How about a “Bathroom Scale Challenge?” Will you take the challenge? 🙂 More importantly, do you sense that God may be inviting you to do so?
For two weeks, will you have a friend or family member take your scale and hide it (when I did this, my husband took it to his office)?
But first…evaluate how you feel about the thought of being without the scale for two weeks. Ask God to show you if these feelings need dealing with! If you want to scream “NOOOOoooo!!!” and grab your scale to your chest, for instance, perhaps there is something that needs dealing with! LOL! I know how you feel! I have been there!
I hope that my friend, Kim, will weigh in (pun intended) on this subject and share with you all what was going on with me in 2008 that made her feel she needed to FLAT OUT TAKE IT FROM ME! She did, too! I begrudgingly gave it to her but was SO glad that I did! It wasn’t until about a year ago that my husband brought a scale back into the house. Even so, I have to be ever vigilant not to look to the scale for approval. With our weight loss bible study under way and my renewing my mind daily (or almost) about 0 to 5 eating being a good, godly, delightful boundary that can thrill my heart :-), I have released some weight and would like a bit more gone. I have to be really cautious that I don’t revert back to the way of thinking that got me into as much trouble as overeating.
So, what say you? Can you release your hold on the bathroom scale and focus, instead, on the hunger scale (which is what Thin Within refers to the hunger numbers as)? Stand on the promises of God in scripture instead of that hunk of plastic, springs, whateverelsewithanarbitrarynumber? 🙂
Will you take the challenge? What do you need to renew your mind about as you do?
Let us hold you accountable here if you don’t have an accountability partner yet!
Sometimes I just can’t slow down long enough to journal about lies I am struggling with. I have learned over time of using Barb Raveling’s techniques and her app how to use her approach “on the fly!” This recording is a REAL LIVE example of me struggling with a temptation today and how I handled it…
Just so you know how it ended. It is now about an hour an 10 minutes after I recorded that in my car and I am home. No milkshake. YAY! I obeyed God thanks to accountability with you all. 🙂 Obedience feels good. I am not hungry yet!
Today is the big day! 🙂 Here is a video (10 minutes) that highlights some of my thoughts as we launch into this “Weight Loss Bible Study.”
Click here to go to day one of Barb Raveling’s bible study. You will want to have this page at Barb’s blog open.
As indicated at Barb’s site under The Plan section, select a Primary Boundary. For our purposes, we will assume it is 0 to 5 eating.
Select your secondary boundaries. For that, you could have it be anything you want that will support your primary boundary. You may want to consider any of the other Keys to Conscious Eating:
Eat in a calm environment by reducing distractions.
Eat when sitting.
Eat when body and mind are relaxed.
Eat and drink only the things your body loves.
Pay attention to your food when eating.
Eat slowly, savoring each bite.
The MOST important thing about our study and Barb’s material is this:
We will renew our minds. We will change the way we think. We will learn to think God’s thoughts after him about food, eating, weight, him, ourselves, etc…
Romans 12: 2 Says “Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Suggestions about Picking a “Renewing of the Mind” Goal
I wrote a post (with a video just for this) last Wednesday. If you haven’t seen it, check out this link. Consider prayerfully (ask the Lord to show you) if there is any way that you should think differently about eating, your body, food, your weight, emotions, about Him, about people that challenge you. Is there a theme that impacts your success in adhering to your godly boundaries? There usually is. for many of us, it might be “I look to food to make me happy” or to reward me, or to energize me, or to comfort me, or… The list can be quite long. For me, my renewing of the mind goal has to focus, for now, on thinking differently about 0 to 5 eating. I want to be sold out, committed, delighting in 0 to 5 eating and all that I know God does when I live within this godly boundary.
My renewing of my mind goal: “To think God’s thoughts about 0 to 5 eating. To see 0 to 5 eating as a wonderful joy, and a path of freedom.”
I might end up getting more specific, too, as time goes on, breaking this renewing of the mind goal down into several smaller thoughts.
HOW will I renew my mind about 0 to 5 eating? What does it look like to “renew my mind” about this? I share that in the video, and here are MyAffirmations about 0 to 5 eating (click on that link) that I can read in the morning and again later in the day when I know my resolve may weaken…and again, if need be, after dinner. There are times when I need to read this out loud every time I before I eat! I want to GO AFTER THE WAY I THINK during this study. I hope you do, too! I want to crucify the lies I believe and replace wrong thinking with thinking God’s truth. I have my affirmations about 0 to 5 list on my Blackberry. You could put your list of true thoughts about whatever it is on an index card or piece of paper, if you want.
Decide what you need to think differently about relative to your weight loss journey, then write down the truths you want to start thinking about whatever it is. Decide when you will refer to that list. I suggest in the morning before the day gets rolling and any other time of the day that might challenge you relative to the thing you want to think differently about (for me, this is afternoon about 3pm and again right after dinner). Also, refer to the list after you have an “episode” of eating outside of your boundaries. Observe and correct and refocus by reading your affirmations again.
Do the questions at Barb’s blog called “Following Your Boundaries.” Journal these. Copy and paste them into a document if you want to have the file on your computer. Spend time with this. THIS will renew your mind, too!
This week’s ASSIGNMENT:
1. Today: Choose a renewing of your mind goal. (Tell us in the comments what it is…your name gets entered in the drawing for free books each time you comment.)
2. Today: Write down thoughts that are godly to think instead of the thoughts you have about whatever it is. I call this my “affirmations.”
3. Today: Plan when will you choose to read and pray over the list of affirmations? (Should be before you are tempted, but times when you know you are vulnerable and also anytime after you have given in to temptation.) Once you plan for it, you want to DO it. This will take practice! Extend grace to yourself! Remember, if you don’t want to renew your mind (or go over your list of affirmations about whatever it is you want to renew your mind about), it is good to renew your mind about that, too. Remember, at the heart, renewing the mind is thinking God’s thoughts after him…thinking TRUTH. What is truth about renewing the mind? 🙂
4. Today: Select what your secondary boundaries will be. Write them down.
5. OPTIONAL (but VERY helpful): Get an accountability partner. (If you want professional coaching as you go through this material, see this page.)
6. Complete the questions in Day One of Barb’s Weight Loss Bible study entitled “Following Your Boundaries.” Share here any thoughts that you have upon completing these questions.
8. Let’s talk about this material here! I will be doing our first drawing this Friday. If you comment, your name is put in the drawing. If you post at Barb’s site, I will count it, too, just let me know at the comments at her site that you want your name in the drawing for the TW materials. I won’t automatically assume that! The winner of the drawing each week will get to choose between a copy of the book, Thin Within, or a copy of the book, Hunger Within, or a one-hour coaching session on the phone or on Skype with me. The more you comment, the more entries you get in the drawing! My desire is that we build a community to support one another as we go through Barb’s material with a “Thin Within Spin.” 🙂
Whew! This is a lot of stuff! This week, I will address your questions as they come up and provide additional material here at the blog. If you have a question and a preference for a video or written response, let me know that, too. Like if you have dial-up, I don’t want to respond with a video! 🙂
I have received some inquiries lately asking if I am still offering coaching. Yes, most definitely. And still at the introductory price. The details are on this page.
Sometimes, we have all the knowledge we need. I know a lot of you have read the Thin Within book, done all the workbooks, read Get Thin Stay Thin and have been on the Thin Within website for a while. I know, too, that some of you know that this approach works.
What you may feel like you are missing is support. That is what I want to offer you. That is one reason why I offer videos and blog posts here at this site. As you know, much of the blog content chronicles my own journey to release 100 pounds using these principles. Many of the posts and videos, though, I did specifically with you in mind.
Blog posts and videos can be really helpful (I hope!), but sometimes we need someone to walk with us. That is why I am offering the coaching option. I know you can do this! Whatever is holding you back, we can hurdle it together.
This is how it works:
1. When you contact me with your inquiry, I will respond in email.
2. We will arrange our first phone call which is 30 minutes in length. This is free so you can get a sense of if you think this may help you or not. It also gives you a chance to see if we connect in a way that you are comfortable with.
3. Before that first free call, I ask you to consider these questions:
What is your story relative to food and body image?
What is your experience with Thin Within?
What have been the hurdles you have faced in applying the principles?
How have you attempted to manage these hurdles?
What victories have you experienced in applying the principles?
What challenges seem to be a theme for you?
What are your goals physically, spiritually, and emotionally relative to this journey?
What expectations do you have for our four sessions?
What else do you feel is important for me to know?
4. During our first call, we will talk about the things on the list above. I will offer you feedback, some insights, and thoughts that I hope will encourage you. I will then ask you how you feel about going forward. You can take time after the call to decide this, of course. There is no obligation whatsoever. One of the things I will ask you to consider, too, is if you feel one of three different levels of accountability (or a personalized accountability plan) might be helpful. This is not required, but some find it helpful.
5. If you decide that you would like to proceed, then we can work out payment in one of two ways. You can either send me a check and we can start after I receive and cash your check or you can pay me via pay pal.
6. I will shoot you an email giving you a “first assignment.” The assignments will be prayerfully constructed to suit you and your specific situation. I will always eagerly receive your feedback so we can personalize this experience for you. For instance, some may need to invite God back into this process and want accountability that includes quiet time with the Lord. An assignment for this person might be to eat only when at a 0, but to read a psalm (or portion of a psalm) each time before eating, praising God for His character and that he has made her body to be so reliable. Another person may feel she needs to work through some forgiveness issues and I will ask her how she feels about doing that. That person, I may ask to do the material in chapters 19 and 20 (on forgiveness) in the Thin Within book. Those who are struggling to break free from a dieting mentality will be given different assignments from those who have been free from that for a while. Together we will craft a unique approach for you that shows you that you can be victorious.
7. We will use our calendars to set up our calls, hopefully for the next four weeks.
Each week you will be offered a unique assignment and each call we will talk about the assignment and anything else that you feel is pertinent.
I know just how much of a struggle this journey was for me (and can still BE!), but if *I* can do it, ANYONE can! That means you! The thing that helped me the most was having someone who had been down this path ahead of me cheering me on, routing for me, and fielding questions I had along the way. That is what I hope to be for you. Give it some prayer and thought. I know $100 and four weeks is a commitment.
And if you wonder about the money and why I charge for this service at all, it is because I want to help my husband by contributing to defray the costs of having our daughter in a private Christian college. We will also be helping our son get established in a place of his own once he returns from bible college in May.
What questions do you have about the Life Coaching/Thin Within Mentoring service? I would be more than happy to field your questions here so others can benefit from your questions.
As a result of the years I was in Thin Within and the things God has taught me during that time, I have found my ministry broadening. That is why I started the “Living Life on the Path of Praise” website and blog.
What happened was, I was going through what was *then* the most challenging trial of my adult life (this new one has the award now!) and was contacted by a lady from a church asking if I would meet with her to discuss bringing a message to her women’s group that would sort of facilitate the launching of her Thin Within group. I gladly met with her and asked her what she wanted to talk about. She said that while she wanted me to share my testimony about Thin Within, that her heart was for the women to hear a message on “Moving from Fear to Faith.” Little did she know at the time that I was experiencing more fear than I ever had! God used this conversation and my need to prepare a message for the women to do a HUGE work in my life!
When, months later, I got to share with the women a message about choosing FAITH when we are experiencing FEAR instead, I felt like God had personally been tutoring me through it. I well remember being terrified (!!! How fitting!!!) when I first sat down to write a rough draft of what I would share with the women, only to have the Lord just encourage me with “Tell them what you know…” What I KNOW is that GOD IS ENOUGH.
Anyhow, since that time, I have had the opportunity to share this message with other audiences and God continues to write the truth of it on my own heart again and again. Right now, at my other blog, I am sharing steps and strategies for navigating trials in such a way that we can go from fear to faith. From victim to victor. From trial to triumph. For me, this is what I have to do in order to manage my eating in a godly way, so the overlap is definitely there!
Here is a summary of what I have been covering and I want to invite you to come on over and visit! Please know that this life is about so much more than body, size, food and our struggles with all of it. God wants our hearts!
If you decide you like what is happening there and it can encourage you in your Thin Within journey, you can subscribe to the feed by clicking this link.
I really believe that *this* material is what gives us “success” in defeating our struggles with overeating–really *anything* that we may know we need to surrender to the Lord. I hope you will give it a try and let me know what you think!god
