Focus Friday: Let's Focus on Staying Hungry

I lost four pounds this week! (We won't talk about the five pounds I gained last week while I was on the mission trip)

I was pretty shocked when I weighed myself this morning and saw such a big loss. 

How did I do it? I added some extra walking to my morning exercise routine and I stayed hungry most of the week.

We don't like to feel hungry, do we? Usually, at the first rumble of our stomachs we run to the fridge or cupboard to find something to eat.

I have to admit, I haven't even felt hunger very much in recent months. I had gotten into the habit of grazing my way through the day. 

I went to the pantry for crackers, M&Ms, and whatever else caught my eye between meals.

I didn't feel hungry when it came time for a meal with my family, but I ate it anyway.

When I weighed myself on Sunday, I was finally disgusted enough with my bad habits to do something about it.

I thought back to my "Weigh Down Workshop" days (I took the class back in Rock Rapids, Iowa in the early 90s). I had lost weight easily and happily by applying the principle of "Eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full."

So that's what I did this week. I tried to savor my food a little more instead of inhaling it. I was mindful of my hunger, but not bothered by it. I ignored it if it was close to a meal time, otherwise I ate a little something. It felt good to actually be hungry when I got to a meal. I stopped before I felt full.

Gary and I even went to Texas Roadhouse one night. I ate delicious Tater Skins, rolls with butter, most of a salad (I made sure I ate the eggs, croutons, etc. that I love and I left some of the lettuce so I had room for the rest of my meal), my whole sweet potato with butter and brown sugar, and a few bites of my barbecued chicken (I took most of it home like I usually do).

It felt great to walk out of there full, but not uncomfortably stuffed.

Now, I don't think four pounds in one week is going to be happening very often (I don't even think it's healthy to lose too much weight too fast), but it was encouraging for me to see that kind of progress today. It reminds me that how much I move and what I put in my mouth matters.

Another thing that helped, I think, is that I've been spending a little bit of time every morning reading the Bible before I go over to exercise.

I think it has made a big difference in how I'm thinking. My mind is set more on what God wants for me instead of just what I want. I know He wants me to have a healthy body, so it's been a little easier to make better choices about when and how much I eat.

Another thing that's been helping is that I'm reading a great book by Amy Simpson called, "Blessed Are the Unsatisfied." It has reminded me that we'll never be completely satisfied here in this world. We can be content with what we have, but we'll always have that sense of lacking something until we get to heaven someday.

When we run to the cupboard but we aren't truly hungry, it's time to stop and think. Maybe what we're craving is not chocolate chip cookies at all. Maybe we feel that void inside and we need to spend some time filling it with God instead. Grab your Bible and chew on that for a while (Gwen Shamblin says something like that in "Weigh Down Workshop.")

I think I'm going to have another great week, unless someone buys me a box of Peeps. 

"God - you're my God! I can't get enough of you! I've worked up such hunger and thirst for God, traveling across dry and weary deserts." (Psalm 63:1 The Message)

Do you feel hungry when you eat? How can focusing on God help you to get more comfortable with physical hunger and concentrate more on relieving your spiritual hunger?