A dear, dear friend of mine (and adopted mother) sent me the link to two consecutive blog posts from Lysa TerKeurst. I had never heard of her before. She is apparently the President of Proverbs 31 ministries, which I had heard of. She has also written a bunch of books. I have to admit (sorry, Momma Joyce) that I began reading skeptically. But it is so dead on.
The first post is entitled: 'Nothing Tastes as Good as Peace Feels.' In this post, Lysa shares that 18 months ago she decided to start a 3-month long sugar fast. She liked it so much, she hasn't stopped! She writes the following:
Before my sugar fast, I was constantly bouncing between feeling deprived and guilty. All. The. Time. I was either feeling deprived because I was trying to watch what I ate or feeling guilty because I’d slipped back into the ‘eat whatever I want’ phase.
She goes on to say:
I switched from feeling deprived to feeling empowered.
Did you hear that? It's the sound of the nail being hit on the head. I have said this before..sort of...but never quite so accurately. When I lost those 91 pounds, the majority of the time I was living in 'empowerment'. I saw unhealthy foods and simply thought: "Yes, they exist. yes they are WAAAAAAY tastier than whatever I'm eating. But no, I'm not interested." I was empowered. And, shocker, I was successful.
Then came May. I switched back to guilt/deprived. For the last 3-4 months, I re-entered a state of feeling deprived when I ate healthy and guilty when I inevitably cheated. Another shocker: I gained 20 lbs.
For some unknown reason starting 16 August, I am once again empowered. On the 18th I had a meeting. It looked like they robbed a candy store in that meeting room. And it was 4 hours long! AND BORING! But, in my empowered state of being, I saw the candy and thought: "Yum, candy. Not for me though." And didn't think about it again. I was empowered. I am empowered.
The second post is entitled: 'The Courageous Choice'. Lysa discusses choosing healthy-ness to be courageous. She says:
It’s the courageous choice. This is the decision to do the right thing even when it’s unpopular, uncelebrated, and probably even unnoticed. It’s the choice to walk willingly on the path of discipline in the area of our food choices. It’s coming to the realization that changes need to be made and making those changes in the quietness of our pantry when no one else is looking. It’s me respecting myself enough to be courageous for me.
She goes on to say that it IS possible. And that the choice needs to be made not once, but again and again and again...and again.
Okay. To go one step further. I have really been thinking about these posts for awhile and I feel that the whole empowerment thing extends beyond the food. I feel like when I ran my 2:08:55 half marathon (!!!), I was running in empowerment. When I was marathon training, I fell into a guilt/deprived cycle. I began to hate the training (much like dieters hate their diets!). I felt guilty if I didn't prioritize running and I felt tired and worn out (deprived of emotional energy) when I did. I think this may have played a role in my decision to stop training. I think if--strike that--WHEN I decide to train for a marathon in the future it will HAVE to be in empowerment.
Happy Tuesday! I love you all, as always! Go forward with today and be empowered!!!!
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