Saturday, April 7, 2012

Have you ever tried to lose weight or get healthy? Every couple of months I try to get "back" into the routine of healthy eating and working out. I don't do this to lose weight (had to clarify that for all you who like to encourage me and tell me I'm fine just the way I am :) ) I do it because honestly it does make me feel better and I like not jiggling as I walk down the aisle  at Kroger (purchasing carrot sticks and ground turkey, I promise!)  But some how I always fall back into "oh a side of french fries wont be a problem," or "three cupcakes? Not a biggie!" (yes I have done this.. many times.)
During one of my "I'm going to do it!" phases I subscribed to a magazine that goes through several work out routines a month and has tear our cards of weakly meals. In this magazine there are countless articles all about how to eat healthy and how to "trick" yourself into loving the good stuff. I'm amazed and astounded by how one months article completely contradicts the next months hot fad.

"Throw all of your weaknesses out! Get rid of all the salty treats and sugary confectioneries today!" cries one article, "You have to get it all out as soon as you commit to a diet. If you keep the junk in your house, you're bound to eat it!"  Makes sense right? And really it holds a lot of truth.

"Don't go crazy and give up all your favorite things at once!" another article claims, "If you do you'll just crave it even more and end up giving in and heading to McDonald's or Dairy Queen." That too makes a lot of sense! And once again holds a lot of truth in my life.

So what's the answer? The more I Google "Good dieting tips" the more I see contradictions! One website says that studies show this and another website says the complete opposite. What's the truth?

It's all the truth... and not in the sense that some people do better with "this" fad or others do better with "that" fad. Honestly one week throwing out all the junk works, and then the next week going slow works really well. Why is that?  In Jeremiah 17:9 (you were waiting to see how God tied into this weren't you? ;) ) it says "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Do you ever wonder what you really want? On one side you really want this... but then again you kinda don't want it. I have noticed a lot lately that there are a lot of things about me that contradict one another. An example is that I thrive on attention. I LOVE it when people treat me nice and give me praise. But on the other hand I HATE attention! I would rather sit at home with my husband and puppy, I get embarrassed when someone tells me I did a great job or look really nice. If that's not a contradiction then I don't know what is. What does my heart really want? Will totally getting rid of the candy bar help me stay healthy or should I slowly ease my way into a chocolate free zone (ok we all know that is NEVER happening!) My heart is so deceptive. I can never truly understand myself. That is why there is no "inner peace" or "inner truth." Because as humans we just don't have what it takes to find perfection in ourselves. But if we continue onto Jeremiah 17:10 it says, "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind," Only God can look at our heart and our mind and organize the crazy mess. Only He can tell where we're truly at and what will truly make us happy. He is our peace and our strength. We shouldn't be putting our trust in ourselves, if we did we'd be beyond confused! No, we are to be putting our trust fully in Him! Only He is stable!

With Love,
Abbey

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