Answer here at the blog: If you have been memorizing all or a portion of Psalm 139, how has this been affecting you? Do you find yourself believing the truths in this passage more? Do you believe that you are fearfully and wonderfully made? Is this affecting your ability and willingness to trust your body’s hunger and satisfied signals?
How is it going with regard to applying yourself to the “Seven Super-Practical Steps of Healthy Eating” mentioned in this blog entry and on pages 66-67 of HEAL? Are you experiencing *more* heart or head hunger as you turn to food less often for other needs and use food only to nourish physical needs–stomach hunger? Share it with us here so we can pray with you and/or journal about it with the Lord.
Continue to do the “7 Steps of Healthy Eating” and evaluate how you feel emotionally, spiritually, and physically as you do.
Read through the material in lesson 4 on pages 73-85.
If you don’t have the HEAL book, consider getting it! (I really think this is an amazing, power-packed little book!)
Prayerfully begin to evaluate “What do I really hope to accomplish in my life relative to my body (physcially), my walk with God (spiritually) and my emotional well being (emotionally)?
Evaluate and write out as you ask the Lord “What am I willing to do differently in my life to experience the realization of these goals?
Again, to combat our flesh’s tendency to make this be all about our bodies, take time EACH day to praise God for his attributes, his character, his actions on your behalf, and to thank him for things in your life specifically. Have a praise party each day and see how gratitude can transform your life from the inside out!
Report here through the week about how all of this goes for you and what you notice!
As we come to the end of Lesson 3 in the HEAL book, there are a couple of activities that we would do together if we were together in a group in someone’s living room. So, I hope you are hungry…get your favorite beverage, snuggle up in your favorite throw and settle in with the rest of us.
Lord, please guide and direct our time in this “virtual living room” as we study and pray “together.” Though we may not be near in proximity, I trust you will bind our hearts in your Spirit. Most of all, draw us closer to you. Help us to see what we truly hunger for and what will truly satisfy. Thank you, in Jesus’ Name…Amen.
Even if you don’t have the book and even if we aren’t face to face, we can enjoy what the Lord may have for us in similar activities:
Return to John 4 in your bible — the story of the woman at the well–prayerfully put yourself in the story as the woman. Imagine the sights, smells, feelings of being the woman at the well. How do you feel being there in the heat of the day, trying to avoid all the other women? What inner heart aches do you have? What types of heart hunger or head hunger are you likely to experience? How have you been trying to meet that need? Has it been working? How do you feel about this? It is really preposterous that a man–any man, let alone a Jewish man–would speak to you, given the “type” of woman you are. And what is he doing here at the well in the heat of the day when *no* one comes? What do you think as Jesus speaks to you? What does he say to you specifically relative to YOUR heart and head hunger? What does he invite YOU to do? How does he personally meet YOUR need? What do you think and feel as he reaches out to you in tenderness? Try to immerse yourself in the passage and imagine truly being there. Feel the heat of the hot sun and the dryness all around. Feel the sand beneath your feet. Hear the sounds of the desert…the quiet of a world without modern conveniences.
Close this meditation with a time of prayer and praise to him that he has chosen to meet you at your “well.” If you are like the rest of us, we continue to try to draw from a well, assuming it has what we need, wishing we could be done with it forever…only HE can meet the need once and for all…he alone is our living water.
For the second activity, evaluate each type of hunger specifically. For each of the three types of hunger, heart hunger, head hunger, and stomach hunger, answer these three questions:
1. What emotions or feelings do you experience when you have this type of hunger? 2. What thoughts do you experience? 3. How do you respond to this type of hunger?
Heart hunger is often the most difficult to take to the Lord. Prayerfully evaluate what types of heartaches you face most frequently and note if this has been the case for you. When you feel wounded, empty, in pain in the deep places, do you turn to the Lord to meet that need? If not, why not?
When are you most likely to feel heart hunger? Consider what you usually do about it and what can you do instead. What would the Lord most likely want you to do about it instead? Can you look up verses in the bible that will encourage you in this? If you like you can select two of the following scriptures and journal how they encourage you regarding your heart hunger:
Psalm 73:25,26 Psalm 42 Psalm 63 Psalm 103 Psalm 107 (Note especially the phrase “Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. “) Psalm 145 Isaiah 55 Isaiah 58:11-12 Ephesians 1:3-14 Philippians 3:7-14
Finally, take time to praise the Lord for His character and his actions on your behalf based on what these verses (and others you can find) tell you. What can you do to begin to experience him as your satisfaction when heart hunger rages? Are you willing?
Lord, thank you that you want to send forth your word and heal me…you have done this, Lord. I pray that I might respond by believing you, what you have said, what you have done…and truly turn to you when I feel deep emptiness–hunger–in my heart. Thank you that you are sufficient. Lord, help me not to turn to food to meet the emptiness of my heart. Instead, I pray that I would respond to you and your love and allow you to truly satisfy. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
On page 65 the authors remind us of John 8:34, where Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”
Do you want to be a slave to food? You have the choice to remain a slave to food or to be set free. When you submit to head hunger or heart hunger or starve yourself, you’re giving food the upper hand over your life. Yet food has absolutely no power over us unless we give it that power.(HEAL, page 65)
The authors follow a short discussion about the freedom God intends for us with “The Super-Practical Steps of Healthy Eating.” These are seven simple steps that can help you eat mindfully and with freedom!
Select when to eat. This is between the parameters of stomach hunger and stomach satisfaction. Developing a sensitivity to physical sensations in the location of your body where your stomach rests, is vital! 🙂
Select what to eat. Food that satisfy you and nourish you.
Sit Down. Sitting down keeps us from mindlessly grabbing at whatever is out on the counter. By the way, driving in the car doesn’t count as “sitting down!” LOL!
Say Thanks. Inviting God into the experience. If whatever we do–eating or drinking–is supposed to be done to the glory of God, it stands to reason we want to welcome him into the dining experience. Eating can be an opportunity to refocus our hearts and minds on all the blessings God has given to us! Use this quiet moment, too, as a chance to ask him to help you to eat without greed and to know when to stop. I have found that a simple prayer of “Lord, this I do for you” really helps to keep me honest. If, in that moment, I can’t pray that way, then chances are I am not physically at a point where I should eat.
Slow Down and Take Small Bites. It takes time for my stomach to register with my brain that it isn’t hungry any more! Eating slowly really does make a HUGE difference in the amount I end up eating!
Savor the Flavor. We can delight in the texture, smell, taste and sight of what is before us. We can do this with a thankful heart!
Satisfy! Be sure to stop when your stomach is no longer hungry. If you follow these practical steps above, you will know when is a good time to stop.
When these steps are followed, you will be amazed at the changes that happen in you physically, emotionally and spiritually. This isn’t about a list of laws or rules, but suggestions to help you and I be aware of when we *need* to eat. It helps foster the *ability* to give our eating to the Lord as a sacrifice of praise.
I will be honest with you…again, it is amazing how little food it takes to satisfy my physical needs when I apply myself to these steps. Typically, it can be quite disappointing for those of us who LOVE to eat food for a million reasons other than physical hunger. But the Lord can move in and meet the needs that have previously driven us to keep doing the same thing again and again, expecting different results. We want change, don’t we? I know I do! Lifelong, lasting change! I don’t want to be a slave to food!
…you need to be spiritually nourished. So ask God to open your heart to his presence and power as you pray and feed on His Word. Invite the Lord into your struggle, and surrender the deeper hungers of your heart to him. Ask God for the willingness to relinquish control and trust him with your needs while you obey as he directs. (Emphasis added – Smith and Halliday, HEAL, page 64)
This little statement is packed with a lot of truth!
Many of us have experienced a *life*-long struggle with eating and our weight. It is so very easy to fixate on the food and our bodies. We have become accustomed to doing this–to fixating on food and our bodies as we have over the years (though it sure hasn’t served us well, has it?).
The authors encourage us to invite the Lord to do a work within us…this is where the root of our struggle is, after all. As we release our deep hunger and our insistence that we have something NOW to fill the hole, we begin to experience what God intends…a true, more deep, solution and satisfaction for what truly ails us. Making it a daily prayer (if not more often) that we will give HIM the control in our life is so helpful in keeping a godly perspective. I love that the authors point out this two-faceted process…we trust HIM with our needs, to do *HIS* part, while we also put one foot in front of the other in obeying what He tells us to do–doing OUR part in the strength he provides.
I have hesitated posting this post to the blog. I wrote it a few days ago…If you struggle with embracing the idea of how we eat being at all related to “obeying God,” I want to encourage you to either not read the rest of this post and to spend time asking the Lord to reveal HIS truth about this, or to prayerfully continue to read. What GOD says to you is the most important. NO human should put a yoke of slavery on you.
So, while Romans 8:1 and other verses of scripture clearly teach us that there is NO condemnation in Christ…while we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that GOD’s response to our sin is not “disapproval” or anger, it is hard for us to embrace this when all our lives we may have equated “disobedience” with incurring someone’s wrath, disappointment or disapproval. I urge you to realize…we are talking about God. He doesn’t need my obedience. He doesn’t need me! He chooses me. And he did this, Romans 5:8 says, while I was yet a sinner! Ephesians 1 says he chose me before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight–in love he predestined me! He has chosen me before I ever did anything godly or good! So I surely can’t lose that “approval” and “love” with any actions of mine. My actions didn’t “win” Him and my actions won’t “lose” Him!
So as we go on, please know that the last thing I want is for the enemy to use my words to heap condemnation on anyone. The Lord doesn’t do that!
But the truth is, in this society where we have food on demand, TV on demand and everything else with all kinds of options for what we “demand,” it is counter-intuitive to “Just Say No” to something that we want–even when it isn’t what God wants us to do. He wants what is truly best for us. He looks at the big picture. We tend to look at what will bring immediate gratification.
Romans 12:2 says that we need to refuse to be conformed to the world and, instead, be transformed by the renewing of our minds. It is no surprise that this is comes on the heels of verse 1 that urges us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to the Lord. I must be willing to give myself to God and say no to self. In our fast-food, micro-wave, have-what-you-want culture, this is like swimming against the current!
So, let me be direct with you (and as I am, I am asking myself the same questions…):
Do you have one particular struggle that you face as a matter of routine?
The Lord LONGS to show compassion on us!
Yet the LORD longsto be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! – Isaiah 30:18
If I struggle with something habitually, it is vital that I recognize this and invite God into this to help me with it. He calls me to change. He wants to infuse me with his joy, his strength, his ability to overcome and not to be bound by anything.
Is there a food, restaurant, behavior relative to food and eating that you know the Lord is calling you to lay down, but you consistently turn away from the Lord to say yes to what you want to do?
Again, I don’t ask this of us to bring condemnation, but to urge each of us to admit that we need the Lord. We need him now. His saving power can be experienced by each of us in the daily-ness of everything that seems so mundane, including our eating! But we must turn to him and in humility let him know we need him.
Maybe he is just calling for even a baby step of faith, but even that, you refuse him in one particular area…what is it?
I know that my sweet tooth really seems to be an idol in my life. I seem to bow before it constantly. The Lord longs to be my master. His heart aches. He is not burning with anger toward me over this. His wrath about sin was satisfied in Jesus! I stand before him as approved of and loved in the beloved, but that doesn’t mean his heart doesn’t ache for me to love only him!
Again, I ask not so that we might condemn ourselves. The Lord doesn’t condemn us either (see Romans 8:1).
But he does call us to rise above the attitude of “I want what I want when I want it.” He calls us to die to self. Jesus laid down his life and he calls us to lay down the practice of…always having ____________ on the way to work (insert StarBucks or Peets Coffee beverage of choice or anything else for that matter!)…or always having the buttered popcorn at the movies…or consistently throwing up after eating…or having to end a meal with something sweet…or…anything that we think we *can’t* say “no” to…is it possible we are not at a “can’t” place, but more at a “won’t” place?
I realize again that this leg of my journey is definitely about changing my “won’ts” to “wills.” With an act of MY will, I can *will* to do that to which he calls. I can say NO to self if saying yes to self is outside of godly parameters. I can *obey* him.
For me, God has done so much healing in my life that what might have formerly been “I can’ts” have definitely shifted…now I know that, in Him and because he has healed me, I can. I must rise up and walk.
Lord, you know my heart. Please help me to have a heart turned Godward…to say no to self when saying yes is outside of your will. In fact, Lord, I desire to want what YOU want, so I can have the joy of “indulging myself” and simultaneously pleasing YOU…because I want what you want! What a joy that would be to be able to say yes to self because self wants what Lord Almighty wants! But, Lord, I really want to choose YOU during those moments when I have other ideas…I want to do this joyfully.
Thin Within and HEAL both encourage us to eat within the boundaries of physical hunger and physical satisfaction. This is the basic principle for the “mechanical” or “how to do it” part of our eating.
However, most of us have shut off this mechanism with years of dieting, bingeing or overeating, and/or starvation. The mechanism may seem “broken,” but it isn’t. It is dormant. I am fearfully and wonderfully made and I can trust my body because of the Maker of my body. But sometimes I need to work patiently with the consequences of my actions for the previous umpteen years! God is gracious and WILL teach me!
For those who have temptations toward not eating enough food–anorexic behavior–the HEAL book encourages you to be sure to get professional help, but also to consider prayerfully submitting to desire eating as a vehicle through which the Lord might resurrect healthy eating in your life. The authors say on page 60:
[The Lord] may give a woman who struggles with undereating the discernment that it’s helpful for her healing to eat when she experiences head hunger, while he may convict someone who struggles with overeating otherwise. (Emphasis added, HEAL, page 60)
For most of us, this is *not* the case however. We know how to eat and are all too eager to eat!
So what DOES stomach hunger feel like? The book mentions that for some there may be a growling sensation. However, Dr. Halliday has been known to say, “Hunger is not a sound.” Relying too much on a “growling” sound to signal hunger can cause a person to eat too much on some days (when the stomach “gurgles” as it digests something) and not soon enough on other days, causing headaches and plummeting blood sugar levels and potential dizziness. A stomach growl seems like an easy signal, but it isn’t the right signal for most of us. Some of us can become very legalistic about waiting for a growl and always eating with a growl. I urge you, if you are in this camp, to ask the Lord to show you the truth about what stomach hunger is like for you.
Since the stomach is somewhat “elastic” and like a bag, I liken it to a balloon. The analogy isn’t perfect, of course. Picture a deflated balloon and that is somewhat like an empty stomach (again, not completely). The stomach is located higher in your body than many people think. Follow your lowest ribs on both side of your body to the place where they join…your “sternum.” Behind this spot on the left is where your stomach rests.
As you can see from the image above, the stomach is definitely higher than most of us think. The very gurgles and growls that we are accustomed to waiting for are often lower. (Personally, I wonder if this illustration doesn’t show not only a FULL stomach, but one that is slightly disproportionate! It seems large!)
When your stomach is empty, there will be a very distinct empty sensation from the place in your body where your stomach lives! 🙂 See if you can distinguish this today. It is very distinct and may or may NOT be accompanied by a growl.
Some people describe it as an ache, a pain, or a vacuum sensation.
Here is the thing, too…something that really surprised me when I realized it. Even if I can’t eat right away…my stomach, once it is empty doesn’t get emptier, thus justifying eating more when I do get around to eating! I am either hungry (stomach is empty), or I am not! Being “sort of hungry” is like being “sort of pregnant.” Sort of an oxymoron. Hunger is an empty stomach pouch! If I am “sort of hungry” I may be at a 1 on the hunger scale, but I am not at a 0. Busying myself with other things can keep me from lamenting “Oh, gosh, I really WANT to be hungry because I WANT to eat!” And it will keep me from obsessing… “IS this hunger? Am I hungry? Maybe I am…hmmm…no, I am not sure!!!” and on and on.
Two things can help…
1.) Pray. Ask God to show you what is “stomach hunger” for YOU and your body.
2.) When in doubt, leave it out. (Again, if you are someone who has struggled with undereating, you will want to prayerfully surrender this to the Lord and choose to eat for a time when your signals are not yet discernible. Professional help is vital.)
For most of us, it takes about one fistful of food (chewed up and compressed) to have sense of stomach satisfaction. That is a LOT less food than most of us eat! Try it for a few days and see what happens, though! You might be amazed!
If you struggle with overeating, remember how easy it is to choose more food than your body really needs. With this in mind, you can courageously begin to select smaller portions. (HEAL, page 62)
I have found that if I eat half as much twice as slow, I end up thinking that I had just as much as I used to eat. 🙂
Truthfully, even now I must return to smaller portions. While I know that I am not eating anywhere near what I used to, I still can see where I have some room for improvement in this area.
As you try this, you will discover that often what we insist is stomach hunger is actually head hunger…desire eating. I eat because I want it. Truthfully, most of the time the antidote to desire eating is to “JUST SAY NO.”
Please know that I don’t mean when you feel like you *can’t*. This is when you just simply *won’t*. I have noticed that once again, for me, evenings tend to be most challenging in terms of desire eating. I think of something, I want it, so I have it. Well, stomach hunger never entered the picture, yet I rationalize and justify…”Well, I am close enough to a 0 and, besides, if I don’t eat now, then in a couple of hours when I am trying to sleep I won’t be able to because I will be hungry.” These are subtle ways my heart has of resisting what I know is right, turning my back on the Lord and refusing to be obedient to what God is calling me to do. He calls me to die to self. I just don’t want to! :-/ I don’t WANT to “Just say no!”
Stomach hunger is usually easier for people to begin to identify over time than stomach satisfaction. For me, I identify that stopping point as “no longer hungry.” The stopping point for this kind of living isn’t once I have eaten as much as I can, but I am not quite uncomfortable yet! It is learning how little I need. Again, for the person who struggles with anorexic tendencies, you will have to learn to eat without thinking in these terms. PLEASE get professional help with this!
But for the rest of us, there is a sense that we want to shovel in as much food as we can before we *have* to stop! This shows me that my heart is still attached to food in a way that God wants to rid me of! I am free to enjoy my food, but to do so without a greedy heart is so important for my physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being!
So, note how your stomach feels during your meal. Try to especially be aware of if the sensation of hunger is gone and keep in mind it takes at least 10 minutes for your mind to know what is going on in your stomach! That is one reason why eating slowly is so helpful!
All of this sounds so mechanical, but most of us find we need the strength of the Lord in order to change our eating to these godly parameters. We have depended on food for so many things (other than fuel for our bodies) for far too long! So when we begin to try to eat between 0 and 5 on the hunger scale, we need to call on the Lord to help us! 🙂 It can be an awesome thing to see that God uses something as mundane as eating and drinking to draw us so much closer to him.
Clarity can be found in the pages of the HEAL book where the “Three Types of Hunger” is discussed. Head hunger, heart hunger and stomach hunger are all hungers that are legitimate hungers that demand to be fed.
However, so often we feed the hunger the wrong thing.
When we eat in response to these hungers, we either engage in desire eating, emotional eating or healthy eating, respectively. HEAL, page 60
This seems so clear to me.
The cool thing is, “Healthy Eating” isn’t defined as *what* I eat so much as *why*. When I eat in response to stomach hunger, *that* is healthy eating.
I put together a video to share some of this material in the HEAL book in lesson 3 on the three types of hunger. It was 10 minutes of footage that I edited down to just under 5 minutes. It is a bit “rough.” Hope you don’t mind! 🙂
