LOL! Simple…Lose weight by getting your hair cut! 🙂
Seriously…I remember the days when I attended meetings of a popular weight loss program. After a year, I was closing in on my goal weight (through obsessing about food and exercise, but that is another story!)…and I desperately wanted to make it to my goal at THIS particular meeting. I typically wear my hair very long…and it is relatively thick. So, at the time, I had a LOT of LONG hair.
Sure, I had toyed with getting it cut previously. But suddenly, my motivation to get a hair cut was intensified! So why get rid of any extra weight that my hair added? It might even be a couple of pounds! LOL!
For that particular weigh-in in *November*, I sported a new hair cut and cast off sensible winter clothing in favor of shorts and a tank top. I managed to hit my goal weight… during that weigh-in. VICTORY!!!!
Or *was* it?
Does this strike you as a bit silly? When I told that story to my kids the other day, my savvy daughter said, “I don’t know Mom. It seems like that is like missing the point.” Well, she is right!
That particular weigh-in is representative of my entire year (1996) pursuing a goal weight on that program. I missed the point that it isn’t just about losing weight. It *should* be about changing from the inside out. What I did during that year, only deepened my problems, in fact. I hit my goal weight long enough only to kiss the scale in exultation. Then I was off and running, rebounding back upwards again as the weight poured back on.
I missed it!
I believe that is one reason why Thin Within is called Thin WITHIN. It has to start there–within. It starts within with radical changes from the inside out. Over time, these changes occur inside of us…we begin to let go of things we have previously claimed as ours by right. We begin to release unmet needs to the Lord, release our disappointments, our wounds…our pain (and, yes…our food)…and begin to embrace His way, His will. It is there that we begin to step into all that God has.
It is a painful process and as we grapple with all God brings to the surface, we may NOT see results for 6 months or, even 6 years (!), in our physical body. This is where many people want to quit. They lament that it is too hard. It IS hard!
So, while it is true that the concepts of Thin Within are simple–eat when you are hungry, stop when you are physically satisfied–simple…they are not easy.
No way is it easy.
Usually the first thing people realize the first month into trying to apply the principles shared in Thin Within is that God shows them through this simple process that we turn to food for a million other reasons.
When we make it about weight, we short circuit what he wants to do inside of us…an eternal work.
Our physical bodies will be changed drastically by HIM when we finally enter his presence…either in heaven or when Jesus comes again. So my physical body isn’t the point.
Something inside of me is the point…that is an eternal work. Discovering that God is sufficient to meet my needs…beyond sufficient in fact. That He provides. That He answers my NEED…that he uses suffering…that he gives joy even in darkness if I will rest from anesthetizing myself with food long enough to let him!
As I relayed my story about my experience “losing weight” in 1998 to my daughter, she pointed out that cutting my hair like that or wearing summer clothes in the middle of winter before getting on the scale at the meeting was like going to the moon to lose weight. (The gravitational pull on the moon is significantly lower and, thus, would theoretically cause someone to weigh less–assuming you could get to the moon with your scale in tow! LOL!) My body’s physical size is likely unchanged appreciably!
She is right about that, too.
So, what are we focused on? Losing “weight?” Or releasing the habits, behaviors, patterns that cause our bodies to be a heavier weight than they should be? These behaviors and patterns don’t just cause us to be heavier physically. They also act as a wall keeping us from all that we could have spiritually and emotionally. Our extra physical weight is representative of the self-inflicted spiritual and emotional insulating barrier that has been erected between our heart of hearts and God’s heart. He wants to tear this down in our lives, but he asks for our cooperation.
There in is the rub. It is painful to tear these walls down, to….change…
I think this is why, instead of saying “lose weight,” the Hallidays refer to “releasing” weight. It is a release. As I release all of the things I mentioned earlier, I also release the extra weight.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want just to lose weight. I mean when I lose things, I typically want to find them again. But when I *release* something, it is done intentionally…with an act of my will.
I want to be intentional about this process and invite and welcome God changing me from within. Even if it takes 6 minutes, 6 weeks, or 6 years…or 60!!!
I hope that you don’t want to *lose* weight. You might want to *find* it again if you do that. It is my hope that you want to release weight…and that you will go to God to invite him to help you to release all of the things within that will enable you to, ultimately, release any extra weight you may carry as well. Don’t miss the point like I did for so long!
I wish I had read this years ago! Just what I needed to read tonight. This has been a long journey for me… but this reminds me that any step forward towards god is the right way… there’s change happening inside!
Amen Erin!!