Scales as Idols?

I know... I've not posted here in ages! But, I've been busy posting elsewhere. ;o)

Anyhoo. This morning, in the IE_Support group, they were, again, talking about scales --and our being a "slave" to them, and one of the ladies said "don't fear [it]...it's an inanimate object". This brought to mind a bit that I'd read in GS's book about Idolatry...

...and it made me think of how, maybe, our scales can be "idols" in our lives, if we give them too much "power". Our desperation to let the scale give us a "good day" is sort of "idolatry", in a way. We're relying on the scales instead of God.

Ephesians 5:5b says, "For the greedy person is really an idolater who worships the things of this world..."

We are greedy for the number on the scale to be less than it was the day before.... we "worship" the scale. So, technically, the scale is an Idol! :-O

Update... (10/22)

Well, I'm still struggling. I am not following the TW principles; I am eating what I want when I want, whether hungry or not, and I am still gaining weight. But, I am making progress in other areas...

I am working on giving up caffinated drinks, and have had 50% success so far. :o) It was originally a plan to give up ALL caffeine (chocolate, pop, etc), but the chocolate part is too hard. And, it's too much to do all at once. So, I'm concentrating on the caffinated drinks for now, and will maybe try chocolate later. ;o)

I gave up having my French Vanilla "coffee" in the mornings, and have switched to decaf. tea. And, instead of Coca-Cola, I've been trying to choose rootbeer (no caffeine). I say "trying" because this is where I still struggle. I still opt for the Coke 50% of the time. But, at least that's better than the past, where I'd have opted for Coke 100% of the time! :o)

I started re-reading the TW book this weekend. I'm going to read the whole thing over again ... or, at least, that's the *plan*. ;o) I need to refresh my memory on the basics. I've not paid any attention to my body's signals in the last several months.

Something that's really helping is the Bible study that I'm doing with the ladies from church. We're going through Beth Moore's "Daniel: Lives of Integrity, Words of Prophecy", and it's VERY good! Here are a couple of things she's said recently that I've adopted for my TW journey:

** STAND FIRM, even in the midst of fiery trials (like Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego).

** for people with TRUE CONVICTION, some decisions have already been made -- if we're not *truly convicted*, truly RESOLVED in our efforts, Satan knows we're weak and will attack. But, if he sees that we're firmly resolved in our path, he knows he can't touch us. :o)

And, in my Intuitive Eating support group recently, one of the ladies said something to the effect of: "Intuitive Eating isn't just about eating whatever we want... We need to honor our bodies by making wise choices."

I am pushing restart (though I've had to do this many, many times -- seems like I do it every 2 days!), and I'm leaning on several Scriptures to aid me....

Matthew 26:41 - "Keep alert & pray, otherwise temptation will overpower you. For, though the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak."

Zechariah 4:6 - "'Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord."

John 15:5 - "For apart from Me you can do nothing."

2 Corinthians 12:9 - "My grace is sufficient, it's all you need; My strenth comes into its own in your weakness."

Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Proverbs 16:3 - "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and all your plans will succeed."

(NOTE: I am posting more often on my other blog, so click here to read more on my progress!)

New Plan!

Now, before you get all freaked out, don't worry... I'm not going on some other "diet"... I'm happy to stay an INTUITIVE EATER for life! :o) But, I've had to come up with a new way of doing things 'cause what I was doing wasn't working for me.

So, to avoid repeating myself (and to save time), I'm just giving you a link to follow:

Mizbooks' New Plan

I started implementing this on August 21st, and have done good, so far. Still working on the *emotional* / *mental* side of things, though. ;o)

Deflated

I'm feeling out-of-place in my TW Support group. :-(

I'm a big believer in the "take what you love & leave the rest" philosophy. So, I've been reading a lot of books on the subject of non-dieting, and have been putting together a generalized idea of what I believe in regards to my *personal* non-dieting journey/approach. I still hold to Thin Within as my mainstay. I KNOW I couldn't do this without God at the helm (John 15:5). But, I also like to embrace other approaches that compliment TW, such as the "Intuitive Eating" book by Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch. They have the same basic principles as ThinWithin (honor your hunger, feel your fullness, discover the satisfaction factor), but they are a little more practical in the application. TW is great for the Spiritual side of things, while IE is more in-depth at teaching you how to apply "waiting for 0", and "stopping at 5", and overcoming your "fat machinery" (and, yes, I'm aware that I'm mixing & matching the principles of both books). ;o)

In my TW Support group, though, I'm feeling condemned. I'm feeling like I'm the "bad guy" now because I keep quoting other books and methods that I've found intriguing or important or helpful, and others are jumping all over me for it. :-(

I know that "there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those that are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1), so it's probably the Enemy putting these thoughts & feelings in my head... trying to pull me from my mainstay, pull me away from the Truth. But, I don't feel "comfortable" at my "main group" any more. I feel more at home in my group (Intuitive Eating_Support) because I have the freedom to mention whatever I want and know that I'm not stepping on toes. Sure, there are some that still disagree with some aspects of my "method", but I don't feel condemned by them. Could it be an underlying bias against those "stuffy Christians" I'm so used to having grown up with? Maybe I feel that the Christians of the TW group are going to shun me for being different? (this is how it happened in real life for me ... I got "rejected" by my home church for acting in a way counter to what they saw as "acceptable").

Sheesh. I don't know how to deal with this. I don't know whether to stay with the TW_support group, or to leave. On one hand, I want to stay because I need the *Christian* support I get from them... I need to be continuously reminded of the spiritual side of this journey. I don't want to abandon that. But, on the other hand, I want to leave because I don't want to have to be careful about everything I want to post to my "friends" about what I'm learning.

Aha!

This morning, thanks to reading posts on the DietSurvivors group, I had a little revelation / insight / "aha"-moment! :o)

I am still -even subconsciously- labelling my snack foods (chocolate, Coke, etc) "junk foods". And, if they're "junk foods" then they're "bad" or "forbidden".... the connotation is there. Therefore, I rebel against the "laws" that say I "shouldn't eat those foods" and proceed to eat it, eat it, eat it!

If I could just see chocolate, Coke, & snack foods as FOOD -- no labels attached! -- then perhaps they'd lose their appeal / intensity? I'd like for them to be equal, in my mind, to, say, fruit! LOL (even writing that, my brain is screaming, "You can't label fruit & junk foods EQUAL! One is good for you, and the other isn't!!!") But, see, that's just it! If one is "good" for me, then that makes the other one "bad", and so I think I "shouldn't" eat it, which makes me want it all the more!

How do I shut off that diet mentality? I already eat the "bad" (junk) foods, mostly between 0-5, so what else can I do to make them equal with "good" food in my brain?!

More to ponder....

Making healthier choices?

Lately there's been some debate in my TW support group about whether or not you *need* to eat "healthy" foods more than junk food.

Half of the ladies agree that you can eat "whatever you want, so long as you stay within 0-5" (hunger/fullness). The other half say that it's good to stay in 0-5, but that you should also be choosing wisely with your food. They quote the Bible verse, "All things are permissible, but not everything is beneficial." (Romans??)

Now, I agree with BOTH sides! I have taken the freedom of TW (legalizing ALL foods -- nothing is "good" or "bad" or "forbidden") to the extreme, and have had ice cream for lunch (with raspberries), saying to myself & others, "I'm staying within 0-5, so ice cream is just FINE for lunch!" But, that might not be the wisest choice I could make. Sure, it tastes GREAT! And, it's awesome to have such freedom in my eating! BUT, overall, it's not going to be the greatest for my health, my endurance, etc. If I keep filling myself with "junk", I might still lose weight, but I won't feel the best that I *could*.

Today, for lunch, I chose to have Minestrone soup! And it tasted great! It tasted even better when I thought of how healthy it was for me! ;o)

And, afterward, I made myself a fruit smoothie! :o)

I have to share this recipe, too, 'cause it's something I just threw together, and it ended up tasting GREAT!

Orange-Cherry-Banana Smoothie

1 navel Orange
1 cup Sweet Cherries
1 frozen banana
5 heaping Tbsp. plain yogurt

* Blend all very well in a blender. Pour & enjoy!

This is delicious! And it gives me 2 fruit servings for the day! Best way I know to get more fruit incorporated into my diet!

(And the soup I had got in a ton of veggies for the day!)

So, I'm feeling pretty good today! I may have snacked too much (see my Food Log), but I also got in a lot of "good for me" stuff, too! (including a 1-mile walk, and water!)

Recommitting

Today is a good day! I've not been giving my all to TW in the last 7 months (or more) -- maybe about 75%. So, today I recommit to following Thin Within's "8 Keys to Conscious Eating" 100%!

I am also starting (today) a "less Pop" challenge with my sister, Laurel. We drink way too much pop, so we've agreed that, starting today, we'd allow ourselves to have only 3 cans/glasses of Pop (Coke, etc) a month. That way we're not completely restricting it, but we're seriously cutting down on the intake.

And, lastly, my TW support group is starting, today, to re-read the TW book together for the next 30 weeks (a chapter a week). We wanted to get more focused, so this is what was voted in. Each person will read that week's chapter, then post their thoughts on it, or any new insights they gained.

Here's to fresh starts! :o) Cheers!