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Put your quest to lose weight into God's hands
Saturday, August 30, 2008
I went on my first diet when I was in the eighth grade. I wanted to look good for graduation. I lost 17 pounds and was successful keeping it off for most of my high school years.
My friends and I used to challenge each other to lose weight with various kinds of "creative" diets. The one I best remember was the three-day salad diet. Mostly it was to lose five to 10 pounds and I was forever looking at myself in the mirror thinking: You'd be just fine if you lost 10 pounds. Of course, now I would give anything to weigh what I did those many years ago.
A great secret of life is to ask for help when you need it. That's what happened over a year ago when I spoke to my friend Laura. Laura had been involved in a spiritual weight-loss program and lost 50 pounds that year. I figured I needed to lose close to that, so I reached out.
We agreed to speak daily on the phone to support my weight loss efforts. I was foundering; there was no doubt about it. Days went by and I could not say no to myself. That "no" muscle was flabby, and so was everything else. I learned a lot in our brief conversations; I also lost more than 35 pounds. Following are some lessons I re-learned in those talks, in case losing weight is on your list of "to-do's" as the seasons turn.
Stop pretending: In any area of life that has us whipped or in a bind, we have to stop pretending that it doesn't bother us. This is what it means to come empty-handed to God. Blessed are the poor in spirit, says one of the Beatitudes. This means blessed are those who come to God (and to each other) saying, "I need help. I am not well."
Get support: It is no secret what God can do. What he does for others he'll do for you... We exclude ourselves from what's possible with God and with others. But you have to reach out and take the support, like you don't know everything, like you don't have it all together.
Your world in a day: If you can discipline yourself to lay down yesterday, its failures, its cravings and its looming shadows of guilt, you can start fresh today. Commit that you will have a day of conscious and healthy eating and then go about fulfilling your own prophecy. Do it for only one day, then another and another.
Never give up: Stop disempowering yourself by saying, "This isn't a good time. I can't do it. Maybe someday." This is your life. Establish credibility with yourself by being true, one meal at a time. You deserve the freedom and self-expression that comes with a lighter body. Lay claim to better health and greater service to God by handling the food issue in a way that suits and honors the real you.
The Rev. Julie G. Olmsted is pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Miamisburg. Contact her at jgolmsted@woh.rr.com.
