Sabotaging Yourself

Being healthy takes commitment. It’s not something you just wake up and decide to do one day. The same thing goes for losing or gaining weight (not sure how many of us decide we need to “gain” weight).

In my own effort to stick to a consistent exercise routine, I decided to set an alarm on my smart phone. Morning times are crazy for our family, so I set the alarm for 8:00 p.m. at night. The kids are in bed by that time and I own a professional grade treadmill. At 8:00 p.m. five evenings a week my phone beeps and the message, “EXERCISE 45 Minutes!!!” flashes across my screen. This was supposed to help me stay committed. In my mind I would see the message and feel guilty enough to lace up my Asics and run 4-5 miles….

Fast forward three weeks- my alarm has consistently gone off Monday-Friday at 8:00 p.m. How many times have I actually laced up my shoes?

ZERO!

Not one time!

Do I feel guilty when I see that little message flash across my phone?

NOPE!

Have you ever been in an exercise slump? This is the longest I’ve ever been in one. Normally my body rebels but my mind is willing….now my body and mind have reached an agreement to rebel at the same time!

A trip to the doctor two weeks ago (for an unrelated issue) required me to step on the monster machine (scale). It was a rude reminder that my Asics needed some traction time. Have I complied? NO!

The Apostle Paul had this same problem. Remember in Romans 7:15 he said, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.”

If you stop reading there you might become discouraged and give up. Paul explains that even though we are a new creation in Christ, we still have our sinful nature. He says in verse 17 that, “it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” We sabotage ourselves. At the end of the day there is no one to blame but the sin that dwells in us.

“O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

I sabotage myself before I ever get started. The intention to exercise I placed on my droid has to be an intention I follow through with every day. Romans 8:5 says, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is LIFE and PEACE.”

The saboteur in my life is my sinful nature. However, since I have “been set free from sin,”(Romans 6:22), I can choose to live according to the Spirit.

My body wants to relax in my favorite chair at 8:00 p.m. every night. My mind wants to read a good book or write. My flesh craves to do NOTHING.

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” – Romans 8:13

Today is a NEW day! Each day, every meal, every 8:00 p.m. reminder we can choose to “present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” –Romans 6:19

Will your daily habits keep you strong and healthy for years to come or do you sabotage your own efforts to live according to the Spirit?

Don't You Want me Thin?

Have you ever tried to lose weight? I’m sure most of us at one time or another has tried to drop a few pounds. I have LOTS of experience with that famous, “last ten pounds”. It has been my biggest enemy and a distant memory (right now, we’re communicating amicably!).

Over the years I have tried to help people lose weight. Usually it is more than 10 pounds. When a person has more than 30 pounds to lose, and they’ve been trying to lose it for a long time, I am looking for a saboteur! Usually this saboteur is someone very close to my weight loss patient; a spouse, parent, sibling, best friend, etc. Many times these people are shadow-saboteurs. They are sneaky and sly!

Do you have any weight loss saboteurs in your life? Are you a saboteur? Common phrases used by these saboteurs are:

“You? Stick to a diet? Good one!”

“Here honey, I bought this 7 layer chocolate cake on sale!”

“Just start your diet Monday, let’s celebrate this weekend!”

“I spent all day fixing this lasagna for you! What do you mean you’re not hungry?”

If you’ve heard any of these, chances are you were looking into the face of a weight loss saboteur. Another way these sneaky saboteurs’s work is to over eat in front of you, bring your favorite comfort foods around you, invite you out to your favorite place, and many other tricks. Sometimes you want to look at them and ask,

“Don’t you want me thin?”

Can I tell you that many times they DON’T want you to lose weight? I wish I could say it is because of great intentions but many times it’s not. Jealousy, fear (of change), selfishness…those are all common reasons that drive the saboteurs forward. You cannot change what they feel, but you can make them aware of the influence they are having in your quest for health.

There are 3 quick steps I recommend:

Communicate: Let your saboteur know how their actions/words make you feel.

Ask for it: Ask for support. Even if it’s your 100^th try in this quest, ask for support!

Prayer Strength: The Bible tells us that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Lean on the strength of prayer. You may not be able to change the words, or expressions of doubt you see from across the other side of the table, but you can change how you respond. Draw strength from your biggest supporter, JESUS! Any time our goal is to build up and repair the temple He gave us, He will be at our side every step of the way!

Sabotage is a nasty word and an even nastier action. Make sure the saboteur isn’t the person looking back at you every morning!

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Masks

It’s time to pamper your skin! Oatmeal isn’t just that warm, comforting breakfast we eat when we are in a hurry. It can also be used to nourish the skin! It is rich in protein, potassium, iron, phosphates, magnesium, and silicon. Check out the recipe for your skin type!

OILY SKIN

½ cup cooked oatmeal

1 egg white

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

½ cup mashed apple

DRY SKIN

½ cup cooked oatmeal

1 egg yolk

½ banana, mashed

1 tablespoon of honey

NORMAL SKIN

½ cup cooked oatmeal

1 whole egg

1 tablespoon almond oil

Mix all the ingredients together into a smooth paste. Spread on your face and leave on for 15 minutes (you might want to soak in a bubble bath and sip chamomile tea during this process). Rinse your face with tepid water and pat dry.

(adapted from Janice Cox’s Natural Beauty at Home, 2002)

Freeing Me- continued

This week I will continue to post excerpts from "FREEING ME". Please leave a comment and share your first memory of food with us!

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I have a fear of water, mainly large bodies of water such as lakes and oceans. I don’t foresee me ever taking a cruise. When I am flying over the ocean, I pretend to sleep. My fear is simply that I don’t know how to swim well, and I am afraid of what is in the water. With that being said, it fascinates me to watch National Geographic’s shows about the ocean and sharks. When the fishermen lower the big chunk of tuna or “chum” into the water to lure the sharks, I am fascinated to watch the frenzy that inevitably takes place. It conjures up childhood images of potlucks at church! Most of us have been there before. People who never show up for church unless there is food come in droves to a potluck. You better hope you're not the person to grab the last piece of chicken!

I grew up with six siblings. We were a low-middle class family, (dad was a full-time pastor and full-time plasterer), with just enough money to make ends meet. Every year we grew a garden, raised chickens and goats. The garden supplied our vegetables, the chickens our meat and the goats our milk. Mom was a diehard advocate of the farmer’s food pyramid: meat, starch, fat, vegetables, grain, and desert. Every dinner included one of each! She taught all of us to cook from scratch (no boxes), and create a meal when there were only dandelion flowers, cornmeal and lard as resources.

With nine people eating at one table, food disappeared fast. The moment after the food was blessed; hands started grabbing. Anything left on the plates went in what we called a compost bowl and my oldest brother ate it (he really did!). A meal in my childhood family was a human version of National Geographic’s shark feeding; a feeding frenzy at the highest degree! Family dinner became the time that we planned and prepared for all day. When breakfast was over, we would think about dinner. What would we fix? Roast, potatoes, carrots, yeast rolls, gravy, green beans, and sweet tea? Should we fix baked chicken, corn on the cob with mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits and sweet tea? Would desert be chocolate cake or apple pie? Maybe desert would be Lemon squares or brownies?

Dinner was the time of the day that we, as a family, gathered and talked about our day. Dad would tell funny stories from his childhood or his military days. We all had something to share and no one ran away as soon as they finished eating. We lingered to talk and pull the chicken off the bones, for a big pot of soup to be created in the near future. It was our time to connect as a family. Whatever that day had thrown at us, it didn’t matter during that time.

Family fellowship was not the only way we used food. When we felt scared, brokenhearted, excited, or felt any other emotion, we used food to mark the moment. Because dad was a pastor, there were many times that our family was verbally attacked for one thing or another. I wish I could say that our parents taught us to handle those attacks on our knees in prayer, but instead we would whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. When someone complained about something they didn’t like about the church, my sisters and I would resolve the issue in the kitchen with Mom at our side.

(excerpt from "FREEING ME-my story of freedom from emotional eating)