So far, I’m
enjoying this study. We are in
week 2 (as of last night). I began (again)
on Atkins on January 17, 2012, to lose weight for my sister’s
wedding. That’s been going great (I’ve
lost 27 pounds, but I still have another 75 to go). However, one of the things that was discussed
last week and this week in the study is the motivation behind weight loss. When you have a goal, it is easy(ier) to
lose; when you’ve met your goal,The Cycle – lose weight and gain it back (and
then some) – starts. You think that you
can go back to the old habits and you lose focus, at least I do (did). This study looks at the fact that we ARE made
to crave…God. For me, food often is my
comfort. Happy, sad, excited, etc., I go
to food, not God. So no matter how great
my goals are, once met, I revert to my default mode. That’s what has to change.
This week the main
idea was that desperation leads to despair.
I never really thought about it, but that is kind of a “duh” statement,
but a “wow” one at the same time. It
makes sense. When I’m “dieting,” I don’t
allow myself to eat something; when that happens I sometimes get to the “I have
to have that or I’ll die” stage, and then I give in and eat it, and then I’m
disappointed with myself for losing control!
Desperation for a certain food leads to “falling off the wagon” (i.e.,
despair). Anyway, although the idea isn’t
really a new concept, it was kind of a revelation for me to think about. I have to have more than a short-term (or
even a long-term) goal in mind in order to really and truly change my eating
habits. I need to change my spiritual
perspective on eating. I think that in
the church, overeating (gluttony) is a habitual sin that “seems” to be
acceptable. It isn’t acceptable, but
there is very little being done to change that view or help the people who deal
with it.
One other thing that Lysa Terkeurst, author of Made to Crave, said last night in the video was that our foundations need to be fixed. She used a bucket illustration (couple of holes in the bucket, which do you fix first – fix the one at the base, or you’ll never carry any water); however, I thought in food (ha!), so here’s my version of it. If you make a layered cake and the bottom tier is off balance and sloped, the next tier will be as well, and the next and the next. Fixing the top tier may make it look even, but the reality is that it isn’t even at all. I have to fix the foundation of my food problems (going to food, not God when I’m happy, sad, excited, etc.) or the temporary fix will, in the long run, do me no good, especially since I’ve already gone through The Cycle.
