Day 19-Chapter 18 "Things Lost, Better Things Gained"

I don't know about y'all, but I've gained a tremendous amount of insight and have learned so much in these past 19 days on this 21-day challenge. This is just the beginning for me. What about you? I hope you stick with me in the coming months. I have a lot of plans and ideas to continue on this journey and hope you will stick with me.

Are you as amazed as I am with all Lysa shared in her book and in her emails? I relate to everything she shared 100%! Same struggles, same desires, same everything.

I know that talking about food addiction, healthy eating plans, and cutting out certain foods permanently one week before Thanksgiving is pretty outrageous. I'm so tempted to just say, oh, the heck with it until after Thanksgiving. No...wait, then there's Christmas and all the days before Christmas. I'll miss out on all the goodies people bring to work, the foods at parties and get-togethers. Maybe waiting until after Christmas is what I should do.

But wait! There's New Year's Day and all the traditional must haves. Valentine's Day will be right around the corner and ooohh, all that chocolate and on and on and on the procrastination goes. Before I know it, it's springtime and I'm still 30 pounds (or more) overweight, dealing with the same stuff. So I can't think of a better time to be talking about food issues than right now, one week before Thanksgiving and the coming holidays.

I plan to enjoy my family and friends getting together for meals. With all we've read, talked about (well, I've talked about) and done up to this point, has made me more aware. I want to work on the get-togethers not being all about the food, but about the people I'm with.

I'm excited about experimenting and trying different recipes with some of my favorite things, but use gluten-free ingredients and no white sugar. I know me though, I'll have to use the tools I've learned these past 19 days to avoid overeating and ending up in defeat.

Lysa says in Chapter 18, "What if this whole journey of getting healthy could be more about what we're gaining than what we're losing? In the midst of losing chips and chocolate, there are things to be gained."

Instead of thinking about all the things I can't have, I will try to focus more on what I'm gaining and will get to have down the road. I have to start now. Today. Not next Friday or December 26th or January 2nd or February 15th..........

I plan to tape 1 Corinthians 6:12 to the door of my pantry, refrigerator and bathroom mirror. "Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything."

Losing and gaining,
Terri