Weight Loss, Food Addictions, Bad Habits

A lot of us may try to reconfigure our habits after the holidays. I know I’m trying to share as much of the Christmas candy we received, before I have a daily habit started up again. Now that it’s the new year, I’m ready to re-commit to healthy habits.

Weight Loss Goals Three years ago, when I finally bought a new scale and discovered I was up to 125 lb., I took the above picture. To get the improved reading of “117.5 lb.”, I stepped on the scale just enough for it to show my target weight, then snapped the pic before the readout disappeared. Hey, who says visualization doesn’t help, right?!

Within a few months, I was able to reach that target weight. I achieved my goal, and maintained it. (My weight may even get lower on occasion. Hurrah!)

I eat a lot of super-foods, to stay well-nourished, to stave away hunger (which can sometimes be a hunger for nutrients). But here are a few more thoughts to throw into the mix too.

  1. Be ready for self-sacrifice. A lot of folks aren’t really ready to exert that much self-control. The first thirty days are hard, since part of it is breaking old habits. I asked God for help. He delivered me from seeking food to fill my “needs”.
  2. No pain, no gain. In this case- “No pain, no loss”. Doesn’t have the same ring! But think of it as an investment. By investing 30 days or so of your life into developing a new, healthy habit, you might actually lose those carb cravings indefinitely!
  3. You won’t “suffer” for life. If you train your body for a month or so, to eat the right foods (and not in ginormous quantities), you’ll probably start feeling so good that you won’t even want the same foods you used to eat. For me, it started to not feel worth it. Bad foods didn’t really satisfy my hunger. Oh, and as I gradually ate a more pure diet, foods with any kind of chemical in them started tasting down-right nasty. It wasn’t hard to pass that up.
  4. Set a good example for others. It’s been said that good behavior is somewhat “addictive”- the more you’re around someone who makes good choices, the more likely you’ll follow suit. They noticed this in a study of eating habits- it was much harder to be self-controlled around those who ate less healthy foods. So let’s encourage others by eating better ourselves- it will help them and our clothes will fit better in the process, too.

I thank God that He’s given me the fruit of self control. (The Bible says all believers receive the fruit of the spirit, including self control.) Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:27, “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” Paul didn’t want to be a hypocrite. I don’t either!

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