by Deanna Burris | Jun 27, 2016 | Blog
Have you ever been on a detour? You are on your way from point A to point B and you find yourself crossing X, Y, and Z?
I went on a detour recently with my weight loss journey. It is so easy to be swayed off the straight, tried and true path, and I was swayed. Luckily, my loving Abba Father led me back to the path He wants me on and opened my eyes to watch out for any detour signs ahead.
I was feeling worn out, tired and was not sleeping well. A friend had been suggesting a line of supplements that promised better health, energy, better sleep and a decrease in appetite (which leads to weight loss). I am a cheerleader for staying healthy using any natural ways possible, so I jumped on board. I signed up and started the “line”. Even though I wasn’t taking them for weight loss, I know that in the back of my mind I was hoping for some weight release. Actually, I was hoping for big things.
During this time, my mind kept wandering away from Thin Within/Hunger Within. I looked at the success stories and started reading the recommendations about how to eat, what to eat and when to eat. My friend even told me I needed to eat first thing in the morning, whether I was hungry or not, because I needed to get my engine running. And, my mind kept wondering to diets and what I should be doing to move things along.
Then something happened. I realized that I actually felt worse on these supplements. My stomach was getting upset and I was sleeping worse. I was confused because what I had been expecting wasn’t happening. Where was my success story? I prayed and took the mess to the Lord, and do you know what He laid on my heart? He said, “I am here. I have been here all along. My plan works. My plan is what is best for you. Have you come to Me?”
So, here is some honesty. I have recently been haphazardly following our 0 to 5 eating boundaries. When I decide I am going to eat outside of them, I do it. I hadn’t been renewing my mind in God’s Word when I felt tempted to break my boundaries or after I had broken them. I hadn’t been using the other Keys to Conscious eating as they are laid out. My accountability partner and I realized recently that we were treating our Thin Within/Hunger Within programs as another diet. To me, a diet is something you go on and off at a whim. I have never really been on a diet that I have truly seen as “lifelong”.
But, God’s plan is a lifelong plan. His plan honors the way He created my body to eat. When I listen to the cues my body naturally gives, I eat with joy between hunger and satisfaction. When I follow these boundaries, I don’t mindlessly eat at night (which causes sleep disruption that leads to feeling worn out and tired). When I follow my body’s cues, I crave whole body pleasers instead of taste bud teasers (and those total rejects).
My short detour only lasted a month. I am back on the path of Thin Within/Hunger Within. My eyes are no longer on the bright sparkling promises of another program. For today, I am committing to the plan God has for me, and when I am tempted or when I fall, I am using the tools that are right there for me. I am embracing the detour I took as a learning experience, and one I needed to take in order to bring me right back where God wants me.
What about you, dear reader? Have you taken a detour? Turn to God, and reach out for help. You will get back on the right path.
by Deanna Lewis | Jun 17, 2016 | Accountability, Blog, Inspiration, Renew Mind
“If you faced any challenges in this last month, raise your hand!”
Several months ago I wrote a blog about this. Over the last month or so, I found I needed to revisit it as a reminder to myself! I can imagine that a lot of us who read this can relate to challenges that happen from time to time. Maybe you face challenges every day! So, I think it is worth looking at this subject again.
Body Challenges
One BIG challenge I am facing every day is with my body. I am currently going through menopause
(or have hit menopause….) and my body is doing some strange (and unexpected) things! One thing in particular that I really don’t like is my body just doesn’t want to release weight but instead would rather shift it to different areas of my body! Add to that hot flashes, occasional dizziness and appetite spikes and cravings.
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Other Challenges
Another challenge has been many different and big life changes going on with my family. My son just graduated from college, my husband just resigned from his ministry position at our church (he was bi-vocational) and I just went full-time at my job. (which will not make up the difference financially….but that’s another story of faith!)
.Add to that my family coming to town for my son’s graduation (I wrote about that in an earlier blog).
Then for his graduation trip, we went to Disney World for a week! Yes, it was fun, but can we say FOOD, FOOD, FOOD???
I found it has been difficult to stay focused and eat mindfully with all the challenges going on.
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All of us can relate to the struggles of life.
- You might have three little ones running around and pulling at you
from every direction.
- You might be one of those people that have to carpool all over the place and that is your life.
- You might be someone who has a sickness in your family or you are a caregiver for your aging parent.
- You can fill in the blank.
We all know that life can be stressful and unpredictable.
How in the world do we stay focused?
How in the world do we not just jump right back into a pan of brownies and swim around while throwing it all in our mouths? How do we keep from going back to food for comfort and sanity?
Although, I don’t have the answers to all of these questions, I can tell you what I do.
I just keep practicing.
- I practice saying “no” when deep in my heart I already know that I don’t need the food.
- I practice eating 0 to 5.
- I practice the different keys to conscious eating that help me stay in my boundaries.
I can only do this in HIS strength, which means I also practice some other important things!
I surrender things to the Lord
Sometimes I am giving the Lord the same thing over and over because I’m going through a hard time. That’s what I have to do. I surrender it up to the Lord and I lay it down at his feet.
I take time to spend with the Lord.
Even if it’s just a sentence prayer in the shower or praying while I’m washing the dishes. It may even be just singing a simple praise song over and over again. It may be renewing my mind with His word or listening to worship music.
I know that if I seek Him, keep renewing my mind with His truth and try to follow Him as best I can then I will remember:
HE IS BY MY SIDE. ALWAYS. NO MATTER WHAT.
He will meet me where I am and give me the strength to carry on.
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I DO NOT practice BEATING MYSELF UP!
I don’t practice beating myself up when I mess up. I have to stop and I have to just take a moment to say,
“Lord I knew that that extra piece of pie was not going to make me feel better. I thank you that after I took one bite, I realized it and I knew I wasn’t hungry and so I stopped.”
I don’t beat myself up about the one bite. I celebrate the fact that I only took one and I walked away.
Maybe for you it’s that you ate the whole piece of pie (or whatever). BUT you don’t have to beat yourself up for the one piece. Celebrate the fact that you didn’t eat the whole pie! Try to look at the positive and cling to what God is doing in you!
I try to focus on the good things that God is doing. I try to thank HIM.
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:6
This peace that he talks about may not be something that’s instantaneous in my soul but it is a peace that’s deep in my soul knowing that no matter what, He is still there with me.
Basically, it comes from building a relationship with the Lord. Relationships don’t come easy and they don’t come instantaneously. There’s a give and take in relationships. And it is the same with the Lord. I’m not going to be perfect. Only God is. I can rely on His perfection to help me get through the rough times.
So, no matter what rough time you might be facing….how big or how little… remember to PRACTICE.
PRACTICE relying on Him, renewing your mind with His truth, surrendering to Him and allowing Him to love you through it all.
by Deanna Burris | Jun 13, 2016 | Blog
Dear readers, have you grabbed onto the importance of renewing your mind in God’s Word? In good times and in troubled times, this command from God’s Word in Romans 12:1-2 never fails to bring me peace and understanding. Whether I pick up on something I need to hear from my daily Bible reading, or the Lord places an area of my life He wishes to work on in my mind, or a topic keeps being placed in front of my face, digging in the Word and then praying about it is the way I renew my mind.
The other day, I was lead to read John 6:63 –
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
This scripture hit me hard because since summer started I have been floundering with my boundaries of 0 to 5 eating. I would like to blame the steady stream of birthdays and graduation parties, but that would be a lie. There are also many more opportunities for drinking during all those parties, and if you happen to drink, you will probably notice like I do, that overeating is so much easier, but blaming this too would be a lie. It is my flesh wanting what it wants, when it wants and in the quantities it wants. I was reading old blog posts that Heidi Bylsma wrote from back at the beginning of our blog (January 2007). She called what I am talking about “Recreational Eating” and boy, is that a great description about what has been going on. Am I following my boundaries? No. Do I feel good? No. Am I comfortable? No. Am I using the tools? No. Am I happy about it? No. What am I going to do? I’m going to renew my mind. And as Heidi is fond of telling us, when you fall off the horse, dust yourself off and get right back on. so I am back on my “horse” and I am continuing on my journey.
Each day we have a choice, dear reader. We can choose to follow our flesh or we can choose to follow the Spirit. One counts for nothing and one counts for life. When I am living the way I have been this month, I don’t feel like I am living at all. I am tired and I am blah. Here is what I wrote in my journal after meditating on the scripture from John 6:63:
Lord, my flesh is greedy for comfort. It seeks what is not of You. It is not honoring to Your will for me. It is not honoring to Your Word. It draws me from feeling Your presence in my life. It listens to the lies of the evil one. It seek s self-gratification. It does not want to selflessly give. My soul and heart cry out to You for deliverance from my flesh. Because of Christ Jesus I can choose whom I serve. I can choose to continue to be a slave to sin or I can choose Christ and be a slave to righteousness. Today, I choose Christ. I choose to be weak so that His strength be made manifest in my life.
Today:
I choose to follow Christ.
I choose to honor God with my body.
I choose to bring the Lord into my mealtimes.
I choose to take my frustrations and lay them at the feet of Jesus.
I choose to praise and glorify my Triune God…God the Father, Christ Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit who brings comfort, discernment, conviction and peace.
Amen.
Dear friends, let’s renew our minds today so that we can keep our focus on God, the healer of our hearts and minds. Will you pray Psalm 119:37 with me?
Turn my eyes away from worthless things: preserve my life according to Your Word.
by Deanna Lewis | Jun 3, 2016 | Blog, Inspiration, Renew Mind
Last week my son graduated from High School! YAY! But that meant I had some family coming in and guess what??? I was afraid of being judged because my body is doing weird shifting and “stuff”! UGH! Because of this, I have been feeling very uncomfortable in my own skin!
So, last week I had family who stayed with me that could be very judgmental (and sometimes VERBAL ABOUT IT!) regarding body size and shape.
Yep….one visiting family member has been obsessed about weight all her life (hers and everyone elses!) and another one is….well an abuser who is better now, but still says hateful things and has unrealistic expectations (and sometimes expects his way like a 2 year old would). Another family member is very judgmental but usually only says it behind your back.
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Oh, yes.
That was a cocktail environment for emotional eating if ever there was one!
AND a set up for insecurity.
The closer the day came for them to come visit, the bigger my body felt and the more insecure I became!
Taking it to the LORD!
So, I “journalled” about it, I kept renewing my mind about who I am in Jesus and I prayed A LOT. As I took all this to the Lord, He gently whispered to me:
My Love for you, Dear Child, is not based on the size or shape of your body.
I had a realization. (It sort of made me say “duh” because it is NOT new information for me….but oh how the evil one likes to sneak his snaky little ways into my mind!!!)
I WAS EXPERIENCING BODY SHAME!
I haven’t had that in a very long time and thought I was done with that!
But you know what? The evil one is attacking me because GOD is doing HIS work needed to heal me. I am working deeper on issues of codependency. I am back to surrendering my food to God and not thinking about other ways to lose weight….
Yep, I’ve surrendered my food and my love of food to the Lord….and am doing this before I eat each time to recenter my thoughts….but I realized….
I NEEDED TO SURRENDER MY BODY TO HIM TOO………AGAIN.
ALSO, Jesus helped me see my family members through HIS eyes. They are broken people just like me. They may be critical of me and other people, but IT IS BECAUSE OF THEIR OWN DYSFUNCTION to control and THEIR OWN INSECURITY.
They no longer will have control over me.
JESUS HAS ALL AUTHORITY!
HE CALLS ME HIS BEAUTIFUL CHILD AND HIS BELOVED!
Psalm 45:11
For your royal husband delights in your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.
Jeremiah 31:3
I have loved you, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
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Ever so gently, I felt HIM whispered to my heart….
“My Child, I (the God of the universe!) do not condemn you (2 Tim. 1:7), so why does it matter if imperfect people condemn?”
So, Dear Readers….guess what?
I am taking OFF that cloak of shame that the evil one has placed upon my shoulders!!!
I don’t have to wear it! And every time those shameful thoughts come in my head when something doesn’t fit or I feel uncomfortable in my body, I will say
“I take off this cloak of shame!”
“I WILL not wear it!”
I WEAR THE CLOAK OF JESUS’ LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE!
VICTORY CRY!!!
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by Deanna Burris | May 23, 2016 | Blog
I have shared in the past here on the Thin Within blog about miracles that I have recognized God working in my life. I had something happen this past week that in my heart is proof that our God still works miracles today. Do you believe He does dear reader? I hope so. If not, how will you recognize them yourself when they happen to you?
I took on a second job the first of November last year. It started out well; I was busy and was learning new things in my position as a full charge bookkeeper. Well, last week I was let go from this position because the work load had dwindled after year-end books were completed and tax season ended. It was an amicable parting. As I have looked back on the 7 months I worked at that office, I started remembering and identifying how God has really changed my view about food and this thing we call disordered eating.
The work at year end and during the late winter and early spring was very stressful. Stress is one of those triggers that usually makes me run to food. 
And in the office where I was working the company kept the break room well stocked with snacks and soft drinks. After all, the accountants were working long hours and weekends and needed to keep up their strength. We also had clients bringing in snacks and food as a thank you for the work we were doing for them. Let me just say, there was never a shortage of things to nosh on! I can remember seasons in my overeating journey where such abundance would send me into eating all day long, day after day. The miracle here is that because of all the changes God has made in my heart and mind since coming into the Thin Within/Hunger Within community, I was never even tempted to eat from all those “goodies” outside of hunger and fullness. This, my friends, is a miracle.
One of the issues I have struggled with along with weight and disordered eating is rejection.
This is an area where God has worked in my heart through the renewing of my mind in His Word and in Him placing in my heart the truth of who I am in Christ Jesus. In the past, any perception of rejection (being let go from my job [my healing through Thin Within/Hunger Within has changed my perception of many circumstances]) would have sent me into a tailspin and would have me running to excess food. Guess what I did the day I was let go and each day since? I’ve eaten within my God given boundaries of hunger and fullness. That, my friends, is a miracle.
Also, being let go at this particular time has lowered our family income at a time when my hubby and I were anticipating being completely out of debt within a few short months. Let me tell you that I don’t like it when my “plans” get changed. But, I am happy to say that even having our plans postponed didn’t send me into overeating or bingeing as it would have in the past. This, my friends, is a miracle.
I came into this community at a time when I was crying out to God to change me. I was at the end of my rope and was so sick and tired of how I felt in my own skin. My prayer has been since being here for Him to change my heart and my mind, one day at a time, through the renewing of my mind in His Word and through growing into a deeper relationship with Him. I know that the “old-timers” in our community are probably shaking their heads in agreement with the miracles I have experienced. They’ve experienced a few of their own. Those of you that are newer and haven’t seen this kind of victory, all I can say is don’t give up! The miracles will come as you continue to surrender your life and your disordered eating over to God. Keep renewing your minds daily. Keep eating within the boundaries of hunger and fullness. Use the tool chest that Thin Within offers each of us. One day you too will look back at your life and see the many miracles God has been working.
