Turning a Disaster into a Meal

Read Psalms 113-115

Psalms 114:8 "Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters."

When we’re trying so hard to show others how delicious a healthy meal can be, it's frustrating when something goes wrong with the meal. It might be something we’ve burned or it might be an important ingredient we forgot.

Some cooks can salvage ruined food and turn the meal into a feast because of their knowledge of other recipes and other meals they have had to salvage. Perhaps they even remember their parents coping with a similar disaster.

Those with less experience and knowledge might have to cope another way—for instance calling on a friend who is an experienced cook. Depending on how much time we have, we might be able to look up those recipes to save our dinner party.

Meat

Read Psalms 109-112

Psalms 111:5 "He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant."

There are all-protein diets that consist mostly of meats. They may help to lose weight quickly, but they have other side effects that warn us not to stay on them too long.

There are diets that exclude all meats. Some are crash diets, but others are diets vegetarians use.

Healthy diets include a controlled portion of meat. Lean meats give us the protein and some other nutrients our bodies need.

Bread

Read Psalms 105-108

Psalms 105:16 "Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread."

When we want to restrict carbohydrates and calories, bread is often put on our avoidance list. But our bodies need nutrients from all the food groups including bread.

We can find enhanced bread, loaded with extra grains and nutrients. We might even find low calorie bread.

Unfortunately, those tend to be expensive. The good news is that we can have a slice or two of regular bread that won’t sabotage either our diets or our budgets.

Forgetting to Eat

Read Psalms 101-104

Psalms 102:4 "My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread."

Our reaction to trauma is to eat, not to forget to eat. Our reaction to celebration is also to eat.

Some folks report that they get so busy or so involved in doing something they love that they forget to eat. We would get so hungry, it would drive us to food.

But maybe once our bodies become more normal and once we rid our systems of toxins from the junk we used to eat, we could reasonably find ourselves forgetting to eat. When it happens, we’ll know we’ve turned a corner in becoming a more healthy person.

Barbeque

Read Psalms 97-100

Psalms 97:3 "A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about."

Barbeques are a chance to cook food in a unique way. As long as we are mindful of the calories in whatever sauce we decide to use, barbeques can really shake up our taste buds.

Different kinds of meat are what leap to mind when we mention the word barbeque. We won’t want to fill up on hotdogs, but chicken and other meats are a staple at most barbeques.

However, we won’t want to pass up the opportunity to try barbequing other foods as well. Vegetables, especially potatoes and corn on the cob, are also barbequed taste sensations.

Inspiration

Read Psalms 93-96

Psalms 96:6 "Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary."

Some people keep themselves inspired to stick to their diets by putting a thinner picture of themselves on their refrigerators. Some display an outfit they are trying to get into.

Others find those very things discouraging. The trick is to find our own inspiration.

Maybe it’s an article from someone who lost a lot of weight and kept it off. Whatever it takes, we want to keep our spirits up while we stick to our diet and exercise plans for as long as it takes to reach our goals.

Thousand Year Diet

Read Psalms 89-92

Psalms 90:4 "For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night."

Those of us who are chronic dieters not only feel like we have been dieting our whole lives—we have been. But even those on a diet for the first time may feel like they’re on a thousand year diet.

We’ve been dieting for such a long time already and have such a long ways to go before we reach our weight goals. We feel like this is never going to end.

That’s when we will want to focus on how much better we’re feeling and how much more energy we have. Taking our eyes off the diet and putting them on the results so far will make those thousand years go faster.

Gardening

Read Psalms 85-88

Psalms 85:12 "Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase."

The best way to know how fresh our fruits and vegetables are would be to grow them ourselves. We’ll be able to harvest them at the peak or their ripeness.

We’ll know what pesticides have been used. We’ll be able to share our bounty with others.

We can freeze and can the extras and have them all year long. If that sounds overwhelming, we can even have just a few herb plants around and start small.

Fed With The Finest

Read Psalms 81-84

Psalms 81:16 "He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee."

We are used to being on tight budgets. Healthy eating already stretches our food allotment.

But when motivation is lagging, we might want to indulge in an upscale product. We won’t make a habit of it—we couldn’t afford to anyway.

Sometimes being fed with the finest boosts our spirits. We know we will go back to generic and on-sale foods, but we will have a delicious memory to get us through.

Fed According to Integrity

Read Psalms 77-80

Psalms 78:72 "So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands."

Before we ever went on our first diet, we knew certain foods were good for us and certain foods were not. Even children quickly learn that restricted food is less healthy food.

So when we are choosing what to eat, we know to choose fruits and vegetables, lean meats and dairy foods, and to restrict carbohydrates and fat. We know sugary foods and junk foods will be unlikely to make it onto our food-for-the-day list.

We want to be fed according to integrity, whether we cook only for ourselves or for our families. Our bodies will respond well to a healthy diet.

Flesh and Heart Faileth

Read Psalms 73-76

Psalms 73:26 "My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

When we’ve made some progress on the scale and need clothes in smaller sizes, we are encouraged. But if the scale hasn’t moved in a while and we haven’t made any more progress, we can get discouraged.

We get downhearted, especially if we have continued to stick to the same food and exercise plan that dropped those previous pounds. We can get tired of the restrictive eating we are doing and hungry for those foods we haven’t had in a while.

We may be ready to give up and content ourselves with progress we have already made. But when our flesh and our hearts are failing us, we can dig down deep inside ourselves with the Lord's strength and find the motivation to keep going.

Scoffers

Read Psalms 69-72

Psalms 70:3 "Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha."

It’s bad enough when we fail to stick with our diet plan. We get upset with ourselves when we don’t resist temptation.

But the knowing looks we get from others is worse. They told us we wouldn’t stick to it.

They told us this would be yet one more diet, one more thing we failed at. But we can renew our resolve the very next meal and the laugh will be on our scoffers when we reach our goals.

Corn

Read Psalms 65-68

Psalms 65:9 "Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it."

Since corn is a vegetable, we should be able to enjoy it without guilt. Unfortunately, it is not one of the vegetables we can eat all we want of.

It’s certainly allowable, but we have to watch the calories. Served plain, it’s not too bad calorie-wise.

But it’s so good when it’s doctored up. Corn on the cob with butter, creamed corn, popcorn—we simply need to measure and watch our portions.

Cravings

Read Psalms 61-64

Psalms 63:1 "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;"

If we get cravings, we don’t need to run to the gynecologist. Cravings do not necessarily mean we are pregnant.

If we have banished certain foods from our diets, we might find we have cravings for them, especially if those foods are associated with certain seasons, holidays, celebrations, or moods. If we associate a certain food with picnics, for example, we might find resisting them nearly impossible if we are at a picnic.

Cravings might also indicate we have holes in our diets. Our bodies might need a certain vitamin or mineral that we are not getting enough of and we will want to pay attention to what that craving is trying to tell us.

Broken Teeth

Read Psalms 57-60

Psalms 58:6 "Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord."

Anyone who has ever had a broken tooth knows the indescribable pain. It’s the one time we don’t try to handle our pain with food.

In fact, any kind of dental problems that cause pain or make eating difficult keeps us from overeating. Nothing but a trip to the dentist will solve our problems.

And usually it keeps us from eating for a day or more after that, depending on the procedure we had to have done. Once we can eat again, we have to exercise special self-control to keep several days of hunger from tempting us beyond eating normally.

Escape

Read Psalms 53-56

Psalms 55:6 "And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest."

Sometimes we just need to get away. We might need a break from daily stress or escape from a bad situation.

Food used to be our escape. Sweets and comfort food would help us forget.

But escape by food only caused us to put on weight. Now our escape needs to be in finding a safe place or reading a good book, watching a favorite television show or movie, or even the aerobic high of exercise.

Sacrifices

Read Psalms 49-52

Psalms 50:8 "I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me."

We chose to make sacrifices when we first started our weight loss journey. We decided we were no longer going to eat whatever, whenever, and however much we wanted to eat.

We sacrificed because we knew we would be rewarded by weight loss, toned bodies, and a healthier diet. But if we are not losing weight like we would like, it’s easy to feel like the sacrifice has been for nothing.

It’s true that sacrifices are not always rewarded. But if we stick to our plan, we will eventually come up the winners.

Feeling Beautiful

Read Psalms 45-48

Psalms 45:13 "The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold."

One of the motivations for dieting is how much better we are going to look. We will be able to go through any store and pick out something that fits us.

We’ll be more careful with our makeup and be able to get a cute haircut that will bring out our eyes. But we don’t have to put off looking good.

We can find nice clothes that make the most of our figures now and get that haircut and makeover. We can start feeling beautiful no matter what we weigh.

Feeding the Enemy

Read Psalms 41-44

Psalms 41:9 "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me."

What happens when someone we trusted turns on us? Someone we thought was a friend, but we find out they stabbed us in the back?

They might have used a secret recipe we gave them and put it on Facebook. Maybe they put us down in front of other people.

We may be tempted to put arsenic in the next serving of dessert we give them at the potluck dinner, but we don’t. We can remain civil and courteous to them and channel our energies into increasing our exercise routines, burning off our anger and even more calories, bringing us even closer to our goals.

Food to Feel Better

Read Psalms 37-40

Psalms 38:7 "For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh."

We feel vaguely ill and don’t know why. We don’t feel bad enough to stay in bed all day, but getting up doesn’t make us feel any better.

We don’t feel sick enough to go to the doctors. What’s he going to say when our symptoms are so hazy?

So we eat and hope that helps. Usually it doesn’t so instead of continuing to eat, hoping we will get better, we can find other things to help, like taking things easy or going back to bed for a little while.

Broken Heart

Read Psalms 33-36

Psalms 34:18 "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."

If we watch sitcoms, we soon learn that the way to fix a broken heart is through chocolate, ice cream, and alcohol. Unfortunately, that will not only wreck havoc on our diets, it will undo the good we have already done, if we choose to go that route every time our hearts are broken.

We don’t have to seek comfort through calories. We can turn to the Lord and pour out our suffering to Him.

He knows what we need and He knows our future. He will heal our broken hearts if we seek comfort in the Lord, instead of in food.

Repentance and Eating

Read Psalms 29-32

Psalms 30:5 "For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

We can’t be perfect, no matter how hard we try. Sometimes, the harder we try, the more we mess up.

It’s especially worse when we hurt someone we love. We may not be able to make things right as soon as we might like, so we eat instead.

Eating our repentance doesn’t help fix things with our loved ones. Finding another way to deal with our emotions, like writing out our apology, has fewer calories and is more directly related to our pain.

All the Comforts of Home

Read Psalms 25-28

Psalms 26:8 "Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth."

When we eat at home we can make certain that there is plenty of food we can eat available. We can make sure we never run out of the foods we have approved for our diets.

Eating out is riskier. We can’t always know if the food we want will be available.

If we can find a good restaurant that does keep diet-approved foods around, we will want to use them often. As they get to know us, our preferences, and our eating-out schedule, there is more likely to be the right foods available when we come in—all the comforts of home.

Prepared Table

Read Psalms 21-24

Psalms 23:5 "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over."

It’s nice when someone else does the cooking. We can get tired of our own fare.

It might be convenience foods or restaurant foods that we look forward to. Convenience foods can save us time and we can always find something we can eat at a restaurant.

It might be a potluck supper or someone else at home willing to give us a break by cooking a meal or two. Perhaps we can even find a way to expand the number of times when the table is prepared for us.

Greedy of Prey

Read Psalms 17-20

Psalms 17:12 "Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places."

It’s frustrating when we set food aside but when we are ready to eat it we find it’s gone. Why would others choose to eat our food when there is no limit to what other food they might eat?

We can set limits for our families, create ways to let them know when something is off limits to them. In our quest to make diet food palatable, we may have gone too far if it tempts others.

It’s more frustrating when it happens at work. It’s understandable at home because family is used to helping themselves to whatever they find, but fellow workers should know better than to take the food we have brought for ourselves.

Eating Essay

Read Psalms 13-16

Psalms 14:2 "The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God."

We might be ready to share our struggle with others. We could write an essay about eating.

We can include how we got this far, or what made us finally decide this is the time to make changes. We can make it personal as we use ourselves as an example.

If the essay is just for ourselves, it can be very personal. If it’s something we are planning to share, we might want to pull back on anything too personal.

Keep Up Your Spirits

Read Psalms 9-12

Psalms 9:11 "Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings."

Since we may have gotten into the habit of eating when we’re down or depressed, it’s important to keep up our spirits. Having a positive attitude is more pleasant to live with.

We can keep our spirits up by praising the Lord. We can count our blessings and thank the Lord for all He has done for us.

Upbeat music also can lift our spirits and might even tempt us to dance. Exercising through to an aerobic high is another way to keep our spirits up.

Strength Through Prayer

Read Psalms 5-8

Psalms 5:3 "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."

Dieting is discouraging. Exercise is hard to face at times.

We need strength beyond ourselves to keep going. That’s where prayer comes in.

If we are not already praying about our dieting and health, we should start. Not only will God give us the strength to keep on track, He will give us wisdom about what to eat and what exercises to do.

Meditation

Read Psalms 1-4

Psalms 1:2 "But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."

It’s easy to become obsessed with food when we’re concentrating on eating healthy. We could become obsessed either with finding the right things to eat or with missing the things we are restricting.

We want to get our minds off food. One way to do this is to meditate.

We can think about the scripture we have read for the day or on a familiar verse that encourages us. Or we can memorize a new verse and keep our minds meditating on that.

Endings

Read Job 40-42

Job 42:12 "So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses."

It seems we’ll never get to the end of our weight loss and reach our goal. But if we’re getting weary of the whole process, we can have some endings.

We might begin a brief crash diet to jump-start our metabolism. We won’t want to stay on it too long, so it will be relief to end it and return to our previous food plan.

We might get tired of the same old exercise regimen and decide to take a class doing some other form of exercise, like dance or karate. Eventually the class will end and we can decide whether to renew the class, try something else, or spiff up our at-home exercise routine with some of the things we learned.