Things I've Missed Out On

Hi all,

I was thinking about all the ridiculous "diets" I've subjected myself to in the past & all the things I missed out on because of them. There was the vegetarian phase. I am in no way insulting vegetarians, but in my case, my veggie stage wasn't based on humane reasons, or even health reasons, but simply out of a desire to be thin. I remember going out to a restaurant & ordering pasta with sauce. It came with the tiniest bits of hamburg in the sauce & so I refused to eat it. Stupidity. The low-fat stage, which coinciding with the veggie stage, was ridiculous, too. I was working at Friendly's at the time. Try eating fat-free there! My lunch most days was either steamed broccoli with no butter, or a plain toasted bagel sandwich with veggies & mustard. I like those foods, but after a year or so, they get a bit old!!! I remember eating this butter spread I thought was fat-free & when I found out it wasn't, I was so MAD!! I think I cried, that's how ridiculous I was.

Then, there was the Atkins (evil Atkins) diet. That was probably my hardest diet because I LOVE carbs of all kinds. I actually think that diet is horrible for your body...I know it was for mine. The first few weeks, I would wake up with horrible leg cramps every night & felt dehydrated all the time. My hubby tried it, too & I made him get off it because he got NASTY...which is saying a lot, because he is normally sweet, goofy & happy. I remember going to a mission's banquet at church & watching everybody else eat pasta while I ate the salad. I wouldn't even eat the meatballs because I thought they might have breadcrumbs in them. BOO!!! Weight watchers had some redeeming qualities...I did get back into exercising for quite a while & did feel pretty good. But, ultimately, when I had lost a lot of the weight, I realized to keep it off meant eating like that for the rest of my life & counting the silly points & going to meetings forever. I tried to keep doing it without the meetings, but I couldn't. I think it was the fear of being weighed publicly & what kind of motivation is that? Ultimately, the desire to act right, in any area, has to come from within. I remember "banking" my points all week to indulge in some Chinese food, but the "permitted" things weren't what I wanted, they were all the "healthy" foods.

Then, there was my latest; the NO sugar, NO refined flour diet. That actually still makes sense to me, because whole grains & organic foods were probably what God had in mind when He created them. And sugar, the way it is processed, more resembles a chemical than a food product. BUT.....it was so restricting, because so many foods contain those things. And, it was SO expensive. And I only lost like 5 pounds, because I was still overeating & not exercising enough, and still felt pretty crummy. And SO time consuming. Life's too short (for me) to be in the kitchen all the time, trying to make everything from scratch.

In following all those "man-made laws" & "experts" (who all contradict each other, by the way, in what is considered 'good for you'), I was just heaping false teaching upon false teaching...I think I actually picked up a new bad habit with each diet. Who are we going to trust: a person who went to college for a few years to learn about nutrition, or the one who created mankind, created you & created the food we often think of us "bad". It's all good in moderation, because it's all from Him. So, Jane, enjoy your pizza & thank you for your kindness. Much appreciated.

And you too, Leah. What would I do without my "bible buddies"? You guys rock!! I'm sure I'm not the only woman who isn't happy with her body or looks. Also, I am determined not to get on the scale until next Wednesday. I didn't today.

Love to all, Dianna