A Few Last Words.

Last blog when I wrote my list of things I have done or am doing  physically I forgot to mention a few things:

*I go to a chiropractor to help stay healthy.  Jason and I go and our kids have gone since the day they were born (or the day after)!  We really believe it’s a huge part in staying healthy and preventing many illnesses.

*I wrote down everything I ate for awhile.  I counted calories and how many calories I used while exercising.

*And I fasted – Biblical fasting.  There is a ton that goes into this – lots of verses about Biblical fasting.  Lots of interesting things to read and learn about this.  As Christians, we should know more about Biblical fasting.  It is so overlooked.

I’m not planning on writing on my blog anymore, for now.  This is not how I want to keep pursuing possibly working with people, helping them with their journey.  I enjoyed writing everything that I did and my thoughts, opinions and feelings on all this stuff, but I’d rather work with people on a more personal level – person to person.  I want to work with whomever God brings into my life.  It may be no one, it may be 50, but I’m just not really getting into this blog thing.  I wanted to get the basis of my journey out there.  I’ve written my heart, I’ve written as much as I can think of that I’ve done on my path, but I’m not a blogger.  I don’t feel the need or desire to just write to write.  I’ve said what I wanted to and if I feel lead to say more I’m sure I will, but for now – if anyone has questions or wants to talk more – please don’t hesitate to get in contact with me.  I’d love to chat.  So for now I’m going to go, going to go and keep enjoying this awesome path God has me on and going to keep enjoying my husband and kids!  

Thanks to whomever read my blog, hope you were able to get something out of it!

Shine Today!

Stacy.

It's such a hassle being addicted to sugar (and food)!

Today is my 1 year anniversary of eating no sweets!  By sweets I mean, no chocolate, donuts, cake, muffins, candy, pie, frosting, cookies, etc.  I never imagined I could do this and then to be totally ok with it by the end of the year.  My mind has changed directions.  I think back to how much of a hassle it was to be addicted to sugar and food!  The money that was wasted on it all, the time it took physically to get the "drugs" and the wasted time of my mind trying to figure out my next fix.  I hid food all the time or would eat in secret.  The stress of making sure the candy was hidden and making sure I didn't accidentally leave it out (since all that sugar does make you a little scatter-brained) was craziness!  It would have been horrible for someone to catch me and find out my secret, how was I going to explain it away?  Not to mention the hassle of physically feeling like total crap!

It was a horrible mess - physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually!!!

I have written a little before about my mental stress and issues I've dealt with and how I have been able to free my mind!  I wanted to list out what I have done or am doing physically to help me get where I am today.  Use what you can, leave it out if it's not for you and your own plan.

*read Bible and pray daily
*stop drinking pop/soda
*stop eating (drinking) sweets
*drink lots of water (1/2 your body weight in ounces - example:  if you weigh 100, drink 50 oz/day)
*do not eat anything 3 hours before you go to bed (if you go to bed at 10pm, stop eating at 7pm).  Your body will be working at digesting all the food you just put into it instead of all the stuff you ate throughout the day.
*workout - for me I set goals by doing races.  I had something to train for.  Find something to work for!
*eat smaller portions.  Once you start losing weight, you will normally not want as much food, because your stomach is shrinking!  :)
*sleep - get enough sleep.  I noticed that I was able to sleep better once I took sweets out and started exercising regularly.    
*went to a counselor (was looking for specifically a food addiction therapist, but just chatting with a counselor in general really helped and was a very good step for me!).
*worked through a 12 step program
*essential oils - I have been using natural essential oils to help me stay healthy so I can keep working out and keep up with life in general. 

This is the start of my list.  I'm still working on getting more sugar (breads, pastas) out of my diet and getting more fruits, but mainly more veggies (greens) in!

If any of this sounds good to you - let TODAY be the first day starting you on your way to your 1 year anniversary!

Galatians 6:9  "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

Food = Sin? Yep, it was for me!

For so many people they do not put food in the sin category – thinking “God gave us food to live”.  That is true, but food is being abused by a majority of the population in this world now a days.  God did not give us all the pesticides and addictive chemicals and additives that keep people coming back for more and more and more!  Sin came into this world and then the food abuse started!  The path we are on today is proving to be very deadly, everyone wants everything fast, easy and fun!  We are killing ourselves and making excuse after excuse why we think we aren’t.  People have lost the desire for self-control and normal size portions of really anything – everything is bigger and better.  We are only going to live like that for so long.  What choices you are making will catch up with you.  So many people are sick with a myriad of things from allergies to cancer.  Yet most people will not admit that food could be a part of it - causing the problems or help with healing the problems.  Most people want the quick fix and don’t want to wait to let real foods and real food supplements help the body to heal.  Or even just let time itself – doing nothing – heal the body.  The Master Physician made us after all.  I’m not saying that every allergy or disease can be helped by food, but in my experience with some illnesses, I’ve noticed differences when I’ve looked to food first – for help, but also mainly for prevention.  It’s just not even an option for some people.  

For me, I was totally convicted that my eating patterns were sin!  I was putting food above all else!  It was my idol.  I wanted to put God first, but the addiction was so strong!  I tried so many different things to change but still be able to keep the sugar in my diet.  I gave up pop/soda (been 3 years now!) but that didn’t totally change my thoughts or behavior with food.  I gave my credit card to Jason so I could not buy the sweets and Jason got groceries for us for a while so I would not have to go to the store and be tempted.  That worked for a bit, but the addiction was stronger and crept in and I found ways to get my fix of sugar!  So once again, it was my god.  For about a year I had it in my mind (God prompting me) to stop eating sugar (sweets) all together.  But that just seemed so unattainable!  There were so many things to keep pushing me in that direction.  I kept having this thought come to my mind – “you have an idol over God, I love sugar/food more than I love God”.  This was really bugging me and I was so distraught because I wanted to stop, but the addiction pull was so great!  I started looking into food addiction clinics, addiction information on-line for alcoholics, I read information from a “quit smoking” program.  It all tied in so well – it was everything that I was going through, the addiction mentality and mind set!  God used all these things to keep drawing me closer and closer to the point where I would be able to say “I’m not eating sugar anymore”.  And really to clarify, I don’t eat sweets (chocolate, candy, donuts, muffins, cake, etc), but I do have some sugar like from breads and pasta – the carbs act like sugar in your body.  I’m working on that and maybe someday will be completely sugar free.  For now, this is what I needed to do – go sweet free – that was my horrible crutch. 

I was always so irritated also.  I was mad if I couldn’t get my fix and then was mad when I got it because I didn’t want to do this anymore and I was feeling like crap!  But really what got me and tore me up was how I treated my family – Jason and the kids got the brunt of it and it was so wrong of me!  It did me in and helped get me to the point where I said, and finally followed through, with “no sweets”. 

I had decided that Aug 15, 2012 would be the day that I would start no sweets because Aug 15, 2010 was the day that I started my “no pop/soda”.  I had been successful with that, so that date was a significant day in my mind and this was such a bigger challenge for me to get out of my life that this day of significance was a day I could hold onto.  I had decided the day and had about 2 weeks or so left until I was going to start and then one of the worst days of my life happened – my father-in-law passed away!  I wasn’t sure if this was going to set me back or what.  But really it made my conviction even stronger and my need to do this now even more serious.  There is nothing we can do about our day of death, but we can do something about how we live our life now – we don’t have to live with diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, allergies, cancer, etc, etc, etc.

Is there something that’s been on your mind for you to change about your health – is it a sin for you?  Is God prompting you?  Don’t ignore it – follow it!  God has a great path for you, don’t miss out on it!

I am so thankful to God for my almost 1 year anniversary of being sober from sweets!

Freedom of my mind.

I've done a lot of changing over the last year, but the biggest change that I'm so thankful for is the freedom of my mind!!  I was totally consumed with thoughts of food and now I feel like I think about food on a more normal level, like a level of eating food to live, not like eating is entertainment or comfort for me anymore.  I love that and that change has happened solely because God has taken the addiction thoughts and attitude from me.  I still have to be conscious and aware of what is going on and what I'm putting into my body, but I don't feel like I'm always at war with my mind!  It was horrible, I hated being like that.  God has freed me and He will do it for you too!!!  I'm confident of that!! 
Below are some verses that have helped me (sorry it's kind of long).  I have some phrases that I put, but most phrases I got from the 2 books I read (in addition to the Bible).  The titles of those books are Love To Eat, Hate To Eat by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Made To Crave by Lysa Terkeurst.  Amazing books that God used to convict me!  I encourage you to read the Bible and these 2 books and highlight/underline your own phrases that stick out to you and make you think and convict you.

*This is my little prayer that I had written out (now memorized) - "Lord, change my heart and mind, help me focus on and follow the things that are right".

*Food is fuel, it's not to make us happy.

*Isaiah 1:16b-17a "stop doing wrong, learn to do right."

*Matthew 4:10 "Away from me, Satan!  For it is written:  Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only."

*Hosea 14:1 "Return, (O Israel), to the Lord your God.  Your sins have been your downfall!"  I put my name in place of Israel.

*Colossians 3:2 "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

*Romans 8:13 "For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die;  but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live."

*Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;  I will counsel you and watch over you."

*Psalm 28:7 "The Lord is my strength and my shield;  my heart trusts in him and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song."

*Romans 7:15-25  "waging war against the law of my mind"

*James 4:17 "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."

*Philipians 3:18b-19 "many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.  Their mind is on earthly things."

*Romans 14:17 "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."

*I Corinthians 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

*James 4:7-8 "Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

*Titus 2:11-12 "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  It teaches us to say "NO" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age."

*James 1:14-15 "but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.  Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin: and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."

*Romans 13:14 "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

*Romans 8:5 "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires."

*Jeremiah 30:17a "But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord..."

*I Corinthians 6:12-13a "Everything is permissible for me - but not everything is beneficial.  Everything is permissible for me - but I will not be mastered by anything.  Food for the stomach and the stomach for food - but God will destroy them both."

*I Corinthians 6:19-20 "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 at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body."

*Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me."

*Exodus 20:13 "You shall not murder."  (even yourself)

*Proverbs 23:21 "for drunkards and gluttons become poor and drowsiness clothes them in rags."

*II Corinthians 10:5 "...take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

*Romans 14:20a "Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food."

*Proverbs 26:14 "As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed."  (Helps me get up in the morning to do my devos!)  :)

*Psalm 78:18 "They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved."

*Ecclesiastes 6:7 "All man's efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied."

*I Peter 5:6-8 "Humble yourselves, therefore under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.  Be SELF-CONTROLLED and ALERT.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

*II Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of SELF-CONTROL."

*Proverbs 15:32a "He who ignores discipline despises himself."

*Proverbs 9:17b "food eaten in secret is delicious - the woman of folly."

*Matthew 13:15 "For this people's heart has become calloused;  they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.  Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn.  AND I WOULD HEAL THEM."

*Luke 12:23 "Life is more than food."

*Psalm 106:3b "They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them."

*Hebrews 12:11 "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

*Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

*Psalm 17:3b "I have resolved that my mouth will not sin."

So there is a good part of my verses that I have written out in my little "food" notebook.  I got a ton from the books and highlighted, underlined and wrote in the books also. 
This is just a start of your journey - the mental, emotional part.  Of course physically there are things to do, but what I found is that once my mind was kind of in more of a right place the physical part came along better.  I will write about that at a different time. 

Pray, pray, pray for God to reveal what your food/exercise journey needs to be and He will lead you along an awesome path!  I’m so thankful for what God has done in my life and He can do it for you too!