Parts 5 & 6- What is Your Relationship with Food?

I was unable to teach Parts 5-6. I asked a friend, Sarah, to teach these classes and she wrote the postings. Thanks for covering for me, Sarah - you did an excellent job.



Part 5 - Why do we continue to unhealthy things to our bodies in relationship to food?



Over the past couple of weeks, Laura took an in depth look at what Scripture says about both gluttony and food deficiency. She basically has established the fact that both of these behaviors are not pleasing to God. She emphasized that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and thus taking part in gluttony and/or food deficiency is sin.

This week, I shared and explored some of the reasons why we participate in gluttony and/or food deficiency. This is a tough question, with perhaps some very difficult answers. In order to overcome the food issues in our lives, we must get to the root of our problems with compulsive overeating and/or under-eating.

I posed the question, “If this is sin, WHY do we continue to do it?” We all love God, want to serve Him wholeheartedly, and desire a normal relationship with food. But, alas, after years and years of struggle, we find ourselves stuck in the same sin with food issues.

On the very basic, most simple level, the answer to this question is: We ALL have a sinful nature. In Romans 7:14-25, Paul vividly speaks of the process of wanting to do what is good and right, but actually doing what he does not want to do. This portion of Scripture defines what is going on in us as well. Our sinful nature is slave to the law of sin, while our inner being delights in God’s law and has now become a slave to God’s law. I do not want you ladies out there to think this message is all “doom and gloom”. Paul goes on to say that Jesus Christ our Lord has rescued us from our “bodies of death”. Hallelujah!!! We will be covering more of this hope next week.

I continued the lesson with an in depth look at where sin began. I highlighted the fact that God created Man to be in relationship to Him and to one another (Adam and Eve). Before the Fall of Man, we were living in relationship to God with innocence. Genesis 2:25 says that Adam and Eve were naked and felt no shame. After the Fall of Man, our eyes became open to sin and we needed to cover our shame (Gen. 3:7). We see in Gen. 3:21 that it is God, alone, who can properly cover all of our sin.

After looking at what is going on spiritually when we sin, I then took a look at how all of this affects our lives practically. Because of sin, our “everything” is completely flawed. Our relationships to God and to each other are now broken and dysfunctional. We now have negative emotions and feelings to deal with. Well, we, in our sinful “bodies of death” have the tendency to deal with our emotions in unhealthy ways. We took a look at the place where we associate feelings and emotions: the heart.

Our broken and sinful hearts are longing for a cure, a “fix”. We have feelings going on deep down inside of us that are difficult to manage. Our feelings/emotions begin to dictate/control what we do in our physical bodies. We cover over or deal with difficult emotions in our hearts by overeating or becoming food deficient. These compulsive behaviors in a sense cause our hearts to say, “Aaaaah! That’s better!” We are masking over our difficult feelings by becoming obsessed with food issues. Instead of actually feeling these difficult emotions, we stuff them down and out of the way so we do not have to deal with them. Food /food deficiency becomes our comfort, love, and place where we feel safe and secure. Jeremiah 17:9 says that, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” With our evil hearts in this condition, we attempt time and time again to “cure” them by turning to or away from food. These sinful practices become cycles in our lives that are very difficult to break. We, ourselves, cannot do it. It is through Christ alone that we receive wholeness and healing for our terribly broken hearts. More of this good news will be shared next week.

Towards the end of the meeting, I asked ladies to share some feelings and emotions we have, or events in our lives that that cause us to overeat and/or under-eat. This is the list we came up with. There are sure to be many more that we have neglected: shame, guilt, fear, mistrust, hurt, grief, sadness, insecurity, abuse, trauma, anger, unforgiveness, greed, and selfishness. Many of us have not properly dealt with these difficult emotions or experiences, and therefore continue in our cycles of overeating/ under-eating without even realizing that these things are completely related. I shared some of my past experiences and painful emotions that have caused me to turn to food for comfort/relief. I encouraged the ladies to take some time with the Lord this week to seek out what kinds of feelings and emotions may be causing us to have sinful food issues. I encouraged ladies to write down emotions, situations, circumstances, events, people, and sins that either happened in the past or are even happening right now, that are causing them to relate to food in unhealthy ways. We asked God to reveal the attitudes of our hearts and show us specifically what is going on inside of us. 1 Chronicles 28:9 says that the Lord searches every heart and every motive behind our thoughts, and that if you seek him, he will be found by you. 1 John 3:20 says that God is greater then our hearts and knows everything. He is faithful to walk us through the difficult and many times painful process of searching out our hearts.

Let’s be honest with the Lord and with ourselves in relation to our sins and issues with food. In return, He will reveal to us what is going on deep inside of us. Discovering/ understanding our emotions and feelings is the first step in the healing process that God brings us through in living victoriously over food issues. I encourage you to reach out to a sister in the Lord whom you feel you can open up with. It’s important to start getting our feelings out, exposing the truth of our lives, so we can then walk in the freedom that Christ has won for us!

Romans 8:11: “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” (emphasis added)

Part Six: Living Free From Unhealthy Relationships with Food

We began this week’s meeting by touching on a few of the points from last week. We reviewed the reasons why we abuse our bodies by overeating/under-eating. At the very basic level it is our sinful nature. Within ourselves, we are powerless over sin. As a result of the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, we now have flawed hearts, relationships, and emotions. So, to cure our heart condition and to deal with painful emotions, we turn to gluttony and/or food deficiency. We desperately need God to cover our sin and reveal to us the reasons behind why we abuse our bodies with food.

The teaching for this week focused on the complete provision of Jesus Christ to heal our broken emotions and heal us from our food issues. We discussed the redemption of Christ and looked at the following Scriptures: John 1:29, Romans 5:6-8, 1 Tim. 1:15-16, Heb. 7:24-26. We see clearly that Jesus has come to “completely save” us from our sinful and broken hearts.

Next, we looked specifically at the freedom that Christ has won for us. We read several passages in Romans chapters 6-8. These chapters highlight our freedom from the power of sin, our release from the chains of the law, and the good news that those of us who have been redeemed through Christ now live according to the Spirit. Passages we read include Romans 6:1-4, 6:11-14, 6:17-18, 7:4-6, 8:1-4, 8:9-13.

In seeing that we now live according to the Spirit, we have an obligation and responsibility to cultivate a life in the Spirit. For, the Spirit of God brings life and our sinful nature brings death. We must cooperate together with the Holy Spirit in taking steps to work out our healing from unhealthy relationships with food. So, how do we live “by the Spirit”?

Before we answered this questioned we looked at God’s incredible promise to us as His children. Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” This is a promise we must lean on in order to live free from unhealthy relationships with food. God says that He WILL change our hearts by His Spirit, which in turn moves us to obey God’s decrees and live a life full of the freedom of Christ!

Two weeks ago, brother Bob Dale shared at Christian Fellowship Center concerning living “by the Spirit”. He shared some important tools that we can use to cultivate the Spirit in our lives. His steps for “Sowing into the Spirit” began with:


1. Let the Word of God dwell in you. In order to please God in our bodies and obey his decrees, we must know what they are. This requires time spent in God’s Word. As we allow the Word of God to settle into our mind and hearts, we become changed. Scriptures we looked at include: Ps. 119:9-11, Col. 3:16, Josh. 1:8


2. Get “plugged in”. This step involves plugging ourselves into the Spirit of God. We then have the necessary power supply to function and live successfully. “Plugging in” requires prayer, communication with God, and meditation on Him and His Word. For this section we read Col. 3:2, Col. 4:2-4, Eph. 6:18, 1Co. 14:4, Phil. 4:8


3. Live a life full of praise and worship. When we are taking time and moments during our days to praise God and worship Him, we are feeding the Spirit of God within us. We are lifting our eyes and ears up to glorifying His Name, and diminishing the effect that our current situations have upon us. As we focus on God’s Majesty, we find ourselves consumed with Him rather than with our worldly troubles. Not that our problems, hurts, and struggles don’t exist, but that we determine to set our hearts and minds on praising God rather than our situations. Scriptures from this portion include: Eph. 5:18-20, Col. 3:16.


4. Live in peace and choose forgiveness. Being in peace with others and choosing forgiveness is a major part of living free from food issues. Many of us have been hurt and/or abused by others. We must allow ourselves to let God birth forgiveness in our hearts and take necessary steps to live a life of peace. When we harbor bitterness, anger, hostility, and unforgiveness in our hearts, there is little room for love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The things we are trying to cultivate become clouded by the negative feelings in our hearts towards others. We read several passages concerning this topic which include: Mt. 6:12-15, Eph. 4:26-27, Col. 3:13-15.


5. Walk in love. As we walk in love with our neighbor and live our lives for others, we not only are “honoring others above ourselves”, but living out our freedom. When we serve others, we do not serve ourselves or our sinful nature. Practicing love towards one another helps us to live “by the Spirit” and put to death our sinful nature.


6. Choose to put on humility. Putting on humility involves a number of things. It requires us being honest to God about ourselves and also being truthful with others. When we see our pride and work to put on humility, we effectively deal with the weaknesses in our lives that perhaps we did not see before. Openly coming to God and confessing sin while asking Him to reveal pride in our hearts is a difficult but effective way in working through some of the painful emotions within. When we seriously look into our hearts to see what’s there, it can be a shockingly scary thing. But, as we become willing to partner with God in allowing Him to change these areas of our lives, He is most faithful in doing so. Scriptures for this section include: Phil. 2:1-8.


7. Live for the glory and will of God. This may seem very basic and elementary, but is crucial in giving up our food issues and letting the healing of Christ work in us. When we decide that we will live according to His ways and do what He wills, then we are living according to the Spirit of God within us. We honor and please the Holy Spirit when we live every area of our lives for the glory of God. Dealing with food issues in our lives and aligning these areas with God’s will brings glory to God and freedom to our lives! We read several verses for this section which include: John 4:34, John 6:38, Col. 3:17, Eph. 5:15-16.

In addition to all of these effectual steps we can take to live “by the Spirit”, I also discussed another step:


8. Seek counsel and reach out to others. Confronting and overcoming food issues is a hard and painful process. We need lots of support from our sisters in Christ during this journey. We must receive wisdom and counsel of others trusted brethren. By discussing and confessing emotions within us, we can then receive prayer and healing. The body of Christ was made for “such a time as this”. Let’s work together and reach out as well as be there for one another to see each of us through to living free from unhealthy relationships with food. Scriptures for this section include: Pr. 17:17, Pr. 15:22, Eph. 4:25, Phil.3:17, Jas. 5:16.

Part 4: What Is Your Relationship With Food?

Last week I established that scripture encourages us to eat until we are satisfied. I also talked about what happens when we indulge in gluttony. This week I talked about the opposite of gluttony, which is food deficiency.

Some people purposely deprive themselves of food for one reason or another. I didn't talk about the reasons since that will be covered in class next week, but rather I talked about what scripture says about food deficiency and how it impacts us physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Before I go any further, I need to clarify that the context of my discussion is not about fasting, but rather then a person who deprives themselves of food in an unhealthy manner and for all the wrong reasons. There is a difference between a person who fasts according to principles taught in the Bible and one who intentionally deprives themselves of food for all the wrong reasons.

In looking up scripture regarding food deficiency, I had to broaden my search to include famine. There are many famines documented throughout scripture and probably one of the worse ones is described in Lamentations; see the following references: Lamentations 2:19, 4:1-10, 5:10. Another famine occurred during Joseph's time as second in command in Egypt. Genesis 47:13 describes how Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine.

I know that the two famines described in Lamentations and Genesis were not self-inflicted by the people who suffered through them, but the scripture does clearly indicate some of the impacts of them on the people:

1. The lack of food and water caused dehydration to the point where the children's tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths (Lam 4:4);
2. Dehydration also causes the skin to become dry to the point where it sticks to the bones, becomes blackened as though baked in a oven and hard as wood (Lam 4:8, 5:10);
3. Lack of food causes parents to ignore their children's cries for help and in extreme cases of starvation causes them to cook their own children and eat them in order to survive (Lam 4:3 and 4:10); and
4. People experience weakness, faintness, and wasting away of the body due to the lack of food (Lam 2:19, 4:9, and Gn 47:13).

Lamentations 4:9 clearly shows us that dying from hunger is far worse then dying from something that causes death immediately. The commentaries that I read about this shared that dying of hunger is a slow painful process that not only torments the body, but the soul and spirit as well.

Since I know the situations described in Lamentations and Genesis are extreme cases of food deficiency and represent probably the last stages before death from starvation, I was interested in learning how a person may be impacted when they purposely deprive themselves of food even in the mildest sense. I found several resources to be helpful.

The first one is from my Rev It Up Fitness Manual. Rev It Up is a nine week wellness program that I participated in this past winter at my job. It is a program that helps people develop a healthy partnership with their bodies. On page 14 of the manual, it describes five changes that begin to occur when someone deprives their bodies of food:

1. Your body will start to lower the rate it burns calories, or fuel, to conserve as much energy as possible;
2. Your body will begin to protect its extra fuel stores, your stored body fat, just in case you decide to skip the next meal, too (Remember, it's not sure WHEN you will fuel again!)
3. Your body may burn some of its own muscle tissue for extra energy if burning LESS calories is not enough to make up for the lack of energy fuel (Your own muscle "tastes like chicken" to an empty fuel tank!)
4. Your body will trigger your brain to send signals to make LPL, or lipoprotein lipase. LPL is an enzyme that's main purpose is to encourage your body to store fat. More LPL in your body means more of the next meal you DO eat will be made into stored fat instead of used for immediate energy or fuel, and
5. Your body will probably crave fats and/or sugars when it feels overdue for fuel: FAT, because this food group has the most calories per serving size, and SUGAR, because this food can be broken down very quickly. Who craves lettuce and carrots now? Don't be surprised if you cannot resist a quick drive through the fast food window!

(Source: Rev It Up Fitness, LLC. Tammy Beasley, 2005)

Two other sources that I found helpful are found here and here. As you check the last two sources out, you'll see that both of them describe conditions related to dehydration, weakness, and wasting away. I found this interesting that modern day science is documenting the very conditions that are described in Lamentations and Genesis.

I ended the class last night by asking the question: "Is it a sin to purposely deprive yourself of food for unhealthy reasons or motivates?" This is a hard question to answer because I couldn't find scripture that comes right out and says that it is sin like I did for gluttony. Two scriptures that did come to my mind were 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and Matthew 22:36-40. These two scriptures tell us that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, that we are to honor God with our bodies, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. I propose that if we purposely choose to deprive ourselves of food for unhealthy reasons then we are sinning. This action doesn't occur out of love for ourselves and we certainly aren't honoring God by depriving our bodies of the food God gives us to survive.

If you have issues with depriving yourself of food for unhealthy reasons, rest assured that there is a way out of this. I encourage you to read Part 3 of this series since I describe a process that can be used to overcome gluttony. This same process can be used also with people who deprive themselves of food for unhealthy reasons.

When I began teaching this series 4 weeks ago, I envisioned that it would be a 5 week class. I am extending the class to 7 weeks. The next two weeks will be spent looking at reasons why people indulge in gluttony or purposely deprive themselves of food for unhealthy reasons. The last week of class will be a wrap up of the whole series.

Part 3 - What Is Your Relationship With Food?

I applaud the ladies that attended the Fire Up Club meeting last night and listened to my teaching entitled "Gluttony - Do You Have the Food Bug?" The message was a difficult one to hear since I shared that gluttony is: (1) a sin; (2) takes our focus off from people who need us; (3) leads to poverty; and (4) it harms us. Most of us, if we are honest, have or have had issues with gluttony. The good news is there is a way out. Read on to learn more.


Last week I established that food is for the stomach and stomach is for the food (1 Corinthians 6:13) and that God gives us food to strengthen, refresh, and revive us.

With God's purpose for food established, the question is now: how much do we eat in order to be strengthen, refreshed, and revived? A look at scripture shows us that we are to eat until we are satisfied, eat with moderation, and that it is okay to leave food on our plates if we have had enough to eat. Bible verses to support this conclusion are: Ruth 2:14, Acts 27:33-38, Ex 16:11-18, and Prov 25:16. Please know that I'm not suggesting that we waste food by not eating everything on our plates. We have to use good judgement in knowing how much we can eat, but if by chance we take too much, it is not wrong to leave food on our plates. This probably goes contrary to how most of us were raised, but I believe scripture encourages us not to eat beyond our fullness level.


Eat until we are satisfied. How do we define satisfied? I couldn't find scripture to help me out with this one. My logical mind suggests to me that if food is for the stomach and stomach for the food, then satisfied is connected with how satisfied is my stomach, or how full am I.


This past winter I attended a Rev It Up nutritional class. The class was taught at my workplace and it is a wellness program designed to help you develop a healthy partnership with your body. The class talked about our bodies' hunger and fullness fuel gauge, which is a measure of how full your stomach is. Hunger tells you when your body is out of "gas" and needs refueling. On the other side, fullness tells you when you're full, but not overflowing. The key is to eat until your stomach is full and don't go beyond the fullness level. The class presented a hunger or fullness fuel gauge in order to help us measure our hunger/fullness levels.

Scale: 1 (starving) - 10 (stuffed)

1. You're dizzy and unable to think clearly. "I'm going to pass out if I don't eat RIGHT NOW!

2. You're very irritable, and your stomach feels like a deep, dark hole. Where IS that food?

3. You NEED to eat, but you are not going to pass out...at least not yet!

4. You feel a little hungry, and your body is sending signals to fuel your engine.

5. Your stomach is in neutral. If you stop eating right now, your fuel tank will not need more "gas" or food within 2 hours.

6. Your stomach knows that food (fuel) has arrived, but you still want to eat more.

7. Your stomach is getting full now. If you stop eating, your fuel tank will not need more "gas" or food until about 4 hours later.

8. You are full, and that "deep, dark hole" has now been filled to the top!

9. Your stomach is completely stretched to the point of discomfort, and one more mouthful may not even fit!

10. Help! Fuel overload! You really cannot eat even one more bite.

Reference: Rev It Up Fitness, LLC. Tammy Beasley, RD, LD, CEDSN, 2005.

Rev It Up taught me that my stomach is satisfied when my fuel gauge is between 5 and 7.

Gluttony is defined as excessive eating or drinking. The Bible is very clear that gluttony is a sin, limits our focus, leads to poverty, and harms us; see the following Bible references:

Prov 23:1-3

Prov 25:27-28

Ezek 16:49

Prov 23:19-21

The first thing to do in order to get free from gluttony is to admit that you have a problem with gluttony, confess it as a sin and ask God to forgive you. As you do this, you can be confident that God forgives you; 1 John 1:9-10. The next step is to surrender the gluttony problem to God and ask Him to help you gain and maintain freedom from it. It will also help for you to lay the movie forward and find your Emmet's to help you along the way; see here to learn more. Additionally, start becoming aware of your fullness level and take at least 20 minutes to eat your food. The stomach needs at least 20 minutes to communicate to your brain that it is full. If you're full, stop eating. If you continue to eat, ask "why are you still eating when your stomach is satisfied and full?" Waiting for an answer will help you to learn more about the real reasons why you eat beyond your fullness level or being satisfied.

Part 2 - What Is Your Relationship with Food?

Last night at the Fire Up Club meeting I taught on God's purpose for food.

I began my research a week ago in search of finding a statement in the Bible that would tell me the reason that God gives us food. My logical mind told me that if I could find a statement like "God is love" in the Bible, I should be able to find a similar statement like "God created food for....." I was wrong - I didn't find a definitive statement about food.

God has a lot to say about food. Depending on what translation you read, there are anywhere from 50-362 references to the word food.

The closest definitive statement I found was in 1 Corinthians 6:13: Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them (NKJV).

I began to ponder about what happens in the stomach. I always thought the main function of the stomach is digestion, which is the breakdown of food into a usable form by the body that involves mechanical, chemical, and absorptive events. A quick lesson on digestion showed me that digestion actually begins in our mouths as we begin to chew and the our saliva contains enzymes that begin the chemical breakdown of the food. The food passes through the esophagus and into the stomach. The stomach provides four basic functions: (1) serves as a short-term storage reservoir; (2) substantial enzymatic digestion begins, particularly proteins; (3) Food is liquefied through contractions and gastric secretions of the stomach; and (4) stomach releases liquefied food into the small intestine for further processing. Once in the small intestine, more digestion occurs and the nutrients from the food are absorbed by the body so that we have energy to function. Although the stomach is a critical component for digestion, the main digestion occurs in the small intestine.

I also found Scripture that clearly shows that God gives us food for strength, to revive us, and refresh us. Here are some of the Scripture references:

1 Kings 19:5-9
Acts 9:18-19
Acts 27:33-35
Eccl 10:16-17
Gen 18:5
1 Sam 14:24-30
1 Sam 30:11-12

In conclusion, the Bible doesn't make a definitive statement like "God's purpose for food is...." Nevertheless, the Bible does tell us that food is for the stomach and stomach for food. The stomach plays a role in breaking down the food so that our bodies can readily use it as fuel to carry on our daily lives. God's purpose for creating food is to sustain our our physical lives, give us strength, and revive us.

I am encouraged by the ladies that come to the meetings and their interest in learning about our relationships with food. In the past two weeks, we have had great discussions concerning the way we eat and why we eat. We will continue looking at this issue next week when I talk about Gluttony-Do You Have the Food Bug? Hope to see you there.

Part 1: What Is Your Relationship with Food?

I felt God nudging me to teach on the topic entitled "What is Your Relationship with Food?" for the past few weeks. I feel a little bit like Moses when God asked him to go free the Israelites from Egypt since I don't feel qualified to teach about this. Nevertheless, I'm stepping out in faith, trusting God to lead me, and praying that lives will be transformed through this teaching.

I started the teaching last night. I introduced the ladies to the basic definition of relationship as defined by Webster's:

• the state of affairs existing between those having relations or dealings; relations being an aspect or quality that connects two or more things or parts as being or belonging or working together or as being the same kind (the relations of time and space).

These definitions clearly show that we need two or more objects in order for a relationship to exist. The objects may be people, animals, or non-living things. Ladies also agreed that we need a feeling or desire towards something, a connection or familiarity, and a two-way street in order for relationships to exist.

There is also a level of intimacy with relationships. I did a Bible study on friendships and found that a range of friendships exist. Acquaintances can be called friends just as your spouse can be your friend. The level of intimacy experienced from an acquaintance is much different than the level experienced with your spouse. Additionally, looking at the life of Jesus we see that he had different levels of intimacy with people too. He had a deeper level of relationship with the twelve disciples than with other people. Out of the twelve, He was more intimate and shared more things with three of them.

God created us since He desired to have a relationship with us. As a Father, God's purpose was to have a family, children to have a relationship with. Our primary focus in life should be on developing a personal relationship with God through Jesus.

A Bible study on Biblical womanhood also shows that God created women equal to men with a different focus. The women's focus is on relationships. This is interesting since the fall of Adam and Eve negatively impacted women's ability to have satisfying relationships the way that God originally designed. Could it be that women eat out of emotions because they are trying to fill a need that they are not getting met through their relationships or they are trying to stuff feelings associated with failed relationships down with food so that they don't have to face the feelings and deal with them? It certainly seems possible. This will be explored more as the class continues.

With respect to emotional eating, one participant suggested a pathway to freedom that involves us being real with God and each other about what our issues are. The pathway to freedom that she described reminded me of the 5-step pathway to freedom (ARISE) that God showed me several years ago. The 5-step pathway is based on Psalm 32:5-11.

1. A-Acknowledge: We admit the sin that was done to us and the sin that we committed as a result of the original sin done to us (Ps 32:5). In doing this, we face the pain associated with the original sin and the sin that we committed and allow God to heal our wounds.
2. R-Restore: As we allow God to heal us, He will restore us (Ps 32:6-7).
3. I-Instruct: God will guide us and instruct us in the way to go (Ps 32:8).
4. S-Surrender: We need to surrender and yield to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and don't be like the horse or mule that needs to be harnessed with a bit and bridle (Ps 32:9).
5. E-Exalt: We can exalt God for bringing us through and setting us free.

That concludes the first week of teaching. Next week we will be looking at God's view about food and His purpose for giving us food.

Meeting Summary-June 25

Since most of the ladies that attended the meeting last night didn't attend the meeting last week, I taught the the lesson on self-discipline again; see here to review the teaching. Next week we will discuss the homework assignment that was presented at the end of the self-discipline teaching. Please come prepared to talk about your answers. Thanks.

Self Discipline

This past week I shared about self-discipline at the Fire Up Club meeting. The first question I asked the group was to define self-discipline. There were many good answers, but I like the definition that I found from the Webster’s Dictionary: the correction or regulation of oneself for the sake of improvement. All the members liked the definition too since we are making changes in our lives for the sake of improvement.

The second question I asked was “how do people get self-discipline?” I think sometimes we are all under the impression that self-disciplined people were born that way or have strong will power. Dr. Henry Cloud disagrees with this. He believes that self-disciplined people are disciplined well from the outside and they internalized it & apply what they’ve learned to their lives. I learned this from the recent Woman of Faith (WOF) conference that I attended in early June. Dr. Henry Cloud was a guest speaker and shared about how we can achieve our dreams in life by becoming self-disciplined. Did you see these words: becoming self-disciplined? This means that if you’re not self-disciplined you can become self-disciplined. This gives me hope.

The third question that I asked the ladies was “What are outside sources to help you develop self-discipline?” Dr. Henry Cloud shared three sources.

The first is God. We all need the grace of God to become self-disciplined and we need to pray and ask God for His help.

The second source is people. Are you trying to make your journey across the desert alone? What are you thinking? People can help you develop the self-discipline that you don’t have. We need structure from other places, we don’t possess structure and discipline because we’re not God. We are the created and not the creator. We need others to help us. Tiger Woods has a coach. Find one.

The third source is what Dr. Henry Cloud called “play the movie.” Every person who reaches a goal plays the movie forward. Every day is not only today only – it is only a scene in the movie and we ask how will this play out? This motivates us. Ask yourself the question: if you continue to not take steps, do you like how the movie ends? How much is your activity bringing you toward your goal? What kind of structure do you need and where will you get it?

At the end of the meeting I gave ladies the following homework assignment:

Dream your dream, “play your movie”. What structure do you need to have your movie end the way you want it (make sure you’re realistic). How can other people help you develop self-discipline? Find areas in your life that you are already self-disciplined and see how you can adapt this self-disciplined to other areas of you life.

I’ll be talking more about self-discipline at Monday’s meeting. See you then.

Fire Up Eating Helps to Lower Cholesterol

A member of the Fire Up Club shared with me that her cholesterol is now within normal range limits after she joined the Fire Up Club in February. Her cholesterol reading was above 300 and it is now 184. She doesn't have to be on cholesterol medicine now.

My cholesterol before I began my lifestyle change was 150. It was 90 when I had it checked last summer. My LDL also decreased by 50%.

I once told myself that I could eat anything that I wanted and that it wouldn't impact my overall health. I was surely decieved. I'm a firm believer now that I need to continue sowing good eating habits today so that I may reap the health benefits tomorrow.

I've been doing a lot of traveling in the past couple of weeks and have missed not seeing all the Fire Up Club members. I hope you all are well and I look forward to catching up with you in a few weeks.

Fire Up Club Approved Recipes

Orange-Vanilla Fruit Dip

1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup light, fat-free vanilla yogurt
1 tsp grated orange peel
Fresh Fruit (strawberries are the best)

Combined cottage cheese, yogurt and orange peel in a blender or food processor and blend on high speed until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Spoon orange-vanilla dip into a small bowl and place a portion of fresh fruit on the side for dipping. Serve and enjoy.


Turkey Sloppy Joes

1.5 lbs lean ground turkey
1 cup chopped onions
2 gloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup catsup
1/2 cup chopped green sweet pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup water
1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey mustard
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1.5 teaspoon chili powder

8 whole wheat mini-squares

In a large skillet, cook ground turkey, onion, and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat.

Meanwhile, in a 3.5 or 4-quart crockery cooker combine catsup, green sweet pepper, celery, water, brown sugar, honey mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and chili powder. Stir in meat mixture.

Cover; cook on low-heat setting 6 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 or 4 hours. Spoon onto toasted mini-sqaures. Makes 8 servings

Pizza Party

The Fire Up Club will be celebrating all the successful changes in lifestyles that ladies have done since Jan 1. For ladies who have weighed in 5 times or more since January, the total weight loss for the group is 184 pounds. As one lady shared at our meeting this week, "this is one whole person." Way to go ladies!!

To celebrate, we are having a pizza party at our next meeting. We will be indulging in whole wheat pizza with salad. This will be followed by a tasteful dessert made with fresh fruit and a favorite yogurt dip of mine. Dinner will be followed by the Nutrition Twin Trivia Game. The game will have questions from the Nutrition Twin's book and other materials that we've covered since January. There will be prizes. Who said that eating healthy can't be fun?

Nancy's Easy Chicken & Rice Recipe

I made the following dish for a birthday party this past Sunday. Everyone liked it and many people have requested the recipe. I hope you enjoy it.

Ingrediants
3 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast
1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt or less
1.5 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tablespoon flakes)
dash of pepper
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celary
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup rasions
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Place all ingredients except for the chicken into a 4 quart pan. Stir and bring to boil. Salt and pepper chicken. Lay chicken on top of ingredients. Lower heat to simmer and cover tightly. Cook 45-60 minutes until water is absorbed and chicken is tender.

Phrases to Help Us Continue On Our Lifestyle Change

For the past few weeks, I've heard or read phrases that can help us to stay on our journey of changing lifestyles and living healthy. I hope they encourage you as much as they do me.

For the ladies - eat like a lady and not like a big man. This is a phrase that one of the Fire Up Club ladies shared. She came up with it one night when she at a buffet with her family. She said the phrase helped her to minimize the number of times that she went to the buffet and helped her to control her portion sizes.

Finally, believe that your body image does not have to be limited to body weight changes only. Body image changes include how we relate to other people, how much we allow our thoughts about our body to affect our moods and how we interact socially.

True change cannot be rooted in external changes that work only as temporary band-aid to cover up a problem, but must be rooted from the inside out. To be successful in body image change, you need to OWN your own body and its ability to change. Begin implementing and maintaining these changes as an on-going lifestyle, not without set backs but always without judgement.

(Source: Rev It Up Manual, Tammy Beasley, RD, LD, CEDSN; 2005).

The Emotional Connection to Eating

For two weeks, the Fire Up Club members have learned about how our emotions sometimes impact our eating.

One of the guest speakers provided the following tips for breaking the cycle of eating for an emotion.

1. Journal when a craving occurs. Explore the particular event and the emotions that are associated with it. Begin to identify the ‘triggers’ that lead to the need to eat. Emotional triggers become patterns.
2. Separate eating from other activities. If you sit in your chair, watch TV or read the morning paper while eating everyday, you will feel like eating during these activities, irrespective or physical hunger.
3. Consider eating as a pure experience. Nothing else should be done while eating and every bite should be tasted (each bite should have 10-12 chews). Activities become a distraction from eating.
4. Follow an eating schedule. Just by changing or planning an eating schedule or controlling the number of times you eat can make a difference.
5. Limit the places where you eat. Places can be associated with eating. Some people can eat anywhere, but the best practice is to have one place in your home where you will eat.
6. Set realistic goals. Being realistic with your goals helps to prevent disappointment and a sense of failure that could lead to breaking your diet. You can sometimes set yourself up for a fall.
7. Make intermittent goals. In other words don’t make goals you can’t maintain, but constantly review where you are and where you need to be, and change the goals as you gain more insight into your own eating patterns.
8. Keep a food record. Record everything you eat. It could get as detailed as when, where, and what you’re doing while eating. This way, you can keep track of how many calories you have in your food account. It’s the single most effective behavioral tool to losing weight.
9. Avoid a chain reaction. Some of us eat because of behavior we’re used to doing and continue to repeat. For example, we get stressed which leads to eating a cookie, which means falling off the weight loss plan, which leads to depression or which leads to eating more or all of the cookies. It’s a chain reaction. In this case, break the chain with a non-food reward. Instead of a cookie, treat yourself to a hot bath or some other activity.
10. Reward yourself. Rewarding yourself for doing well too, but NOT with food helps to give you a sense of accomplishment. Instead of a candy bar, buy a favorite trinket, CD, or read a book, take a bubble bath – give some time to yourself and do some self-nurturing.
11. Do the following if craving doesn' stop. If a craving just won’t stop, then give yourself permission to have a little of something or substitute it with something healthier – even gum can help as it gives us the chewing motion.
    
    MOST IMPORTANTLY: Learn, Understand and Accept Your Value and Worth. God paid a high price for YOU! You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Search the scriptures and see how much value you are, from Genesis to Revelation – it’s all in there.

A Praise Report for Fire Up Eating

I received a call from on of the Fire Up Club member yesterday. She shared great news with me about health benefits that she has already experienced by being a member and following the Fire Up Eating Plan. This particular person has COPD and sleep apnea. I was so excited to hear her testimony that I asked her if she would be comfortable writing about it and allowing me to post it on the blog. She agreed and what follows is her own written words about what she has accomplished in the short time that she has been a Fire Up member.

I wish to share the best report that I have had in close to a year.

Yesterday, I went for a checkup from my doctor, and my levels had changed as follows: my sugar levels were down to 97, and according to the doctor, this is a perfect level. To further add, the scales showed that since my last visit at the end of December, I had lost 7 lbs. YEAH!!! When checking my lungs, my doctor stated they were absolutely clear for the first time in a long long time. Upon the shedding of even those 7 lbs, my lungs already have began a healing process. I was so excited, and my doctor was extremely pleased.

In addition, I lay claim to a further truth that has come about through my change of eating patterns, and this is: I am sleeping better than I have in years. Most of these past twenty years my sleep pattern has been erratic. My many friends who know me can testify that my sleeplessness is a part about me they know the best. I can now attest to the fact this past week and a half I have slept more hours in one night than I have in years. Most nights over the years I would sleep for a couple of hours and wake up for hour and then sleep maybe one or two. I am sleeping probably six hours a night and some seven peacefully. It is strange for me, but it is true. I have to attribute this to my new pattern of eating and some moderate exercise. This might sound far fetched or just a little TOO much, but I know what I have experienced and how my insides no longer feel sluggish even though I pushed myself to do more and more. I can now do more without having to push myself only because I really do feel better and more energized. I have a ways to go, but I am knowing that if I feel this good by some pounds, how much better am I going to feel as I continue to take ground in my health. I can honestly say I am more rested and more alive than I have been in SUCH a long time. My father used to say if you have your health, you have it all. He said this because he suffered with a great many health issues, and I am not going to follow that pattern. I shall live a long life because I choose to treat my body as it was made to be treated.


I am thankful that I made the choice to become part of the "fireup your metabolism" program. I am thankful for the encouragement I have received when I felt I had failed. A slight slip is what happened a few weeks ago, but I started again, and the results are here for me to see.

Thank you to the ladies who have organized this program to encourage us as they have been ones who have gone through their own trials and have achieved and are continuing to achieve success: Laura, Theresa, and Sarah for your support. I believe I would have quit, and I am thankful I made the right choice to make that "phone call" for help when I got off track. Those encouraging words from people who have gone through and care helped me to achieve this first step that leads me to better health. Writing this testimony became more healing and more encouraging than I thought. Also, it puts a new resolve in me of excitement to continue my journey. I have allowed Satan to steal from me. As I continue to make further gains, I am certain God is going to bless this, and my ultimate testimony is going to amaze even me. God bless.

Angelo's Seafood Restaurant Partners with Fire Up Club

Angelo's Seafood Restaurant located in Potsdam, NY has partnered with the Fire Up Club to offer healthy choices for our dining pleasures.

This partnership was birthed at the Clarkson Fitness Center. I had a conversation with Angelo about my successful weight loss journey. I also told him about the Fire Up Club. During the course of the conversation, I shared with Angelo that I'm real particular about where I dine now since I look for restaurants that offer whole wheat products. Angelo agreed to begin offering whole wheat pasta again at his restaurant. As we continued talking, Angelo then came up with the idea of offering discount cards to all of the Fire Up Club members and begin to offer a healthy special every night.

The Fire Up Club members will be dining at Angelo's on Monday, January 22. It is a special dinner that the club is having in conjunction with the Pilates class. I gave Angelo the menu for the night and he will be making a One Choice Chicken Entree' with whole wheat pasta with veggies, and a salad. No bread or desserts are on the menu...after all we will be eating healthy. The dining out experience will also be used to teach the Fire Up Club members about how to eat at restaurants.

A special thanks to Angelo for helping us change our lifestyles and living healthy.

The Nutrition Twins® Fantastic Fries

The following recipe is from the Nutrition Twins and is one of my favorites. I skip the sprinkling of cinnamon and maple syrup. I spray them with I Can't Believe Its Not Butter Spray and then bake them. I also eat them with ketchup and they are yummy.

I'd rather have these types of fries instead of regular french fries. Let me know what you think.

These fries are a great substitute for regular French fries. They taste great, have 1/5 the calories and no fat!
FYI--These are party pleasers too!
Ingredients:
1/2 butternut squash
Cooking spray
Cinnamon
1 tablespoon Sugar free maple syrup (optional for additional sweetness)
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
Use a sharp knife to cut and peel your squash.
Deseed your squash and cut it in half.
Cut the squash into the shape of French Fries.
Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.
Sprinkle fries with cinnamon.
Bake fries, until edges start to turn crispy and brown, flipping when halfway through baking. The fries should bake for about 35-45 minutes depending on the strength of your oven.
Drizzle maple syrup over fries, if desired.
Enjoy!
Serving Size: 6oz. of squash fries78 calories, 0 g fat, 0 mg sodium, 16 g carbs, 5 g fiber, 3.5 g sugars, 2 g protein
The Nutrition Twins™ fun fact: Not only do these fries actually count as a serving of veggies, but these fries will help you to maintain healthy skin and eyes and to fight infections because of their high Vitamin A content!

Zesty Italian Chicken

This is one of my favorite recipes: chicken marinated in Italian dressing over fettucine and fresh spinach

2 portions boneless skinless chicken breast (about 1/2 pound)
1/4 cup fat-free Italian dressing
2 portions whole wheat fettuccine (about 4oz uncooked)
1 cup low-fat pasta sauce (I like Healthy Choice)
2 cups baby spinach leaves

Marinate chicken breasts in Italian dressing overnight in refrigerator. Preheat grill to high. Prepare fettuccine according to its package directions.

Place marinated chicken on hot grill and cook for about 6 minutes; turn and grill for about 6 more minutes, until no longer pink in the center.

In a small saucepan, warm pasta sauce over medium heat.

Divide spinach leaves between two separate plates. Layer portions of warm fettuccine and grilled chicken breasts over spinach leaves.

Top with pasta sauce.

If you want 1 protein and 1 carbohydrate serving, weigh 2 oz of the grilled chicken breast and use 1/2 cup of cooked whole wheat pasta. Eat all the spinach that you want. I also add a side of salad with my meal.

Source: Eating for Life (2003), Bill Phillips.

First Meeting Successes

The first meeting was held last night. Twenty-four ladies came to the meeting. Thank you all for coming.

The ladies had their pictures taken and measurements were taken. This represents a huge step for them all. I remember when I had done this before I began my weight loss journey. It was scary!! I didn't realize how overweight I was until I saw my picture and measurements. Nevertheless, I kept a positive attitude and I told myself that this was the beginning of a journey that would bring better health for me.

I applaud all of the ladies that came out; you are brave and you've taken the first step towards changing your lifestyle so that you can live healthier. Please keep this in mind as you continue taking these first steps. The first steps are always the most difficult, but you'll look back at the end of your journey and be glad that you took them.

Homework Assignment - January 2-8

1st Week Assignment – January 2-8

The first week will be spent reading and taking an inventory of where you are currently at.

Here is what I would like for you to complete by January 8.

Pick three days in a row and write down everything that you put in your mouth for those three days. This includes any drinks, food, and don’t forget those little taste testing from the silverware when you are preparing food for your family. The purpose of this is to begin making you aware of what you are eating. Bring your list with you on January 8. I will give you an opportunity to share any thoughts about this on January 8, but you are not required to share if you don’t feel comfortable sharing.

Read the following chapters in the Fire Up Your Metabolism:
Introduction
Chapters 1-5 & 7
Chapter 6 – for those people who currently skip breakfast

Journaling (This is private & you decide what to share & who to share with)
I suggest writing down your thoughts and feelings as you begin the program. Write down your goals for the program and what you hope to achieve. I also suggest that you write about how you currently feel about your body and view yourself. Remember Fire Up Eating is a journey and what you feel about yourself today is the starting point. You are driving the car in this journey and you can have a different finishing point if you don’t like your body or have a negative view about yourself; there is hope for change and you can change.

Our next Fire Up Club meeting is Monday, January 8, 7-8pm at CFC. Please be prompt since the Pilates class is meeting at 8pm.

I will be reviewing the basic Fire Up Eating principles on January 8 and we will officially begin incorporating the eating principles on January 9.

Initial Letter to Fire Up Club Members

FIRE UP CLUB
Changing Lifestyles…Living Healthy

January 2, 2007

Dear Fire Club Member:

Congratulations on making the decision to join the Fire Up Club. The vision for each one of you is to make lifestyle changes that allow you to live healthy today and in the future. As a member, you will be given the tools and support to help you achieve this vision.

The eating plan that you’ll learn about is based on the book titled “Fire Up Your Metabolism”. The eating plan is focused on eating the right amounts of protein, carbohydrates, fats and fruits in a day so that your metabolism gets fired up. A fired up metabolism means you burn more calories and lose fat.

Here are some key points to remember as you begin the program:

Fire Up Eating is about a lifestyle change.
Let me emphasize that the fire up eating plan is not a “fad diet”, but rather a well-balanced nutritional program. I encourage you to view this program as a lifestyle change that you are making in order to live a healthier life. I know as women, we all tend to be focused on our weight and how much we can lose in the shortest amount of time. Most of you will lose weight, but I can’t stress enough that this is about a change in lifestyle. In order for you to have lasting success even after you reach your goal weight, you must have the proper view about the program: it is a well-balanced nutritional program that allows you to make a lifestyle change so that you can live a healthier life forever.

Sowing good eating habits today will allow you to reap health in the future.
One key for my success with the program was realizing that what I reap in the future depends on what I sow today. I began to look at older members of my family and began asking myself “do I want to have the health problems and appearance that they do when I’m their age?” My answer was no, and I realized that I needed to sow good eating and exercise habits today in order to be healthy in the future.

Fire Up Eating is a journey.
A journey has starting and finishing points. Your initial baseline measurements represent your starting point. You will need to identify what your finishing point is. The Fire Up team will provide to you your goal weight that you should aim for. This goal weight will be calculated based on your height, body build and other factors. You can choose to have this as your finishing point or you can define your own finishing point that you would like to accomplish. Please also keep in mind that as you travel on the journey that you may experience detours or roadblocks along the way. This is OK and to be expected. The key to getting back on track is to recognize that you’ve experienced a detour or roadblock and deal with it, shift your focus to your finishing point, and reach out to other ladies, if needed, to help you get back on track.

Changing your eating will impact your emotional and spiritual life.
We are spiritual beings that have a soul and live in a body. The soul is comprised of our mind, will, and emotions. Our spirit, soul, and body are all interconnected. This means that a change in one part will impact the other parts. Since eating impacts our physical bodies, expect that you will experience some changes in either your spirit and/or soul. The changes will be different for different people, but the key is to recognize that changes will occur and reaching out for help to process the changes is OK and encouraged.

You need to personalize the eating plan for what works best for you.
We are all different and personalizing the eating plan to meet your needs and goals will ensure success. You will learn all the basics eating principles of the program, but you will need to decide how to incorporate these principles into your life that you think will work for you.

What you can expect:

1. Confidentiality.
All of your measurements will not be shared with anyone. Only myself, the people taking the measurements, and the Fire Club team leaders will know what they are.

2. Support system.
You are not alone in this journey. There are other ladies walking their own journeys, but the reality is that we all need each other in order to be successful. You will experience set backs and the key to getting back on track is to reach out to other ladies in the program. I encourage you to find a “Fire Up” buddy that you can call, share your struggles, and pray with. There are also 4 Fire Up Team Leaders that are available to help you.

3. A Caring Christian Environment.
The Fire Up Club will conduct all of its meetings and events in an environment that is designed to be mentally supportive, emotionally safe, and spiritual encouraging.

In closing, let me share how excited I am for you. I look forward to helping you learn about this well balanced nutritional program. Applying the principles will help you to live healthier today and in the future.

Changing Lifestyles…Living Healthy.
Laura J. Weber

Creation of Fire Up Club

Welcome to the first post for the Fire Up Club.

The Fire Up Club was birthed to help ladies make lifestyle changes in a Christian environment that is mentally supportive, emotionally safe, and spiritual encouraging that allow them to live healthy today and in the future.

I will be posting information that I hand out to the Fire Up Club members and other information that I feel will be helpful to members.

Please visit often.