Made to Crave Week 2

From Desperation to Determination

We do a lot of bad things out of desperation.  Out goal is to avoid it, obviously.  In terms of healthy eating, that means we need to determine what we are going to eat each day and have those things with us to avoid any desperate situations such as I forgot my lunch or my snack, so I'll head to the buffet down the street or the vending machines in the lounge.

Genesis 25:27-32 tells the story of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew.  Have you ever been that hungry??  Hunger is a very powerful force. Sometimes we don't think clearly when we are hungry, which is why we need to be prepared with healthy meals and snacks so we don't sell our birthright out of desperation.

In chapter 4, Lysa says, "When what is lacking in life goes from being an annoyance to an anxiety, we run the risk of compromising in ways we never thought we would." Ever been there?  I know I have.  From here she suggests an accountability partner for your healthy eating plan.  Remember, your plan doesn't have to match another person's, you are simply helping each other stick to your own personal plans.  You have heard all kinds of research about how we stick to working out when we have a partner, and the same goes for a lot of other activities.  Plus the fact that we do a lot of unhealthy eating in secret...think about it, I bet you have.  I know I've waited to eat 2 brownies until my husband wasn't around.  I wouldn't eat 2 in front of him.  There are other benefits to this: having someone to talk to who knows exactly how you feel, encouragement, comfort, and companionship.

The reality is that we were made for more than this.  Have you ever dwelt on food so much that you barely thought of anything else or allowed it to get you so down that you ended up burying your sorrows in food anyway?  We were made for more.  Our lives are not to revolve around food and the way it makes us feel.  We are children of God and He has so much more for us....food is a tiny portion of our lives, not the huge thing we can make it out to be.

In chapter 6 Lysa says, "Being ruled by something other than God diminishes our commitment and will make us feel increasingly distant from Him."  That is so true for me when I get too hung up on food, ether the good side or the bad.  Since we have to eat multiple times a day, we have to think about it often...but it doesn't have to control our thoughts.  In Phil 3:18-19 there is a phrase, "their god is their stomach."  I don't ever want to feel that way again.

I highly encourage you to work through the entire participant's guide and the questions at the end of the chapter for this week.  For me it was this week that was a turning point...lightbulbs going on, whatever you want to call it.  I haven't turned into a vegetarian, and I still eat an occasional brownie, but things clicked for me, and I hope the same for you.