True confessions…the jelly beans won! At least for a while.
I did get the last word, though. LOL!
Easter is upon us and while we know that the heart and soul of Easter is Jesus’ having defeated death, nevertheless candy abounds during this time.
Here is a video where I share a little bit of what happened in my home. (One of the wonderful ladies I get to coach challenged me to confess this to you all…sigh…so here it is! LOL!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIbE4wiYKqE?rel=0
What strategies will you have to keep you from mindlessly munching during this holiday time?
When I create the audios and the videos, God speaks truth into MY life through the process. It reminds me of what is true and how great my God is. He uses my rambling on to you to remind me yet again of what is true and what He wants from me.
I hope that when I create the audios and the videos that you will have yet another modality for learning the stuff that God may want you to know. I hope that he uses it to breathe over you an enveloping peace, a saturating sense of his love, and a call to press on–to pursue holiness and excellence.
You may not agree with everything I say, but I do so hope that you will sense his invitation to intimacy with him and that he wants to use this struggle with food and eating as a forum in your life for a wonderful adventure of dependence on him.
This week, God has used my video and audio creating time to really minister to me. Does that sound just so selfish? As I speak the truth that he has given to me, then as I listen and evaluate, delete, re-record–whatever the process may be–he again and again bathes my mind with the truth. I hope it works that way for you as you listen or watch.
And if it is helpful to you to download the files and put them on your iPod to play, go right ahead and do that. I sure hope that doesn’t sound self-aggrandizing. I don’t mean it that way at all. I just know that, at least for me, every way possible that I can to create a way to bathe my mind with truth, is another step toward renewing my mind and experiencing the transformation promised in Romans 12:2.
This week, we looked at the premium we place on our appearance or weight loss in this journey. Barb has really gotten to the heart of a very important issue. I have an audio here talking about some thoughts I have about this aspect of our journeys. Just so you know, I am experimenting with a plug-in microphone, so I apologize for the fuzziness…the microphone was TOO close to my mouth for part of the recordings…I will improve on that in the future.
Entitlement is a poison that can taint our pursuit of godly character. It affects not only my eating, but my relationships as well. In this audio, I share some of the things that God laid on my heart about entitlement. I have found that this is a perfect example of how God uses this journey about food, eating and my body to show me character qualities he wants to build into my life generally and I invite you to consider that may be the very purpose he has us on this course.
How about you? What connection do you see between what God is doing in the realm of eating, weight, how you view food and your body and growing you into Christlike character on a broader scale? What is God showing you about this connection?
Going with Bob to Disneyland really was unusually enlightening for me this time around. Such a short trip, yet some great new insights!
1. Planning meals is important to me when traveling. Obviously, there are some negotiables that have to be considered when traveling, but having a rough idea of when and where and what seems to be important to me, not only so we can keep a budget and not “blow a wad” buying food in Disneyland, but also to fend off the anxiety I sometimes feel when I am not sure what the plan is for meals. This is something that God is definitely still working with me on and I had no idea it was such a need until this trip exposed that fact.
2. Stress can hit unexpectedly, even at the happiest place on earth. To see how Bob handled the unexpected airline challenge was very illuminating to me. He wanted to deal with the problem before eating…even though he was hungry. I am not sure I would have handled it that way had I been alone with a similar situation! Here is the thing…life IS stressful. If we let stress derail us from adhering to our boundaries, we are likely to never make steady headway. I think the key is how we will handle stress when it hits. In Bob’s case, he didn’t even want to “go there” and sit down to a meal when he was physically hungry because of other factors. He mentioned in the video that being hungry, being in a place with so many good food options, and knowing he wanted to medicate himself from the stress all resulted in him not wanting to exercise self-control if he were to have a meal at that very moment. That was like an “ah HA!” moment for me. Funny how I can learn so much from him when *I* am the one who has been doing this for so long! LOL! He wanted to deal with the problem causing the stress FIRST. (Duh! What a novel idea! You mean, eating isn’t necessary in order for me to handle the problem? LOL!)
3. Walking into a situation where an abundance of FOOD sights and smells bombard (as they do in Disneyland) is NOT for the faint of heart! It seemed as though everywhere we went in Disneyland and when we walked to and from the condo outside the park, there was an assault of FOOD FOOD FOOD! Everywhere we turned people were eating turkey legs with an incredible aroma! It seemed like ice cream cones were as common as Mickey Mouse ears! And that is just the beginning. I can NOT imagine doing this if I didn’t have experience with not giving in to food in the face of temptation. I know that 5 years ago, I probably wouldn’t have handled this without eating my way through the park. I am reminded of years ago when I had just had children and I took them to the mall. For me, the mall was ALL about all the different food options I could indulge in. It had nothing to do with shopping and everything to do with eating. I think that may be what Disneyland (and other similar destinations) are for many…and could be for me if I am not careful!
4. Partnering with a spouse is invaluable. I can’t pretend not to be blessed. The many years Bob was not on board with 0 to 5 eating were hard, though he has never been a “foodie” like me. He has always been relatively supportive…never intentionally derailing me from my boundaries. Nevertheless, to be partnering with him was helpful to maintain my resolve to persevere with my 0 to 5 boundaries.
Do you have a place you enjoy going that could cause you to stumble in maintaining your boundaries? What strategies might you use to overcome these “stumbling stones” and come out the other side victorious?
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DRAWING WINNER!
I don’t want to forget to announce this week’s winner for our drawing! Whenever you comment here at the blog, I add your name to the “hat” (actually a brown paper sack). On Friday each week, I pray that God would have my hand land on the name of the person he wants to have the opportunity to pick a prize from one of our three prizes before I draw one lucky name out. The prizes to choose from are: Thin Within (copies donated by the Thin Within ministry–thanks to Joe Donaldson), Hunger Within (copies donated by Arthur and Judy Halliday), or a week of coaching by yours truly. 🙂
This week, we had over 60 names to draw from. That means you all were busy interacting with one another. THANK YOU.
This week’s winner of our drawing is Cindy!
CONGRATULATIONS! I will be shooting you an email. 🙂
While we were in Disneyland last night, my husband received a text that seemed to indicate that our flight out of Orange County (where Disneyland is) was due to leave in just a couple of hours. WHAT????
As it turns out, hubby had inadvertently made reservations for us to leave a full 24 hours before we planned to leave! Oh no!
Suddenly, Bob’s stress level was in OVER-drive as he anticipated righting this wrong and having to pay what could feasibly be $100 or morefor two new tickets at the right time on the right day so late in the game.
Having had a relatively long day and knowing that some phone calls to work out details were yet ahead, we made our way out of Disneyland early.
In the video below, Bob and I talk about how we are very hungry–clearly at “0”–but didn’t want to stop for food on the way back to the condominium and why. This video talks about the temptation to eat emotionally–even when at a 0, but wanting to plan for what could happen if we do that…hungry andemotional.
Bob shares from a guy’s perspective.
We take you from initial concern through several segments until we finally show you what we ended up doing.
What plan or strategy can you have in place so that when you are faced with STRESS you don’t blast through your boundaries? Have you ever considered waiting to eat–even if you are physically hungry–because you knew that if you started eating you might not stop? What can you do to avoid that predicament?
Note: We hope to make future videos closer to 5 minutes or less in length. Thank you for your patience with us as we get this figured out! 🙂
Disneyland! Hubby and I LOVE Disneyland. Even though we live 400 miles away from Disneyland, we are annual pass holders and enjoy multiple visits to “The Happiest Place on Earth” each year.
So, when Bob announced that he had to travel to Oxnard (not terribly far away from Anaheim, the home of Disneyland) for business, we knew that we needed to add me :-), another day, and a side trip to Disneyland (he has a Companion Pass for me to fly free with him on Southwest). Tonight (Tuesday night) and most of Wednesday, we plan to visit the park.
This is a wonderful opportunity to share with you how we maintain our boundaries of eating 0 to 5. It also will hold us accountable!
The only thing more exciting to me than being in Disneyland is hubby joining me in videos for you. This is the first of at least a five video contract. LOL! Seriously, he will be providing the guy’s perspective in future videos.
Hubby is successful using Thin Within principles to release weight, having recently lost 25 pounds. While he isn’t a big fan of the spiritual/emotional element of the program, he has the “mechanics” part of it down with his own unique approach added to it. I would say he is definitely in “phase 2” of Thin Within, using information about food to make wiser choices. That means he considers nutrition and caloric density in his foods. He has never dieted a day in his life, so he doesn’t have the challenges with this that some of us have (including me!).
If you know any men who might appreciate hearing Bob’s take on this approach to weight loss and maintenance, let them know that Bob intends to be a part of the blog and the intention to continue to support Thin Within participants.
Below is a video we made of our lunch out at El Torito and how we go about doing that together. For some of you, this is old hat, but for others of you, it may be a new way of doing things, of thinking about food and eating out! I hope you enjoy! (Stay tuned for another vid or two about Disneyland!)
How about you? Do you have someone you travel with or go out to eat with who will enjoy sharing meals with you? Do you struggle at all with vacation eating? Do you get an “entitlement” mentality that says that since it is a special event you can toss out your boundaries? What do you think? Does that work for you? Or does it set you up for failure, making it more difficult to return to your boundaries after the trip or meal out is over?
What do you think? Have you made the standard of losing weight so important that when you give in to eating outside of your boundaries you feel like the whole goal is derailed? Or do you have a sense that God is building godly character in you no matter what happens with your weight…and is it worth it to you to press on? Do you see your mistakes as part of the path to growth in character? Are there any boundaries you have set for GOD? Do you need to welcome His involvement in some area of your life?
