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So, you have done it again, huh? You have started another study “fresh.” A “brand new start” you told yourself. “This time, I am going to do this right!” Yet, here you are again. You didn’t even want to come to this blog today. You didn’t want to see everyone else crowing about how wonderful they are doing and how great the study is. All you can see is what YOU think is your “big fat failure”…again. You want to throw in the towel and just plain ol’ quit. Once again, you did what you always do (you think). You flaked out before even the second week of the study had come and gone. You wonder why you should bother to keep trying?
STOP IT.
That’s right. I said STOP IT. (Do I sound mean? I really don’t intend to!)
What you have always done before, maybe, is quit when you have “failed.”
THIS time, you can offer your failure to the hands of the Redeemer and watch him take your failure and turn it into a victory. That’s right…your binge…even the binge that seems to have lasted two days or two weeks…you have come up for air. For some reason you are here. Right now. CELEBRATE THAT! WOOT!
You don’t need to wonder who has been spying on you and feeding me secret information about what to write for a blog post. 🙂 Not at all! I can write this because so many of us have been there…and ARE there. You are NOT alone!
You can STOP it NOW. You will NOT do what you have always done. What you have always done, perhaps, isn’t what you think. You may be frustrated with yourself, all right. But the “what you have always done” isn’t the binge or the purge or whatever else. It is the quitting *because* of it. And you don’t HAVE to do that this time. You can emerge a victor, more than a conqueror. You do NOT have to quit, but can, instead, say “That was just a step or two (or 7) backwards, but now I am moving forward again…” That’s right….get back on the horse today, my friend.
Harley and Heidi Try to Rebuild
The photo above is of me in 2007. One of the things that motivated me to get serious about my weight loss in 2006 was, I am a bit embarrassed to say, I had horses. My lifelong dream had finally come true and I had allowed myself to get so heavy that I thought that I shouldn’t ride them. Harley had bucked me off. That’s right. Bucked me off. One of the first orders of business for me in the spring of 2007 after I had lost most of the weight was to work with a trainer to help me overcome my fear and to help Harley overcome his! I had failed but I had to get back on the horse. I was better for getting back on. So was he.
You and I live in a Genesis 3 world. We will NEVER be free from sin and sin’s pull on us. We will fall off our horses. Even after a week, a month, or a YEAR of doing so well! We can still fall! But we don’t have to let the fall win. It doesn’t have to dictate what will happen next. We have a great Redeemer. He can take our failures and turn them into teachers of truth. We can actually be better as a result.
Think about it. The cross looked like the biggest failure in history. The disciples must have wondered, “But it wasn’t supposed to be like this.” Satan croaked with glee, thinking he had won. Then, Jesus blew the lid off the grave and salvation was purchased for everyone. That is the way a Redeemer works. He takes what *looks* worthless…what *looks* worse than that, even…and turns it into beauty for all eternity.
So, STOP TALKING ABOUT QUITTING.
Right now. STOP IT. 🙂
You are NOT going to quit. You can’t!
We love you.
More…GOD loves you.
Now, press that restart button. Wait for physical hunger the next time you eat.
And evaluate dispassionately what has been happening to cause you to slip, to fall, to face plant. Consider what event triggered the challenge. How did you respond emotionally? Why? What is true in this situation? And what can you do to plan for success the next time, even if the next time is 5 minutes from now?
So, what do you think…can you do it? Will you?
I have found this to be true this last month. With Barb’s study and now this one, My “binging” has been short lived. Tuning into hunger/fullness really makes me listen to God’s urgings about why I am eating. My mind/flesh wants to continue, but my spirit says…..hey, you don’t have to do this anymore. I am sufficient for you, you will never “fill up” this way
Another floral example: When I get to create a designer’s choice arrangement, I am free to use anything I want and used to stuff lots of flowers inside the vase, just because they were there. Now I am learning that less is more and just because they are there, doesn’t mean they will make the arrangement better. I can enjoy the creating process without stuffing in every “good thing” this frees me up to use the flowers to create something else that is wonderful on the next arrangement. Food will always be there and when I eat the right amount I am allowing God to create a balanced, healthy, freedom filled life in me.
I LOVE all your floral arrangement analogies and lessons, Michelle! I am a visual person and so it really gives me something to wrap my brain around. Sometimes, when I get this attitude of “I must eat that ___” (whatever it may be), I literally have to tell myself that this is not the last day in history when a (hot fudge sundae, cheese cake, whatever it might be) will be available on this planet. There will be plenty of opportunities to eat whatever it is.
Awesome entry today–the truths that you have been posting are transforming my life. Normally, I would quit when I have a binge and come back in a week or months later…I have been doing weight loss bible studies for over a decade…I have had times of freedom , it is a journey, but the times and yrs in bondage to food have been many. Yesterday, I had a successful 0-5 day…and I was not fasting..I was at peace with eating …which normally does not happen unless I am “fasting”–I only considered a day successful if I ate no food. I spent a lot of time on this website and looking at the weight loss bible study materials…..I felt guilty spending so much time renewing my mind as my computer is sooooo slow but one thing you said in something I read was that it is ok to spend time renewing your mind..because we have spent a lot of wasted time thinking the wrong thoughts and if we give time right now to renewing our mind and give it our all..we will find freedom (my paraphrase of what I read) I have been in bondage for too long so I gave myself permission to focus on what I need to do. Another big thing for me is to set food boundaries and I read the questions to ask yourself before you eat…how setting boundaries today will lead to a life time of freedom in eating…this has all been freeing for me. I pray it continues..but I need to take it one day at a time and one minute at a time. Thanks so much for encouraging us all not to give up..to hit that reset button if we fall and to have a action plan for times when you usually fall…I want to work on that one today.
Wow, Marie. Thanks so much for sharing this…for letting me know how God is at work in your life. It is wonderful to hear. I think it delights his heart when we invite him to saturate us with TRUTH–a new way of thinking–as it leads to a new way of relating to him, to others, and to ourselves. Healthy–emotionally, spiritually, and physically! WOOT!
I won’t quit because I know it can be done. I just got my book on the 14th and have been doing study from it all day yesterday to catch up on week 2. I am almost there. I am still doing Thin Within as well and this being Day 65 for me I know that it can be done. I released a total of 26 pounds and plan to melt down even more. I weight 124 pounds and 65 days ago I weighted in at 150 pounds. I am here to say that this program works and so far I love the new book as well because week one helped me release a deep,deep,deep dark secret that happened 29 years when I was 9 years old. I could not tell any one and kept it hidden for all these years. The new book helped me release it in my journal and I prayed for the Lord to forgive me for what I had done and I asked God to help me to forgive myself for what I did. Nobody did anything to me. It was something I did. But after I released it to God I was in peace. I had to stop because I was so tired That I took a nap and was refreshed and still in peace.
Wow. That is awesome! So glad to hear how God is setting you free!
Thank you for sharing. What a praise!
Ah, failure vs. quitting. I know it might sound like a corny analogy, but I’ve always loved the one for anyone who has ever encouraged a child to learn to walk. (appropriate for me this week since my “baby” girl is turning 13 tomorrow!) When she was learning to walk, did I tell her to quit when she fell down? Of course not! She’d still be crawling if that was my approach. We’re so loving and encouraging as they “fail” again and again. But it’s not really “failure” now is it? 🙂 And we can be that way to ourselves. Gotta keep at it!
I do love words and am fascinated how some feel more loaded with meaning than others, so I had to go look up some synonyms for the word failure this morning, just for a good laugh. How about a falling short, a setback, a letdown, a disappointment, a bummer, a fizzle, or a carelessness? But I do know I need to ask the Lord to take a little more sting out of the word failure for me.
I won’t quit, but I do get discouraged and try to ignore the matters at hand. Right now I don’t really even know or care if I released any weight (clothes fit about the same, so that’s probably my answer there). Oddly enough I find that the potential for feeling “pride” from my success is more detrimental to my journey right now than any discouraging feelings I might have from setbacks. I start having success, then the pride sneaks in and I say “okay, God, I’ve got this one from here” — ha! and then we all know where things head after that!
Everyday’s a journey! So glad that God promises to be there every step of the way!
It has taken me 2 years to fully commit to this way of eating. That’s a lot of days of starting and then quitting and searching for some diet or exercise program to fix my body. But it has all been part of my journey to get to this day when I know that God’s way is the right way. When I have fallen off the horse, I am getting back on so much more quickly! The renewing of my mind and the bible study for the past 9-10 weeks has helped so much. And the peace and FREEDOM and my deepening relationship with The Lord are worth any amount of time and effort. He is so good!
Thank you Heidi, i needed this not only in regards to my eating, but also my horse. Have been thinking I need to sell her. sigh…Gonna give her another try, and me to. Love the scripture and promise that he will turn our failures into victory. Thank You.
Love you, Kim!
Hello everyone, this study is so for me and I am enjoying every bit of it. I have not really binged or felt like quitting, however the lie is hovering over me and dwelling deep inside that I might as well quit because I will never be successful….So I have been battling with these strong lies and repeating over and over that I can do all things thru Christ who gives me strength. I listened to the sound bite from yesterday, today and I joined you Heidi in prayer as I was listening. It was refreshing and healing. I praise God for this ministry Men/Women are seeing your “good works,” and God is being Glorified! Doing the study I realized that I am an All or Nothing type of person and when or once I fail I have a tendancy to beat myself up and quit. So this time yes this time God help me to understand that even when I fail, fall, binge, overeat…That I can get back up and start afresh even if it is continual. A phrase from Donnie Mcclurkins song comes to mind ” We fall down but we get up” Ladies does anyone of you have a prayer request? the book asks us to log prayer request. I am praying for each of you. If anyone would be interested in calling me here is my number 404-933-8650 Thank you again Heidi. Sista is smiling 🙂
Hi,
I don’t want to quit. I went a little overboard last night and got back on that “horse” this morning and am having a much better day. I really like your blog, Heidi. Years ago I taught Weigh Down Workshop at my church and had great success there. But we stopped when things started getting questionable. I have done Thin Within in years since then with some success, but I missed having the accountability of a group. I never thought I would ever go back to counting anything, but a couple of years ago I went to Weight Watchers and did great and lost down to my desired size. I actually became a lifetime member. But since then (over the past year) I have gained almost all of it back. I ran across your blog and I am hooked. I remembered how freeing it was to eat the way Thin Within teaches. I don’t have the book you are studying but I am following your blog and getting very encouraged. I was really binging badly before I started coming to your blog. The binges have stopped and I am working on 0-5 eating again. The freedom I already feel only after a week is incredible. Thank You for your blog. Thank you for taking the time to pass on what the Lord has done for you.
Thanks Heidi for this great encouragement. I am finding that one step back and two steps forward is not bad. At least I am still going forward. The last time I did THIN WITHIN (several years back) I gave up because I felt too much guilt over all my “failures.” This time around with the encouragement of Heidi, Barb, and all of you I just get right back up and continue to listen to those God-given signals of 0 to 5. I am learning to love this way of eating. Thanks to all.
Thank you Heidi for the word of exhortation…I just got back in from being out all day…we did our nature hike and picture taking. I felt this way the other day! But prayed through it and said this is just a test of my faith. And to see this today just confirms what I went through the other day. I see now what it was that caused me to think about giving in, but I didn’t, I keep fighting in prayer and cried out to JESUS to help me. I don’t want to fail or give up! I have so much to release. And by the grace of God I will do that. God bless you all and am praying for us all. Amen. 🙂
Sometimes it feels like I have to get back on the horse every single day! But…if that’s what it takes… Even before I read this post, I had a talk with God about this very subject. Sure, yesterday I “gave in” and had a binge. The feelings of guilt and failure quickly followed the handful of cookies. But then I thought of my accountability partner, Debbie, and realized if she’d done this, I would just encourage her to put it behind her and move on. And it seemed like that’s just what God was telling ME to do. Today’s a new day! I’m gonna get back on the horse and see how far we can go! Giddyup! 😀