This week's tip

Sometimes when we start a new way of eating, we expect immediate results.  This is a mistake in thinking on our parts; yet everyone seems to fall into this trap.   Here is a little of my testimony:

• I didn't know what good nutrition was until I was 52 years old.  I thought, I'll just eat the healthy stuff and I'll drop a ton of weight.  But, by then I had done some serious damage to the body God had given me and I had not been a good steward of His gift.  You can put forth a good effort but that doesn't mean things will change instantly because now you are being "good."  Much depends on how long you've eaten unhealthy and how long it takes your body to switch from operating on less than healthy foods to healthy ones.  I failed to educate myself on how best my body operates.  I had a typical carb heavy standard american diet.  When I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, I was counseled to have 3-4 carb choices at every meal.  That was a huge mistake for me.  All that led to was increased doses of medicine, increased weight and a stroke in 2013. Well I pouted for a few years and ate even worse...can you believe that?  Sugar was my main food group and boy it tasted good but I was a walking corpse.  My body was getting absolutely zero nutrition and began to "cannibalize" itself.  I lost over 30 lbs but this wasn't a good thing and you couldn't even tell because of inflammation...I could barely get through my days. February 22nd, 2017 was the start for me.  I cut out soda.  I cut way down on sugar.  I went gluten free and I started separating my meals by fueling sources:  fats and carbs...not both in the same meal.  Not all at once either...I would work on one thing at a time and then add another behavior once the previous one became second nature.  I lost about 20 lbs that year...not anything to brag about but definitely a step in the right direction.  I started to feel better...more energy and less brain fog.  Year 2 was such a disappointment to me...I ate healthy but I gained and lost the same 10lbs multiple times for a year and my blood glucose was still out of control.  So the start of year 3, I did some tweaking...I cut out all carbs except for those in healthy green vegetables and I experimented with intermittent fasting during Lent.  I eat during a 4 hour window and fast for 20 hours, 5 days a week.  And I've been blessed with some results...another 20 lbs down and I'm off my diabetes medicine!  Was it easy?  No but God and my husband encouraged me on the days I wanted to give up.  I was reminded that this restrictive way is just for a season until health is restored.  I've learned other things too.  Deprivation helps you gain self-control...an all elusive fruit of the spirit.  Once you exercise this spiritual muscle...it gets stronger.  Also, even eating needs needs to be brought under submission to God.  We need to look different than the world.  Our world in very self-indulgent and lives for pleasure and gluttony.  Lastly, some bodies operate well and others not so much.  If you fall into the latter group, you will have to put in more effort.  I screamed for 30 years "its not fair" but guess what?  This is what our Sovereign God assigned to me and I need to quit procrastinating and hurry up and learn what He wants me to already.  😀