DAY 20

Get Back On Track
You know by experience that there is a point in your "diet"
that the energy wains, the motivation lags...you just run out of the ability to keep it up and you have a bad day ...or days... Actually its just true of any attempt to do what you are supposed to. We fail. It is life.
The gospel says that failure is a part of this journey. Christ came and did not fail because we did. And do. This forgiveness and love gives us the ability to persevere on our journey of living for Jesus, not for ourselves. It gives us the freedom and joy to obey.
His holy spirit also HELPS us. He is in us with His life, power and attributes!
If you slip read yourself a truth card:
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If I've eaten something I shouldn't, I haven't blown it. I can start following my plan
again right this minute. (Don't try to make up for the eating just continue your plan as long as you are hungry enough to eat what you planned) Remember the goal is not perfection..the goal is living for Jesus and this is part of living for Jesus. You are doing it!!!

ITS A FIGHT

This struggle with eating is the same as every other struggle in life. I don't want to feel discomfort (the discomfort that everyday LIFE brings) and instead of going to the Lord of the universe I go to anything else to make me feel better. I want to feel better more than I want to worship my God.
At the core its the same issue as my everyday wanting to do my own thing. That's why keeping in view my PURPOSE in life is so refreshing. I DON'T WANT to live for myself but for Him who died and rose on my behalf. On this death diet I am reminding myself I 'm not living for myself.

But I really fight doing that! Lord, change me.

NO FEAR

Hunger won't KILL me. This is perhaps the biggest thing I am learning from the Beck diet solution. I think one reason I am not successful at staying at a healthy weight is that I fear hunger and I am mastered by cravings. The past few days I have noticed my thinking when I start to get hungry. It may be about 4 pm and I start to get hungry. I begin to think about what I can eat. I am even tempted to just eat my evening meal already! My husband does not get home until 7 pm. How am I supposed to wait 3 hours?! And I fear that if I do wait then I will not be able to eat just a little food, I will go crazy and overeat. I fear being out of control. This is when the desire begins to turn into a craving and my physiology even gets into it. My mouth waters! I feel a strong urge to eat! In the past I thought it had some power and validity but now I think "Maybe it doesn't?"
Is God's grace big and strong enough to carry me through those 3 hours? Is it big and strong enough to even keep me controlled while I eat? Yes. And I am proving it little by little by withstanding hunger and not dying and not going crazy and overeating. My hunger and cravings are NOT bigger and stronger than me! They do not HAVE to be obeyed. Once I say NO CHOICE even those physiological symptoms GO AWAY. I mean they will come back but a person CAN go without food for a long time. And thats ok.

DAY 19

Create an It's Not Okay Response Card similar to the one below and read it daily, perhaps whenever you read your Truth cards. Pull it out whenever you are in danger of of not following your plan.

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Its Not Okay
It's not okay to eat unplanned food of any kind.
I'm just trying to fool myself. Every single time I eat something I'm not supposed
to, I strengthen my giving in muscle and weaken my resistance muscle. I might feel
good for the few seconds I'm eating, but I'll feel bad afterwards. If I want to lose
excess weight and keep it off, I absolutely must stop fooling myself.

DAY 18

Change your definition of full.
If you can't easily take a brisk walk after a meal, it means you have eaten too much
and you might have an unrealistic definition of fullness.
People with weight problems tend to have a hard time stopping eating when just satisfied for a number of reasons. One reason is that you have gotten used to eating to overfull not just satisfied. Another is that you might just want to prolong the eating experience. Or you might be concerned that you will get hungry soon.
Today you will practice telling yourself that you can stop when satisfied. Eating just to have the food in your mouth for longer is just not acceptable. You no longer need to eat because you fear hunger. Hunger is ok and it won't hurt you.
Slow down and notice when you are satisfied.

The All-Sufficient God: Joy in the Journey

By affliction, the Lord teaches His people to sit loose from this world, and to be prepared for eternity. By affliction, God shows His people the vanity, vexation,emptiness, weakness, and nothingness of all created things; and the choiceness,preciousness and sweetness of communion with Himself.

- Thomas Brooks

DAY 17

Today, you'll practice not overeating. You will purposely serve yourself too much food at a meal today. Also put something on your plate that you are not supposed to eat. Before beginning to eat push the extra portions to the side. Practice your thinking as you eat, "It is great that I'm not eating this, it would go to waste in my body because I do not need this food."and "Just because I am craving it does not mean I have to eat it."