Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19) As I viewed our recent photos of our family trip to Pigeon Forge, TN I was completely mortified. "Is this really how I look", I thought? It was approximately six months after having my (first) son. At this point in my life I weighed my heaviest ever, by far! Yes, during my pregnancy with my first child I definitely took advantage of "eating for two", gaining 55 lbs! But, for some reason I had the illusion that most of that weight would magically disappear when the baby was born. Oh, I ate whatever I wanted and, I ate often! I enjoyed my pregnancy! But nothing could prepare me for the disappointment I faced when the numbers on the scale had not gone down even six months after childbirth. No, I was NOT one of the lucky moms who lost weight while breastfeeding or fit in her pre-pregnancy jeans weeks after. Nope! It clung to me in more way than one. For many of us women this is a hard reality to deal with. For some it is a struggle that continues even years later. The fact of the matter is that God created us with body fat! Just like our other organs and tissues, fat has its function to keep us alive and healthy. But, it is no secret that overindulging or not taking care of our bodies can result in more body fat than we need. As 1 Corinthians 6:19 indicates God desires for us to take care of the bodies he gave us! Why, however, do we let our body fat (weight) define us as this "word art" indicates? Well I'm not so sure I have a perfect answer for that question but I will tell you that I have struggled as many of you. Since that time in my life I have lost the weight (45 pounds), gained nearly as much back in my second pregnancy (that 45 pounds I had lost) , lost that baby weight, and some time later let a few pounds creep up on me again! Each time I had gained or lost weight changed the way I thought about myself. But, have I ever felt at peace about my "numbers" or the realities of my body even when I was "skinny"? Truthfully, I would have to say NO! Maybe this is you too, struggling to feel peace with your body and/or the numbers on the scale? If you haven't already see what Lysa TerKeurst says about giving up the guilt for peace. Click to watch the YouTube.com video of Made to Crave Session 3. I never thought myself the "skinny girl". Even as a majorette in high school I always thought myself as the fat one. Though I didn't really have a problem with my waist, I was however very self conscious about my "chunky" legs and not so skinny arms. Even now working through this session of Made to Crave I have struggled with having peace about my body (those "chunky" legs). But, as I continue to do my weight training I have come to a realization that God has blessed me with great muscle tone. It can be so difficult to understand our bodies when we have been programmed by media and our societies views. I don't believe that was God's desire for us to be so critical of ourselves. I am learning what an amazing design our bodies really are.
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Allow me to re-introduce myself......... Hello, my name is Melissa and I am ADDICTED TO SUGAR! Oh yes, I can say this and laugh but, unfortunately this is a very REAL and TRUE statement! And I know I'm not alone because many have shared with me the same struggle. Maybe you have a battle with sugar cravings as well. I didn't always think that sugar addiction was real. I just joked about it, chalking it up as just a weakness and I just needed more discipline. This was only half truth. I discovered this hard reality after disciplining myself for seven months including training for competition. If you read my last blog D is for......Diet? I shared how I had let go of my diet structure and lost control a bit after competing. The grip of those returning sugar cravings were just so overwhelming. I began questioning myself, how did I ignore this for seven months and now can't get past it for seven minutes? But, I was determined that MY CRAVING WILL NOT CONTROL ME! One day as I searched the library for more nuggets of nutrition knowledge I found the book that confirmed that I was NOT crazy! Sugar Addiction is in fact real! The title is Beat Sugar Addiction Now, by Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D. This book reveals four types of sugar addiction. * http://vitality101.com/ Recently, several have asked me if I have simple solutions for sugar cravings. Though my nutrition knowledge has increased in the last several months including my own experiences battling sugar cravings, sadly I haven't found any "simple" solutions. However, this book does explain why we may be craving sugar and the possible remedies to controlling those cravings. You can find out which of the four types of sugar addiction you may have by clicking the following link and taking Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum's quizzes. http://vitality101.com/health-a-z/Sugar-take_the_sugar_addict_quiz You can find out which of the four types of sugar addiction you may have by clicking the following link and taking Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum's quizzes. http://vitality101.com/health-a-z/Sugar-take_the_sugar_addict_quiz I spotted my type of sugar addiction right away by its title, "Feed Me Now or I Will Kill You:" When life's stress has exhausted your adrenal glands. This was yet another joke among my husband and I because the "mean girl" does in fact come out when I am hungry! Well, the jokes on him because I found legitimate reasons for becoming "mean girl" when I'm hungry. Reading this began to make sense. When I had weened myself off of sugar and was eating often my cravings were much more controllable. But it also explained a bit why I had some difficulty with a few days of low carbohydrates during my training. But the truth is, regardless of what type of craving you may have, adjusting your diet is certainly priority #1! If you reduce your sugar intake including processed foods (such as processed carbohydrates) and replace with fruits, natural sweeteners in moderation (Stevia or Truvia), and "good" carbohydrates (brown rice, whole wheat breads, sweat potatoes, beans etc), this should help control your sugar cravings. Now on the spiritual side of things, those of you who have been following our Made to Crave* bible study you know this is all about dealing with our cravings for food. In Chapter 2, Replacing My Cravings, Lysa TerKeurst talks about using her cravings to prompt her to pray. She writes: "God, it's 10:00 a.m. and I'm craving again. I want those snack crackers that are literally screaming my name. But instead of reaching for those snack crackers, I'm praying. I'll be honest, I don't want to pray. I want those crackers. But, instead I'm going to have a handful of almonds and brick by brick.....prayer by prayer.....lay a path for victory." "Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for you I pray. In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice, in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation" (Psalm 5:1-3). So what would happen if we did this too? Replaced our cravings with prayer. Is this a challenge you are willing to take with me? Though battling any addiction is never simple or easy and, I'm certainly not an expert, I hope that sharing this information and a little bit of my experience will be helpful to you. And friends we are all in this together. This week in our MTC study we will take a look at Chapter 4 Friends Don't Let Friends Eat before Thinking. I hope you will keep reading the weeks to come. I have plans to share more about our Made to Crave study as well as more on fitness and nutrition. Blessings, ~Melissa *http://www.jacobteitelbaum.com/health_articles_a-b/Ann-book-beat_sugar_addiction_now.html *http://lysaterkeurst.com/made-to-crave/ |
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