People in my life who have helped me–(left to right) Jan Tabrizi, my first Accountability Partner with Thin Within back in 2000! Pam Sneed, who mentored me in leading my first online Thin Within group, and Judy Halliday whose patient perseverance and constant gracious love kept me hanging in there! We are BETTER TOGETHER!
It’s time to get an accountability partner if you haven’t yet! I hate to think where I would be if I hadn’t experienced the loving support of others through the years. All three of the dear ladies in the picture above were online friends *first* before I ever met them in person! 🙂
If you have gotten a partner, please help us out:
If you posted to the Accountability page previously and are NOW paired up, please go back to your post and reply TO YOUR comment on the Accountability page and type: “I have a partner now.”  Or something like it in response to your own comment. I know that seems silly, but it will be really helpful. That way people will know you are already spoken for!
If you have not yet gotten an accountability partner, but HAVE posted to the Accountability page previously, please pray and then select someone on the page that you might like to connect with. THEN: EMAIL MEand tell me the name of the person that you want me to give your contact information to. I will contact them and let them know.
Please email me, though, or I won’t see your request, ok?I don’t do the pairing. You all do that and I just supply the contact information.
If you have a difficulty in your partnership (it happens) and it wasn’t meant to be for you with that person, please go back to the Accountability page and post under YOUR ORIGINAL POSTING a reply (I know it is weird to reply to yourself) that you are available after all so we know that you are still “up for grabs!”
If this doesn’t make sense, please post and ask me questions or shoot me an email. I won’t pair people up with one another, though. It doesn’t usually work for me to do that.
One of the first things you will want to do as partners is figure out what you want your accountability to look like. Will it be daily? Weekly? Scheduled (like each evening) or flexible (only when I feel like it…I don’t recommend that one!)? Do you want your partner to email you and ask how you are doing if she doesn’t hear from you? Will you send short reports to one another or will they be one word answers? Will you use the phone? Text? Email? What will your goals be for the partnership? I suggest you commit to this for 4 weeks…the rest of the study. I suggest three accountability points, but you can do what you like. I also suggest DAILY in email. That is just my preference.
Pray for one another, too!
Rather than post here that you are still looking for someone, please go to the Accountability Page and do it there! Thanks so much.
I hope you have been blessed by the focus on the truth God speaks over you, that you are fearfully and wonderfully made.
It has encouraged me to no end to see you participate in the study with one another  in your comments and there are a bunch of you who have posted on the Accountability page! Be sure to email me and let me know if there is someone you want me to send your contact information to. Let’s get paired up for the next 5 weeks. 🙂 I don’t want anyone left behind!
This week, we have a chance to look at the *mechanics* of this way of eating and living. Where last week a foundation was laid for our relationship with our good and patient Savior and establishing the fact that we want to EXALT Him instead of making it be about ME ME ME, this week, we learn to rely on the signals that our Great and mighty, creative, God has put in our bodies. He has made our bodies to be trustworthy indicators–especially as we submit to our God in prayer and ask Him to guide us to be obedient and honest.
Here is today’s video:
You may need to renew your mind if you are fresh out of dieting or if you have been vacillating back and forth between Thin Within and a diet. Just jot down (in a moment when you are convinced)Â truths about eating based on the physical cues of your body vs. eating according to a plan provided by a dieting company or industry (who loves to make money out of our failure).
What IS true about letting your body signal you for hunger and satisfaction? Here are some truths to get you started:
When I am hungry and eat, contrary to popular “wisdom,” I am not going to go into starvation mode and not lose weight. Instead, I am showing my body that it is perfectly safe to get hungry as I will eat when I am hungry!
It may seem like a small amount of food that satisfies me. That is because it is! But I can eat again as soon as I am hungry!
My body is so efficient!
When I eat when hungry and stop when I am not, I choose an effortless, easy way of regulating my food intake.
Eating when I am hungry and stopping when I am no longer hungry is the most natural way of eating the amount that my body needs in order to be it’s God-ordained size.
Eating when I am hungry and stopping when I am not enables me to eat all kinds of foods that I enjoy. I don’t have to count. This works. It has for millennia!
This approach frees me from obsession about food and nutrition information. I am free to use what I know about nutrition and free not to. I can listen to the Lord’s leading instead of the “leading” of the popular diet guru.
God knows me intimately (Psalm 139) so it stands to reason that his way will provide me with what I need.
This is radically different from the world’s way of doing things!
Colossians 2:20-23 confirms this:
You have died with Christ,
and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world.
So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as,
Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.
These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion,
pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline.
But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.
So let me ask you the same things I ask in the video…the same things we are asked in the material we are studying:
Has being obsessed (even just a bit) with food, eating and your body, hindered your growth to be all that God intends?
This is a convicting question! Notice that it zeros in on being obsessed with food, eating and your body…obviously, God has a plan for all of us that we haven’t yet realized! But the focus here is…what is keeping you from it? Is it possible that the very thing that you pursue because you “want to honor God” is pursued in such a way that it stands  in the way of being what you could be?
If the Father seeks worshipers who worship in Spirit and in Truth, and we are thinking about ourselves so very much…does that, perhaps, tell us the answer?
What self-destructive lies have you believed?
What TRUTHS can you embrace to counter the lies?
Are you willing to befriend your body? What might this look like for you? Do you need to renew your mind about your body in order to do that? Here is what that might look like for me:
My legs have enabled me to hike and bike ride and see amazing scenery where no car can travel.
My abdomen–the one that has stretch marks (now faded)–carried both of my children into this world.
My chest nursed my children to give them a good start. Even if I think I look like “National Geographic Woman” now (everything is dripping a bit south), I know that my body has done a remarkable job!
My hands have played the guitar and keyboard for the worship team and our church family
My teeth have chewed the food I need to get the nutrition I need and while I have sometimes used them to chew more food than I need, I am still thankful for them!
My feet–which I so often criticize for being too big–have carried my body for 52 years (less the first year of my life, I guess). They have taken me all kinds of places!
My shoulders–as broad as they are–have enabled me to be strong to move hay, to carry furniture when needed and other heavy burdens.
I think you get the idea. Sometimes, I need to renew my mind several times a day about whatever it is I am struggling with. To “befriend” my body, as the authors suggest, I might need to review this list a number of times!
How about you? What do you need to renew your mind about as we progress this week and begin to get in touch with our hunger/satisfied signals? Does befriending your body seem impossible and, even, repulsive? Ask the Lord to show you HIS truth!
Assignment:
Complete all of Lesson 2, the personal study and the group study.
Write out your responses to the questions on page 45 under “Sharing and Discussion Questions.”
Create personal HEAL goals for each level of the HEAL pyramid (page 36)
Renew your mind about anything that God leads you to renew your mind about. I recommend doing this as part of your time with the Lord first thing in the morning–even if it is in the shower or as you dress and get ready for the day.
Select an accountability partner if you haven’t yet!
Optional:
 Consider memorizing the verse on page 42
Add to your God List and have a praise fest! Do this at least once this week, if not several times.
What do you sense God is leading you to make a priority this week regarding your eating, renewing of your mind, your time with Him, an accountability partner, and anything else mentioned in our study so far?
Much of today’s post will be written by YOU in the comments! I hope you are ready to join in! 🙂
First, put on your holy  imagination! Pretend we are on a picnic in the middle of nowhere…enjoying a crystal clear blue sky, the music of the meadowlark, the clouds drifting lazily by, and the majestic mountains in the distance. My living room wasn’t available this week!
Yes, I captured this week’s “group session”–our first for our study of Healthy Eating and Abundant Living–while on the road trip with my son! I was thinking of you non-stop as I drove over 4000 miles and so when I saw this view and the relatively quiet opportunity to record some thoughts roadside, I grabbed it!
So, please get your bible. Open to Psalm 139 because we will read it together! Just like we would in person! (If you are an email subscriber, you may have to visit the blog in order to view the video.) – In time, I hope to get better about lighting and all. For now, just know I was TOTALLY enraptured by the joy of being in that beautiful place, imagining you all with me and reading this glorious Psalm!
Are you beginning to believe what God says about you yet? That you are fearfully and wonderfully made? 🙂
If we were sitting together…all of us…on a lovely picnic blanket under the azure sky, I would ask you the questions in our books:
What does “wonderfully made” mean to you?
And just because I am a maverick, I might also ask:
What does being “fearfully made” mean to you?
This blog and website has been a wonderful place for many of us to share in ways we don’t often with people face-to-face. But in person, I would ask a challenging question, suggested, again, by the authors of our book:
In what areas of your life have you been living in the dark?
Some of us are giving in to tickling the back of our throats again…
Others of us are using laxatives in order to move the (usually large quantity of) food through our systems quicker so as not to absorb it.
Some of us may be “riding the zero”…more than we know God would have us.
We hide our eating by sneaking fast food in the car and then coming home and having dinner with the family as if we haven’t just had a full meal.
Or it might be another way completely.
Jesus tells us in John 8:32 that knowing the truth sets us free and, although he was talking about his teaching specifically, there IS a principle that we can draw from this verse…and it is that running from truth or hiding from truth is not the way to freedom. Facing IN to truth is.
Here is another thought…your truth…is with a little “t.” What if you were to let God TRUMP your little “t” truth with His BIG “T” TRUTH? Your truth may be true (then again, it may not be), but God’s Truth supersedes and overrides and commands all other little “t” truth.
What do you think?
What scares you about living in the light?
Have you hidden your struggles with food and your body from God and others?
Have you visited the Accountability page here? Do you have a prayer/accountability partner yet? How is that going? What can I do to help you with that so that you no longer feel the need to hide, but have someone that is praying you through and that you can support, too.
One of the amazing things in God’s Word is the principle that when we minister to others, our *own* healing takes wing! We experience healing in deep places in our lives when we support, encourage, and minister to others (see Isaiah 58:8-12). Connect with someone and give it a try!
What are your thoughts about being knit together, stitch by stitch, in your mother’s womb? What does that say to you about the God you serve?
How can we pray for you in the week ahead?
Get your typing fingers going and chip in below! 🙂 I love seeing you minister to one another!
Welcome to our launch day for our study of the Healthy Eating and Abundant Living book by Allie Marie Smith and Judy Halliday (the founder of Thin Within).
If you haven’t yet gotten the book, check it out here.
First, a video to talk about where we are going (email subscribers may want to visit the blog site so that you can see the video if it doesn’t show up in your email):
Three things that I hope you will allow God to really bring home to your life through your study:
You are fearfullyand wonderfully made. (See Psalm 139:14) You might want to renew your mind about this. Use this passage to think differently about YOU!
For six weeks, consider committing to this path. Just a month and a half. That means you won’t quit. You won’t give up–even if you don’t do it “perfectly.” Just hang in there and keep on doing your lessons and showing up and sharing your thoughts here at the blog. Post here to encourage others. For six weeks…will you? 🙂 Pretty please? (Yes, I am shamelessly pleading!)
Step into the light…no longer hiding anything from the Lord. To learn the truth about yourself. He is gentle, kind and loving. We don’t need to run from truth (which we sometimes tend to do). Invite him to shine his light on your heart and life.
Assignment this week:
Can you get an accountability partner? 🙂 Prayerfully consider it.
Look over the HEAL principles on pages 9 and 10 (and if you haven’t read the introductory material yet in the book, you might want to do that).
Consider starting a GOD List (more details to come). You can find an explanation here.
Adopt the primary boundary of eating 0 to 5 — waiting for physical hunger (in Thin Within we call that “0”) and selecting any food you desire (no dieting rules, good food/bad food lists). Stop eating when you approach “5” — physical satisfaction. If you aren’t sure about when that is, serve yourself about half as much food and eat twice as slow as you typically do. 🙂 It will feel like you are eating just as much.
Complete the personal study and group study for Lesson 1–this is through page 29 of my version of the book (second edition) or up to the place where it says TWO: The HEAL Basics.
Complete the WHERE I AM evaluation included in those pages.
Renew your mind. Replace lies with truth in a practical way…with scripture memory cards, with Barb’s app, with a list you prepare ahead of time. We will be talking more about that in the next 6 weeks.
How this will work – Each Monday, I will post the new assignment and also a video to preview what we have ahead. On Fridays, I will post about the material we have studied…even though some of you may not have finished the week’s material…that’s ok. Please don’t feel like you have to quit because you aren’t at the same place. TRULY, it is NOT a problem. I know some don’t check the blog on Saturday and so want to have it available for those who do on Friday. If you don’t get to it until Saturday, that’s fine. Remember to go at whatever pace God leads YOU.
Even if you aren’t going through the study with us, it is my intention to make the content here at the blog relevant to both those who are doing the study AND those who aren’t. So please keep on visiting!
So, how do you feel about this new leg of the journey? What is God impressing upon your heart even now? How can we be praying for you?
Hopeless Eating – Do you struggle with the thought that I will never conquer this challenge? Do you feel like  eating and weight will always be a struggle for me? Barb shares in her study that truth journaling about this is crucial! Reason with me for a moment: Who is it you serve? What does HE say about your struggle? What does he say about YOU? By way of review (or new information if you haven’t yet seen it), I urge you to download, print out and speak out loud each day Who I Am in Christ. <– Click that link and you will see a pdf document that is filled with wonderful truth about who you are in Christ! It is so very difficult to speak this truth over your own life and to remain hopeless. Christ blew the LID off the grave so that hope might be victorious forevermore! If you like, review the video where I speak about hopelessness. It is here. Also, Truth Journalingis an invaluable tool to fight the lies with truth when we struggle to experience hope. We CAN get to the other side of the feeling of hopelessness. Let’s fight our way through it. Besides, will eating make it any better? It never has before. In fact, eating feeds the very hopelessness we want to combat!
What are some truths that can feed and fuel hope when it wanes for you? Share here so we can all benefit from one another!
Good Food – or Yummy Food – Eating – Do you struggle with thinking if it is there and I want it, I must eat it?  This is the mentality that just says there isn’t any deep hidden meaning going on here right now in my desire. I just want the food and there it is so I will eat it. To not give in to yummy food eating we can be proactive. If we know we are going to be in a situation where we will have opportunities for eating food that tastes good when we aren’t hungry, we can plan for victory! Some of Barb’s questions are so helpful to me personally. In fact, I think I have started thinking sort of like her! LOL! (In a good way!) Will eating this right now break a boundary? Will I have to learn to say no to my temptation to break boundaries? If I don’t learn that, what do I know is likely to happen? Given my history, do I have the ability to eat whatever I want whenever I want in the quantities I want for the reasons I want without it coming at extreme cost? In light of the TRUTHFUL answers to these questions, what will I choose right now?
How about you? What are some questions you can ask yourself in the moment when the food is there and you, simply, just WANT it!?
Bad Scale Eating We just completed a “Ditch Your Scale” Challenge. Why not start your own challenge? Can you not get on the scale for a week? Do you feel like the scale has too much power over you? Do you feel like one person posted, “Sure, I will give up my scale as soon as someone pries my fingers off of it!” Many of us feel that way. We have an unhealthy relationship with that device that is meant to be a tool, but we can’t seem to drum up the willingness to grow through this. We continue to seek approval of the bathroom scale. Let’s pray that God will help us to stand on His Word and on His promises. Let’s do what one person here at the blog said and choose to stand on the promises of God found in Scripture that says he who began a good work will carry it on to completion. She said she would choose NOT to “check on his progress” by stepping on the scale for two weeks. Does weighing yourself cause you to celebrate by eating? Does it cause you to comfort yourself by eating? Then it might be a good thing to evaluate if you should have a friend or family member take the scale for a couple of weeks and pray you through this.
What does God call you to do relative to the bathroom scale? If you are able to use it as a tool and not allow it to define what you will do next, then you may have a wonderfully healthy relationship with it. If, however, you give it the power to make you feel like a success or a failure, consider doing something radical! 🙂 What will it be?
