Despite these small
successes, my weight remained unchanged because I refused to alter my eating habits
and came up with more excuses instead.
“My brain is
missing the mechanism that tells my stomach when it is full,” I would say after
eating a family-size serving of pasta.
The problem with excuses is
that, instead of explaining away our actions, it reveals them. No matter how
hard we try to hide our motives, the people
who know us best will always see right through to them. That's what Bill did
when, while eating at a local restaurant, he saw me lean back in my chair and
made this observation: “You’ve got that look
in your eye.”
“What look?” I asked.
“That look that says
you’re full but you’re determined to keep eating anyway.”
His words exposed more
than my love of fettuccini alfredo. They revealed that I was not
treating my body like the temple God designed it to be.
On page nine of her book,
Stop It!: The Simple Solution To Weight Loss, author Carole Lewis has this to
say about unhealthy eating habits: “Stopping destructive thoughts and actions
has the power to open up a life you think could never be possible . . . This new
way of thinking and acting involves two key components. The first component is
our will . . . The second component is that we have to depend on the changing
power of the Holy Spirit in our lives . . . Neither component can be ignored.
We’ve got to want to change and then take steps in that direction.”
One year into my new
exercise routine, I wasn’t ready to take those steps. Instead I continued to
manage my weight by burning calories with no concern for the number consumed, or
how my body would respond to the strain—Then I developed plantar fasciitis, a
condition that causes heel and arch pain due to inflammation of the band of
tissue that runs from the heel along the arch of the foot. Six months after
getting that ailment under control, I
pulled another hamstring, this time in my left leg.
Why does everything
have to be so hard? I asked myself as I tried to stretch through the pain.
The question reminded
me of a scene from the movie, A League of Their Own, where coach Jimmy
Dugan (played by Tom Hanks) reprimanded his catcher (played by Gina Davis) for quitting
the women’s
professional baseball league before the season was over.
“I'm in no position to
tell anyone how to live,” Hanks said. “But sneaking out like this, quitting,
you'll regret it for the rest of your life.”
“It just got too hard,”
Davis replied.
“It's supposed to be
hard,” Tom shouted back. “If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard
. . . is what makes it great.”
As I thought about this
line in the movie, I wondered what the writer’s were thinking. How could
anyone in hard circumstances ever describe them as great?
If the apostle Paul had
lived to make a cameo appearance in that movie, he would have called upon Romans
5:3-4 to explain that we are to rejoice in suffering because
“suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Sometimes I think we
try so hard to change our outward appearance that we forget: true beauty comes
from within. I
was ready for this type of internal makeover as I began to realize
that my body wasn’t failing me;
I was failing my body by allowing my feelings to dictate my food intake.
Why do I eat when
I’m not hungry? Why do any of us?
According to Carole
Lewis: “Whenever we crave something, what we are really longing for is a type of
satisfaction that only Jesus Christ can bring.”[i]
Knowing how good
I feel (and act) on the days that I read the bible, I have to agree. I also have
to wonder: What would happen if everyone who was tempted to overeat, looked for
ways to feed their spirit instead?
I caught of glimpse of
the answer a few days ago when I fought the urge to snack by jogging
on the treadmill. I didn't know how far my legs would let me
go. To my surprise, the girl who couldn’t jog a block two years ago, ran five
miles in fifty minutes.
Although pleased with
this accomplishment, I knew it was a superficial success. More important than
what we can do, is who we are becoming with God's help. I need a lot of help.
Maybe that’s why I get such a kick out of seeing another work in progress—like
the man lifting weights next to me at the YMCA wearing denim shorts, brown
loafers, and dress socks pulled up to his calves.
His “look” reminded me
of the silver-haired lady working out at the gym in Nebraska. The image of her
wearing jeans and a rhinestone jacket as she walked on the treadmill next to
mine still makes me smile, but I no longer think that she was dressed
inappropriately for the occasion. Experience has taught me that, even in the midst of fashion faux pas and
personal failures, we can still get a good workout as God transforms us . . .
from the inside out.
From our family to yours, happy new
year!
Quotes to Grow On
