Losing weight but always struggling
[adapted from The God of Healing]
You are not destined for cancer, or arthritis, or heart blockage, or dementia, or diabetes.
Even if you've done damage, even if your lifestyle has been negligent -- even if you are bed-ridden or obese -- you can reverse it with God and His nutrition. He will help you when you start helping yourself.
Let me give you an example of how the Holy Spirit helped me lose weight and change my diet.
It started one day in 1999 when I put myself on a scale for the first time in years and was shocked to see that I registered at more than two hundred pounds. I'd never considered myself "fat." Growing up, I was painfully thin. Throughout my youth, you could count my ribs. My mother used to try to fatten us up with raw egg in milkshakes. When I graduated from college I was about five-feet-ten-inches but weighed just 135.
Years went by, and then more years, soon a couple decades. I noticed a slight paunch but never weighed myself and gave it little thought. Meanwhile, my metabolism had slowed (as occurs with age), and I was eating anything I had the yen for, including ice cream and red meat in whatever volume I fancied.
It was in this fashion, through simple gluttony and neglect, that I was suddenly on the brink of obesity.
Stepping off the scale, and upset, I sat myself on the edge of our bed and called for the Holy Spirit to help me lose pounds. Immediately I felt infused with knowledge that came not in words but an "instant knowing" to get rid of salt from my diet; limit portions; and drink as much water as I could.
I did as I was "told" (eliminating virtually all salt, and drinking much water, plus avoiding dairy), and in short order I was down to 190, and then 180, then 175, and soon 165 pounds, where I stayed for years.
This meant watching every food label for "sodium" content.
Besides getting rid of most salt -- which causes the body to retain water, bloating you, while drinking a lot of water tells the body it doesn't need to retain as much fluid -- I cut down on red meat, greatly reduced dairy products (no more ice cream), and all but eliminated fried food.
I also increased the level of daily exercise. I had been swimming most days, and now really went at it. There was also yard work and with that, healthy perspiration (which gets rid of excess water, sodium, and impurities).
Years later, when again I put on a few too many pounds -- bolting up to 175 -- I went back at it, this time ridding most white sugar and totally banishing high-fructose syrup, as well as more closely watching salt.
Salt, fat, and sugar.
Even cereal can be loaded with sodium.
At times it was astonishing how I could put on three or more pounds overnight by simply eating something that had salt or dairy in it. Plus, salt makes you want to eat more, even the next morning; it gets the taste buds into overdrive. It's why food processors, restaurants, and fast-food places use so much of it!
It is addictive.
Meanwhile, I had been drinking canned Arizona iced tea that I thought was healthy without noting that the level of high-fructose in a tall can was comparable to seventeen teaspoons of sugar. I also cut out "juice drinks" like Tropicana that were similarly loaded. Instead I went to the Nutri-Bullet for natural juice and developed new tastes, especially for raw fruit and vegetables (as God made them).
By now focusing on sugar and white flour, I dropped to the "ideal weight" for my height of 153.
Although the pounds fluctuate, especially when I go to a restaurant, and I'm a few pounds over that at the moment, I am about nearly fifty pounds less than I was when first I went to the Holy Spirit. That a twenty-five percent improvement.
Only God knows if it will help long-term. His designs are beyond our control. But the right diet can extend longevity -- lessening the chances of serious chronic disorders, when it's His Will -- and we're called to do what we can to be healthy: to set the stage for healing.
Where I used to have a supply of antacids on hand (always next to the bed), they were no longer necessary.
[resources: The God of Healing, Retreat: Cherry Hill, New Jersey and Retreat, Michael Brown in Vandalia, Illinois, April 23!]
[Note: Spirit Daily pilgrimage announced for Guadalupe]
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