Christianity Oasis Forum

[susidivah]

OK, I'm posting here for accountability to my quest to get myself back in some semblance of physical shape so that I may have more energy to serve my Lord in all

My trainer is our own 55259, aka, Fivers, aka, Fiddy Five And I know she won't let me slack, peeps!

My three goals:

1. Cut back caffeine to 2-3 cups of coffee in the morning, NO SODA...
mind you I currently drink the equivalent of half a pot to a pot of coffee
in the morning, and most days at least 1-2 sodas.

2. Continue with my lacto-ovo vegetarian diet, decreasing carb filled
foods to 1-2 servings per meal. Keeping consistent with 5-6 servings of
fruits and vegetables a day. I usually do ok with veggies, but fruits I
tend to lack and switch up for starch and carbs

3. Exercise at least 30 minutes four days a week. This is where I'm really
lacking now and I feel it and it shows!

If anyone wishes to join in please post! And Fivers doesn't need anymore whips please (you know I luv yas 55)...

I'll keep you updated... God's Will be Done
Love you all,
Susi

[---]

i will help as much as possible. i will support you. i wish i was there to support you and see what you are doing. however i can't be. so i will just have to type it and say want you need to do.

luv you

[comfy]

I'm thinking, get more worthwhile things to do, of caring and relating with people to do them good, not just yacking and yucking it up, but about how we can do better with the LORD. And caring things for people. This can be very satisfying so we are not looking to food for excitement and delightment so much.

And you can acquire a taste for what is right to eat and drink . . . like how you appreciate a person who is good for you, more than someone just using you for attention and money and whatever. Less using people in your relating. There are foods and drinks being sold to you, to use you for money. They don't even care about you; so, you'd think we would say, that food is not my friend, so I don't like it. You don't like a person who is not your friend; so why do we like foods that are not our friends?

And people are using that food to use you for money. . . so they can do what they do with money. And you could help widows and orphans or give it to a real church you know is doing for real with its money. And getting busier with people will distract you from eating > I mean caring things with "rest for your souls." (in Matthew 11:29) We need to discipline ourselves to loving that has us in Jesus Christ's "rest for your souls." But too often, we can be feeding on love or worry witch is *not* in Jesus Christ's pleasant and soul-soothing rest, and so we stress so we eat.

Oranges . . . very good friends

Nanas . . . na na . . . too much starch; apples have potassium, too.

Veggies . . . what do you mean? Potatoes are vegetables, so are yammies that can jam me with starch >

Make friends with spinach and whatever is lighter and maybe has more vitamins and minerals since there's not so much starch??? Maybe go out looking for berries and apples and raiding a garden to eat tomatoes right off the vine . . . so you are away from the kitchen and the food atmosphere, and out in God's beautiful nature . . . blending eating in with enjoying fresh air and maybe someone's company, so you're paying less attention to food, more to loving and sharing and enjoying God.

But yams, I think, are a good source of vitamin C . . . but *if* you must, maybe eat them raw > I think this keeps you from getting so much carbs, plus the roughage will make your body exercise its guts digesting the raw yammie and thus use more energy to be burnt off, so it's giving you less calories plus burning off some of that with the work of digesting it, and it's good for keeping the bowels moving better, I understand, with its roughage.

That's what I understand. Anyone is welcome to improve on it.

And I make bread with only whole wheat, and just enough sweet stuff (often enough) so the yeasties grow. It can come out hardly sweet, at all. But I put in bits of nuts, sunflower kernels, cut up apple, raisins but not much since they are sweet with little juice; and I hand mix it so I'm using calories for that exercise.

[goldieluvs]

awww susi sorry it took me so long to see ur post. Hows ur goals coming???? I for u!!!!

[---]

AW susi am so proud of what you are doing..getting healthy.
It is hard to change habits but it can be done I am living proof. My motivator is Diabetis.

It is a matter of eating what is right in the right portions and exercise, exercise then exercise more. LOL
I also set small goals they were easier to attain...like only concerned myself with losing 5 pounds at a time, it didn't seem as overwhelming as the 50 pounds my goals was. And I have since met my goal and then some, have reduced from a 20 to a 10/12 in clothing size.

Weights if you can eventually work them in are wonderful for building a faster metabolism...and a stronger body that wants to get up and move.

Having a friend or someone to exercise with...have meals with and to generally be accoutable too is a BIG plus for getting healthy.

I would be so hard on myself when I messed up but my doctor told me this bit of advice.... if one day you eat something you should not do not beat yourself up just say oh well that was good and move back to eating right again. It is OK to have something you want now and then it keeps you from binging.

Another one I use also is pray before I eat something I should not...it REALLY helps a lot.

My hopes are on you to succeed Susi...you will accomplish your goals....

[susidivah]

Thank you sooooooo much everyone for your replies and support! It's been a ruff couple of weeks since I first posted but I usually can pinpoint the numero uno excuse for my bad eating and little exercise and that's stress Today has been much better for I logged everything that went in my mouth and did walk a lil tonight while doing laundry

Fivers... what can I say you rawk lil sis! I appreciate your staying on me when you "see" me in chat and reminding me of my quest...

Comfy... you are absolutely right about looking to help and care for others, instead of looking to food for excitement and such. My prob is, I do help and care in many ways from my job to my volunteer work (which entails exercise whooo hooo!!!) my trouble with food is using it at times to deal with other emos such as sadness, anxiety, and boredom... that has been my m.o. all my life with addictions...

And pwease send me some of that bread sounds yummmmmmmmmo!

Goldie... no worries sis this is not an issue God is gonna have go away soon!

And CC my dear... thank you for sharing your story and tips sis One of my motivators is my hypertension, which I know would get better if I dropped some of the weight I've gained over the past couple of years. And yes, I agree totally about smaller goals and PRAYING before eating! That is something I haven't done in a while so you've reminded me to start again!

Bottom line folks is my Lord knows there is a lot more behind my eating issues as there has been for 20 plus years. I've been there with abusing myself with withholding food intake, to bulimia, to overeating. What an awesome and patient God I have in this area...

Thanks for listenin friends and know I'm here for you too! Love you all!

[---]

Exercise needs to take up a little but doing good. how is the caffine going? still only one cup in the morning of coffee and no soda?

Keep going.

[comfy]

sending some bread . . . this time, start the yeasties with molasses and honey and just a little milk, so it can taste like banana, and bubble them up with some whole wheat flour, then mash in two bananas so the bread is mostly banana, but got the yeasties started so they're enough to fluff up the nanas. With nuts . . . it fluffed more than the last banana attempt (o: And just did whole wheat with cut up grapes and mango and sunflower kernels and cut up turkey thigh. It fluffed enough.

But here's the catch > I basically eat nothing but my own handmade all whole wheat bread and no cereal. Saves money, too. Five bucks of flour for more than two weeks, I'd say, instead of buying loaves and cereal for that time.

But does this mean I have good self control? Well . . . um . . . er . . . ah . . . there are other ways to do the wrong thing for pleasure > it may not show as weight, but . . . I'm finding a wrong pleasure has a wrong spirit with it, and the wrong spirit for the pleasure can *later* moonlight and work overtime and multi-task in emotions and relating and keeping me degraded from God's goodness and peace.

It helps me to be still until God gets me in His peace with self-control and enjoying Him and caring about people. This can make it easy and natural to keep my mind and eyes and behavior where I belong. "It doesn't have to be a fight." As the *character* gets more God's way, the self control is easier and breezier and more beautiful

So, I'd say it's good to seek first the kingdom of God so we get the character self control as we get away from too much food or from other stuff like I need to, of impure pleasure and paranoid criticizing and cursing people with my suspicion, instead of first trusting God and having compassion. Lose a little weight, but with gaining the character needed to keep it off. Or else, I've heard and read, reducing can be like pulling back a giant slingshot, so it gets more and more tight, and then it snaps all the way the other way and then some. So >

"'But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added to you.'" (Matthew 6:33)

First, I need to be doing what I can in order to please God, not just to please guys or gals or myself.

[---]

YUM... comfy that bread sounds so GOOD!!!!
Yes you are right...we gotta focus and get out minds right with God the rest usually will follow if we allow it too.
But since we are what we are we will fail from time to time... it is not the end of what we are doing it just gives us a better insite to not do it as soon or as often.

Hey 55 I agree ...susi you gotta RAMP up the exercise!!!

Susi you WILL be successful...you will get healthy.
You know I did not go into healthy eating with the intention of losing weight..that was a side benefit. My desire was to be healthy and get off the meds I was taking, not ending up in a hospital or having things go wrong or more complicated with my body as I continue to get OLDER..like I am all ready older now LOL

As I began to drop pounds I was delighted, it was the extra blessing God gifted me.

After all this time it is so much easier to do what is right...and I do enjoy something off the menu now and then without a lot of guilt. You will get there and be all the more healthier because of your diligence depending on the Lord.

Keep up the grand work you are doing!!!

[goldieluvs]

oh wow amen october.. susi i was just thinking about u and wanted to check in to see how things are going for u sis.

[susidivah]

Weeelllll, it's been up and down the past couple of weeks guys... some good days some not so good. Guess the good thing is I haven't GAINED any weight

Some of you know I went to Indy to watch my niece and nephew a couple weeks ago, hadn't seen them in almost 4 years. It was so wonderful, BUT they both LOVE ice cream! I got first hand of what it must be like to be a parent of young children who can afford to have a sweet here and there and burn it off Needless to say my willpower went poof and I was drowning in Frostys...

My sister and I were talking a bit about eating habits and growing up as well as the attitudes and practices of American dining versus Taiwan. Sarah used to have weight probs like me but in Taiwan they don't have a lot of processed food. She could get fresh veggies and fruit (I mean REALLY fresh) every day. She lost like 30 pounds when she was over there and looks great! She is nervous, tho, being back here that with the churches feeding them and all the fast food restaraunts around she will go back to old eating habits.

But... America is not an excuse Doing right by God is top priority.

Exercise has been so-so. Lots of running around at the animal shelter and I do some Zumba (DVD) here at home every once in a while.

Still trying to write down short term goals.

Thanks for the support and prayers, guys! Love you all!
Susi

[comfy]

But since we are what we are we will fail from time to time...

Yes, *we* fail. "We" includes ones who do not need to lose weight > we can fail in other ways > I fail to love and forgive and have compassion the way God wants . . . not to mention, how You want me to do things only with You in Your peace (Clossians 3:15).

I need to be reminded not to be demanding instant improvement and success by people who have weight problems. I keep failing in other ways > why, all of a sudden, do I expect a person with an eating problem to suddenly do so well? Considering how I fail in how to love, I should have compassion instead of criticizing > "He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness." (Hebrews 5:2)

it is not the end of what we are doing

That's right . . . when we fail, this does not mean it's the end. Satan can come at us with thinking that any failure means it's over, we haven't got a chance. And we should not be this way with others . . . have hope and keep having hope, and this for ourselves, too.

You know I did not go into healthy eating with the intention of losing weight..that was a side benefit. My desire was to be healthy and get off the meds I was taking,

That's interesting . . . that you had the motive not just of less quantity of weight, but the quality of your health. How you look to others would not be enough of a reason. And I'm finding that as I get more into caring more for others, and doing more for others, with this can come better activities than my sin problem stuff. And, by the way > in my case, my caring activities are not much exercise, but these keep me busy away from eating, so it all balances out.

sometimes I eat a little extra, out of worry that I might be losing too much weight

As I began to drop pounds I was delighted, it was the extra blessing God gifted me.

a *gift* . . . "not of works"

About that Thailand diet having the lady looking good > I stay with a lot of vegetables and fruit and simply cooked meat, poultry, seafood. And some raw veggie stuff. But I do flavor things lightly with dressings, often mixed with soybean oil. And with other people, I may eat what they eat, but I do openly notify people that I have to watch my sweets . . . "just like anyone else, even though I'm not overweight." Some will try to stuff me and give me just high-carb food; so I gently and kindly talk with them like I'm *trusting* them to not do this with me. But with family and with Jesus people, I find we are welcome to make our choices so we enjoy. But some people, I have to stand up to them.

I was thinking, in the United States, we can have a way of just getting things without any effort. Animals have to hunt and find what they eat; so they stay in shape. Cave people would hunt and gather. *Seeking and finding.* There can be a natural need to seek and find; so when we just buy stuff at the store, with no effort, no challenge to find it . . . we can be missing something, maybe of the adventure of searching with God to get what He has for us.

You might go to where they sell apples, and eat some off the tree. There are organic growers who co-op their produce for a weekly fee, and you can work there and fill up as you weed and harvest, eating natural foods you find while working.

But seeking and finding how God wants us to be loving people > feed on this, and see some weight go off . . . deeper, spiritually, emotionally. We have left behind the challenge of finding out how to love. And with this, we can't be satisfied just with food or TV or excitement and pleasure thingys.