Love To Eat, Hate To Eat.

Wow, it's been a little bit since I last wrote anything!  I was in Michigan enjoying my sister's wedding!  I thought I would have some extra time to get an entry written, but that didn't happen.  Before I get into writing about the book "Love To Eat, Hate To Eat", I wanted to share a little "note"/game from one of my sister's wedding showers.  I thought this was great because it used only fruits and veggies to fill in the blanks.  My aunt or cousin got it from on-line, but it is supposed to be a note from Sean (groom) to Mandie (my sister the bride):

Dear SWEET PEA,
I want you to know my heart BEETS for you!  I hope our relationship will SPROUT into something special.  If you CARROT all for me, why not ask your parents if they'll LETTUCE get married?  Since we CANTELOUPE I suppose you will want a big wedding.
Everyone knows I'm PLUM crazy about you!  You would be a PEACH of a wife; and I'm sure we would make a happy PEAR!  Although my CELERY isn't the greatest, I'll do my best to provide for your comfort.
Please do not SQUASH my hopes because it's a love like I have for you that could make a MANGO crazy!  You've been the APPLE of my eye so long; and my love for you is as strong as an ONION.  I trust you will never TURNIP your nose to me; I'll go to the river ENDIVE in.
Please reply BERRY soon I YAM truly yours.   Sean.      Thought that was cute!!  :)

Now onto the book that first convicted and changed me (well, really the Holy Spirit changed me, but the book was an avenue He used to help me see my downfalls!).  Pretty much what I'm writing today is coming right from the book.  Phrases, etc. that really stuck out to me.  There is sooo much I could write on, but I'm just focusing on a few areas and if you like it, I'd really recommend reading the whole book!  "Love To Eat, Hate To Eat" by Elyse Fitzpatrick.

"Tyranny is just the right word to use when it comes to the way many of us think about food, dieting, and our weight.  Tyranny is oppression.  It is enslavement.  It means that we're dominated by thoughts and habits that torment and overpower.  What will I eat next?  How much do I weigh today?  What do others think of me?  Why can't I get free of this?  Why can't I be like others?  The same questions fill our thoughts over and over as we agonize day after day, looking for answers.  Sometimes we try again; other times we just give up in frustration and discouragement.  What's more, we feel constant confusion because we're unsure of how our eating habits relate to our Christian faith, if at all.  We wonder about God's role in our lives and our response to Him.  Where is He?  What are His answers?  It seems as though He should be able to help, but why isn't He answering our prayers?  Why do we still struggle so?"
"Does God really care about how much we eat?  Yes, God really cares.  He cares because He loves you and me, and He cares because He created us to sparkle and shine with His light for others."
"You should be concerned about caring for your body for two reasons: first, because it is the creation of God.  And second, if you are a Christian, God purchased your body."
"Because Jesus paid such a price, not only for our bodies but also for our souls, we should seek to exalt Him in everything.  We should not allow any sin to defile the sanctuary where He has chosen, by His Spirit, to reside.  Let us remember 'the sighs, and tears, and groans that brought us...the agonies of the cross, the bitter pains of the death of God's own Son.  If we do so, we know that we must live for God, and for Him alone'.  When we are tempted to sin, let us think of the cross.  When Satan spreads out his allurements, let us recall the remembrance of the sufferings of Calvary, and remember that all these sorrows were endured so that we might be pure.  O how would sin appear were we beneath the cross, and did we feel the warm blood from the Saviour's open veins trickle upon us?  Who would dare indulge in sin there?  Who could do otherwise than devote himself, body, and soul. and spirit, unto God?  When you are thinking about stuffing down those extra slices of pizza, in defiance of His desire for you to be temperate in all things, think about Jesus on the cross.  Let that terribly beautiful vision of His love control you." 
"It is only as we interact with the Word of God that we find ourselves growing in our ability to judge our own thoughts and intentions."
"It is wrong to eat only when the purpose of that eating is simply to experience the pleasure of the crunch or the sweetness or the temperature in spite of God's good provision.  It is the heart that says, 'I know this is more than I need, and that I'm harming myself by having it, but I love the pleasure of this experience more than I love the pleasure of doing what pleases the Lord, so I'm just going to go ahead and satiate myself'."
"Gluttony is a sin, just as surely as drunkenness or adultery.  We must be convinced of the truth of this statement or we will never hate our sin enough to leave it.  If we don't see it as sin, we will try to keep it around (tame, on a leash) and bring it out when no one will be offended."
"As long as what you eat dominates your affections, thoughts, and behavior - even if you are eating small portions, starving yourself, or insisting on eating only "healthy" foods - your eating is gluttonous because your life is focused on food.  We can learn to judge if we are being gluttonous by the way that we respond to others when we don't get what we want to eat."
There are 4 steps that Elyse gives that I will just list and then she also goes through an acrostic "DISCIPLINED Eating" that I will also just list.  If you are interested in reading more about any of this, check out the book - like I said, there is so much to write about!
"Step 1 - Become convinced that your present method of eating is sinful and cease from it."
"Step 2 - Become convinced that God's methods for disciplined eating are right and begin practicing them."
"Step 3 - Seek diligently to change your mind and become conformed to God's thinking, especially in the area of your eating habits."
"Step 4 - Continue to practice these new thoughts and behaviors, even when the struggle gets hard."
"DISCIPLINED Eating - Doubt, Idolatry, Stumble, Coveting, Inroad, Praise, Life, Illustrate, No, Emotions, Distract, Enslaved."  She writes about each one of these in more detail. 

I Corinthians 10:31 "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

This book was the starting point of God convicting me to change my heart and mind about the way I was eating and treating my body!  I am not just trying to lose weight, but learning to be healthy by eating whole, natural and living foods.  I truly do love to eat and hate to eat, and I'm on a great journey of learning to love God more than food!