The Sugar Question

Being the professional dieter that I am, I have asked myself countless times the following question: "Should I cut out sugar all together?"

Once I answered yes and I didn't have sugar for six months. Unfortuneatly, I began a love affair with all of those sugar free products. The ones that make you go. And go. And go. I went back to sugar.

Once I answered yes and I didn't have sugar for three months. The last day was the day my husband was in a motorcycle accident. I ran back to sugar just for comfort.

One time I answered no and I told myself I would only eat sugar on the weekends. It worked until the first Monday after the first weekend. Sugar intake causes craving of sugar for me. So I had some. Then I told myself I'll only have sugar on the weekends and Monday. This worked until Tuesday. :0)

I think the sugar question is one that each of us have to answer for ourselves, depending on our own body chemistry and how sugar affects us. I ran across the following verse and it changed me. Forever. On the sugar question.


Everything is permissible (allowable and lawful) for me; but not all things are helpful (good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power.
1 Corinthians 6:12 (Amplified Bible)

How I apply this when it comes to sugar, is that sugar is permissible but it is not helpful. But most importantly, I must not become a slave to sugar.

And believe me, I have been its slave.

So what do I do now? Well, not perfectly, of course, but I have adopted moderation. Too long I've lived with the all or nothing view of not only sugar but dieting. Either I am doing it perfectly or I will eat everything I can find. :0)

In my moderation, with my body type and chemistry and with how sugar affects me and my weight I TRY:

1) to never, ever eat sugar in the morning. Messes up my blood sugar for the rest of the day.
2) to not drink sugar. I occasionally have a glass or wine or a margherita, but only occasionally.
3) to not have desserts in the house. If they're here, I will eat them.
4) to split a dessert with someone if I'm at a restaurant.

I TRY. Not perfectly at all. But living imperfectly and getting rid of my all or nothing thinking is a huge goal of mine. Most of all when I feel that I MUST have sugar I know that I am being a slave to it and I PRAY and repeat 1 Corinthians 6:12 until the temptation leaves.

This is what I am TRYING to do when it comes to sugar. What about you?

He will fight for You - in the Grocery Store!

"He shall say: 'Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory. ' "

Deuteronomy 20:3-4 

Yesterday I woke up thinking about brownies. I had to go to King Soopers so it would've been easy to grab a box and whip them up at home. Noah was home because of Martin Luther King Day so I could've used the "Well, it's a holiday" excuse. Justification #1457  It's amazing how I can make every day a holiday. :0)

For some folks, shopping for food is either a chore or a pleasure. For me, and many of you, it is a battle and the aisles with ice cream and cake mixes are battlefields with land mines. But I remembered, I'm not alone. I don't have to go into the grocery store by myself. God not only wants to go with us, but He wants to fight for us.

In Deuteronomy 20: 3-4 the name, the LORD your God, means the LORD my banner. When I go to pick up some food, it helps to acknowledge that I go under His banner with His protection. If I want it. Sometimes, I don't pray simply because I want what I want. Not proud of this. And I know if I take Him up on it, the Lord will fight for me and give me victory. But I have to ask Him, especially when it comes to food.

Try it. If you're tempted in a grocery store, use these words from Deuteronomy. Ask the LORD your God to fight for you. He will give you and I victory - even over brownies!!

First things First

I have found in my own journey that the first thing I must do in order to take care of myself and lose weight is to….drum roll, please…

Sleep!!

Yep, sleep. Now you may think that sleep is something that sloths and lazy people relish. And you’re right. I know this. I also slept a lot when I dealt with depression. So it seems contradictory that in order to lose weight I must sleep.

But what I’m talking about is getting enough sleep, not too much. That amount is different for every person. And I’ve found it can change over the years, too. When I was in high school, I needed lots of sleep. When I went to college and as a young woman I only needed 4 -5 hours a night. During pregnancy, I slept often. This is important because after Noah was born I didn’t sleep for three months. :0)

But now, I need about 7 hours. If I don’t get it, two things happen.

1)I don’t want to exercise and

2)I want to eat more.

Studies have shown that folks eat more when they are tired. I’ve often equated getting more energy with getting a lot of food. (Not true by the way – good energy comes by way of the right kinds of foods, not a bunch of anything.)

Are you like me and enjoy late nights by yourself? I love the quiet of night when John and Noah are asleep. But this is detrimental to my ultimate goal – to take care of me. So instead of staying up until midnight or later, I have a goal of going to bed between ten and eleven. I get up between 6 and 6:30 each day, so this is perfect for me.

How do you handle getting enough rest? Does sleep affect your eating habits?

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!!

 
“He reached down from on high and took hold of me and drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delights in me.” Psalm 18:16-10


Yesterday I fell down in the snow. I slipped on ice and went flying through the air, landing on the side of my left hip. I landed hard and it jarred me. I’m fine now, but at that moment, it hurt something awful.

My first winter in Denver, four years ago, I fell three times. The next year, I fell once. Since I bought snow boots, I’ve never fallen. Until yesterday.

I hate falling. I feel embarrassed and klutzy. And it hurts.

Let me back up and tell you that during this last year of 2010, I lost 50 pounds. I’ve much more to lose, but this is a great start. Unfortunately, I fell off the “band wagon” during the last two weeks of December. I chose to celebrate with food, but I put no boundaries on it. What began with a little sugar here and there, ended with eating anything that wasn’t nailed down last weekend. Needless to say, I’ve now lost 40-something. :0)

My overeating was like falling down. Having no boundaries with my food caused my footing to be quite slippery and then I went flying through the air and landed on chocolate cake. And a coke. And some cookies. It hurt.

Yesterday when I fell, I was surprised because I had on my trusty snow boots. I was on the way to a friend’s house and when I got in the car, I felt the shock of hitting the cement. The phone rang and it was my friend Loretta. Of course, upon hearing her voice, I started crying. But not just about falling into snow, but also about falling from that wonderful place where I took care of myself. I bawled and said things like, “I just don’t like who I am right now, Loretta.”

Loretta, an angel in disguise I’m sure, said to me, “Well, maybe God made you fall down to get your attention.”

I cussed her out and hung up. :0)

Not really. We went on to talk about the process of getting back up. And that’s what is important here. We all fall down, be it in trying to discipline ourselves, or in trying to follow Christ or in trying to submit to our husbands or bosses. We fall. But if we allow Him, our wonderful God is there to extend a hand and pull us up.

This morning, I utilized a present I received at Christmas. I put on these things that wrap around your tennis shoes and give you cleats so when you walk, you don’t slip on the ice. The cleats grip the ground. At first I was skeptical, but then security came, and Scooby and I went hard, walking until both our tongues were hanging out.

I got up. He pulled me up. And He brought me out once again, into a “spacious place.” A place where I can once again live in freedom and make choices that honor Him and me.

He delights in you. I hope you know that. And if you’ve fallen down, look up. His hand is waiting.

A New Season....hmmmm...

God is doing a new thing in me....hmmmm....I'll start blogging about it next Tuesday! :0)

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

 Isaiah 43:19