DON'T GO ON A DIET
CHANGE YOUR LIFESTYLE
Their end is destruction;
their god is their stomach;
their glory is their shame.
They are focused on earthly things.
-------
Philippians 3:19
FOCUS FOR TODAY
It takes wisdom to be moderate;
moderation is wisdom in action.
If you want to lose weight, don't you dare go on a diet! It's a sad fact, but true: in the vast majority of cases, diets simply don't work. In fact, one study that examined the results of popular diets conducted that nearly 100% of dieters suffered almost "complete relapse after 3 to 5 years." In other words, dieters almost always return to their pre-diet weights (or, in many cases, to even higher weight levels).
If diets don't work, what should you do if you weigh more then you should? The answer is straight forward: If you need to lose weight, don't start dieting; change your lifestyle.
Your current weight is the result of the number of calories that you have taken into your body verses the number of calories that you have burned. If you seek to lower your weight, you must burn more calories (by engaging in more vigorous physical activities), or take in fewer calories (by eating more sensibly), or both. It's as simple as that.
Many of us are remarkable ill informed and amazingly apathetic about the foods we eat. We feast on high-fat fast foods. We swoon over sweets. We order up - and promptly pack away - prodigious portions. The result is a society in which too many of us become the human equivalents of the portions we purchase: over sized.
A healthier strategy, or course is to pay more attention to the nutritional properties of our foods and less attention to their taste. But for those of us who have become accustomed to large quantities of full-flavored, high-calorie foods, old memories indeed die hard.
Should we count every calorie we ingest from now until the day the Good Lord calls us home? Probably not. When we focus to intently on weight reduction, we may make weight loss even harder to achieve. Instead, we should eliminate from our diets the foods that are obviously bad for us. And of course, we should eat sensible amounts, not huge portions.
How hard is it for us to know the nutritional properties of the food we eat? Not very hard. In the grocery store, almost every food item is clearly marked. In the fast-food restaurants, the fat and calorie contents are posted on the wall (although the print is incredibly small, and with good reason: the health properties of these tasty tidbits are, in most cases, so poor that we should rename them "fat foods").
As informed adults, we have access to all the information that we need to make healthy dietary choices, or not. The choices are ours, and so are their consequences.
MORE FROM GOD'S WORD
Proverbs 23:20-21 (King James Version)
20Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
Proverbs 25:16 (King James Version)
16Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.
1 Peter 5:8 (King James Version)
8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
DON'T SKIP MEALS
Are you skipping meals? Don't do it! Skipping meals isn't
healthy, and isn't a sensible way to lose weight, either.
MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT MODERATION
MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT MODERATION
It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not. - James Gordon M.D.
You can look at your calorie count in the same way you look at a bank account. Every mouthful of food is a deposit and every activity that requires energy is a withdrawal. If we deposit more then we withdraw, our surplus grows larger and larger. - John Maxwell
We are all created differently. We share a common need to balance the different parts of our lives.
Dr. Walt Larimore
To many, total abstinence is easier then perfect moderation.- St. Augustine
Failure is the path of least persistence. Anonymous
MODERATION LEADS TO ABUNDANCE
If you are a person who sincerely seeks the abundant life that Christ has promised, you must learn to control your appetites before they control you. Good-habits, like bad ones, are habit-forming. The sooner you acquire the habit of moderation, the better your chances for a long, happy, abundant life.
Are you running short on willpower? Id so, perhaps you haven't yet asked God to give you the strength. The Bible promises that God offers His power to those righteous men and women who earnestly seek it. If your willpower has failed you a numerous over to God. If you've been having trouble standing on your own two feet, perhaps it's time to drop to your knees in prayer.
WORKING IT OUT
ALL HANDS ON DECK
If you're trying to reshape your physique or your life, don't try to do it alone. Ask for support and encouragement of your family members and friends. You'll improve your odds of success if you enlist your own cheering section.
MODERATION IS WISDOM IN ACTION
Moderation and wisdom are traveling companions. If we are wise, we must learn to temper our appetites, our desires, and our impulses. When we do, we are blessed, in part because God has created a world in which temperance is rewarded and intemperance in inevitably punished.
God's instructions are clear; if we seek to live wisely, we must be moderate in our appetites and disciplined in our behavior. To do otherwise is an affront to Him...and to ourselves.
STRENGTHENING YOUR FAITH
NEVER STOP STUDYING GOD'S WORD
Even if you've been studying the Bible for many years, you've still got a lot to learn, Bible study should be a life long endeavor; make it your life long endeavor.
MORE FROM GOD'S WORD ABOUT WISDOM
Matthew 7:24-25 (New International Version)
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
1 Corinthians 1:30 (New International Version)
30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
James 1:5 (New International Version)
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
James 3:17 (New International Version)
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
NOTES TO YOURSELF
Make notes about aspects of your life that will be improved when you eat more moderately and exercise more regularly.
I must say this is all very true, but sometimes I think that it isn't just a mathematical formula. I can take in 1200-1400 calories a day, workout till I'm blue in the face and the scale rarely goes the direction I'd like it to. But, I do think that the need for the portions has to do with wanting to be "filled" with something, and it should probably be god and not a donut...
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