Made to Crave - Chapter 18: Things Lost Better Gained

~ I'm sharing the high points that I found in each chapter and then I answer the questions at the end of each chapter with my honest feelings. I'm reading the book on my Kindle, so I don't have page numbers for any of the thoughts I have taken from the book. This has been a journey that has spanned at least a decade for me. I'm not where I want to be, but I'm farther along than I used to be. Walk with me and feel free to share your thoughts. Be kind. Be blessed.

• There’s a spiritual perspective we must keep as well. The perspective that we will have to turn from some foods for ever. This turning is part courageous sacrifice and part utter repentance. And though the words sacrifice and repentance used to speak bitter-tasting hardship to my soul, they are speaking something else now. Something I’ve honestly grown to love. Victory. But victory won’t stay for long if I start resisting and disliking her essential requirements of sacrifice and repentance.
• Hitting your goal weight is a blessing entangled with a curse. The curse being the assumption that freedom now means returning back to all those things we’ve given up for the past months.
• But we can’t welcome home the missed foods without welcoming back all the calories, fat grams, cholesterol, sugars, and addictive additives (think junk food). The interesting thing about these “guests” is that they send out signals to our brain begging us to party with them again and again and again.
• But for me even little compromises with unhealthy cravings can quickly pave the road for an all-out reversal of my progress.
• In a study recently published by Science News, researchers found junk food to be measurably addictive in lab rats: After just five days on the junk food diet, rats showed “profound reductions in the sensitivity of their brains’ pleasure centers, suggesting that the animals quickly became habituated to the food. As a result, the rats ate more food to get the same amount of pleasure. Just as heroin addicts require more and more of the drugs to feel good, rats needed more and more of the junk food. “They lose control,” [one of the researchers] says, “This is the hallmark of addiction.”
•  “’Everything is permissible for me’ – but not everything is beneficial… I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12).
• “’Food for the stomach and the stomach for food’ - but God will destroy them both” (6:13).
• Food is not the enemy here. Satan is the enemy. And his strategic plan is to render us ineffective or at least sluggish for the cause of Christ. When we’re defeated and stuck in issues of the flesh, it’s really hard to fully and passionately follow hard after God. So, lest we start mourning what will be lost, we must celebrate all that’s being gained through this process.
• “I can” is a powerful little twist for a girl feeling deprived. “I can” helps me stay on the perimeter of the grocery store where the fresher, healthier selections abound and smile that I know this tidbit. “I can” helps me reach for my water bottle and find satisfaction in its refreshment.
• Fellow blogger Anne Jackson wrote a telling post about her weight loss journey when she came to the conclusion early on that there are more things to be gained than just losing weight.
• Anne wrote: Don’t trust your scale! One of the things Brandon [her trainer] said to me is most people will attempt working out and eating better for about a month; when they don’t see a big difference on the scale, they give up. Truth be told, if you don’t see a big difference on the scale in your first month, it doesn’t mean much at all. My scale said, “All this effort and you’ve only lost a pound,” and if I would have given up. Don’t buy into what the scale says or doesn’t say. Trust the effort you are putting into getting healthy. And keep going! Not only are there changes going on in your body that you can’t see, there are changes going on in your spirit – with your discipline, your courage, and your willpower. Keep going!
• Focusing only on what we’re giving up will make us feel constantly deprived. And deprivation leads to desperation, frustration, and failure. Instead we have to focus on everything we’re gaining through this process. And see the gains as more valuable than the losses.
• “I’m sorry, Jesus. Forgive me. Heal me. Restore me. Those little places I excuse. Those little places I excuse. Those same old things that trip me up. The pride that keeps me thinking it’s someone else’s fault. The busyness that makes me forget to stop and consider my ways, my thoughts, my actions. You, Messiah, are the best match for my mess.”
• Jesus wants to help you with that issue. He really does. But you’ve got to stop beating yourself up about it, determine to follow His lead, and stand in the place of repentance.
• We compare, we assume, we assess, we measure, and most times walk away shaking our head at how woefully short our “me” falls when compared to everyone else. How dangerous it is to hold up the intimate knowledge of our imperfections against the outside packaging of others.
• I can make the choice to identify my shortcomings and, instead of using them against myself, hand them over to Jesus and let Him chisel my rough places. The grace-filled way Jesus chisels is so vastly different than the way I beat on myself. My beatings are full of exaggerated lies that defeat. His chiseling is full of truth that sets me free.
• He simply says, “Hey, I love you. Just as you are. But I love you too much to leave you stuck in this. So, let’s full turn from those things that are not beneficial for you.”
• Dear Jesus, I have finally found the courage to admit I’ve craved food more than You. I have wept over giving up food while hardly giving a thought to You giving up Your life for my freedom. I’ve been bound up by feelings of helplessness. I’ve been angry that I have to deal with this weight issue and have been mad at You for allowing this to be one of my lots in life. I’ve made excuses. I’ve pointed fingers. I’ve relied on food for things it could never give me. I’ve lied to my self about the realities of why I gain weight. I’ve settled and excused and made pithy comments justifying my issues. I’ve been enthralled by buttered bread while yawning through Your daily bread. For all that, I am so sorry. These are not just little issues. These, for me, are sins – missing the mark of Your best for my life. With my whole heart, mind, and soul, I repent. I stand on this step and stare at the reality of my depravity and turn. I turn from the dieting mind-set. I turn from what I must give up and week more. I remove my toe keeping open the door to my old habits and patterns, my old mind-set, my old go-to scripts. I choose freedom. I choose victory. I choose courage. And yes, above all else, I choose You. Amen.

Personal Reflections

1. “’Everything is permissible for me’ – but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me’ – but I will be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12). When it comes to healthy eating, what are the things that are permissible for you but not beneficial? Sugar, things with yeast Is there anything permissible that might nevertheless have the potential to master you? Wine, bread, chips How do you feel about the idea that you may have to avoid some foods forever? I hate it! I’m dealing with that right now… I am allergic to yeast, so anything that makes yeast grow needs to be avoided at least for a time… but it’s so hard to avoid them. And if I don’t avoid them, they are the things my body craves.
2. “I can” is a powerful little statement for a girl feeling deprived. In what ways might you incorporate these two very small but mighty words into your healthy eating journey? I can make healthy food choices. I can choose to be more active.
3. Think of an old-fashioned balance scale, the kind with a pan on either side that counterbalances one weight against the other. Imagine placing in one pan all the things you need to give up and in the other pan all the things you’ve gained and will continue to gain. Which side holds the most weight and significance for you? The positive side is starting to win out. It is still challenging to keep my focus on the positives.
4. “We like to identify our shortcomings, form them into a club, and mentally beat the tar out of ourselves”. In what ways have you identified with and punished yourself for your shortcomings? I’m the one who doesn’t complete what I start so I sabotage myself and beat myself up when I fail. Instead of punishing yourself, can you imagine giving these things to Jesus and asking Him to chisel them away?  How might the truth of his compassion help you to break free from your shortcomings in ways that self-condemnation cannot? If I would just believe that He has faith in me, and that He will give me the tools I need for every circumstance. I need to believe that He wants to see me be more than I am, but will not love me any less if I don’t reach the goals I set for myself.