by Cathie Rosemann | Feb 25, 2015 | Blog
As my new Thin Within class rapidly approaches I find myself struggling once again with the progress, or lack thereof, I’ve made thus far on my journey. I’m referring to my physical progress. I truly wanted the ladies to see the tremendous
us loss of weight that has occurred before they joined me on this Thin Within journey. Unfortunately, they won’t. And that is something I have to accept. The enemy would love nothing more than to use this to discourage me and launch mental assaults that tell me I’m not qualified to lead others.
Isn’t it funny the expectations we set for ourselves when God calls us to do something for his Kingdom. We assume we will have “arrived” by the time he has us stand before others and introduce them to the journey toward freedom we’ve been walking, for example. What’s even more uncanny is the fact that people want to know they are accepted right where they are. For that matter, we want to know we’re accepted right where we are. In fact, some, those who may need this teaching most, might even feel intimated if they were to see that I was skinny. My point is not that God doesn’t want me at my God-given size. My point is that he can use me every step of the way, before, during and/or after. It’s up to him. However, we each have a “before place” in the testimony of our lives that God is writing. And we need others who are at different points on the path to help encourage us to stay the course.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (The Advantages of Companionship) says, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. “ The bottom line is we need each other regardless of where we are currently standing on the path to freedom. And people need to know it’s okay. As long as we are moving in a forward direction, listening to the Lord, and obeying his commands, we cannot help but serve as an encouragement to others and them to us.
Recently, I reconnected with a childhood friend I’ve searched for over the past several years. As I was documenting some of the major things that have happened in my life since we last spoke, I simply had to marvel at all I’ve come through. Compared to many they wouldn’t be considered eventful or even painful necessarily, but for me they tenderized my heart and certainly could have been much worse 
had the Lord not stepped in and redirected my path. The reason I’ve searched for her so fervently these past several years is because I owed her an apology. An apology for blowing off her friendship so many times when she reached out to me. Unfortunately, it was in a season when I was a workaholic and paid little attention to relationships.
It’s funny the multitude of emotions that come at us each day and tempt us to eat outside the boundaries God’s set for us. And I’m no exception. As I’ve begun to reconnect with my friend I’ve begun to revisit that season in my life when I was terribly productive but lacked in deep friendships. It’s just this kind of mental and emotional process that can take us one direction or another … into the arms of Jesus … or into the kitchen. I have to recognize that each moment during this process that I’ve turned to Jesus and not to food I’ve made the kind of progress that matters. And it’s this kind of process that these women who are signed up for my class need to know about.
Once again as I sit to write this blog I’m overwhelmed at the kindness of the Lord. Not a day passes that I don’t rejoice at all he’s done to hold me steady and draw my heart toward his. I shudder to think what battle I might be fighting if it weren’t my weight.
What about you? What are you walking through right now? Is it drawing you to Jesus or the refrigerator? Do you realize the kindness of the Lord in the testimony he’s writing with your life? Be encouraged at where you stand in the journey today. As Joyce Meyer says, “I’m not where I want to be, but thank God I’m not where I use to be.”
by Cathie Rosemann | Jan 21, 2015 | Blog
“And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man who, he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen. 2:8-9) – “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.” (Gen. 3:6a)
In other words, what the Lord God himself had already provided to Adam and Eve was simply not enough. Eve wanted more. And when the serpent came and offered her something supposedly even better than what the Lord God had already so graciously provided to her, she made an agreement with the enemy … at the total disregard for the Lord’s clear warning of consequence … simply because she wanted something more than what she’d had already been given.
I think what’s even worse, is what Matthew Henry’s Commentary says …”She saw no harm in this tree. When there is thought to be no more harm in forbidden fruit than in other fruit, sin lies at the door, and Satan soon carries the day … Perhaps, it seemed to her to be better for food, more grateful to the taste, and more nourishing to the body, than any of the rest, and to her eye it was more pleasant than any.” I realize afresh that if God gives us boundaries to abide by, regardless of what those are, we are opening the door for the enemy (Satan) to carry our day when we essentially tell God we choose not to obey what he’s told us to do, but instead choose our own way.
How I wish I couldn’t identify with this. But I can. After all the Lord has given me to eat I still find myself wanting more. More times than not I am not looking to be sustained by the faithful hand of the Lord, but I am “seeing that the tree is good for … AND … AND … AND …” wanting “MORE … MORE … MORE …” which entices every greedy bone in my carnal body. This, in essence, is why I’m not losing the weight I am after. As Thin Within shows on “The Hunger Scale”, “If you eat consistently from 0 to 5 you are following the guidelines for healthy eating. This will result in a slow release of excess weight until you are down to your natural, God-given size, which you will maintain since 0 to 5 eating represents the appropriate amount of food to sustain a healthy weight. If you consistently eat from 3 to 7 you will remain overweight. And if you consistently eat from 5 to 10 you will gain weight.” Whether you believe this or not is irrelevant because it is the truth. Ask anyone in the program who eats within any one of these boundaries. I’ve seen it for myself. When I consistently eat within the boundaries of 0 to 5 I begin to watch as the weight is released. And when I don’t I either plateau or gain.
Isaiah 56:11 says, “Like greedy dogs, they are never satisfied. They are ignorant shepherds, all following their own path and intent on personal gain.” 1 Corinthians 5:11 says, “ I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.” Colossians 3:5 says, “So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.” My goodness that’s powerful!
I wake up some days telling myself that I need to start eating healthier, or abstain from sugar and processed foods, or exercise more. And yet, while those are good and evenly godly goals, they don’t deal a death blow to the “sinful, earthly thing (of greed) lurking within me.” No, that my friends, comes when I consistently resist the enemy and live within the boundaries God has already given me.
What about you? Do you find yourself always wanting more than what the Lord has provided for you? Or do you see that his provision is always sufficient for our best? Which set of boundaries are you living in (0 to 5, 3 to 7, or 5 to 10)? Feel free to join me in repenting of wanting more and not trusting that what He provides is sufficient for all we need.
by Cathie Rosemann | Nov 19, 2014 | Blog
Written By Cathie Rosemann
This past weekend was intended to be a great getaway with a dear girlfriend shopping at an area Trade Days, relaxing at a recommended B&B, eating food we don’t normally enjoy, and just catching up. This is an annual event to celebrate our birthdays. However, this year would be different with regard to my eating. So, I strategized with Heidi as to my battle plan for the weekend, and sought to prepare my heart before we took off on Saturday morning.
The morning drive went well and when I was offered warm, yummy-smelling muffins I enjoyed a couple as I was just approaching a 0 and knew we wouldn’t eat again until lunchtime. However, upon entry into the Trade Days we passed a vendor who was making corn dogs and funnel cakes and my friend said we had to get some. I half mindlessly agreed, justifying to myself that we would walk off the calories (old mindset) and likely wouldn’t eat again until late in the day. Nope. A few hours later and still not hungry we passed a vendor making homemade fried green tomatoes and ranch dressing and we agreed to try them out. They were delicious, and while I didn’t eat to a 5 I didn’t start at a 0 either. The next day wasn’t much better because we still had the delicious breakfast to enjoy before checking out of the B&B … yet I still wasn’t at a 0. Did that stop me? No it didn’t. Again, I never did eat past 4-5, but I didn’t start from a place of 0 either. In other words, I was in full violation of the God-given boundaries that I’d armed myself with. Even sadder is the fact that I rose early, before the other B&B guests on Sunday morning and repented before the Lord rearming myself with truth for the coming day. He of course, was faithfully waiting for me when I arrived in my bath rope and slippers. He gently reminded me of something I’d read in the “Hunger Within” book (pg. 47), “God gives us the freedom to observe and correct, to fail and succeed … And when we fail, God is always there to pick us up. He will continue walking with us until we have our ultimate freedom …” How sweet is that!
So what happened? How could I be so confident and prepared going into the weekend, and yet so quickly violate my boundaries? I was 
determined to find out (observe & correct). And so bright and early Monday morning the Lord again was waiting to visit with me over my morning coffee before the hustle and bustle of another day would hit. And he showed me two primary reasons for my failure. The first was that I stopped paying attention. I got so excited about the glorious weather, all the fun stuff for sale, and the yummy food I was “permitted” to eat that I neglected to pay attention to the faithful promptings of the Holy Spirit. Bottom line, the weekend became “all about me” and little about Him. My focus turned inward. Second, I was more interested in people-pleasing my girlfriend than I was pleasing the Lord. In fact, when I apologized to my friend for being such a poor influence on our eating she responded by telling me that she would have eaten what she wanted regardless of what I did. So my people-pleasing backfired on me all the way around! Oh my, that was a tough one to swallow when the Lord brought that to my attention. I was reminded of Genesis 39:9 where Joseph is confronted with pleasing himself and Potiphar’s wife or pleasing the Lord by honoring Potiphar’s (Joseph’s master) authority. He chose pleasing the Lord.
What about you? Have you ever started out full of momentum to succeed using the Thin Within tools in a potentially challenging situation but ended up failing at the outset? Did you take the time to meet with the Lord and ask Him why this was/is? If not, learn from me. He is waiting for that one-on-one time together so He can share the truth with you. And it’s never too late to spend that time with Him, especially if it means learning something about ourselves.
by Christina Smith | Sep 17, 2014 | Blog, Inspiration, Renew Mind
You are going along happily in your Thin Within journey and you are finding freedom from diets, when BAM, you are tempted to look back at those diets. There are situations that can tempt us to look back (not being happy with the number on the scale, breaking your boundaries too often, feeling like you will never overcome, and so on). We think, “Oh, maybe my set of boundaries (0-5) don’t work, so maybe I should go back to _______, or maybe I should try ______.” Sound familiar? I know it’s very familiar to me since I have essentially looked back SO many times. In April of this year (2014), I was sharing with my husband about how I was thinking and felt tempted about going back to Weight Watchers because I knew it worked (even though I had sought freedom from tracking points). He said, “Going back to Weight Watchers would be like Lot’s wife looking back.” Ouch! It was something I needed to hear though. And then he said, “Weight Watchers is like a Band-Aid.” He has seen me walk my Thin Within journey, overcoming obstacles, gaining a healthy pregnancy weight, releasing inches and weight after baby was born, being free from obsessing, etc. He KNOWS this works! He has seen the transformation work God has done resulting from me choosing to renew my mind and letting myself to be free from the chains of captivity. And I needed to see through my husband’s eyes as he shared this wisdom with me: don’t look back.
Luke 17:32 says, “Remember Lot’s wife.” That’s seriously all it says. This was a scripture the Lord led me to after my husband shared that truth with me. I felt like it was a warning, a word of caution from the Lord about how very serious He is that I don’t look back, but to press on, to persevere. (The Lord gave me a word for 2014: persevere. And He has shown me He wants me to continue on this year with what He showed me last year, that He has brought CHANGE to my eating and is helping me overcome. God’s reminder to me to persevere has helped me climb out of some ruts).
So why should we remember Lot’s wife? What happened to her?
In Genesis 19:12-29, the story about this account is found. The summary of what happened was that God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their sin. Angels told Lot and his family to flee the city:
When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed (verses 15-17).
And then the Lord did exactly what He said he would, “Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground” (verses 24-25).
But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt (verse 26).
That’s some pretty serious stuff! She looked back, after God had told them, “Do not look behind you!” And then she turned into a pillar of salt. Yikes!
I wonder why she looked back? Maybe she had fond memories of the place? But you know what, it doesn’t matter why she looked back, but that by looking back she was disobeying God.
So when God tells me, through my husband, to not look back like Lot’s wife did, I would have to say He’s pretty serious. I don’t believe God is going to turn me into a pillar of salt, but He is showing me how detrimental it is that I obey Him and submit to Him. Did you notice that Lot’s wife “looked back behind him?” Who was this ‘him’? It was her husband. And I’m guessing she was not only disobeying God, but she was not submitting to Lot. God instructed Lot and Lot led his family out of the city that was going to be destroyed. Lot’s wife looked past her husband and God and looked back. And POOF, she was a pillar of salt.
So why would Jesus say, “Remember Lot’s wife”? Because He doesn’t want us looking back. He doesn’t want us going back to those things that He has called us away from. For me, He’s asking me to persevere and continue on in what He’s shown me to do, to not look back. Christ came to save us from our sin and set us free from those things that held us captive. God was saving Lot and his family from the destruction of the city. He told them to “escape for your life!” It was for freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1). Don’t look back. Why would we want to look back? But we are tempted to look back and sometimes we do look back.
I’m not sure where you are in your Thin Within journey, but I do know this, God doesn’t want us held down, ensnared, or under any kind of captivity. There are plenty of areas in our life that this can touch on, but what I want to deal with is the area of looking back at the diets and the food restrictions that have held us captive for so long. I’m not saying “looking back” for you is disobeying God, but I am saying for myself that looking back for me has meant that I have not submitted to God. It’s like saying, “God, I know you don’t want me looking back, but that life worked for me. That diet worked for me (and failed me). Just let me go back. I can’t believe you are taking this away from me.” It’s pride. It’s basically saying, “God, my way is better than your way.” Ouch. It’s saying, “Lord, I don’t trust that Your way will get me what I want, so I’m going to make sure that I am happy, so I will do it my way.”. Has God given you a clear direction of not going back to diets? Is He asking you to submit to Him about this area of your life, or even other areas?
Unknown source and author
I saw that cartoon (above) recently on Facebook and it brought tears to my eyes. What a beautiful illustration of what God wants to do in our lives. We think when He asks us to give up something that it’s doing us a disservice, but really, He has something so much greater that He wants to give us in place of our sacrifice. He says to die to ourselves so we can gain Christ (Galatians 2:20).
Through what the Lord spoke through my husband to me, it’s very clear to me that I am not to go back to a diet…unless I want to be like Lot’s wife. And, um, looking back didn’t really work out for her. So why would I want to go against what God has said?
Another scripture God has encouraged me with is James 4:7, which says, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he must flee.” So when the enemy tempts me with looking back, the Holy Spirit brings this scripture to my remembrance. It reminds me that I am to submit to God, to follow His lead (away from diets) and to not look back. God is looking out for me. He has a big ole teddy bear hiding behind His back that He wants to give me. *smile*
The enemy’s temptations to look back are becoming more and more quiet as I continue to submit to God. I have a lot more to say about the topic of submission, but I will save that for a future post. I am tasting more and more freedom as I continue to renew my mind and put my thoughts under the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
As far as the lie about thinking my Thin Within boundaries weren’t working: of course they work (I see the physical evidence as well). I like the way Barb Raveling puts it in her book Taste for Truth (Day 15), “When we find ourselves breaking our boundaries right and left, we don’t think, I need to renew my mind so I have the strength to follow my boundaries. Instead we think, I need to find a new set of boundaries because these boundaries obviously don’t work. Here’s what we are doing: we’re trusting the boundaries [we are looking back]. We’re believing the lie that somewhere out there is the perfect set of boundaries. And when we find them, they’ll be easy to follow. The sooner we get that lie out of our system, the better. We’re transformed by the renewing of the mind. Not by the boundaries.” This is exactly what would happen to me when I was breaking boundaries right and left. Instead of renewing my mind, I would think my boundaries must be broken, so I better go back to Weight Watchers, or not eating carbs or sugar. Lies! We think our boundaries will save us, but only God can save us. Only God can transform us. So the more we renew our mind and put on God’s truth, the more we actually do follow our boundaries. It works together, hand-in-hand. We follow our boundaries because God transforms us. We are transformed because of renewing our mind.
Renewing mind —-> Transformation —-> Following Boundaries
Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
My boundaries do work. I will submit to God. The devil will flee. I will follow the boundaries God has given me (0-5). I will walk in freedom!
How about you? Have you tasted freedom from dieting, but you are tempted to go back into dieting because you keep breaking your boundaries? Breaking your boundaries is an opportunity to draw closer to God. Go to Him. Pray. Praise Him. Renew your mind. Submit to Him. Walk in freedom! Don’t look back! God is doing a NEW thing!
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by Christina Smith | Sep 12, 2014 | Blog, Inspiration, Renew Mind
Image courtesy of nongpimmy at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
We get so discouraged when we break a boundary. We eat when we aren’t hungry (zero). We blow past satisfaction (5). We bring out that “club of condemnation” one more time (sigh). But wait! STOP! Pause. Freeze it right there! Come a little closer to the screen. Yes, there. Now let me tell you a little secret (hands cupped over your ear): Failure leads to victory! Sorry, did I shout that into your ear instead of whispering. Sorry! I just get a little excited!
It’s true! It’s not about following your boundaries 100% all.of.the.time. It’s about going to God if you break your boundaries. We get so upset when we break our boundaries. We feel bad about ourselves. We think we will never be able to follow our boundaries. So then we overeat because we feel bad about ourselves. It’s like this vicious cycle that is perpetuated by our thoughts, beliefs, despair, thinking we will never be skinny anyway, so we might as well eat. Sound familiar?
But what would happen if we looked at every boundary breakage (aka failure) and renewed our mind instead? What if instead of feeling bad about ourselves and discouraged, we got really excited because we get to get closer to the Lord because of our failure?
I tell you what would happen: we would have victory!
I’ve seen it! I’ve experienced this! I’ve tasted it! When I break a boundary, I get so excited that I get to sit with Jesus and talk things over. Maybe I’m just an odd one…wait…I KNOW I’m an odd one! But really, I do get excited to renew my mind and bring all of my thoughts and feelings before the Lord. I love that as I am real with Him, He shows me His truth.
So how does this work? How does failure turn into victory?
Here’s an example: Evening was the most tempting time for me to want to overeat. I had a really hard time breaking the habit of eating outside of my boundaries in the evening. I would put my daughter to bed and then immediately I would make some popcorn or grab some sort of snack, and then eat it in front of the TV (distraction, mindless eating). It wouldn’t matter if I was hungry or not, that’s the habit I had developed over the years (and well before my daughter). I knew I wanted to change it, but I kept on doing it. I would feel so bad and would feel like I failed yet again. My solution (well, God’s solution) was that after I put my daughter to bed, I would sit and read through my truth cards, or I would answer a set of questions from I Deserve a Donut in my journal, and reading scriptures. I took that time to renew my mind. Change didn’t happen right away, but as I took the time each night to renew my mind, little by little, day by day, the Lord was transforming me, until one day I no longer had the urge to grab something to eat after putting my daughter to bed. And since then, I just wait until I’m hungry to have an evening snack. And sometimes I am not hungry for a snack, and I’m totally ok with that. That’s a huge change! Victory!
It wasn’t self-control. It wasn’t will-power. It was GOD who changed me! My part was being self-disciplined in taking the time to sit with Him and renew my mind.
Failure led to victory!
We try to change our outcome through our own strength. We think if we change our habit or behavior first, then our thoughts and beliefs will line up. But it’s actually the other way around. First, we have to change our thoughts and beliefs, and THEN we will change our habits and behavior. We tell ourselves that we will “do better next time.” We strive and put forth all of our own human effort to see change in our eating habits, but when we lean upon ourselves to make it happen, we will only become weak and tired. It’s God who helps us overcome. It’s not in our own strength. So each time we go to Him and repent after we’ve sinned, we are transformed more and more to His likeness. When we renew our mind after overeating, we are transformed.
I look at failure as opportunity to grow. I look at failure as practice.
It took Thomas Edison 1,000+ times before he had the invention of the light bulb “perfected”. Every failure led to victory. He didn’t give up. And just because we overate just now or last night, it doesn’t mean we smash all of the light bulbs and give up. It means we keep going forward. We renew our mind. We go to God. We think that because of failing to follow our boundaries, that we need new boundaries. Maybe you’ve been really trying your best to follow your boundaries of eating between hunger and satisfaction, but you keep overeating. Does that mean your boundaries don’t work? No way! It means it’s time to renew your mind. It’s time to go sit at the feet of Jesus and drink in His truth.
So the next time you are tempted to fail: go to Jesus. Renew your mind. The next time you break a boundary: seek His truth. And know that each time you do, you are one step closer to victory! Sweet, sweet victory!!
Would you like to know more about renewing your mind? There are so many great resources on this website and blog about doing just that. Do you have a set of truth cards? If not, you can learn more about it here. I also have recorded a set of my truth cards on a Sound Cloud file that you can find here. Do you have a set of questions to help aid you in renewing your mind such as Barb Raveling’s I Deserve a Donut? How else can we, at Thin Within, help to encourage you to renew your mind and see failure as victory?
us loss of weight that has occurred before they joined me on this Thin Within journey. Unfortunately, they won’t. And that is something I have to accept. The enemy would love nothing more than to use this to discourage me and launch mental assaults that tell me I’m not qualified to lead others.
had the Lord not stepped in and redirected my path. The reason I’ve searched for her so fervently these past several years is because I owed her an apology. An apology for blowing off her friendship so many times when she reached out to me. Unfortunately, it was in a season when I was a workaholic and paid little attention to relationships.
