On Being Fat...Week 4

"If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health."  Hippocrates

Last week I spoke about the simplified version of losing weight...it's simple math indeed...calories IN must be LESS THAN calories OUT.  In other words you gotta move and eat less.  Now I am not so naive to think that is the ONLY thing that has to change in order to lose weight...and I do understand for some people they choose to do it in other ways...i.e. weight loss surgery, intense workouts, drastic eating changes...but for me I KNOW I have to eat less and move more AND for me my entire attitude and mind set has to change too.  My situation is maybe not the same as yours...maybe you haven't had food issues since you were a toddler?  Maybe you didn't go to college for dance education and have to see yourself in a HUGE set of mirrors daily?  Maybe your issues are so very different from mine...but still the same?  Just know that I am writing this in my blog to help myself...and if it helps even one other person get a hold of their weight issues I am happy. And if it gets 1000 people thinking...well that is even better:) I am not an expert on weight loss...except my own weight loss...and so with that being said let's talk about:

NOURISHMENT

Main Entry:

nour·ish·ment 

Pronunciation:

\ˈnər-ish-mənt, ˈnə-rish-\

Function:

noun

Date:

15th century

1 a: food, nutriment b: sustenance 3 <books for intellectual nourishment>2: the act of nourishing : the state of being nourished

From Webster's dictionary

And that is what I think of when I first hear the word Nourishment...FOOD.  But...THIS is what I am talking about...I truly need to "nourish" many things in my life, if the weightloss is going to happen and Stay off after.  All too often I reward myself with food...when I feel stress I eat...angry?  I eat...Scared? You guessed it I eat!  I was talking to a very wise woman the other day (nancy) who said "You need to fill yourself up" ...it's like there is an emptiness that needs to be filled...and I try...with food.  I am relatively happy in my life, there are problems...wouldn't you be surprised if there weren't?  Some of them are little problems...some are really tough and I have no answer for them...and maybe never will have an answer for them.

What I need is to nourish myself...spiritually, physically, mentally... fill that "hole" up with good things. 

 

So my conversation with Nancy led me to thinking about "What nourishes me"?  One of the biggies for me is BOOKS...I read and read and read, but lately I haven't been focusing very well...and I find I start a book and don't finish it, what's up with that?  She suggested MAYBE I am reading the wrong books for this moment...hmmmm.   She suggested a few books, mostly books that deal with spirituality...and so I am on a mission to read a few of them and see what I think.

Other things nourish me too...my ART work...but I don't accomplish much of it lately.  Spending time with people I love.  Spending time by myself.  Watching a good movie.  Taking a walk.  You get the idea.  I am going to spend sometime this next week honing in on what exactly nourishes me (including good for me foods) and I will share with you what I come up with.  I would love to hear (as would my other readers) what nourishes you...food and otherwise.  Take the plunge with me and lets see how we can feel filled up, without overeating...

Dancingly,

Denise

 

Comments

[mom]

good thinking.....I have found the only one that can make me happy is myself and working on that one once more.....doing better with the eating part my worst time is at work...I do pretty much ok at home ...have to work on that one love you

[Kathy Paine]

Denise,
Responding to your comments on what nourishes a person: I would have to say for me, it would be connecting with God (Jesus) through prayer and, yes, reading my Bible and reading books on spirituality, but not just any "spirituality." As a Christian, the spiritual books that I read have to be biblically based and not based on some other religion that does not recognize Jesus as their Savior. There is alot of "spirituality" out there, but some of it can be downright dangerous and misleading. Psychics (for one) are talked about in Deuterotomy 18 as being not of God, but some think they are just fine to listen to. There is a difference between true prophets of God and psychics (which are counterfeit).

Hope this helps, since you mentioned that your friend Nancy had suggested some spiritual books. I had been wanting to mention something similar to you for a while, but thought you might take it wrong as my trying to push religion on you. "Religion" is man-made and can be just a bunch of rules, but relationship with Jesus as personal Lord and Savior can change one's life inside out for the good. I can testify to that. It starts just by asking Him to come into our heart, acknowledging that He died on the Cross for us, asking Him to forgive us and cleanse us of all sin. It is then important to pursue a relationship with Him and helps to get involved in a Bible-believing/Bible-teaching church. Notice I said nothing about a specific denomination. You may have already done some or all of this...I don't know. I went to church all my childhood but still feel that I did not have a personal relationship with Christ. It was only after I asked Him to live in my heart and then started studying and getting into a fellowship of believers that I truly changed. Do I have to go to church every Sunday? No. Am I involved in a cultish type fellowship (like I feel my uncle Walter is)? No. It is a daily walk and I try to attend when I can (lately because of an asthmatic cough, I have been unable to), but it is a matter of the heart. When I used to volunteer at the local Christian TV station on the prayer lines, we would ask people who called in, "If you were to die today, do you know without a shadow of a doubt where you are going"? If they were not sure (or maybe even thought they were going to Heaven just based on the fact that they were a good person), we would ask them if they would like to say a prayer to ask Jesus into their heart (according to Romans 10:9 &10), simple as that. No fire and brimstone. I always tells folks (if they ask) that most Baptist churches are a good place to start as far as teaching on what salvation means. If one wants to go even deeper, nondenominational and/or charismatic or evangelical type churches sometimes go into deep spiritual teaching from a Christian perspective.
That is the type of church that I am a member of. It took visiting several before I felt lead to join this one. I think it is important to pray and ask God and His Holy Spirit to show us what church He wants us planted in. It may or may not be our family's church that we grew up in.

Well, you asked for our comments, so those are mine. I guess I just don't want any of my relatives to be "lost," because I love you all so, but I don't always have the opportunity to express my feelings without feeling like I am pushing something on someone.

By the way, as I have told you before, I enjoy reading your blog and keeping up with everyone. I get a real charge out of it sometimes. I believe one of your God-given gifts is writing. I think you could actually get paid to do it in the right venue.

Love you, girl,
Kathy

[LadyDoc]

HI, Denise!

Avoiding both too much food and too many cigarettes is my issue. (No, I'm not going to quit smoking, so no one should try to talk me into it, but I DO like it when I only smoke a few a day and don't like it when I get up to a pack a day- when you eat (stress, anger, etc), I smoke.)

Anyway.... I am cutting down on both unnecessary food and cigarettes while I am here on vacation. That, of course, will be difficult to translate once I get home, but I'm really going to work on it this year.

I find I don't do either once I get involved in something that absorbs my attention in a good way. I don't get up for the soda or the cigarettes if I am in the middle of a good chapter in a book. If I am working on a particular motif in my stitching, I want to keep going so ditto, no stopping for non-essentials.

These kinds of activities- particularly reading and needlework- feed my soul and allow me to avoid things I should avoid, even if just for a time.

The problem will be to carry these slightly improved behaviors home when vacation is over and real life comes back. Not sure yet how, or even if, I will be able to do it, but it is a goal.

Here's hoping we can both find some new direction!