So now it seems like I am ready, right? I have a question for you all. How do you overcome your constant desire for sweets. Like my friend Darlene says go here ~ It’s a good question, since it’s a struggle that many of us have tried to defeat. The way that I see it is that we can’t control the things we desire, until our hearts have been changed. Fortunately they naturally change over time so that many of the things we once enjoyed aren’t so appealing anymore, but there are some things that we develop a passion for that never seem to go away, no matter how old we get.
So how do we separate ourselves from these passions? That question would be similar to one asking “How do I run a marathon?” The answer is simple—a sensible training program will get you there. Sure you can run without training, but all you’ll manage to get is a sprint. In order to complete in a marathon, athletes must train for months or years.
In dieting, the sprint is otherwise known as the “Yo-Yo Diet.” You start off at a great pace, but soon find out that you aren’t equipped for the long run. You can barely make a mile, never mind 26.2. A few months or a year down the road, you start again with the same uncontrolled enthusiasm you had before, and once again you lose steam. If you want to achieve long term success, you must train yourself as an athlete trains for a race—no pain no gain.
In dieting, the sprint is otherwise known as the “Yo-Yo Diet.” You start off at a great pace, but soon find out that you aren’t equipped for the long run. You can barely make a mile, never mind 26.2. A few months or a year down the road, you start again with the same uncontrolled enthusiasm you had before, and once again you lose steam. If you want to achieve long term success, you must train yourself as an athlete trains for a race—no pain no gain.
Dr. Joyce Beck, author of The Complete Beck Diet for Life, often writes about strengthening our resistance muscle, which she defines as, “a psychological muscle that is strengthened by resisting the urge to eat unplanned food.” She also says, “Life becomes so much easier when your resistance muscle is strong.” If you’re looking to find motivation and change the way you think about food, Dr. Beck’s books, The Complete Beck Diet for Life and The Beck Diet Solution are a great read.
Ways to strengthen our resistance may include:
• Passing on the junk food in the grocery store
• Making a healthy choice when eating out
• Passing on the goodies at group meetings
• Taking one trip to a buffet instead of two or more
• Eating until we’re comfortable rather than stuffed
• Limiting treats to once or twice a week, rather than daily
Our resistance is quite weak on the first three days of a new diet plan. If we can just get past the first three days, things usually seem to get a bit easier. Again if we get past the first three weeks, we start to see the muscle is strengthened and working for us.
Does this sound like a foreign concept? Compare Hebrews 12:11-12:
"At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God. So don’t sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!"
–Hebrews 12:11-12, The Message
So, the answer to the question, “how could one overcome a constant desire for sweets?” is resistance training. No, it isn’t easy at first, but it does get easier the more we train ourselves to say “no.”
Saying “no” should never include a pacifier. If you’ve had enough sweets, then don’t fall into the trap that so many dieters do of purchasing low-cal alternatives to squeeze a little more in. A few years back, just after I took off 40 pounds, and had maintained for a while, I decided that indulging in low-cal gelatin would be a great afternoon treat. What could it hurt?
I started to get my gelatin ready the night before (cherry is my favorite), then enjoy a large bowlful the next day, in the heat of the afternoon sun. It was working for me, until I tired of the same old afternoon treat, and started rummaging through the cupboards for something better. Pretty soon ice cream and I were bathing together in the hot summer sun, day after day.
Had I just stuck with the plan, which didn’t include an afternoon treat every day, I wouldn’t have had another bad habit to kick. A better idea would have been to plan for an occasional treat.
Imagine how our children would be if every time they cried for a cookie we handed them something sweet. Teaching our children to know when they’ve had enough is an important part of their training. It’s also a part of ours.
Learn to train yourself to eat enough, to make the best choices, and to stick to the plan. That’s how you’ll win this race!
Ways to strengthen our resistance may include:
• Passing on the junk food in the grocery store
• Making a healthy choice when eating out
• Passing on the goodies at group meetings
• Taking one trip to a buffet instead of two or more
• Eating until we’re comfortable rather than stuffed
• Limiting treats to once or twice a week, rather than daily
Our resistance is quite weak on the first three days of a new diet plan. If we can just get past the first three days, things usually seem to get a bit easier. Again if we get past the first three weeks, we start to see the muscle is strengthened and working for us.
Does this sound like a foreign concept? Compare Hebrews 12:11-12:
"At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God. So don’t sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!"
–Hebrews 12:11-12, The Message
So, the answer to the question, “how could one overcome a constant desire for sweets?” is resistance training. No, it isn’t easy at first, but it does get easier the more we train ourselves to say “no.”
Saying “no” should never include a pacifier. If you’ve had enough sweets, then don’t fall into the trap that so many dieters do of purchasing low-cal alternatives to squeeze a little more in. A few years back, just after I took off 40 pounds, and had maintained for a while, I decided that indulging in low-cal gelatin would be a great afternoon treat. What could it hurt?
I started to get my gelatin ready the night before (cherry is my favorite), then enjoy a large bowlful the next day, in the heat of the afternoon sun. It was working for me, until I tired of the same old afternoon treat, and started rummaging through the cupboards for something better. Pretty soon ice cream and I were bathing together in the hot summer sun, day after day.
Had I just stuck with the plan, which didn’t include an afternoon treat every day, I wouldn’t have had another bad habit to kick. A better idea would have been to plan for an occasional treat.
Imagine how our children would be if every time they cried for a cookie we handed them something sweet. Teaching our children to know when they’ve had enough is an important part of their training. It’s also a part of ours.
Learn to train yourself to eat enough, to make the best choices, and to stick to the plan. That’s how you’ll win this race!
4 comments:
I, too struggles with sweets. I will do well for a few days and then I crash and NEEEED them!!! I have really been praying for God to help me in this area.... this is new to me bc I don't think I have ever prayer for Him to help me pick good food choices before but He can do all things, right?!! Keep up the good work!!
I always have a hard time getting off the sweets after a holiday season. And it is a battle...but one that can be won.
I was just thinking this past week that it is time to start a sugar fast....that is the only way I can get myself off the sugar.
My flesh screams like a little kid pitching a fit...but hey, someone has to be the adult around here. :)
I'm not looking to be a size 4 either!! :)
I agree that practicing resistance is a great "practice" ... good point. I do find that the better I eat, the less cravings that I have for junk. That being said, most times it's really my mind that wants the junk, not my body.
KOKO - not losing is MUCH better than gaining. I've been really focusing on a day at a time - just do it again for today - and it seems to really help me.
D
It's not just Dr. Beck. If you read Gillian Riley (one of the Brit overeating experts) or Kessler's book THE END OF OVEREATING, they both say the same thing. You have to break old habits by replacing them with new habits, and the new habits take time to become then norm, while in the brain, old neural pathways that remembered old habits REMAIN FOREVER. BUT..as long as you don't keep activating those pathways (ie, returning to overeating), the new habit stays reinforced.
I love Kessler's book--it's the single most helpful book FOR ME that got me thinking of just how we are hostages to habits and chemicals in our brain until we realize what we are doing, take charge, and force new pathways/habits. Part of that is realizing triggers and not eating the sugars/fat/salt trifecta that sends us into hypereating mode.
Once I understood a lot of what was happening in my brain, pancreas, cells, liver....I could then see how to work around the landmines. WITH NEW HABITS.
I love Hebrews. One of my very most fave books of the Bible, and part of it is that it contains such glimpses of an enormous plan that's infinity old, glimpses of glory, and examples of great faith and sacrifices necessary (and faith necessary) to attain....
Thanks for that quote. It's a great one.
Mir, Princess Dieter
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