It's the Healthy Eating Encouragement and Pray Support Thread!!!

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CatHerder

CatHerder

Senior Member
Mar 20, 2013
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Yes, I know there is already a prayer thread elsewhere, but some have food/dietary goals, so let's put one here! Here we can visit the recipe forums and give/receive prayer support and encouragement for our diet specific issues. One-stop shopping, so to speak! Please share any tips/habits you have discovered that helps you as well.

I guess since I started this thread, I should go first:

I would like prayer for my continued weight loss. I recently lost 15 pounds, and though I have maintained that for several weeks now, I am having difficulty with continuing. I believe this is mostly due to time management issues that affect my meal planning. I am requesting prayer for better time management and more awareness of my impulse eating.

Thanks!

Steve
 
Thanks Steve what a rad idea. I've finally dug out the wii fit again and I've put three kilos on since the last time I used it. :-( But I did do some stretches today and already weight a kilo less than yesterday. Hardly evidence of sustainable change though, since I had breakfast first yesterday and not today.

We've had a new housemate move in who says he can fix my car, in exchange for cooking his dinner on the days when I feel up for it. I'm hoping this will encourage me to do a bit better at meal planning, since there's someone else involved now. What I really struggle with is eating at night. I know that if I eat right before I sleep I won't burn the energy I just consumed and it's when I crave the naughtiset stuff...

It's hard because my meds increase my appetite which is normally fine because they also make me sleep which is why I take them at night - can't eat when you're sleeping. But lately there's been so much on my mind that falling asleep has been that little bit harder and it feels impossible to resist dragging my drousy butt out of bed and visiting the fridge even though my face is so droopy I can barely chew.

I've been meaning to do some googling and see if I can at least narrow down better options for what that night time food is because once the appetite stimulant kicks in it totally overrides any drowsiness because I feel like I'm just too hungry to sleep. Last night I had a sandwich instead of a dessert which is at least an improvement but I'm wondering whether there is a "best option" if I must eat right before bed.

The past couple days of extra exercise helped a little because I go to bed more tired.

It sounds dramatic but the balance of physical and emotional factors that bounce off each other for me keep me in a constantly yoyoing state of potentially fatal risk. Please don't touch that last one I don't really want to talk about it, but I'm mentioning it so anyone who will pray for me has a little more insight. Thanks heaps.

Thanks for starting the thread Steve, again, great idea. I don't have internet at home right now so please forgive my spasmodic attendance.
 
I could probably keep this thread going all by myself. :-(

I tried so hard not to eat last night. In the end I had an avocado sandwich - *hangs head* on Turkish bread.

It almost would have been ok, I think the portion was a bit big. At least I refrained from buying icecream or anything silly. I have to admit when I leave the library I'm going to spend my last few dollars on a block of dark peppermint chocolate. I haven't been baking though.
 
I don't know what Turkish bread is, but I love avocado on sourdough. One can do much worse as far as snacks go.

The dark peppermint chocolate sounds amazing!

No sourdough or chocolate for me though! I am trying to get back on a low-carb kick. I've maintained what I lost for a few weeks, but have had a hard time getting back to eating this way as far as weight loss goes. My whole system feels "cleaner" when I eat this way, and for the most part, I like the food. I will occasionally get ice cream though. I do this when out - - the portion is controlled, and I don't have the half gallon tub at home where I could devour it all in one sitting.

I would think some sort of protein at night would be good. I'm a cheese lover, so that would be my choice...or beef jerky...a teriyaki flavored jerky can satisfy a mild sweet tooth, I have found. Fruit might do weird things to your blood sugar right before bed. Maybe experiment and log in what you ate and how you slept?
 
Heavenly Father,

I lift up my sister in Christ, Ellie, to you and her struggles with weight loss and healthy eating. Her biggest issue seems to be night time snacking which is complicated by medications. Please guide her as she researches healthy options in how to deal with this as far as which foods to choose.

Also, I pray that you would be her support instead of food during times when she would otherwise indulge in emotional eating. When she indulges in a fun, dessert type food, help her learn what a good portion size is and give her the ability to stop when she has reached that.

Thank you for her ability to open up and be vulnerable in this way. May her courage and this thread be a positive, Christ filled influence with others who may be struggling.

Thank you, Father - and it's in the name of your Son I pray this.

amen.
 
What a wonderful idea this thread is, but I need someone who will share with me who is very elderly, also. What a problem it is for me! I get stasis ulcers on my leg with ulcers deep to the bone, so I put this healthy body to bed. That is a place to lose muscle, strength, and gain weight.

Two of the nurses who come dress my leg are right down skinny. I get as much information from them as I can. It seems that metabolism is the key. The key to that is exercise and protein.

They say that the body watches us to prevent starvation. (I have NEWS for my body!) When it is without food when the cycle for having it is there it goes into a sort of starvation mode, turning food to fat that would otherwise be used other ways. It is set best in the morning with a bit of protein. They both start their day with one egg. They never let themselves be hungry.

There is one rule I found does help. I try never to have anything white except cauliflower. When grains are processed it takes the useful food out of them and leaves what the body mostly turns to sugar and is digested in a different way that makes for fat.

Another help I found is a vitamix blender. You can put anything in it, turn it on high, and out comes what for me, in my old age, is wonderful food. I add some greek yogurt, stir it, and protein is added.
 
I'm with you on the whit things, but I eat a little more white things than you - cauliflower yes, but I also put real ceam in my coffee along with some stevia. It tastes good and decadent, and keeps me from worse indulgences. Plain Greek yogurt with local raw honey is the best dessert EVAH!! and many white cheeses are great. As for white bread - I like an occasional sourdough. I limit this as this could easily get me back into the unhealthy uber-processed foods.
 
Let me just say RedTent, I truly think you are awesome, you posted something the other day on what best to eat in order to increase your chances of getting cance. I must tell you that I phoned my friend and read it to her, we were both in hyterics at how funny you are.

Food, food, food. This journey for me has almost been a whole book. My children were allergic to everything, and so the dad and I went on courses and educated ourselved, designed new recipes, and ate with a passion for health.

For me health and diet are two ENTIRELY different and seperate things. In order to be healthy one would not choose to drink a diet soda full of all sorts of badies, that have never grown in the ground or on a tree, but hey you can have it and not gain weight, the choice for me has become what is the benefit to my body. How will this nourish me, just like Jesus's nourishes us He is after all the Bread of Life.

When I learnt to nourish my body, it flourished, when I read the ingredients more than a few things on the package insert would mean going back on the shelf. As RedTent said anything white for me too is a no no. I also like the fact that Red Tent mentioned adding a bit of youghurt plain of course adds protein to whatever is being eaten, and for me that is the absolute key. I add protein to everything, cheese, youghurt, meat, fish, chicken to whatever else is on the plate and this stabilizes my blood sugar levels, which in turn means I am full quicker and stay full for longer.

I realised that if the saviour of the universe took the time to die for me on a cross over two thousand year's ago what was I going to say to him about what my part was in looking after His prized posession? This was not a form of condemnation for me, as there is grace in everything, believe me it is grace that kept me going for so long, but the idea of multiple sclerosis in my body, of seizures for twenty year's, of laying in bed for months and months on end not able to move, made me realise that when God said in the garden of Eden do not eat of that fruit, I really needed to listen. Out of all the instructions He could of given Adam and Eve it was a food choice that was given, I find a lot in that, choice the Lord made.
 
Okay I am impressed CatHerder I thought I was the only person on the planet who ate and loved Stevia......I could go fro some Greek youghurt and raw honey, delicious as the honey is a bit cold a sticky in it, delicious definitely. I once made a birthday cake for one of my kids birthdays, that was layer upon layer of liquidised fruit, I put it in a baking tray and would freeze a layer at a time, it was delicious with whipped cream......
 
Voka, you are a woman after my own heart! Jesus nourishes us! We are His prized possession so we need to take care of ourselves as that, and thinking of the food choice as the first that God gave Adam and Eve! Wow!

My cousin had MS from her late teens. She traveled in Europe in her 70's. She was in her 80's when she passed away. And my cousin Nellie was a delight and inspiration for me all her life. She watched her diet closely, and went to the MS clinic at Portland Oregon, at the medical school there. And God nourished her every day!
 
I have heard of the "no-whites" idea as a health kick for a metabolism reboot. No milk, no white flour, no white rice.... with the exception of colleighflower. My mum did it for a while. I'm not sure how it went. I generally agree and as a general standard I avoid white flour and cows milk (partly due to a physical intollerance) but my "standard" hasn't been met by myself in a while. Thankyou for prayers I appreciate that.

I don't know what Stevia is...

I have kept experimenting with my night foods and am finding that as far as feeling full some carbs serve me well... I am a cheese lover and could happily eat cheese on toast each night - I'm just concerned that eating something so high in fat when all I'm going to do afterwards is sleep might be a bad choice for my health. It's a tricky balance to try to find because there are so many factors to consider - do I feel full enough to sleep? Am I eating too much sugar so that when I do sleep I might have nightmares or not sleep well? To be honest a factor that shouldn't be included but is, is am I emotionally distracted enough by the physical sensation of this food to be comfortable for long enough to fall asleep.

I had a rotten night last night, I was up past midnight chopping up oleander leaves and crying. I was out of emergency medication and had to take extra of my regular stuff so spent today at the hospital getting some more... I did eat some dark pepperment chocolate after I took the meds but didn't really even enjoy it- by that point it was about having some other sensation - anything- to focus on until the drugs kicked in. It was either that or cutting.

Being awfully frank here, I'm sorry. I'm too blurry right now to filter my thoughts properly.

Please don't judge me or start flooding me with lectures about my unhealthy habits and why they are immoral.

I know they are, and I'm working my butt off to change.

I feel a bit guilty and gluttonous with need coming here and offloading so much and not really having much to give anyone else. I do hope others on this thread with problems find some support here.
 
Ellie, my heart and prayers go out to you! I know what it is to feel I need carbs to go to sleep, but needing pills, too, just breaks my heart. My doctor said cheese has too much fat for me to eat any, ever, can you imagine. To me, it is like telling an alcoholic he can't have alcohol.

I last looked at the clock, last night, at 5:20, but I did have a good time. I read some, and let my mind wander. I relived a mile long swim I did once with my son in Flathead Lake in Montana, taking an intertube along for if we got tired, and once laying on the deck of our boat 20 miles off shore playing with porpoise, and----I had a wonderful time.

Would you try a hard boiled egg before you go to bed? And here is a sort of gimmick I do to get my body quiet and the pain to go away. I imagine the nerves in my body running on a sort of electric current, then sit in a chair with my hands on my knees so the current runs in a circle. I think of God's power being in this current and think my praise of His glory. Then I think through the 23rd psalm.
 
Hard boiled egg is a good suggestion, I hadn't thought of that.

The latter technique that you mentioned is very similar to some of the mind training that I have done as an outpatient at the hospital. As I was saying before in my tidal wave analogy, sometimes it helps, and sometimes it doesn't. I have stopped trying to understand why and learned to just accept what is, and do what I can.
 
RedTent said:
Voka, you are a woman after my own heart! Jesus nourishes us! We are His prized possession so we need to take care of ourselves as that, and thinking of the food choice as the first that God gave Adam and Eve! Wow!

My cousin had MS from her late teens. She traveled in Europe in her 70's. She was in her 80's when she passed away. And my cousin Nellie was a delight and inspiration for me all her life. She watched her diet closely, and went to the MS clinic at Portland Oregon, at the medical school there. And God nourished her every day!
Click to expand...
ok wow!!! God really did keep her. What you eat matters when it comes to fighting MS
 
Cetain foods were not meant to digest in the body. Genesis tells us what we should eat. Foods that pass through the body easily will help in weight loss. Raw foods is what the body needs for this to happen and they will help clean the body from toxic waste from other foods that have sat dormant, which is what fat really is. Fat comes from undigested food. Some of which become stuck because they were not meant to pass through the body anyway. Minerals help too. ..
 
I just posted this in Natural Health, but it might help some who fight weight, here. I learned it from the nurses who come to my home once a week. Some are so slender and fit I have trouble with "you should not covet".

The most important part of our losing weight is metabolism and the key to that is to not let our body get in starvation mode. This mode is triggered in the body by its feeling hungry. Once it goes into that mode it grabs calories and puts them into fat for storage as a safety mechanism. It is important to have some protein for breakfast to set the metabolism, and exercise is important.
 
I'm trying to lose 100 lbs! Eating healthy is a struggle with today's busy lifestyles. I've lost 19lbs. Just wanted to introduce myself. Nice to "meet" you all.
 
iv been trying to lose weight for years now, and just got in bad habbits, will eat really well for a week then go back to old habbits. iv accepted that im chubby/fat. its not good on my health. but i dont think about it to much.
i did find it helping praying before each meal, thanking god for the food and that it is good for my body, that seem to kick something inside me, to think about what i was eatting.

redtent- my sis inlaw has ms, had it since she was 20ish and shes now in her 30s, she doesnt belive in god, and just in the mind set that she has to live for now and will only eat potato, cheese, chocolate, yorshire pudding... i think thats pritty much it. no fruit or veg. i was happy but sad to see ur cousin lived to a good age, it upsets me to think she doesnt care about her body now, she has 2 kids, but thinks ms is the problem not her way or thinking or the food/drink intake. think she could live longer if she thought about how she ate.

i pray for me and my fellow sisters and brothers in christ that the holy sprit tells them what is good for there body, that there mind changes to focus on you and not on earthy things. for God loves us, we have nothing to fear, he only wants the best for his children. we are blessed to have shops with what seems like never endding food but there is people that dont have that choice. thank you for your love and kindness. amen.
 
catherder so stevia is an artificial sweetener?

*makes the artificialness aftertaste face*

I can't be bothered with my usual rant about phen a lal a nine. I divided the syllables so you can read it phoenetically and to disguise the fact that I don't remember how it's spelled.

RedTent I've heard about that (starvation mode). I know someone who was only eating one meal a day, and it was fast food. And after being corrected by a friend he continued to eat fast food but more often and regularly, and he lost a really lot of weight really fast. Starving your body with the exception of spasmodic feedings is apparently the worst thing you can do from a weight loss perspective. I've been trying to remember that lately and have been force feeding myself breakfast even though I feel so oogly in the morning.

Hi ViolettFrances. :-) Welcome. Feel free to vent your frustrations and successes.

Ukkez that's an interesting point. I used to say "grace" before each meal for years, but not with religious words. It was real prayer just thanking God for the fortune of having food, and I have to admit it didn't sit too well when I was looking at a plate of fried foods and asking God to bless it to my body. I could just about see the look on his face. He didn't even have to say anything. He was like.... can you hear yourself?

From a psychological perspective it also reminds me of some of the tips I picked up from the Jenny Craig videos my mum had as part of joining the program when I was a teenager.

One thing was to put down your fork between bites. Taste the food and enjoy it while it is the proper time to be eating instead of getting the next forkful ready while barely noticing whats in your mouth.

There's a few more but I need to save some brain juice so I'll say more next time I post.

I just ate half an apple pie.

I'm a bit sick (flu) which I used to justify buying extra chicken and potato (I'm not sure what about the flu makes me crave those) but the pie was a bit much in hindsight.

Some the -other- less positive coping mechanisms that I have developed (besides overeating) have been, I feel, one by one taken away from me. My doctors and counsellors keep telling me, directly and inderectly, to just not do those things anymore. But I feel like the things I have to fill that space they used to occupy don't match the support they provided me with.

Please don't anyone tell me to "fill that space with God". I'm not disagreeing with the statement or denying that it's necessary, I just find it a cliche generalisation that doesn't really break down what I can actually "do" that I am going to find effective.

Anyway I'm just venting my difficulty because these things have made me want to overeat even more. The deliciousness of food is just such a good distraction. But the more I use it as a coping mechanism, the bigger I'll get and the sooner I'll be doing nothing but eating all day.

I need change. It scares me.
 
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