It is best to give yourself a portion, rather than have a bag of chips or a serving dish of food in front of you. Put an amount of food on your plate and then let that be that. Experiment a bit, but you may want to establish a boundary that whatever food you put on your plate, you will eat that (or less) and then wait 10 minutes before serving yourself more if you think you are still hungry.
A fist is a very reasonable measuring tool to use to evaluate portion size. Here is a video where I share my thoughts on the subject. 🙂
Another approach is whatever you have been serving yourself up to this point (if you haven’t been eating 0 to 5), try serving yourself a third or half of that. I know this sounds extreme, but just remember you can eat again when you are hungry.
Thin Within is quite simple, really, but we find that there are times when it isn’t easy. Times when we clearly want more food than we need. We can have all the practical tidbits in the world, but if we aren’t willing to say no to our fleshly desires, if we aren’t willing to live within our good, godly and delightful boundaries, then all the wisdom and insight will make very little difference!
So, are you willing? I personally, am romancing the willingness. Will you join me?
My hubby, Bob, is applying the Thin Within principles now, too. He has released about 7 pounds. So today, at our anniversary lunch, we took pictures of our meals – before we ate any of it (when it was served), after we ate (what was left on the plate), and the carry out container with the left overs.
First, my meal–I ate about 5 chips with bean dip while we waited. (Not pictured! LOL!)
Cheese enchildas (2 of them), refried beans, and rice. YUM! The above is what was served to me.
I was at a 5 (physically satisfied, no longer hungry, comfortable) when I finished eating. The above picture shows what was left of my meal after I was done. I tried to eat really slow…putting my fork down, talking between bites, sipping my soda. I had only one diet soda with dinner–a record for me (diet soda is something God is working on my heart to release again to Him…more on that another time).
Here is all the food I got to take home! At least two more meals for me, if not three! It is hard to see, but there are actually one and a half enchiladas in the carryout.
Below is what hubby was served:
Steak fajitas. The tortillas aren’t pictured. Below is what was left when he was done:
As you can see, there is a truckload of food left! He figures he will have at least two meals left to enjoy at home, too. YAY, Bob! Even though he ate so little (he did fill up a bit more on chips and had two diet sodas with dinner), he said once the diet soda hit his stomach, he was at a 7. Whoops! But that feeling dissipated pretty quickly. This is what his carryout looked like:
So there you have it…another testimony to how little food we can survive on!
Some would say eating this stuff isn’t “healthy.” For a year and two months I have applied the principles of Thin Within and allowed God to renew my mind about food. I have eaten all the “real” foods you see pictured here in my blog and more. I have eaten them in moderation, however. My cholesterol has been in the healthy range, I am no longer on blood pressure medicine and my blood pressure is normal. (THANK YOU, LORD!!!) I have energy and never feel deprived or struggle with “guilt” about eating something “naughty.” Everything is permissible. Garcia’s mexican food is a “whole body pleaser” for me. In moderation, I can eat and be satisfied and feel great afterwards.
Nothing that *I* could do in myself has caused the weight to come off or my blood pressure to be normal again. He has put in me the desire to have a heart set on him instead of food.
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” (Galatians 5:1). Here is a passage that I think is very powerful. Pray and dare to fathom what God wants to do in your life! He works the wonders! Believe that He can do it!!!
Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
-Colossians 2:20-23
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