The P.E.R.F.U.M.E. Zone

The P.E.R.F.U.M.E. Zone

In the wide world of losing weight, despite all the tricks, tips, programs and techniques, there is only one way for weight to actually be “lost” or “released.” Are you ready? Here it is…

    To lose weight, the body must be allowed to utilize its own fat stores. 

In other words, our previously-eaten fuel reserves ~ also known as fat ~ must be accessed and used.

 

 

If, on any given day, I consume the same number of calories as my body uses, (not that I count calories, cuz I don’t,) my weight will stay the same because my food intake matched and took care of my body’s fuel needs.

And if you eat more food than your body uses, you will gain weight.

So, this means that…  even if you eat only healthy foods; even if you exercise, work out, use the stairs instead of the elevator, park in the furthest parking spot, and choose the menu item with a little heart beside it…

…if you do not eat less than your body actually needs to function, thus putting your metabolism into a state of being required to access its own previously-eaten fat stores to obtain energy, you will not lose your excess weight. It will stay exactly where it’s at, decorating your body.

But this is not an enjoyable experience, and is where many of us lose it ~ as in fail to lose our excess weight.

I have a simple tool, but first I need to give you a…

 

QUICK INTRO TO THE THIN WITHIN APPROACH

To understand where I’m going next with this, you need a basic understanding of what Thin Within is about. So here it is, straight from Thin Within’s “About” page:

“Thin Within is based on three principles: physical, emotional and spiritual. The physical principle emphasizes that we eat only when truly hungry and stop eating before we are full.

At Thin Within, we use what we call a “Hunger Scale” to track eating patterns. We encourage people to eat when they are at a “0”, or truly hungry, and stop eating when they are at a “5”, which is before they are full.

We don’t use labels such as “good” foods or “bad” foods. However, as people learn to respond to their God-given signals of hunger and fullness, and forego worldly legalistic food rules, they will begin to enjoy the freedom of making healthy well-balanced food and eating choices.”

 

 

 

One who typically diets might be thinking: “NO WAY! I can’t lose weight without being on a DIET!!!” Ooooh yeah, you actually can!  And much more enjoyably so. Many people have done so ~ just read a few of the testimonies at the Thin Within website! (Christine’s story, Deanna Lewis’ story, Kelly McGarry’s story), Marilyn Osborn’s story)

In addition to following these eating principles, emotional and spiritual aspects are also addressed:

“The emotional principle of Thin Within addresses the fact that we often eat in response to being upset, excited, anxious, nervous, depressed, lonely bored, etc.

At such times we turn to food to fill an emotional or spiritual emptiness, rather than for its intended purpose, which is physical nourishment. If this substitution becomes a habit, food can become an idol rather than a God-given gift.

The spiritual principles of Thin Within come in to play because it is often hard for us to eat from “0” to “5” in our own strength. We need supernatural strength and power to overcome fleshy habits and indulgence.

While food may provide some pleasure, physical nourishment it is not intended to provide spiritual fulfillment, which can only be met through a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father…”

 

 

 

There’s lots more, but that’s a good intro! Now let’s pull all this together.

No matter what my approach or plan, my body needs to use up its own fat reserves, which is going to mean some discomfort for me. It may be physical, emotional, spiritual, or any or ALL of those. And that is where the P.E.R.F.U.M.E. Zone enters the picture! (It may not be uncomfortable for all, but at my age, with my slower metabolism, it gets uncomfortable for me when I’m at a 0. Not pain; just discomfort.)

 

The P.E.R.F.U.M.E. Zone

The capitalized letters in this acronym spell “PERFUME” which stands for:  Previously-Eaten Fuel Utilization & Metabolism Enhancement Zone:

P = Previously 

E = Eaten

R = Reserve

F = Fuel

U = Utilization &

M = Metabolism 

E = Enhancement

Zone

 

This not a product; there’s nothing to buy. It’s simply a way of regarding and dealing with hunger. (I made it up, so you won’t find it on the Web.)

The “Previously-Eaten Fuel Utilization” aspect is simply allowing my body to utilize the “fuel” that I have previously eaten in excess, which I’m now storing as fat on my person.

So now I must allow ~ more like push ~ my body into that mode of accessing my stored fuel by eating less fuel than I use.

Very simply, this means I need to allow myself to get hungry so that my fat reserves are accessed for fuel. There have been times in my life when I have not felt true hunger for months. No wonder I am overweight! And that is precisely where the problem is for me!!! Because, very simply…

 

I DO NOT LIKE TO ALLOW MYSELF TO GET HUNGRY!!!

It is NOT fun, I DON’T enjoy it, and my “flesh man” wants to avoid it at all costs, cuz it just wants to EAT all the time!

But, if I’m going to lose my excess weight, I must stop that, and think and live O-5 eating.

Yes, there are other options, like surgery, but I don’t want to go there. (My sister did, and it was a good choice for her.) I want to bring the heart stuff (junk) that’s been lurking in the dark corners of my heart for years out into the light and dealt with so that I can live in freedom for the rest of my life.

Which, by the way, will be much shorter ~ or at least less comfortable and active ~ if I don’t tend to this weighty matter. (Pun intended.)

So I must allow my body to utilize its fat stores.

I have a feeling that when we are getting down to a 2 and a 1, we are actually starting then to access our fat stores. (If anyone knows, please let us know in the comments!)

And that is where the “P.E.R.F.U.M.E. Zone” comes in. It’s that zone between “starting to empty” and “true hunger.” However, for it to be the “P.E.R.F.U.M.E. Zone,” I must make a heart connection that I’ll explain in a moment. But first…

 

WHAT IS TRUE HUNGER?

First, a couple things hunger isn’t

  • It’s not just wanting food. If you are not physiologically hungry, but you want or even crave food, that’s “heart hunger” or “head hunger.” Heart hunger is just as real as “true physiological hunger,” and it’s very very strong, but it’s not true physiological hunger.
  • Neither growling nor rumbling constitute true hunger, either. One or the other ~ or both ~ might accompany true hunger, but they aren’t reliable indicators that you’re truly hungry.

True hunger is where your stomach feels that gnawing, slightly burning sensation – aka a “hunger pang.” To be hungry can be (is for me) a bit uncomfortable, which is actually its purpose – to motivate us enough to get nourishment and thus enable ourselves to live.

 

 

WHERE IT GETS HARD

But this is where it gets hard! Emotionally ~ because, as I believe I have mentioned, I LIKE to eat! I LIKE food!!!

A little while after we eat, (and how long depends on how much we just ate,) we start to feel our stomach “emptying.” This feels a little like being hungry, but it’s not yet true hunger. In the book God’s Chosen Fast, Arthur Wallis said that, when we stop eating, the walls of our stomach start to shrink, and that is what we are actually feeling at this point. So we shouldn’t confuse that with hunger. And that does make total sense.

But, no matter how much sense it makes, if my heart is not dealt with, and my flesh is still in control of my eating, head hunger kicks in at this point and beckons me to the kitchen… or to my purse where there’s a packet of trail mix…  or to Burger King where something yummy can be ordered real quick-like! But I’m actually only at a 3 or a 2 or a 1 at this “stomach-emptying-and-shrinking” point. I don’t get ~ or need ~ to eat until I’m all the way down to a zero.

So, instead of gleefully rushing to get food, I need to allow my body to shift into utilizing its own fat stores. If I take in food at this point ~ when I’m only at a 3, 2 or 1 ~ I will actually stop up the process of allowing my body to make this shift over to utilizing my fat- I mean FUEL reserve.

Because my flesh is strong, and it wants what it wants ~ food, in this case (in fact, food by the case sounds great!) ~ and, as I may have mentioned, it wants it now. so this is hard!

And this is exactly when I am in a prime position to enter the “P.E.R.F.U.M.E. Zone”!

Meaning…  I choose to sacrifice my desire to eat right now, and I offer up that desire to God as a living sacrifice. A fragrance to Him.

But I need His grace working in me to even be able to do this.

 

 

SCRIPTURES THAT SHED MORE LIGHT

There are several Bible verses that shed more light onto the concepts of fragrance, perfume, and sacrifice.

“Walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”  (Ephesians 5:2)

Christ’s sacrificial act of giving Himself up was a fragrance to God. Likewise, I want my giving up my right to eat what, when, and how much I want to be a pleasing fragrance to God as well!

Giving up my right to eat (now and a lot) is actually part of “walk(ing) in the way of love,” as I am loving myself, which we are told to do in Matthew 22:39:

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

By shedding my excess weight, I’m loving my family, too, because I’ll be better able to serve them, and hopefully for a longer time.

This sacrifice is “expensive” for me. It’s costing me full rights to myself. But our Lord, whose sacrifice on the cross was more “expensive” than I could ever imagine, is worth it, isn’t He?

 

 

“BE HANGRY, BUT SIN NOT”

Then there’s the matter of our mood when we’re getting hungry. “Hangry,” which is “hungry and angry” at the same time, is the perfect term for it. Is your grumpiness evident to all when you’re in a bad mood? Over anything, not just not getting all the food you want, when you want it?

If so, the other part of my sacrifice, is laying down my right to act out my “hanger” while in this grumpy-feeling state. Sure, I can feel grumpy; there is NO sin in that! But don’t need or get to act grumpy. What’s that scripture?

“Be (h)angry, but sin not.” (Eph. 4:26)

 

Since this doesn’t come naturally to most of us, the heart ‘n’ soul of getting and staying in the “P.E.R.F.U.M.E. Zone” is choosing to allow God to help me crucify my flesh to the cross, and to be pleasant, despite how I feel or what I desire.

(I delve into this more in my article “Be Hangry, But Sin Not.”)

METABOLISM ENHANCEMENT

So what does the “metabolism enhancement” aspect mean?

First, we don’t want to slow it down by eating too little or being hungry for an extended time! Like starving myself.

I read this at WebMD.com:

“You slash your daily calories to fewer than 1,000, and sure enough, the pounds melt away. But when you eat so few calories, you train your metabolism to slow down. Once the diet is over, you have a body that burns calories more slowly, and you usually regain the weight.” 

And once your metabolism has slowed down, weight is harder to release because the body, thinking it’s not going to get more food, slows down to conserve!

We want to increase our metabolism. We do this by increasing both activity and (thus, eventually) muscle.

Exercise is about more than just “using up calories” or “moving” and staying flexible. When we exercise, we are actually building muscle, and, what’s cool is that it’s the muscle tissue in our bodies that increases our metabolism by using calories even when we are just sitting! How cool is that?!?  So “Use it, or lose it” really applies here!

Drinking ample water also helps increase our metabolism. I think of it as lubricating the weight-loss process – which it does, literally and figuratively.

So when I first start sensing that emptying-but-not-yet-hungry feeling, I like to get a glass of water, (also a “sacrifice” because I’m not crazy about water), and then do some moving. When I most feel like just sitting and waiting for it to be time to eat, that is actually the best time to go for a walk and get myself moving, and also to renew my mind so that my heart gets pried off of food, and transformed into a heart that longs for the Lord more than it longs for food!

If waiting for true hunger is a challenge to you; if you tend to be cranky when you don’t get what you want, especially when it comes to food, and you want to view this differently and get more out of the process, apply these ideas about “the P.E.R.F.U.M.E. Zone” and get more spiritual mileage out of it!
Let me know in the comments how it goes for you, and any other insights you want to add!

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A note to you who are

[uuuuuum]

“not as young anymore”

 

When I was younger, losing weight was much easier. It was never “fun,” but it wasn’t nearly as hard as it is now at age 65.

As we age, our bodies tend to slow down, so our metabolisms naturally slow down, too. Partly just because of aging, but also partly because of not being as active as I used to be, which is partly because of aging. It’s a vicious circle that I have not done the best job of being on top of.

For me, there were the additional hindrances to being active that resulted from several injuries, plantar faciitis, and a knee surgery, each one slowing me down or altogether stopping me physically for weeks at a time. These also messed up my efforts and desire to have a regular exercise routine ~ which was already a challenge for me ~ and basically took the wind out of my sails. Or I let it.

Plus life just changes once children are grown up and out of the house. Less movement is required to maintain your normal day-to-day living, unless you have an otherwise active lifestyle or job, or unless you have a naturally active lifestyle and/or have applied yourself to physical exercise.

This is all a natural part of life, but we have to be UNnatural and very intentional to combat it.

So, at my age, I now have to allow myself to stay at a 0 for a little longer period of time if I want to release weight. The way I’d put it is that I have adjusted my “0” a bit. Since how we define a zero is quite subjective (who knows how and what we really feel), there’s room for adjustment anyway, so we have the freedom to define it in a way that works for us.

For example, I know of older gals who have said Thin Within doesn’t work for them. They did 0-5 eating for a long period of time, but didn’t lose weight. I wonder if they had adjusted their numbers a bit, redefining their “5” to be more what they had been thinking of as a “4,” and their “0” as a little more hungry.

As Heidi puts it, we need to allow ourselves to get “good and hungry.” If I only allow myself to get “barely hungry” for just a minute and then go ahead and eat, especially at my older age with my lower metabolism, I will likely not release weight.

So we just need to invite the Lord into this process and ask Him for wisdom and discernment in how to apply all this to our own unique situations, and also surrender our flesh and wills to His lordship!

 

God accepts me and loves me

accepted_loved

I recently realized that I was believing these kinds of lies: “God will accept me only when I am at my natural, healthy size.  And if I’m not at my natural, healthy size, then God is disappointed in me.  I am not acceptable until I meet that size.”  As I type those lies out, I’m almost gasping that I would even believe such revolting things–but I did.  And I also realized that I was thinking my “ideal” size was what I was hoping my natural, healthy size would be.  My “ideal” was the image that our culture has made the standard.  I was getting so tired of hearing the lies being played over and over again in my head.  I needed to find out what God truly thinks about me when it comes to my body and size.  Like, I knew that I am ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’, but does God really accept me when I don’t feel like I’m acceptable, like I’m fitting the “ideal”?  Does He love me when I don’t feel very lovable?  So I dove into scripture and searched because His truth is the only thing that matters.  Here are some scriptures that I uncovered:

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” I Samuel 16:7

That was a scripture that I have known for awhile in this journey.  And I knew that God is more concerned about the condition of my heart, but it was really hard to let the appearance thing go.  And I found myself trying to justify my body obsession with saying that “of course God wants me to take care of my body!”  But taking care of my body, the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19) doesn’t mean obsessing over being a particular size or having some beach body.  We all have such different bodies, created by our Heavenly Father, where no two bodies are the same.  And he certainly doesn’t want us obsessing over a number on a scale, over our food, or our body image.

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.  Proverbs 31:30

For some of us, it may be hard to read that and know that we will grow old, get wrinkles, and we won’t look like we did when we were 20.  Aging happens.  There’s no way around it.  So putting our security in our body and appearance will probably, at some point, let us down.  But if we put our fear and security in the Lord (for He never changes), we will be standing upon a Rock and we won’t be wavering every time our “beauty” passes.  I want to focus more on the Lord and my heart beating for Him; I don’t want my life focus to be my body, body, body.  Can I get an amen?

For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.  Galatians 1:10

This scripture challenges me to think about the motive of my heart in wanting to release weight.  Is it to please the world and fit it’s standard?  Or am I seeking to please the Lord and honor the temple of the Holy Spirit?  He wants my heart to please Him first and foremost.

And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”  Luke 16:15

Again, another motive check.  Who am I trying to please?  The world cheers on those who fit the image, but even for those who are desperately trying to fit the image, the enemy is always there saying you are too much or not enough.  For me, even when I released the baby weight after having my middle child, the enemy was there saying, “It’s not enough!  More!  More!”  The world says a certain look is what we should strive for, and basically, it takes a lot of obsession and sometimes desperate measures to meet that standard.  God doesn’t want us trying to live up to the standard of the world.  He wants us to live for Him and live up to what His Word says for our lives.  We cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).  And I think it really breaks His heart when we are constantly striving to have a certain body instead of thanking Him for the one we have.

And that makes me think of another lie I was believing.  I had such a hard time believing that God accepted me at my current size/weight. I kept on thinking, “Lord, you knit me together, but this current body cannot possibly be what you designed for me to be.  How can you accept me as I am?  Lord, my habits of overeating have brought me to this place, so how can you accept me when I’ve done this to myself?”  And that’s why I absolutely have to go back to the Word of God and find out what He says about me because that lie can lead one down a treacherous, shameful, self-condemned path.

Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of GodI Peter 3:3-4

I think it’s nice to look nice.  I think we should take care of our body, honor, and respect it.  It means wearing clothes that fit your current body (stop trying to squeeze into something that makes you feel bad because it’s not currently fitting).  I think it’s fun to have a hair style that we really like, and to wear jewelry, and to wear clothes that make us feel beautiful, but those things don’t make us beautiful.  True beauty comes from within.  The Lord will ask me, “What’s in your heart?”  He’s more concerned about the ‘look’ of my heart.  Am I kind?  Do I speak kindly to my family?  Am I peaceful and secure in the Lord?  Am I compassionate and gentle?  Do I walk in love?

“BUT NOW [in spite of past judgments for Israel’s sins], thus says the Lord, He Who created you, O Jacob, and He Who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you [ransomed you by paying a price instead of leaving you captives]; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…Because you are precious in My sight and honored, and because I love you, I will give men in return for you and peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you;” Isaiah 43:1-5 AMP

I love, love, love, these verses!  He created me!  He formed me!  He’s redeemed me!  He calls me by my name!  I am His!  He is with me!  I am precious in His sight!  He loves me!  Something the Lord has been asking me (once again in my life) is, “Am I (God) enough for you?  If you never released weight, or even gained weight, am I enough for you?”  GULP!  I sort of don’t like that question because He asks it when it’s something I really, really, really don’t want or something I really do want.  Sometimes, to be honest, the answer has been “no”.  *sad face*  And I know that I don’t have the freedom to move forward until I can say “YES!”  And I’ve known for awhile in this journey that I needed to come to that place of being content with my weight/size no matter what.  I knew I would have to come to a place of genuine acceptance.  I fought it, hard.  No way did I want to be content with staying at my current size when I knew there was weight to be released.  Nor did I want to say I would be content if I gained weight.  Are you kidding me?  (He’s not kidding me!)  But now I am seeing that I’ve strived after some “ideal” and I have to let that go and do what I know He’s shown me to do (eating between hunger and satisfaction).  And I’ve had to accept that my natural, healthy weight is where I land when I’m consistently doing just that.  God is enough to satisfy me if I never release weight.  He is my all in all!  And I am all of those things to Him, as that verse says, no matter what my current body looks like!

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[And the Lord answered] Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture of) you on the palm of each of My hands; [O Zion] your walls are continually before Me. Isaiah 49:15-16 AMP

First of all, I think it’s almost impossible for a mother to forget her hungry child.  And I think He’s making that point.  When babies are hungry, they cry.  And if you don’t feed them right away, they CRY even more.  It’s pretty hard to ignore.  This verse reminds me of how if a good father gives good gifts to his child, how much more will God give to us? (Matthew 7:7-12).  If it’s hard for a mother to forget her hungry child, how much more impossible is it for God to forget us?  Totally impossible!  God will NOT forget you!  Or me!  And I love the Amplified version of this verse because it says we are TATTOOED on the palm of not just one, but BOTH of His hands.  We are pretty special!!!  I love my kids so much and I don’t have a tattoo on the palm of my hands of them.  Ha!  So just think about how MUCH He loves you!  Wow!!!  You, my dear brother or sister in Christ, are loved and accepted by Him!

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5 NKJV

I love this verse because it’s saying that He had a plan about us before we were even formed in the womb.  He specifically designed us to be the individual person that we are.  He gave us a personality, likes, dislikes, our looks, etc.  We are His masterpiece!

[He exclaimed] O my love, how beautiful you are! There is no flaw in you!  Song of Solomon 4:7 AMP

He says we are beautiful!  You are beautiful!  He didn’t create you with a flaw!  Not a one!  We were made in His image.  He gave you life!  I love how this verse in the Amplified just puts it right out there; there’s no question or doubt that He says I am beautiful!  No matter what the mirror may tell us or what the world says about our image, HE says we are beautiful!  You are beautiful!  He didn’t create flaws; everything in His creation was “good”.  And that includes you!

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 NLT

I never really looked at myself as His “masterpiece”.  But I LOVE this way of looking at what He did when He created me and formed me.  I am His work of art!  You are His masterpiece!  And then when we become a new creature in Christ–that masterpiece takes on even more in depth beauty!

For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the LORD, who has mercy on you. Isaiah 54:10 NLT

I live around mountains and I’ve never seen one disappear, but just in case if one does, I will know that God’s love is even more faithful than the surety of a mountain staying put.  So basically, it’s pretty much impossible for a mountain to disappear.  So we can be sure that God’s love will ALWAYS be!  His love is unfailing!! (1 Cor 13:)

What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. Luke 12:6-7 NLT

There is really no point in knowing how many hairs we have on our head, but God says He loves us so much and we are so important to us that He even knows that number.  We are so precious to Him!  Can you see just how much He loves you and cares about you?

Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. Psalms 73:25-26 NLT

This is one of those verses that really makes me see how God is totally enough for me.  My security isn’t my health or how lean my body may be.  I want Him to be the strength of my heart because I will always have Him–forever and always.  He is my Rock on which I stand–no matter what!  Forever!

And the last two verses I’m sharing are the same from Zephaniah, but I wanted to share two different versions because they are both so beautifully written:

For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.  Zephaniah 3:17 NLT

The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.  Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV

He delights in us!  Think about how when you have a baby: they sleep, they eat, they poop…oh…and cry.  And eventually they smile, and coo.  But the point is that even in those few things that they do, we delight in them.  We love them just because.  It’s not based on their performance or because of their looks.  We just delight in them and they are so precious to us!  The Lord delights in us and it’s not because of our performance.  He’s like, “See that child of mine?  I love them so much!”  And then he rejoices over us with singing.  This is such a beautiful description of how much He loves us.  So just cuddle up in His arms and let Him sing over you.  He is just so in love with you!

These verses have been such a blessing to me in the last week.  I need to lean upon God’s word in this journey.  His word never changes and it breathes life into my soul.  I’ve been so encouraged as I’ve applied these truths.  When lies arise, I take the thoughts captive and bring them under the obedience of Christ by remembering what God says about me in these scriptures.  For example, today I saw myself in the mirror and immediately I started to criticize my body, but then immediately, God’s truth came in and raised up a standard against those lies (Isaiah 59:19).  I’ve been using these verses to write scripture prayers.  Before even getting out of bed in the morning, I open my notes on my phone and read through these scriptures.  When I truth journal, I include what God says about me from these verses.  And let me tell you, it’s helped so much!  There are so many wonderful tools out there that we can use to renew our mind and to help us think on His truth, but there’s nothing like the unadulterated word of God!

I want to encourage you to keep these verses close to your heart!  You are loved and accepted by Him!  I’m praying that you will be transformed by these truths!

 

 

Accepting & Loving Your Body

Accepting & Loving Your Body

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I had sweet baby Joel 5 days ago (when I started writing this).  He came right on his due date (February 12th) weighing 7lb 4 oz (my smallest baby) and 20 inches long.  He is healthy and sweet and sleepy. He does all of the things newborns do, including keeping his parents up at all hours of the night.  He is a sweet addition to our family.  We are all adjusting to the changes a newborn brings, and that includes adjusting to my post-pregnancy body.  In fact, I think we can all use a little “adjusting” to our body.  By adjusting, I mean accepting, loving, and embracing your body right where it’s at–no matter where you are at in life, no matter your current size.

I was inspired to write this post as I was laying down resting today.  Suddenly, I realized that my belly was no longer rounded, but flat (at least as I was laying down) and squishy. Obviously, I knew that my baby belly was gone, but it was just this deep realization that the baby is no longer taking up residence in my womb and that my body is slowly going back to its “normal” shape and size.  And instead of feeling this pressure that I *have* to reach my pre-pregnancy size, I felt this beautiful acceptance that I just had a baby and that my body is beautiful as it is.  I felt my squishy belly and thanked God for the beautiful miracle that just took place.  I give the Lord the glory and thanks that I’m not obsessing about getting back to a certain size, but that I can accept my body right where it’s at today.

So what is it like to experience eating 0-5 before, during, and after pregnancy?  It’s amazing! As I’ve said before, eating 0-5 works no matter what and that includes all seasons of life, including pregnancy and after baby comes.  My body knows exactly what it needs.  Pregnancy isn’t an excuse to “eat for two” and breastfeeding is the same.  Although, I find that I’m much more hungry while breastfeeding than while pregnant.  And that makes sense because the body needs a lot more fuel to produce milk for baby.  It’s pretty amazing how it really all comes together.  I don’t want to spend too much time talking about how TW works with breastfeeding (that will be for a future post); I wanted to expound more on accepting my body after having baby.

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During my pregnancy, I had my times of struggling with thoughts of being tempted to go back to a diet after having a baby.  But the Lord has clearly shown me how diets do NOT work (95% of diets fail and you gain the weight back plus more over time).  I struggled with thoughts about my body.  I remembered that I was back in my pre-pregnancy jeans 2 weeks after having my 2nd child and I felt this pressure that I had better get back to that by then or if not sooner.  Wow, such unnecessary pressure I put on myself! (A few days after I started writing this post, I am in the next size down jeans.  So I’m not at my pre-pregnancy jeans size, but almost–praise God!  And a few weeks after starting this post, I’m able to [mostly] fit into my regular sized jeans).  But praise the Lord because my mindset is totally different now.  I’m going to love my body and accept it right where it’s at.  I’m going to do that by smiling at myself in the mirror and thanking the Lord for my body.  I’m going to cherish and respect this body God has blessed me with by being satisfied with His provision and eat between hunger and satisfaction (0-5).  I’m going to wear clothes that fit my present body.

One thing I wasn’t able to do much during my pregnancy was exercise.  I had all of these different physical things going on and it just wasn’t working to exercise on a regular basis.  I’m really looking forward to exercising again, but that could be weeks from now.  I will rest and respect my body.  I’m making an exercise goal, but I promise it’s not anything extreme or crazy. I’m going to exercise in ways that I enjoy and I’m going to wait until my body is ready and I’m well-rested.  I’m no longer going to put this crazy pressure on myself to have that “beach body”.  I’m not going to make my body a slave.  I’m going to give it the love, acceptance, and respect it deserves.  I am a child of God first and foremost.  I’m not going to conform to this world’s image; I’m all done with that.

These are not empty words.  These are all truths the Lord has been working and working on getting into my head (renewing of the mind).  I am not a number on a scale or the size of my jeans.  I am not my pre-pregnancy body.  I am who I am because of Christ.  It’s taken almost 3 years to (finally) accept these truths!  I’m so thankful that the Lord is so patient!

Wherever you are in your journey toward freedom, stop and ask yourself: what would happen if I accepted my body as it is, today, in this moment?  Would I give it more love?  Would eating between hunger and satisfaction happen more naturally?  Would I try shoving it into clothing that simply doesn’t fit or wear clothes that fit my present body?  Would I compare myself with air-brushed images or say ‘thank you’ to the One who made my body?

I know not everyone reading this just had a baby.  Maybe it’s been many years since you had a baby. Maybe one day you would like to have children.  Truth is, no matter what your body has done or how it’s changed over the years, you can accept it and love it and respect it right where it’s at.  You can honor God’s temple NOW.  Stop thinking you will only do this when you are that magic number on the scale (get rid of it!) or when you are “skinny”.  Thank Him NOW for the amazing miracles that take place each day in your body, whether it’s grown and birthed a baby, whether it’s gone through some miraculous healing, or even the simplicity of taking you from where you are to where you need to go and doing all of the necessary things needed for life (like breathing).  You were knit together by the Lord in your mother’s womb.  You were marvelously made!

Our body changes as we go through life.  It’s just a fact of life.  Let’s embrace and love and accept our body today!  Honor your hunger and honor your body by eating within those beautiful boundaries God has so lovingly designed.  Take care of yourself.  When you look in the mirror, thank God for your body; purposely thanking Him for those parts you aren’t so sure about.

P.S.  I found this really great article about the pressure the culture and media plays on women about getting their body back after having a baby and how it’s important to accept our new bodies.  Let me know what you think!

The Exciting Truth! – My Body is God’s Temple – Lesson 2 TW Class 2014

The Exciting Truth! – My Body is God’s Temple – Lesson 2 TW Class 2014

Image courtesy of artur84 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of artur84 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

God is doing a new thing! Yesterday’s wrap-up webinar on Lesson 1 is here as a downloadable audio file. Group study questions to follow. 🙂

The Thin Within app is available in the iTunes store! If you like it, please write a review. If you don’t like it…well…it’s FREE. 🙂 Please be kind.

Has your sense of this truth  been cultivated this past week–as never before? I hope so!

Are you renewing your mind with the truths gleaned from the class Facebook page, the lessons, the Sound Cloud or YouTube files available for you? The blog has boatloads of information for you, too.

Onward we go to plunge deeply into one of the most amazing truths that is found on the pages of Scripture–that you are God’s chosen dwelling place on this planet.

I share a bit about that in this video:

Video Questions:

1. Can you identify with the lie that I mention is common (00:43)? How so?

2.  What was the price that God paid for you to be his dwelling place?

3. What are three truths about you from this video that you can renew your mind with this week?

4. How might really believing that your body is God’s temple now affect you?

5. What is the significance of the fact that my body is not my own? (5:30)

6. What is a fundamental belief (actually a lie) that we tend to hold? (6:39)

7. How can you, practically speaking, renew your mind?

8. Consider adding some of the truths in this video to your deck of truth cards as mentioned in 09:10. Which ones will you add to your deck?

9. How will you use your truth cards this week? (What times of day, how many cards, etc.)

10. What are the 5 truths that summarize (12:00) the video?

Renewing the Mind – Pressing On

Last week, we began the process of renewing our minds. Romans 12:2 tells us we are transformed not by gritting our teeth and eating between physical hunger and physical satisfaction. That is all well and good, but if that is all we do, we will revert to old behaviors when the first trial or stressful situation hits.

Instead, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. I mentioned in Lesson 1’s video that we would be going through the workbook this time with a different focus. I hope you have been using Barb Raveling’s book, I Deserve A Donut and Other Lies That Make You Eat or the iTunes app by the same name.  These resources, though optional, are indispensable. If you don’t have it yet, please get the workbook kit, Rebuilding God’s Temple.

Trade Book Assignment – To Be Completed by January 20th

Again, from the deep dark recesses of my hard drive 🙂 , I bring to you this week’s Thin Within Book Study Guide (Lesson 2) for those unable to get a workbook.

Workbook Assignment – To Be Completed by January 20th

1. Read, highlight, mark Lesson 2 on pages B18 – B22 or listen to the audio file of Lesson 2 at  Sound CloudDiscuss it here in the comments section below this post or at our Class Private Facebook Group Page.

2. Complete the exercises for Lesson 2 on pages B24-B28. Use your discretion about the optional exercises on pages B29-B30.

3. Continue to add to your “God List.” Here is a sample beginning of a God List. Here is a video about it if you have some extra time (I did share the link last week here and on the FB page):

4.  Use your God List to have a “Praise Fest” or “Praise Feast.” Find out more about that here. You can find a playlist of PraiseFests here.

5.  Use the entries for Day 7 through Day 14 in the Temple Toolkit. You can use it to write your praise-fest down or to write down the attributes of God that you are aware of that day. Some people prefer to use their journals instead of the Temple Toolkit. That’s fine, too, of course!

6. Have a look at this file: Renew Mind – Class Affirmations These are a list of some of the things our class members have said…TRUTHS that they are using to replace lies they have been believing for far too long. You can write these and other things like them on your spiral bound set of index cards. (I hope you have gotten some index cards by now and are using them!)

7. Continue to eat when you are hungry. Select any food you desire. Some of you are ready to begin to discern which foods make you feel energized! That’s great! We consider those “Whole Body  Pleasers” and we will talk more about those later. If you know your body feels best when you eat beneficial foods, then enjoy!

8. This week, try to hone in on what a “5” is for you. If the entire hunger scale thing feels too complicated or difficult or confusing, please just use this simple test: Hungry? Not hungry? Eat when the answer to the first quest is yes and stop eating (or don’t start) when the answer to the second question is yes. This may simplify it enough to make it doable.

9. Interact here in the comments or at the Facebook group. I would love to hear what God is doing in your life. What new thing are you seeing in your life emotionally, spiritually, or physically? Won’t you give God glory and share it with us?

How About You?

How did the first 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?

The True Source of Healing

Image Source: iStockPhoto

Image Source: iStockPhoto


Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.

– Jeremiah 17:14

In Mark chapter 5, Jesus is surrounded by a mob of people. In the midst of the crowd is a woman “who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years” (verse 25). She had tried just about everything and everyone.

In Mark 5:26 we see “She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.”

In her ailment, she had looked for healing everywhere that she could think of. She had spent all of her money and yet, ironically, she had suffered more and actually gotten worse.

Have you ever felt this way? The more you sought help and freedom from overweight and overeating, the more diets you experienced, and the more you knew, maybe even the more doctors you went to about this, the more found yourself actually in bondage to food, the thoughts of food, the lust for food and the inhaling of food when you weren’t hungry?

I have. After a year in the 1990s with a popular weight loss program, losing 100 pounds with a very strict diet and obsessive exercise, training for three marathons, studying to become a certified personal exercise trainer, I found myself with a worsened “heart condition.” Like the bleeding woman, I had looked to anyone and everything for healing *other* than the One who could truly offer it. My heart was attached to—obsessed with—food.

The incredible thing is, God can take these “failures” and our desperation and actually use it all. This bleeding woman had become so convinced that the only source for healing left for her was Jesus, that she knew that if she just *touched* his clothing, she could be healed! Now that is faith! Jesus sought her out. He wanted to see this woman face to face—not because he didn’t know who she was. He knew. He was God, after all. But he wanted to speak to her personally. In Mark 5:34, we are told what he says to this woman after she was healed: “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

What marvelous words. These words He longs to speak to us! This very healing he longs to impart to us. Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! – Isaiah 30:18

But who are we looking to for our healing from this tendency to eat more than we need to sustain our bodies? Are we looking to Him? Truly? Are we seeking His healing? Or are we seeking the healing through any number of other methods? Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. – Ps. 107:19-20

If He heals us, it isn’t at the expense of our souls. When the Lord saves us, we truly are saved. Let us turn to Him, focus on Him, praise Him with our lives. In that place we, too, will experience the rush of power into our lives that sets us free from our suffering!

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. – Hebrews 12:2

Lord, I choose to come to you today for the healing I need. I need to be healed of my tendency to turn to food to process my emotions. Conversely, I know sometimes I replace overeating with restricting and I turn to dieting to “save” me—as a functional Messiah of sorts. I choose to reject this tendency, Lord. Instead of either unhealthy approach, I want to view food as fuel and be set free from extra weight and over-eating. I want to be set free from needless restricting. I know you alone can work these changes in me. I come to you, Jesus. Amen.