It’s been three weeks since I weighed in. A trip to the other side of the world and back convinced me to take a hiatus from the more intense aspects of my health journey. Today I’m back at it.
I cringed at the thought of stepping on the scale this morning; I didn’t want to face the potential results of my time away. The number that greeted me was not as dreadful as I had imagined.
After three weeks, I weigh the same. What a relief!
I tried to be sensible while traveling, but I also splurged on a few different things. So this result is very encouraging.
I do wonder why, though, it seems harder to maintain a healthy weight at home than while abroad. Why didn’t I gain weight from my splurges? And I only exercised once the whole trip!
I’ve learned a few things about myself as I ponder these questions:
1. Much of my temptation comes from the fact that I spend significant amounts of time in the kitchen preparing food for my family. Food is always within reach. When I was abroad I was rarely hanging out in the kitchen – someone else prepared the food and I ate at mealtime. If I got hungry I ate a small snack. This always-in-the-kitchen struggle is one I don’t yet know how to overcome. What do the rest of you homemakers do to avoid this temptation?
2. Seafood is good for me and you. I ate more seafood in two weeks in Okinawa than I have eaten in the rest of 2016. And my body and my taste buds love it. It’s too bad seafood is so expensive where I live. However, incorporating a bit more into my diet would be well worth the expense – it’s a healthy splurge :).
3. When I’m on mission and investing in something bigger than myself, my food desires fade. When I’m finding joy and motivation in doing kingdom work, I don’t crave the flimsy joy of food. In Okinawa, I was so focused on the ministry at hand, that I only thought of food when the hunger pangs called.
Providentially, the chapter I’m working through in Made to Crave this week ties in perfectly to this last point. Lysa talks about where we find our ‘happy’ – is it in our pant size or in our Savior? She emphasizes that all of us are incomplete, and it’s hard sometimes to deal with other incomplete people. But when we derive our joy from Jesus instead of junk food or even our successes, we can love other incomplete people.
The bad news is, we’re all incomplete people. The good news is, Jesus loves incomplete people. And He wants us to know we can have complete joy by being secure enough in His love to reach out and love other incomplete people. – Lysa TerKeurst
She goes on to encourage ‘afternoon acts of kindness’ as a way to show love and also avoid the temptation of unhealthy food. She encourages these things in such a warm and loving manner, but there is a stinging truth behind it all that I am beginning to understand.
There is a connection between my overindulgence and my self-centered tendencies. Think about all those excuses we use to give in to unhealthy things, whether food or otherwise. I’ve earned this. I deserve it. It will make me feel better. I am the center of all these excuses. Is it possible that I’m loving myself and my body more than I love Christ and His Body?
Ouch.
Maybe this is partly what Lysa was getting at, maybe not. But it’s what’s getting at me.
Lord,
I want to be so filled with Your love and Your joy, that my own desires and pleasures become light as a feather and float away. I want to be so consumed with Your work that my temptations toward unhealthy indulgence are only whispers, no longer screams. Help me to see that even the little mundane tasks of the day are service to You and service to Your people. Help all that I do be for You only. May Your thoughts become my thoughts. May You increase and I decrease.
Amen
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