The Bare Necessities

The Bare Necessities

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

My daughter enjoys watching the movie The Jungle Book.  Every once in awhile she will ask me to play the Bare Necessities song that Baloo sings after meeting Moglie.  One day we were listening to the song, when suddenly it hit me, it’s really true!  We only need the bare necessities of life!

What are the bare necessities?  Food, shelter, clothing?  Maybe there are additional things like companionship.  Water?  I’m sure we can all think of what those bare necessities are in our life.

So how does this pertain to our Thin Within journey?

I can tell you what it means for me.  I learned this the hard way this past week.

The last year has been incredible.  The Lord has helped me overcome so much.  Through Christ, I have seen victory after victory.  There have been bumps along the way, but all of a sudden, this past week, I stumbled and fell on my face.  And I ate dirt.  And as Heidi just talked about, I got back on the horse, and then fell off again and ate more dirt.  And then I felt like the last time I fell off the horse that the horse dragged me through a manure pit.  Ever been there?  Yeah…so instead of just brushing the dirt off myself, this time I had to get a hose and spray off the grime.

But I’m back on the horse again. 🙂

So what happened?  I started to get panicky and tried to create ways to be more in control.  Instead of just eating 0-5 and staying within my boundaries (my bare necessities of my Thin Within journey), I decided to keep a food journal of what I was eating and give myself a check-mark if I ate 0-5 (which, is totally ok if you are led to do this–I was not).  AND then I thought that I should limit certain kinds of foods.  I really thought this was the Lord’s idea, but looking back, it was NOT.  And maybe He allowed it to prove to me that my ideas are not the greatest ideas.  Ha!  Instead of being helpful, it brought me back to my dieting and restrictive days.  The first couple of days were fine, but then I slowly started to see myself deteriorate into this rut of restriction.  This is not a good place for me.  I started to obsess.   And that’s when I really began to eat some dirt.  I wasn’t staying within the basics.

The Lord has shown me that I need to keep things simple.  It’s those bare necessities of my Thin Within journey that are what He wants for me.  If I go outside of that I find myself trying to control and be obsessed.  And then the mental weight becomes heavy and suddenly I’m burdened down like I was back in my dieting days.  There’s only a few things that the Lord would like me to focus on in this journey.  Those are my bare necessities.

Christ has come to give us life, and life in abundance.  The enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy–his focus is death.  (John 10:10)  Christ wants us to live simply.  The enemy wants to complicate things, burden us down, and confuse us.  Christ wants us to walk by faith.  The enemy wants us to walk by sight.

Walking by faith is not always easy.  When I follow the Holy Spirit’s leading with my eating, I’m trusting in Him and putting my faith in Him.  I think what happened is that I was starting to doubt, so I wanted to help things a bit by gathering some control.  Well, I gathered “control” all right and licked up some dirt!  If anything, I was out of control.

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.  Proverbs 3:5-6

I will choose to trust Him.  I am choosing to acknowledge Him before each meal and I’m inviting the Holy Spirit to guide me in my eating.  And He certainly meets with me when I do so.

So today I’m letting go of those extra, non-essential things.  They aren’t necessary.  They complicate things.  They make me greedy and discontent.  I’m going back to the simplicity I found in the beginning–through Christ–not my own strength or works.  Christ’s burden is light , but I started carrying a heavy burden that I brought upon myself.  And apparently the horse I’m riding didn’t care for that extra weight.  And the last time I got bucked off, I left that extra weight on the ground.  Praise God!

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).

I really want to encourage you in your own Thin Within journey.  Maybe this has been part of the struggle for you.  Maybe you’ve been focused on too many things.  Is God calling you to simplicity–to get back to the basics of eating between hunger and satisfaction?  Your bare necessities could be a combination or just a couple of these things:

  • Spending time in the Word
  • Truth Journaling
  • Creating and reading truth cards
  • Adding to your God List
  • Praise and worship
  • Journaling
  • Bible study
  • Renewing your mind
  • Inviting the Holy  Spirit into each eating experience
  • Being accountable to your accountability partner

Maybe there’s something that is essential for you that I haven’t listed, but you KNOW that it’s something the Lord has asked you to do.  Those are all great things, but sometimes God only calls us to focus on a couple of things.

Something the Lord has been showing me is that He will provide my needs.  Christ says in Matthew 6:25, “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?”  He doesn’t want us focused on food or what we are going to eat.  He’s going to take care of those basic needs, but our part is trusting Him and following His leading.

He’s also been showing me that if I am doing more than He is calling me to do, that I will start to lean on my own abilities and strengths–and I will become greedy.  Ouch!  If you are taking “too much thought” about what you will eat, how you will lose the weight, etc., then maybe it’s time to step back and re-assess your focus.  It could be time to simplify.  And really, this journey is about growing closer to the Lord and keeping food in it’s proper place, so it could be simply that He just wants you to read the pure Word of God.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

 How about you?

Are you carrying burdens that you were never meant to carry?  Are you living by faith and not by sight in your Thin Within journey?  Are you trying to control things instead of just trusting in the Lord?  What are your bare necessities for this journey?  For me, it’s been reading my truth cards, reading the Word, truth journaling, renewing my mind, and going through a Bible study.  It may look different for you.  The Lord will show you.  And if you are carrying too heavy of a load, you will know.

Celebration of God’s Grace – Lesson 12 TW Class 2014

Celebration of God’s Grace – Lesson 12 TW Class 2014

 

run

Image courtesy of hin255 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do:

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13-14

This Week’s Video:

Video Questions:

1.  How is Thin Within different from the dieting approaches you have tried.

2. I describe in the video two times I have lost 100 pounds. What are the differences between the two? (One of the differences is that after losing with Weight Watchers, I gained my weight back! Not this time, with Thin Within, though!)

3.  What will happen if you look at Thin Within as a diet? What might be the benefits of looking at Thin Within differently than just as a means to losing weight?

4. How has this journey been like riding a horse down the trail? Where are you in the journey? Are you on the ground? Is it time to get back in the saddle? Do you feel tempted to “send the horse packing” and to forget about ever trying this again? How can you strengthen your resolve to stay on the path?

5.  What is the difference between celebrating your failures and celebrating what you can learn in your failures? List three things you can learn from your most recent “failures.”

6. In what ways have you seen God’s grace in this journey?

Renewing the Mind

Truth Journal at least once this week. Truth Journaling is a technique I learned from Barb Raveling. It isn’t typical journaling. Watch this video that explains how it works.

Pick One (book or workbook):

Trade Book

We have completed the assignments for the Thin Within trade book.  It was a ten-week study for those using the book. However, now would be a great time to go back through the study guide pages and the book itself and complete any exercises or questions you haven’t yet completed. Use this week and next as a chance to catch up. 🙂

Workbook Assignment

1. Read, highlight, mark 🙂 Lesson 12, Celebration of God’s Grace, on pages D48 – D52 or listen to the “audio book” version of it at Sound Cloud.  Discuss it here in the comments section below this post or at our Class Facebook Group.
2. Complete the exercises for Lesson 12 on pages D54-D60. Respond to the Review questions on page D61 and share your thoughts at our Facebook discussion group!
3. Use the entries for Day 78 through Day 84 in the Temple Tool Kit. Could any of the tools help you in having greater accountability for your eating? Is it time to set aside the fear of using the tools that might have been wise weeks ago? What is God leading you to do this week?
5. Memorize Philippians 3:13-14. Personalize it and add it to your truth cards.
6. Join us on March 31st for our live webinar at 4:30 Pacific Time. We will be wrapping up lesson 12 on Celebration of God’s Grace and our entire time of study together.

How About You?

For new class options, visit our class page.

________

NOTE: The Webinar wrapping up Lesson 11 on Prayer is here.

I will post the Webinar Lesson 11 Discussion Questions when they are available.

Delightful Boundaries

Delightful Boundaries

Image courtesy of anankkml / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of anankkml / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

In less than a week (give or take), I will be holding our newborn son in my arms for the very first time.  A lot of changes are around the corner, and I’ve been reminding myself to take it all one moment at a time, even with the lack of sleep a baby can bring.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what my eating will look like after the baby comes.  Most of my journey with Thin Within and overcoming the issues I was having before, took place during my pregnancy.  I shared a little bit about this before in a post about Pregnancy & Thin Within.  To be honest, there have been times when I’ve wondered if after I have the baby, I will be tempted to go back to Weight Watchers.  My accountability partner knows this has been a concern of mine.  I have seen the Lord do some amazing things in my life, mind and body throughout this journey while being pregnant.  In so many ways, it’s been such a blessing.  One blessing is that I have paid no attention to my weight.  And now seeing how I look and feel with only a few weeks of pregnancy to go, I want to give Him all of the praise, honor, and glory for helping me stay at a healthy pregnancy weight (whatever it may be).  I can tell I’ve honored my hunger within the boundaries God has given me, and He has helped me learn to delight in my boundaries.  Praise God!

The other day I was reading in Barb Raveling’s book Taste for Truth: A 30 Day Weight Loss Bible Study.  She was talking about how she was breaking boundaries right and left.  She said that instead of renewing her mind, her response was “being frustrated and thinking my boundaries didn’t work” (page 95).  This spoke volumes to me because that’s exactly what I start to think when I break a boundary.  “Oh, I guess these boundaries aren’t working for me (since I broke them), so I might as well go back to Weight Watchers.”  But these boundaries DO work!

So if it’s not the boundaries that are flawed, what is it?  It’s the LIES I am believing!  So then enters the importance of renewing my mind (which I keep on crowing about–ha!).  Instead of wallowing in my mess (remember my potty training illustration from this post?), I need to renew my mind about whatever lie that caused the boundary breakage.

This is huge for me.  HUGE!  I’m getting closer and closer to completely cutting off the lie that I have to return to a diet when I choose not to following my boundaries.  Praise God!

When I was spending time with the Lord this morning, He was showing me that eating between hunger and fullness works all of the time in helping one to lose or maintain weight.  There is no special program I have to go on in order to lose weight after having a baby.  Eating 0-5 will work!  So I won’t need a diet!  I won’t need to measure, track, weigh, or focus on food!  My boundaries are perfect boundaries!

Maybe you are reading this and thinking, “Whoa, ‘perfect’ is a strong word to describe your boundaries!”  But if I didn’t believe that, then I’d be in trouble.  They are perfect for me because it’s what the Lord has asked me to do and it’s the only thing that He’s given me peace about.  So basically, I know it’s His will for me.  It’s been my prayer that I would see my boundaries as delightful.

Here are some truths I have in my truth cards pertaining to my boundaries:

  • I can stay within my boundaries in spite of temptation or even when I don’t feel like it.
  • “Boundaries aren’t restrictive fences meant to keep us from enjoying life, but gifts from a God Who cares about our well-being.” Lysa TerKeurst
  • “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” Psalm 16:7
  • I don’t need a diet when I can just listen to my body.  I can eat within my boundaries.
  • Breaking my boundaries is not a reward.
  • Boundaries make my life better.
  • I feel immediate joy when I choose to honor my boundaries.
  • Not even one bite outside of my boundaries.

Boundaries DO make my life better.  They keep me safe.  Some boundaries that I have for eating are: eating 0-5, eating while sitting and without distraction, and eating slowly so I can enjoy my food.  These are the boundaries God has given to me right now, and I am really starting to see how delightful these boundaries are.  I CAN stay within my boundaries!

So as I proceed into the next chapter of my life (being a mommy of two!), I know I can persevere in what God has already showed me to do: delight in my boundaries!

How about you?

Do you believe your boundaries are perfect?  Or are you tempted like I’ve been to go back to a diet when you break a boundary?  What lies have you been believing?  What truths can combat those lies?  Will you join me in persevering and delighting in your God-given boundaries?

 

Forgiveness – Lesson 10 TW Class 2014

Forgiveness – Lesson 10 TW Class 2014

Not That, but This...
The LORD within her is righteous; he does no wrong.
Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail…
~ Zephaniah 3:5
I have shared for years that forgiveness was pivotal for me on my Thin Within journey. And it continues to be. I had one very wise accountability partner who,  when my eating was out of whack, asked me who I need to forgive.
After seven years of knowing about the hunger/satisfied approach to eating for weight loss and rarely, if ever, being consistent to do it, the thing that made the difference in my being able and willing to be more consistent was, simply, forgiveness. Being vulnerable with God in this important area kick-started my journey and took me from being merely a hearer of the truth to starting to DO the truth. Maybe the same can be true for you.
I have to admit, though, my way of sharing about this is easily misunderstood, easily misconstrued. So pardon me if I include disclaimers here *and* in the video. NOTE: I am not teaching THEOLOGY. I am, instead, sharing my experience. But my experience might be helpful to others of you and so I share it. As with everything I (or anyone) teach, please take all of it to the Lord and compare it to the Word of God. Where what I share seems to be at odds with the Word of God, always ALWAYS esteem the Word of God more highly than what I share. This has ALWAYS been important to me and it most assuredly is today as I share about this challenging topic. My experience or yours or anyone’s should never be the basis for TRUTH.
I can honestly say that what I will share here has been pivotal in enabling me to get rid of the largest road block hindering my obedience.
If you wonder what could be blocking your obedience, prayerfully consider if something I share here could be helpful to you.
Again, ALWAYS AND ONLY go to the Word of God and the Lord for understanding what is TRUE about God, life and you.
If you have a check in your spirit as you listen to this video, I suggest you STOP THE VIDEO and move on to the rest of the assignment. DO NOT IGNORE the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Any time you expose yourself to something I say, I hope you will do this. Check in the spirit? Then stop the video. End the audio. Close out of the blog post. Only continue if you sense God’s leadership to do so.
A final request, please understand…I share my experience with great vulnerability and at great risk. I didn’t weep while I was creating the footage for this video, but I wept all the way through the editing process as God reminded me of the pain of that place. Please tread with grace if you feel the urge to “correct” me. First ask the Lord, please, if there might be a log in your own eye before you insist on trying to pluck a splinter out of mine, ok? Sometimes when we don’t like the truth that God may want to bring home in our own lives…a truth that requires us to change…we want to shoot the messenger. But consider this…God used a donkey to speak his truth to Balaam. Before you beat this donkey :-), ask HIM if there is some tiny shred of truth that you should respond to, ok?

This Week’s Video:

 Video Questions:

1.) I knew about eating according to the boundaries of hunger and satisfaction in 1999. But it wasn’t until 2006 that I had a break-through that enabled me to be able to start walking in obedience in my eating. God laid on my heart why I had trouble with being obedient. What was it he shared with me? (You will find it at about 02:17)

2.) What did it feel like I needed to do with that realization.

3.) About 03:20 I share a lie that I believed…that affected my journey to that point. What is that lie? “You, God, have _________ me __________.”

4.) What can happen when our feelings are given too much sway and begin to “define” fact for us?

5.) (04:27) “I was living as if God had _____________ too __________ of me.” Have you ever felt that way? About what? Do you today?

6.) Is there anything that has so disappointed you about God that it might be affecting your willingness to surrender your food to him? God does no wrong…he hasn’t done you wrong! But is there any way that this *feels* like it is similar to needing to forgive someone who has done you wrong? If not, what can you do with this sense that God has required too much of you? How might dealing with it (somehow) help you to honor him, to delight in him?

7.) I mention 4 kinds of forgiveness (of 5) that have been included in my journey. What are the 4 types of forgiveness that I mention (keeping in mind that #4 is not literally forgiveness)? Do you have any idea what my 5th kind of forgiveness is (not mentioned in the video)? 🙂 Post here at the blog what you think it might be!

8.) At about 07:27 I ask you some questions. Stop the video and take time to ask the Lord what the TRUTH is for you.

9.) Everyone acts based on what they believe. If we believe that God has done us wrong, we will act on that belief. We have to go to the root of it…how can you do that today?

10.) In the closing minutes,  I ask you to bring God your feelings and process them with him. Will you? If not, why not?

Renewing the Mind – Pressing On

What might you need to renew your mind about? Select one of these to speak truth to your soul about. Can you reference Scriptures to help you with this? What is true about night-time eating? What is true about eating when you feel wounded? What is true about this journey right now wherever you currently find yourself–IS God doing a “new thing” in you? Remember, renewing the mind with TRUTH is the point. BIG T truth…What GOD says is true. We want to think God’s thoughts after him. His Word sanctifies us.

Pick One (book or workbook):

Trade Book Assignment – To Be Completed by March 17th

  • Here is the Thin Within Study Guide Week 10 . Feel free to discuss it at our Facebook group or here! THIS WEEK, we will have a drawing for Rebecca Bryan’s music! This is great music for renewing your mind. If you post a comment this week your name will be put in a drawing to win a downloadable version of Becky’s CD. Comment on this blog post (or any other this week) to be entered in the drawing. You can enter more than once, too. 🙂

Workbook Assignment – To Be Completed by March 17th.

1. Read, highlight, mark 🙂 Lesson 10, Forgiveness, on pages D18 – D24 or listen to the “audio book” version of it at Sound Cloud.  Discuss it here in the comments section below this post or at our Class Facebook Group.
2. Complete the exercises for Lesson 10 on pages D26 – D32. Next Monday before the webinar, respond to the Review questions on page D33 or even better–do so at our Facebook discussion group!
3. Have you been creating a God List? Have you been Praise-Festing? Gratitude is yet another way we get our eyes off of ourselves and place them firmly on God. If we want this experience to be different than our dieting days (or previous goes through the Thin Within material, perhaps) we want to change our thinking and change our focus. Exalting God intentionally through praise and gratitude may be one way of doing this.
4. Use the entries for Day 64 through Day 70 in the Temple Tool Kit. Have you been using any of the tools? How is this going? What is God showing you through the use of the tools?
5. Memorize Colossians 3:12-13. Personalize it and add it to your truth cards.
6. Join us on March 17th for our live webinar at 4:30 Pacific Time. We will be wrapping up lesson 10 on Forgiveness.

How About You?

In these last few weeks of our study, you might experience the most profound changes to date. Invite God to help your heart to be wide open to whatever he may want to do be prepared to have new eyes to see. Forgiveness work is HARD WORK. But it is well worth it. Whether it is forgiveness of others, seeking their forgiveness for ways we have wronged them, asking God for forgiveness for our sin, forgiving ourselves or what I have called “forgiving” God. It is all hard work. But it is well worth it. As we put off bitterness and resentment, we are able then to put on kindness, compassion, and love.

Lesson 9’s (Boundaries) webinar recording is available here
Here are slides (in pdf form) from Lesson 9’s webinar: 09-Boundaries
Who Are You? – Identity in Christ – Lesson 3 TW Class 2014

Who Are You? – Identity in Christ – Lesson 3 TW Class 2014

Image Source: iStock Photo

Image Source: iStock Photo

Many people have shared in our class Facebook group that they are seeing evidence that God is doing a new thing. One way is through the Body Awareness (Mirror Mirror) Activity that we did last week on Day Three. Class participants shared that they had breakthroughs in how they feel about their bodies. If you haven’t yet done this activity, please don’t put it off. It IS hard, yes, but prayerfully invite God to help you through it. In fact, Lesson 2’s webinar, includes my walking us through it. I hope you find it helpful! The Hallidays have included it in nearly every book and workbook that Thin Within has created, so it is clear that they feel, after helping people since 1975…this is important!

[[In case you missed it, last night’s wrap up of Lesson 2 Webinar on is available as an audio file here. Here are the Webinar Group Discussion Questions Lesson 1]]

This week we turn our attention to a very vital area for renewing our minds with truth. I hope you have your spiral deck of index cards and pen ready. (Some of our class members are using colored pens and artwork to create compelling — and fun! — cards.)  We are going to look at our Identity in Christ. So often we get our sense of value, purpose, and identity from our performance at the various roles we have in life. We will see what God’s thoughts are on this subject this week. When we begin to think God’s thoughts after him about who we are most fundamentally, all kinds of things are possible!

Video Questions:

1. What will happen as we begin to think God’s thoughts after him (renew our minds with truth) about our identity?

2. From 02:29 to 03:28  I share a list of who you are in Christ. Which of these are most meaningful to you personally? Why? Do you believe that this is who you are? Why or why not? Make a truth card that tells you that you *are* that! This week, read your cards out loud. Here is the  Who I Am in Christ list that I read from on the video.

3. Failure is something that you ______. It is not something that you ______.

4. Failure does not need to be an __________________. Failure can be the best _____________ that we’ve got going.

5. How can the tool of Observation and Correction help you turn failure into victory?

6. I speak about “falling off the horse” and “getting back on again.” What does that look like, practically speaking, on this Thin Within journey?

7.  What makes you “worthy” of Heaven? How does this apply to our Thin Within journeys?

8. If you believed you were more than a conqueror, how might that affect how you live and the choices you would make?

9. What are you telling yourself about who you are? Are you telling yourself the truth?

10. Of the lies I mention at the end, which can you identify with the most?

Renewing the Mind – Pressing On

NOTE: Don’t be overwhelmed by the material in this part of the “assignment” each week. This section is here to give you ideas for renewing your mind. Maybe just pick ONE thing and try it out each week. Thinking differently about food, our bodies, our God, life is vital if we want changes that will last!

What are strategies you are currently using to renew your mind so that you believe the things we are studying? We don’t typically lack knowledge. We lack BELIEF! So speaking the truths from our lessons into our souls again and again will serve us well if we want to see our beliefs change. Remember, this progression?:

Beliefs –> Actions –> Patterns –> Fruit

If we don’t feel like there is fruit in our lives that concurs with our godly goals, then we want to back up. What patterns are in our lives? Back up a bit further to see what actions or choices are we making in the moment. Remembering that moment upon moment is what our lives (patterns) are based on, we see that choices are fueled by our beliefs. So, if we don’t like the fruit in our lives or are convicted that this isn’t honoring to God, we must go back to our beliefs and begin to work with our own minds, hearts, and souls to change what we believe. We can do this by telling ourselves the truth repeatedly. Here is a short list of ways to do that:

1. Music – Christian music does a great job of this. Secular music, not necessarily so much. “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” is not going to help you to live like “More than a Conqueror!” For ideas for a Renew Your Mind Play list visit this post or this set of posts.

2. Truth Cards – Make ’em, Read ’em, Recite ’em, Record ’em, LISTEN to ’em! Yes! You can use your computer (most laptops are equipped to make audio recordings) or your device to record yourself reading your truth cards. Then, you can listen to them with your earphones or your blue tooth. Even if you “aren’t in the mood” to read them, you can passively have them playing through your head throughout the day or while you vacuum, prepare a meal, go grocery shopping. It is a great way of having the truth saturate your thinking.

3. JOURNAL through a set of questions in Barb Raveling’s I Deserve a Donut and Other Lies that Make You Eat or the I Deserve a Donut appI do believe journaling these questions at least once makes all the difference in getting the material into your heart. After journaling a set, you can pull truths from them in statements to add to your truth cards. Then, in the future, when you know you are struggling with worry, insecurity, or annoyance (for instance) you will be more able to benefit from using the questions by thinking through them. Journaling won’t always be necessary, but I do suggest it at first. (I journal a set of her questions at least once a day even though I have been doing this a long time!)

4. Set your timer to check in with God and recite a truth that is meaningful to you from memory. Visit this page to see what I mean.

5. Download Sound Cloud files to listen to.

6. Watch YouTube videos.

7. Get and use the Thin Within app.

Trade Book Assignment – To Be Completed by January 27th

Here is Study Guide Week 3 of the yet-unpublished Thin Within Book Study Guide. I would love to get your feedback if you are using this material. Is it worth publishing? 🙂

Workbook Assignment – To Be Completed by January 27th

1. Read, highlight, mark Lesson 3, Identity in Christ, on pages B32 – B38 or listen to the audio file of Lesson 3 at  Sound Cloud. Discuss it here in the comments section below this post or at our Class Private Facebook Group Page.

2. Complete the exercises for Lesson 3 on pages B40-B44. Use your discretion about the optional exercises on pages B45-B46. Next Monday before the webinar, respond to the Review questions on page B47.

**Note** Did you know that I post a question each day at our Workbook Study Facebook Group? Come on over and discuss what you are discovering there. Feel free to post what God is doing in your life, physically, spiritually, and emotionally, too. Our class is releasing weight and strongholds!

3. Continue to add to your “God List.” Can you add 10 things this week? Or more? I would love to hear what you are adding!

4. Have one Praise Fest this week (or more!) and share about it with us here.

5. Use the entries for Day 15 through Day 21 in the Temple Toolkit. This week, the Thin Within Food Log is added to the choices of tools for you to use if you like. This is optional. Many of us do not have the freedom to use the Thin Within food log at this time. That is perfectly ok. Ask the Lord if he would have you use it or not. Do what He saysIf you do choose to use it, remember that it isn’t a weigh and measure sort of log. It is just for added accountability for your hunger numbers primarily. It can also be very helpful to write down how you felt while eating. I write really small when I use this tool since I generally eat more than four times each day. Don’t be limited by the lines! If you want a larger place to write, download this copy of the Thin Within Food_Log. Again, please do not feel like you have to use this tool. Some of us are so fresh out of dieting that to do this might throw us back into our old dieting ways. That is NOT what we want! If you have the Thin Within app, you can use the Food Log tool included in it, if you like. You can send it to your accountability partner, straight from the app!

6. Evaluate how it is going with eating at 0. Are you eating at 0 more often than not? Have you found 5? Many find it helpful at first to use the boundaries of “Hungry? or Not Hungry?” instead of 0 to 5 and all the in-between numbers. Do what works for you. Are you experiencing freedom with your selection of food choices or are you still categorizing foods into categories from your dieting days? (“Junk food,” “healthy food,”, etc.) Ask the Lord to help you experience freedom from your dieting past, if so–Renew Your Mind! 🙂 If you need convincing, list to 7 Reasons To Ditch Dieting Forever.

7. Interact here in the comments or at the Facebook group.

How About You?

How did the second week of our journey go for you? What is God impressing upon your heart?  What questions do you have at this point? How can we best serve and encourage you?

What are you anticipating as you go forward into this week? God IS DOING a new thing!