conditions

I am learning that the 0-5 eating varies. I just spent 2 days with family in a large university hospital. I noticed it was taking about twice as much as usual to get me from 0-5. For example I ate a whole sandwich at lunch while I usually eat half. I ate 3 pieces of fish for supper while I ususally eat 1. Yet I still ate 0-5. I believe the stress in combination with walking miles must have been the difference.
I am glad to be home since the most important part of dealing with any stronghold is prayer, surrender, and spending time in the Word. With all that has been going on these things have been cut short.

Roots

I gained one and one half pounds in a month and started getting into some old crazy thinking. I cried out to the Lord to be set free from this and He began showing me some roots. Many cases in my childhood when different relatives fed me instead of talking to me, pointing me to the Lord, and listening to me and hugging and loving me. I learned at an early age, and repeatedly, that food makes me feel better during stressful times.
I felt badly, but am now thankful for this weight gain. I am feeling more compassion for people who are in any addiction. At some point, they were in distress, and a substance made them feel better, thus setting up a stronghold.
The Lord came to set the captives free, and as we come to Him, grieve out those places, ask Him to show us where He was in those instances, ask Him to use this for His glory, surrender these areas to Him, and pray, and quote scriptures of truth and His promises these strongholds will tumble in the name of Jesus.

Continuing

As I coontinue this program I notice some changes. In the beginning the focus was on me doing the 8 keys and how well I did them.
The more I study this program and the longer I walk with the Lord the more I focus on the spiritual concepts and on honoring God and the less I focus on my weight and my performance.

Jesus satisfies

Jesus is teaching me that He is the only thing that satisfies. I ate a piece of cobbler. It tasted good but the good feeling did not last. I bought some new jeans. That was exciting for a day, but then I lost all enthusiasm. I started a new job. That was exciting for a month. I received a lifetime longing for a dream I had. The joy from that lasted for a week.
Only Jesus satisfies the longing of my heart. He is the only constant in my life. He really is the Bread of Life and the Living Water which sustain me.

living according to the Spirit

The Lord is speaking to me this morning that TW is simply living according to the Spirit and not the flesh.
At work I pray before doing almost everything and the Holy Spirit cares. He guides and directs me.
TW is doing the same thing with my eating and exercise. I need to ask Him to be my guide and then know that He will help me and comfort me and that I do not need comfort from food and He cares more about my body than I do. It is where He dwells.
I will do this today and be excited to see the results.

attributes

Online at TW under the leadership of Heidi who helped write TW book we are doing a thourough study of the TW book.
We are praying and praising God for His attributes.
I was reading John 17 and praying this out loud for myself and for other believers and something jumped out at me that I had never seen. Verse 23. God loves us as much as He loves His Son. I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
This is NIV. The New Living says as much as you have loved me. I got only a glimpse of how much He loves us.
Oh to know that we are fully loved and accepted my Him. What a difference that would make in how we view ourselves, thus making total love for self and others more attainable and therefore our weight struggles less and our fredom more.

masterpiece

If only we could see ourselves as God's masterpiece. That we are one of a kind and unique and that God loves us just the way we are.
God has been speaking to me about how we are all unique. Then at our Church the children sang a song about this very thing.
If we can get a grasp on this and on His love for us it will affect our image of ourselves and thus affect our eating and body image.

In the eating arena, I am going to the table and applying the 8 keys at every eating occasion. I have done this at meals, but I am now doing it even if I need an apple between meals. It makes such a difference in how I enjoy the food. I also have been praying more about choices etc. I thought I don't know whether God will answer something this piddly or not. I prayed about breakfast and did not think I was going to get an answer. Then just as I got to the kitchen and decided to make my own selection the thought came to me to have some oatmeal. It was just what I needed and had not had any for a long time. God does care about every detail of our lives.

Heal

I am going through the Heal book now. I always have something I am doing in the area of food and eating in addition to regular Bible reading. This is so good. Right now I am going through Psalm 139 a verse at a time just like the Heal book suggests. There is so much growth in this for me. To read and pray about each verse and journal about how this applies to my weight and eating.

wow

Wow! This month has gone fast! It has been almost a month since I have posted. God has been dealing with me about many things. I have been on my face and knees confessing my sins. Sins of rebellion associated with the overeating. Sins of laziness and selfishness. It became very clear to me that when I deliberately disobey God in these areas it is rebellion. I was horrified by this. I am so glad He is a loving God and that we if we His people who are called by His Name will humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways then He will forgive our sins and heal our land. I feel cleansed and refreshed after doing this. I also notice that my eating goes better when I walk more closely with Him.

vacation and step 12

Vacation was wonderful and I actually released 2 pounds this month. This is about exactly the weight that is good for me.
I enjoyed all of my favorite foods within the parameters of 0 and 5.
Something that is coming to me is that doing step 12, sharing this message with others, is absolutely essential to my healing.

vacation

I am going on vacation for a week. One of the things I enjoy about TW is that I never gain weight on vacation. I eat all of the foods I enjoy within the parameters of hunger and satisfaction and pray and seek the guidance of the Lord.
It is so neat that food is no longer the focus but relationship with God and family are the focus on vacation.
The changes are gradual but they come with time as I stick with it.

The joy of obedience

There really is joy in obedience. I have really struggled with eating between hunger and satisfaction for breakfast and at bedtime. This has shown up in a little weight gain. I spent a lot of time in prayer the night before last and asked the Lord to help me just for the next day to be obedient.
It was 915 before I reached hunger. I usually get up and eat no matter what but continued in prayer and was able to not give into temptation. Instead of the usual hunger at about 1030 requiring a snack, I was not hungry. Then at lunch it took very little to get me to a point of satisfaction. I felt such joy.
If I sense this kind of joy over one act of obedience in this area there must be joy if I seek to be obedient in other areas as well.
The other thing I feel like the Lord is once again speaking to me is that my motives are to be for His glory. That is when this will work. Sure diets help people release weight even if the motive is a smaller size, but we as Christians need to want this for the glory of God. When someone asks or notices it is a tool I can use to lead them to the Lord or into a deeper relationship with Him.

Jeremiah 29

In early prayer I had been praying to the Lord and confessing my sins and telling Him how helpless I am to help myself in the area of eating and in the indirect way I express my anger.
Just when I think I am making progress I stumble.
I opened my Bible during early prayer and there before my eyes was Jer. 29 verses 11 through 14. For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest , you will find me when you seek me. I will be found by you, says the Lord. I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and bring you home again to your land.
In times of trouble when I feel I am not making progress in these areas of my life God has not forgotten me. God may be preparing me, as He did the people of Judah, for a new beginning with Him.
May this first day of March, where there is hope of Spring, be a new beginning.

Seeking His Plan

I was so touched by a post on the TW forums. There was a lively discussion going on about 2 different Christian weight loss programs. About which was best, pros and cons etc.
Someone posted that all of the authors are human and therefore err. That only God is perfect and we need to go to Him for our guidance.
This is so true. He wants me to be at my ideal weight. He created us, He loves us, and He will show us the way for our lives if only we will trust Him and obey.
To obey does not mean I have to be perfect. It means I need to confess and repent on a regular basis and follow His guidance as He directs in the Word and as He speaks to my heart.

FLesh Machinery

After reading from TW about flesh machinery I realize that food still means too much too me. I still eat for pleasure and comfort at times.
I want God to be first in my life and for Him to satisfy me even more than the richest of foods.
I want Him to be my all.
Help me Lord to have no other Gods before you. You are enough.

21 days

We had the most wonderful sermon about taking 21 days to form a habit.
I want to practice what I heard and spend 21 days recommiting to this program. I want to invite the Lord into every eating occasion instead of trying to do this on my own and then to be obedient to what I feel I hear.
As soon as I think I do not need to pay attention and try to do this on my own I fail.
I think God allows this thorn in the flesh to keep me dependent on Him. To show me just how much I really need Him. That I can't even take care of simple meals without Him.

trusting God

After being retired for 2 years God is calling me back into the workforce. I was fearful and prayed a lot about this. Every day God assures me that when He calls me He equips me. That it is not me but Him.
This makes me think of my eating too. The more I rely on Him and the less I rely on me the better this will work.
If only we could learn to trust Him more and rely on Him more in all areas.

Our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made

God has made our bodies in such an awesome way. No human can ever come close to His creation.
He built this hunger mechanism into our bodies. I have noticed that some days I require more.
Wednesday I exercised in the morning and went to a dance in the evening. I had a lot more activity than usual. Thursday I was so hungry every 2 hours so I ate more. My body needed more.
Over the Holidays I ate more rich food than usual but still between hunger and satisfied. Now my body is telling me to eat plain wholesome food.
Another thing I have noticed is that our brain is a fabulous computer created by Almighty God. Our eyes, ears, nose and mouth program the computer. I do not want a junky computer so I want to program it properly with the Word of God, positive confession, listening to wholesome things and never looking at evil such as what is so often at the movies and on tv.