I thought it might be a good time to invite questions once again. The last time I did this, a lot of GREAT stuff came of it!
So, whether you are participating in our Bible Study or not…no matter what your experience with Thin Within, here is a chance to ask questions!
Relative to Thin Within, what do you wonder about, want to know, or what objections do you want a response to? 🙂 Use the comments section to ask or email me privately using Heidi Bylsma at gmail dot com (no spaces). Let me know in your email that you are emailing me because of the blog post to give me context. 🙂
I will respond to each question either here in the comments or in a separate blog post or both! If I don’t have an answer, I will find someone who does!
OH! And Don’t forget! These comments and questions COUNT to add your name in this week’s drawing! In fact, today is the last day to comment on the blog to be entered in this week’s drawing. You can win one of three prizes (your choice): Thin Within book, Hunger Within book, or a week of FREE coaching.
I can’t think of any questions right now. But I’d just like to express my heart felt gratitude for finding you at this juncture in my life. I’ve been a thin withiner for about a year but going it alone. I feel a renewed hope and assurance that God is with me on this journey. Bless you!
Oh, Minda! I am so glad to hear it! Thank you for letting me know! God is so kind. 🙂
I want to say how grateful I am for the e mails. I do not check the blog every day but read the e mails. I am so glad you are faithful in doing this for all of us.
I have be trying to practice the thinwithin priciples for a long time, and just can’t seem to have a breakthrough. I have been overweight my entire life. I lost 50 pounds (taking me down t o 215) through weighdown 15 years ago, but my weight went up to 300 when I got pregnant. I lost some, but I have been at the same weight of 240, +/- 5 pounds, for the past 2 years. How do I get off of this plataeu? I get so frustrated and mad at myself when I read my journal entries from 10 years ago with the same feelings. I really dislike being so self focused all of the time. My prayer time is mostly consumed with me and my issues and I know that shouldn’t be. Any advise on how to get things moving would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Yes, Jennifer, Yes! You can experience the NEW THING that God is doing right now. I know how it feels to be frustrated by my own behavior and struggling…and with the journals chronicling all my starts and stops…almost as if they are accusing me of being flaky!!! I would urge you to do the Weight Loss Bible Study material here at this blog… http://www.thinwithin.org/2013/03/04/weight-loss-bible-study-day-1/ is the link to day 1. I know that some of the ladies here will be willing to encourage you as you start. I would LOVE to see others keep this material fresh and alive, supporting one another. This study is written by Barb Raveling. She has shown us how to THINK differently about so many things and, as we do, we find ourselves renewing our minds and being transformed just as Romans 12:2 speaks of. I think there are others here who have experienced a first time or first-in-a-long-time breakthrough as they have been doing this material. I hope you will give it a try! Another option is to check out the coaching option mentioned on the resources page. It feels a little self-serving for me to mention that, but I offer it in case that seems helpful to you. My abbreviated testimony is in the video on that page, too. Praying for you, Jennifer! Thanks for posting!
Thank you so much, I will look at the study to do. Roman 12:2 has always been my fav verse. Maybe I need to look at it again with fresh eyes and a heart that is open to new revelations. Thanks you again for responding.
Jennifer, I hope you enjoy it as much as I am enjoying it! God is using it YET AGAIN (I have done it before) in my life. It really will be a game changer. 🙂 But it *does* take work! Thanks for diving in with us!
Jennifer, The Lord knows how many journal pages I have filled about struggling with food. But He can handle my whining and all that I share with Him. He never grows tired of me. What’s important is that we ARE going to Him! As far as a plateau goes, we can never go wrong with eating 0-5. If that is Gods perfect plan of eating, then we can never go wrong in following His perfect ways. This bible study is so pertinent because it really shows just how important it is that we renew our minds. Honestly, it’s just food. It’s not really about food. It’s about honoring our God and following His perfect ways. So I truly believe that as you renew your mind about 0-5 eating that you will continue to release weight. 🙂
YES YES YES!!! 😀
Thanks Christina!
I blessed by the overview you gave of the three phases of Thin Within. I keep thinking – but I “can’t” eat anything I want because I need to get my cholesterol down a little bit and my blood pressure. . . So I was beginning to think it was all totally relavent to me . . . but then highlighting the verse about “not all things are profitable to me” made it click (again). I was excited to have that truth reviewed – Thank you. It’s been a challenge this week as my son/wife had our very first grandbaby (boy) born on April 1st (yup April Fools baby) – 6 weeks early so he’s in NICU. Mom had planned on a c-section so that was no news, but the little guy is early. Kallen Michael Mathis – 5 lbs. 7 oz. and 19 inches long. He needs to get his lungs a little more developed otherwise he’s doing good. Have a super week everyone!
Congratulations, Connie! Praying for baby Kallen right now. Lord, please strengthen Kallen’s lungs. Enable him to be healthy and whole and well enough to head home with momma and papa very soon. We thank you that you have woven him together and he is fearfully and wonderfully made! Give the family peace during this waiting time. Thank you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. Connie, so glad that the review of the phases was helpful! It is always interesting to me how God strips away yet another layer of depth in this journey, showing us what we yet need to depend on him for. I think I get something nailed down and he is there to lovingly show me the truth…that we need to go deeper. I am so thankful for his grace!
Jennifer. This bible study has made a world of difference for me. I first read TW 2 years ago and have applied some principles, off and on, but the focus, support, videos and focus on mind renewal have really changed things for me. I’m already in some clothes that were small on me and The Lord is indeed renewing my mind. I have to keep reminding myself that freedom and peace are truly my goals, weight release is just a great side effect. Start on day 1 and take your time.
Thank you CMK, I am planning on starting on it this evening once the kids are in bed. I love what you said about freedom and peace being your goals. I have that written as my #1 reason for doing this.
I, too, am grateful for finding your blog again. A couple of years ago I went through the Thin Within material and always eagerly made it a point to follow your insights. At the time, I did fairly well in following 0 to 5 eating but slowly went back to my old ways of careless eating. Fortunately, I re-landed on your blog as you were beginning this Thin Within Bible study. I was so excited when I saw the coaching option, and although, I wasn’t sure what to expect I prayed about it and thought I have tried everything else why not try working with Heidi who has so much experience in this area. Well, here I am 4 weeks into coaching and the Bibile study, and I can only say that I am more faithful now to 0 to 5 eating than I have ever been. Yes, I have released some weight but more importantly I am learning to deal with a deeply spiritual problem that has made me see food as a closer friend than our dear Lord. Heidi has helped me in a very gentle way to open my heart and let the Lord into this very secret part of my heart. All this to say thank you Heidi for all your support and guidance and of course, coaching. Hope you can feel our appreciation for you. Luv
Oh, Lisa. What a gift. Thank you for your kindness. Your words are like a healing ointment today. Thank you. I am preparing for a potential trial in my face that I can see coming and God is using your words to encourage me, to strengthen me, to breathe his love over me. Thank you. I am so glad that he has been able to use this very imperfect vessel for something that can reflect his glory in some small way. I am the one who is grateful!
OK, here is my question and what I am struggling with right now: I have a VERY stressful job right now and I eat out of just about any negative emotion so I am literally always under attack from temptation during the day–and food is so available to me which makes it even harder. I try very hard to wait all the way to a 0 (and feel great when I do) but often times go past a 0 on accident because I am trying so hard or because of wrong timing/wanting to observe my secondary boundaries as well (i.e eat in a calm environment, etc). So by the end of the day, I feel so irritable that most of it was spent in hunger–which adds more stress and desire to overeat. I am wondering if it might be wiser for me to eat between a 2 and 4 or 1 and 4 rather than wait to a 0 which usually ends up taking me past a 0 anyways. I want to lose weight as well, so I really worry that eating at a 2 and stopping at a 4 or 5 would only cause me to maintain. I’m working very hard on not focusing on the weight and just on my relationship with God, but there is no sense in pretending that the weight isn’t a major part of it as well. Thank you so much. I love this study and feel that you do an amazing job of talking on so many things that pertain to my walk. I love the video and audio files and think it’s adorable that your husband is in some of them as well!! 😉
I know what you mean about waiting too long to eat. It’s almost like then you are starting at -2 instead of a 0. Is there a way for you to keep a little bit of something on hand for those moments you need something but don’t have time to really sit and eat a meal? Like a few nuts or a granola bar? Sometimes I will eat a small spoonful of peanut butter when I’m feeling that way and then I feel much better. I get real irritable when I’m hungry, so I totally get what you are saying. But I would honestly eat between 0-5 as much as possible. If you wait too long to eat then you may eat beyond 5. There are times when I may eat a little something at a 2 because I know it may be awhile before I will eat. As long as you are honoring your hunger…
That was what I was going to suggest as well. Keeping nuts on hand is a great way of keeping me from a panicky situation. Just a few popped in my mouth mindfully 😉 helps enormously!
Hi, DoubleJay. Thanks for your kind comments about the study. Barb Raveling is really to credit with most of this. I just threw it out there and you all are such GREAT students. Her material is SO good! About your question, though…I am not sure I understand. When you asked your question you said “I try very hard to wait all the way to a 0…” so I thought your question was going to be about how hard it is to wait for a 0. Then you said that you end up too hungry often times. So I sure botched that! You are concerned because you are successful waiting, but get ravenous? Do I have that right? LOL!
First question: How are you defining 0? I am guessing that this is the first thing to have a good look at. If you are waiting for a growl, I don’t recommend that at all. Most people who get shaky are waiting for a growling stomach that may not happen–it’s a false signal. It can happen before hunger or after we have gotten hungry and been hungry for a while! And wow…this does sound horribly stressful. I would suggest really bathing this situation with prayer. There is peace in that place of humble rest in God’s presence. Ya know?
So secondly, I think eating is supposed to be more like breathing for us than giving birth! At least I seem to turn it into SUCH labor! LOL! I totally follow how it feels like SUCH work for us to wait and then not wait too long and to strain for all we are worth to do this all so “perfectly.” The truth is, we have to calm ourselves and let God teach us. Take some deep breaths and KNOW that this is just eating. It isn’t going to settle eternity for us! God loves us no matter what! If we are in this for the long haul–all our lives–then we have plenty of time to learn, so we can relax, worship the Lord, and give our anxious thoughts to him. Maybe?
I don’t know if this helps or not! Let me know ok? 🙂
Oh! And I highly recommend having nuts on hand to have a few when you are definitely at a 0 and you sense panic coming on…that keeps me from panicking and then I can be more rational about eating.
Father, I pray my focus be on YOU today and not on ME. Put a WANT in my heart for YOU and not food. Deliver me from MY idolatry, greed and gluttony one meal at a time TODAY. Remind me every time I reach for a quick fix in the world that YOU have purposed this moment for me to reach out for YOU. Oh wretched woman that I am…yet you died for me whilst I was still in my sin. Praise your holy name for you are worthy of praised Lord.
Amen!
Yes! Christ chose us to be in him before the foundation of the world. In love he predestined us to be holy in his sight. WHile we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly! Isn’t that all so amazing! Amen, Lord! AMEN!
I have a question…do you ever feel that we can almost over-spiritualize eating? I think my hardest part about TW has been the part that talks about grace when it comes to eating. I have a hard time seeing how eating one extra bite as sin. But at the same time I also understand how all of those extra bites are not helpful over time. Maybe I am over thinking this.
Romans 13 speaks a lot about how we each answer to our own Master on issues of eating…the what, the when, the why, the how much. I really think we can’t possibly paint this with broad brush strokes and do any of us any favors! Perhaps that is where the grace comes in Christina! Grace causes me to hear what God is leading ME to do in the moment, but also to see that what YOU do in the moment isn’t my concern even if it looks very different from me! I think God meets each one of us individually. Gosh, the boundaries people who love God have may be very different. I can’t handle a diet without getting all OCD about it and horribly sinful. My friend Barb Raveling, who has written the study we are using, doesn’t have any trouble with it at all! I don’t get that, but that is part of grace and God being personally involved in our lives. What is such and such for me is not for her or you or any number of other people. That is what Grace is to me in this arena…at least in part. It is also the pardon for me when my heart is convicted. It is also the provision for me to call on God when I need strength to defeat temptation. But also the Presence of my God is grace, too, to be my portion and satisfy my hungry hungry…FAMISHED…heart. Does that help at all or make it just so much worse? LOL!
Heidi, that was so good! To be honest, I have a hard time understanding Gods grace in probably all areas of my life. And I’m not very grace-full within myself at times, which then transfers to others as well. It’s hard for me to NOT see all things as black and white. That’s something I believe God is teaching me right now, even about food. There are so many ways to eat, but everyone can do it differently and it’s all ok (I’m talking about types of food here). This is reminding me that there is sin that is point blank sin, and then there are areas of conviction where God knows that I cannot step into certain areas and maybe the next person could. I can see the grace in that. My problem is that I so easily label things “right” and “wrong” that I don’t leave that area of grace open. We are all learning and all growing at our own pace. Maybe this is why I am so so hard on myself and really battle with diet thoughts in my mind because I see it all so black and white without grace. I have a lot to learn–but I am getting there.
I have to tell you the miracle of God’s timing with ThinWithin, We are in a severe financial crunch at this time. If it weren’t for God’s releasing me from a lifetime stronghold of fear a month ago, which has enabled me to practice the TW principles of 0-5 eating, I would have been up a creek without a paddle because we couldn’t have afforded the way I was eating. It wasn’t bad. It was the Food addicts anonymous plan. But it was expensive. I have literally been able to cut our grocery bill in half using the principles of thing within. I am so, so grateful to God for this.
I have been trying to use this plan for 13 years. I am not afraid to go out to eat anymore. I ride 0 to make sure I’m ok there. Course, that doesn’t happen now unless someone else is paying,. LOL! But our son is helping us afford our vacation in June and I do not have to be afraid of it. I was really dreading it because I was going to have to figure out how to prepare and carry all my food with me!!! Is that a burden or what?!!!!LOL!!
Anyway, thanks to the blog on the stages of TW I know I’m still in phase one. And that’s ok. I know it will pass. But all those years of deprivation… I am at goal weight and have been for over three years now so losing weight is not the issue. Trusting that waiting for hunger and not going over 5 won’t put weight back on me is hard. One can be delivered but walking free is a learned process who’s foundation is the deliverance.
I do love eating with Him. That’s how I look at it. I have a date when 0 comes with Him. Trusting Him is the bottom line these days, and loving Him. With the food out of my ears it’s a lot easier to hear His voice! LOL!
Hugs, Heidi, may He make His presence very real to you in the troubled times ahead.
hugs to all who need them tonight,
Red from Missouri
What a great testimony, Joan. Thanks so much.
Wow…home-run, what a great thought that getting to 0 is an invitation to dine with my God! I am going to tuck that invitation in my lunch box for when 0 comes around tomorrow. Had a chuckle at the “food out of my ears” comment…
Hey Christina, for me the overeating is a sin because it’s an idol in my life. Not every “overeater” has an idolatry in this area. I know in the area of food I replace God with a quick sugar fix most of the time, I struggle with “waiting” on Him and I know I deliberately circumvent my lesson in patience with the quick fix. So, for ME…yes one extra DELIBERATE bit, whilst being rebellious is indeed a sin for ME. Just trying to answer from MY life only. Yep, I do think we can over spiritualize eating – just like anything else that gets out of whack. 🙂
Wow…great thoughts, Lesley. Thanks so much for sharing them!
Lesley, I never really thought of it like that. You are right, not everyone idolizes food.
that was meant to be: one extra DELIBERATE bite… 🙁
Heidi what does a 0 feel like for you?
Hi, Adriane. Here is a blog post about it: http://www.thinwithin.org/2013/03/01/hungry/ For me, it typically is a gnawing sensation in the location where my stomach is…a bit lower than my rib cage and sternum a bit left of center. Sometimes, if I wait a long time or if I had certain foods for my last hunger, it will hit in a hurry and be a SHARP pain in that location.
I just want to say that I always benefit from everyone’s comments, but this is especially true today! Heidi, I really love how you say eating should be more like breathing than labor! LOL! I so feel this way, but make it more difficult than it really is! I also love someone’s comment about one can be delivered but walking free is a learned process. I think so often about the verses that talk about how Jesus came to set us free, but then I wonder why I don’t always feel set free in this area. This is a great point for me to remember that it’s ok to set about on a journey of learning how to live free! Thank you also, Heidi, for pointing out that for some of us, it may always be a “thorn in our side”, but beauty comes out of even that, because we will always have a specific reason to lean hard into our Lord. However the Lord decides to lay my path, I am incredibly thankful for this group and the relief of going through this with all of you. We are each different and yet the same 🙂
What a great spirit! That is the heart of transformation…choosing to see this trial, this thorn, this weakness as the very means through which the biggest blessing will come. I believe THIS is what our God calls us to! THIS is where our victory will be! THIS is what will cause us to think and act differently so that weight *does* come off of us. We will be lighter in spirit and be lifted on wings of an eagle through our trials instead of eating our way through them. Thanks for demonstrating the very thing that we need to aspire to choose!
Thanks so much Heidi!! That helped a lot. I did Weigh Down in the past many times actually and I have struggled with my weight for years going up and down between 60 to even 90 lbs of loss and regain. I am currently at my highest weight. I know that empty hollow feeling in the stomach pouch but I thought I had to wait until it turned into a growl. On a side note I read your testimony last night and I completely relate to the weight struggles. I have really struggled with thinking my worth is based on my weight and I hope to overcome this. I have just recently realized that I have been dealing with an addictive nature and have been a compulsive overeater. I also think I put a wall between me and God because I am afraid of Him getting too close. Maybe it is fear of failure. I have not yet begun the process of removing the grave clothes.
Hi, Adriane. You know, we tend to think of ourselves in extreme terms. I don’t know if you are doing that or not, but I thought maybe you could relate to what I have done in the past. I declared the highest weight I had ever been as if it was a huge mountain…the biggest mountain in the universe…what…a mountain that I really thought God couldn’t move because it was the biggest mountain (size) I had ever been? This One who spoke the worlds into existence, this One who makes the hills spring forth with life, this One who calms the wind and the waves with merely a “Peace, be still.” Do I really think my weight…ANY weight…is too much for him? It is just a dust mite! The whole earth is filled with His glory! He is HUGE in power and in glory and he is the very one who says he has given me everything I need for life and godliness. Woah!
Sorry, I got carried away there for a moment. LOL! Thanks for letting me know how that HORRIFICALLY long testimony 🙂 came across for you. Thanks for your grace! LOL!
Adriane…God IS doing a new thing…right this minute. This moment, you have captured for Him. Greetings Mighty Warrior! 🙂
I was heavily involved with another popular weight loss program which stressed that God’s love is dependent on you obeying God. It’s so hard to break free from this when you have been surrounded by it for so many years…..any suggestions?
Hi, Haley. Yes…definitely renew your mind in a very practical way. You could write down what you believe. Then write down what GOD says is true. Using Scripture is helpful. For instance, God chose you before the foundation of the earth to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined you to be adopted…read all of Ephesians 1 and just write it out and then re-read it (out loud is my recommendation) again and again over and over throughout the day over weeks and months if need be. Also Romans 5, I think it is, that says God demonstrates his own love for us in this, that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. There are many other passages about how God’s love is totally unmerited. I recommend doing the God List and spending time getting to know God’s character. Here is a link to what that is about http://heidibylsma.com/step-6/ and then http://heidibylsma.com/step-7/ shows what you can do with it. I had to spend a lot of time renewing my mind with truth about God’s TRUE character after my experience in a program like the one you mention. I hope this helps!
Thanks so much Heidi!!
And I like the way you put that!!! In God’s eyes this is nothing. I have been reading your friend, Barb’s, blog and hers is great too!!
I have been wondering..is it possible that to reach my 5 I need more food than my fist size portion? I don´t have a problem to only eat a fist size portion though after a day or two eating that amount of food I feel dizzy and I occasionally pass out and I have had quite a serious medical issues about it. So I tried to eat about two or two + a half of fist portion at breakfast and lunch and I feel much better and less hungry during the day…though sometimes I feel guilty about eating over the 5 to 6 or 7…can you tell me what do you think about it?