can make me! I choose it! So I can choose to stand in the freedom, or I can put back on the yoke, the chains and carry around a load that isn’t necessary. Christ bought me…He paid the ransom. He CHOSE to die for me so I could have life. He freed us from the chains of death and everything that leads to unrest/death. Am I going to choose a different way? No way!! Why in the world would I want to go back to captivity and be a slave to food, diets, etc?
I’ve noticed the temptations. Just this [particular] morning there were like 3 things on Facebook: an intense exercise challenge (that’s linked with dieting), someone’s before/after pictures after drinking a diet smoothie, and something else. It’s everywhere!! I have to choose to keep scrolling and to look away! I cannot even go there! I need to fix my eyes on Jesus and keep them set on Him! He wants me to guard my mind.
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23
Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. Proverbs 4:25-27
I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. Psalm 101:3
The temptations are out there beckoning me to obsess and bring me back into captivity. I cannot walk around blindfolded or my finger in my ears and singing, “La, la, la, I don’t hear you!” (although that might come in handy some times). I DO NOT WANT TO GO BACK!
I have written down Galatians 5:1 (the Amplified version) on a piece of paper and have it up in two places in my house: 1) on my bathroom mirror, and 2) on my refrigerator. And when I read the scripture many times throughout the day, God’s peace is ignited in my heart and I remember that I am FREE!
Christ has made you free!
Stand firm!
Do not let yourselves be entangled again!
*If God was, in fact, asking me to hold a particular food with open hands, then I certainly would be obedient to that. But in this case, He wasn’t. I was trying to make up another reason to focus on food.
Independence Day (United States) is in just 2 days! I promise I didn’t plan this post to come right before, but when I scheduled the post for today, I thought it was really neat that here I am posting about being FREE! July 4th is celebration of being an independent nation. So as you are watching the fireworks bursting forth and enjoying the celebration, think about your freedom in Christ and STAND!
The ancient mariners used the stars as their guides. Alone on the dark sea, a bright star or blazing constellation told the sailors which way to steer. True North was never hard to find. And if they made a wrong turn, they knew it immediately based on the position of the stars and the boat.
In ThinWithin, however, we often feel as if we’re steering without starlight. Let me explain.
Since my days as a child, I learned how to make choices according to right and wrong. There was moral certainty. There were immediate consequences. If my mother told me not to put my hand on the hot stove, I knew what was expected of me. And if I disobeyed, I immediately felt the pain of my bad choice. I knew my mother was right because I felt pain when I disobeyed. If she told me not to steal a toy from my brother, and I did, I got immediate consequences. So choosing right or wrong was all about avoiding unpleasant consequences.
Now that I am trying to live within 0-5 eating guidelines, however, there is no immediate, obvious consequence for disobedience. If I eat past my Spirit-led boundaries, nothing seems to happen. I don’t feel pain. No one sends me to my room. Likewise, if I skip eating when I am at a 0, nothing seems to happen, either. There are no immediate, obvious, painful consequences.
However, a much more powerful force is already at work, unseen.
In Thin Within, we are learning to be led by the Spirit. We are learning to listen for God’s still, small voice. We aren’t making choices based on consequences….we’re making choices based on listening. And that can be so powerful, because in our adult lives, there are precious few choices that are clearly right or wrong. There is so much uncertainty and opportunity. We make daily, important choices about love, life, career, children…most of which cannot be neatly categorized as right or wrong. Many of our choices don’t even seem to have immediate consequences. But we need to listen if we are to live our best lives, because choices have a cumulative effect.
That is the second, sneaky principle at work….our choices are cumulative. One binge might not change our lives, but a week, a month, a year of binges? They have the power to destroy so much that we hold dear. One slip past 5 might not matter, but a habit of disobedience can steal much more than our peace. (and our God-given weight!)
That’s why I am willing to wrestle with my self-will on a daily basis. I may not feel pain if I eat outside of my boundaries; but I can’t make choices based on pain and consequences. I want to make choices based on what I hear: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). I want to listen for the Lord, because He has such stormy waters to lead me through. He has places of beauty and rest ahead, too, and if I make my decisions based on what I feel, instead of what I hear, I might miss them.
And I don’t want to miss the best that God has for me. I don’t want you to miss the best God has for you, either!
What About You?
Are you tempted to “cheat” if you don’t sense any consequences ?
Do you feel pain of any kind if you disobey? Is it easy to ignore, or not?
If you train yourself to make decisions by listening to God’s leading, how would this impact your entire life?
I used to write about my challenges with my horse, Harley, on a Yahoo group I was a part of. Readers of the posts said they thought that he breathed fire based on my description of him. I had turned him into a 5-headed monster! The truth was, he was spunky and needed reassurance from his human. If he didn’t get that…well, he might…um…buck. 🙂 Yes…BUCK.
Unfortunately for both of us, I wasn’t really situated very well to give him those reassurances. So…well…buck he did. Land on the ground…yes…I did that…frequently. I couldn’t stand the thought of coming off…again and again and again. I just quit riding him in 2005. The fact that I was 100 pounds overweight at the time, certainly contributed to my decision. I was somewhat convinced that my large size *hurt* him to carry! It broke my heart, but I was so tired of failure.
Finally, with the help of a couple of very gifted trainers…who trained me…I dusted myself off and got back on the horse. The above picture was taken, the second time I rode him after a two year lay off. I decided that I was done “giving up.”
You can tell by the smile on my face how I felt about the experience. The thing that strikes me about this picture is I finally overcame my fear and, other than the “death grip” of my right hand on the rein, I am riding with merely a halter! (No saddle!) It is one of my favorite pictures of Harlinator and me because in it, I had come such a far distance from where I had been.
[Note: Here is a video of the first time I got back on Harley after those two years of staying off. This was shot about a week before the photo above was taken. See if there are any similarities to how you feel when you consider “getting back on the Thin Within horse!” Note Melissa telling me to remember to “Breathe!”]
I haven’t come off of Harley in a long while, but when I did the last time, I dusted myself off immediately. I observed where I went wonky. I made note of a needed correction so that whatever-it-was wasn’t likely to happen again. Then I put my foot in the stirrup and lifted myself back in the saddle.
I approach my “eating life” the same way. When I fall off the horse, I don’t wait around until I feel like getting back on. I observe and correct and hop back on up in the saddle. There is fun to be had. Places to go! Adventures to enjoy! I don’t want to indulge myself in self-pity and woe-is-me self deprecation.
So, did you stay on the horse yesterday? Did all your good intentions win out? Did you keep your rear firmly in the saddle and are you smiling big, knowing that you DID it?
Or…Or did you get thrown off? Are you licking your wounds, mercilessly inflicted by the “Ultimate Caramel Apple Pie?” Or just a few too many bites (past 5) of turkey and gravy?
Well, I want to encourage you…you CAN get off the ground and back on that horse right now! 🙂 It is WORTH IT!
I was asked recently by one of my coaching clients…”What do you do when you overeat…when you overeat by a LOT?”
The answer…simply…is you just wait for hunger again. Presto! No big heavy emotional guilt tripping allowed! Instead, just get back on that horse and start riding again. Wait for 0 and serve yourself a modest portion, stopping when you are no longer hungry. It really IS that simple!
I do find it VERY helpful to build a foundation for lasting change if I deal with the beliefs that fuel my actions. Really, I can’t say this enough. We can keep restraining ourselves with “will power,” but unless we change the way we think and what we believe (beliefs fuel actions which fuel a lifestyle), we will find ourselves back where we were before or—worse. At the very least, change won’t be sustained.
God wants my heart more than he wants me to be thin. So it stands to reason he won’t let me be content to just lose weight. I got to the place where I carried 100 extra pounds on my frame because I believed food was a better comforter than God. I got to the place where I sustained such a large size because I turned to food to be my savior instead of to the Lord.
So, it stands to reason that the real work will have to be in my mind.
No, you really probably don’t need to read another book.
… and you probably don’t need to read the Thin Within book again.
Those things may be helpful, sure. But what you may need, if you are anything like me, is to work on what you believe more than what you know. You probably know plenty! But what do you believe?
If you watch even the first moments of the video I referenced above, you will see that I believed that I was going to get hurt. The ride didn’t flow. It was hindered by my beliefs. By the time I was on Harley a week or two later bareback and with the halter, though, I believed that things were going to work between us! What I believe makes a HUGE difference in my actions! Watch the video to see what I mean!
So, what lies were motivating you yesterday if you overate? What truth can counter the lies?
EVERYTHING is redeemable by our wonderful Lord! In fact, no matter what you may have done eating-wise yesterday, God intends that “failure” be redeemed. “Failure” can be a great teacher. Observe what you did by looking back over yesterday. Look at where you went astray. And now, correct. What could you do differently in the future? What could you believe differently in the future that would help you to choose to do that behavior?
Getting back on the horse again after a mess-up is all about observing, correcting, choosing.
It is about extending grace.
It is about learning from your mis-steps and struggles.
It is about trading lies that have moved you with truth…doing it even before the lies have a chance to work again. Right now.
What About You?
What lies were at work yesterday that kept you from acting in a way that supported your godly goals of 0 to 5 eating?
What truths can you use to refute the lies?
How might your actions change the next time you are faced with a similar situation?
And if you negotiated through Thanksgiving Day with NO regrets, I would love to hear about it. It is encouraging. Tell us what challenge you faced and how you were able to emerge victorious. You may have experienced the bucking of that horse beneath you, but if you managed to stay on anyhow, we want to celebrate that with you!
The FIRST STRATEGY to overcoming obstacles in your Thin Within journey is to prayerfully evaluate if either of these are missing:
The SECOND STRATEGY to overcoming obstacles is to realize the impact of our dieting years and the influence of our culture. We are bucking a long standing system! Be aware of the dieting mentality and how it can undermine our efforts in Thin Within.
The THIRD STRATEGY to overcoming obstacles on the Thin Within journey is to see that God’s grace isn’t just a one-time event when we come to Him for salvation. It is an ongoing power, presence, and provision even in my failures. 
