As some of you know who have followed my blog for a while, I have been on a weight loss program and had pretty good success with it for a while, until my knee started getting very stiff and I couldn’t exercise much, if at all. Now that I have recovered well from my knee replacement surgery, I have gotten back to working out at the gym and at home and trying to follow a good, healthy diet, not a fad diet but a good lifestyle change in what I eat, concentrating on “clean” eating, rather than processed foods, cooking more and substituting some ingredients for healthier alternatives, for example spaghetti squash with my homemade sauce instead of white pasta. Of late I have been rather frustrated because my weight keeps fluctuating in a 5 lb cycle, rather than going down! Frustration is not a good thing for me–it can lead me to decide I can’t do this some days and eat too much though I do try to fight that.
I’ve been praying about it and tonight I found it very interesting, as I was reading my Bible, to come upon some interesting verses in Ecclesiastes 5:10-12. It reads as follows in the Amplified Bible: 10 He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with gain. This also is vanity (emptiness, falsity, futility). 11When goods increase, they who EAT them Increase also. 12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet whether he eats little or much, but the fullness of the rich will not let him sleep.”
These verses got me to thinking about the dilemma so many of us find ourselves in with the ups and downs of weight loss and what we can do to get beyond it, with the Lord’s help.
I looked up the word overeating, concentrating my search on biblically based articles. I came upon one definition which was a play on the cliche from the movie Top Gun ‘Son, your ego is writing checks your body can’t cash‘ but whoever said it (unknown) said Overeating is the tongue writing checks that the body can’t cash.” 🙂 I thought that was kind of apropos to the subject, since the tongue is where our taste buds are and they can get us into trouble fast!
I found some other verses in the Bible as well that spoke of or alluded to overeating as well. Proverbs 23:21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty and drowsiness will clothe a man in rags.” And also in 2 Peter 2:19, A man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. I think we safely can say that we have become a people who are definitely slaves to the food we eat and how much of it we consume, which can translate in it’s worst form to gluttony.
Is compulsive eating a sin someone asked? and the answer was a simple yes. Philippians 3:19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach and their glory is their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.”
Gee this all sounds so depressing, doesn’t it? It does to me, but it doesn’t have to be. I can choose to look on this as a wakeup call to try harder and add some things to my regimen of eating and exercise instead of trying to do it all myself. I, as well as any of us, can choose to place my faith in God; surrender to Him; ask for His guidance; give him the control.
We often say we lack willpower to resist the food but the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us, can certainly help us change our focus. A good verse to remember is found in 1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” My personal favorite verse that I lean on to help me through all struggles is found in Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
I found long lists of many do and donts of dieting. They are seemingly endless! I won’t even try to list them all but one did catch my eye and makes a great deal of sense. Don’t adopt a plan just because it worked for someone else. Do adapt a personalized plan that works for your individual lifestyle.
Make a choice to eat healthy foods, fresh foods as much as possible, rather than processed foods. Develop a knowledge of good nutrition. There are multiple sources on the internet that are reputable; consult a dietitian if that makes more sense for you. Ask your doctor! And the best thing we need to remember is DON’T GIVE UP IF YOU MESS UP! Just start over with the next meal! We are human–we all mess up or find ourselves in situations where we cannot necessarily follow our new normal eating habits. Happens to me often, which is why I felt led to spend some time in God’s word and in reading other material that is Bible-based and journaling about it, which led to this blog post.
My prayer for myself and for all of us who struggle with weight issues is the following: Lord Jesus, please help us and guide us to stay on the path to successful weight loss, better health. We know, Father, that it requires changes in ouir lifestyle, persistence in sticking with those changes in eating and exercise. We know, Dear Lord, that alone we are incapable of true ongoing success, but as you promised in your word, you will never give up on us! Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this that He who began a work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of the Christ Jesus.” Lord, we love you and we thank you for all you do for us, because you love us. In Jesus precious name we pray, Amen.
My first born son, Joey, 10/9/64-11/26/2002
Elaine's Random Thoughts 