Photo by Garidy Sanders on Unsplash
I hosted a podcast called Health Matters where I interviewed leading health experts. Barb Raveling has authored three books on weight loss, including Taste for Truth: A 30-Day Weight Loss Bible Study, Freedom from emotional eatingand I deserve a donut (and other lies that make you eat). Barb blogs about breaking free from strongholds and approaching God through the renewing of the mind at barbraveling.com
What refreshes your mind?
“The renewing of the mind Paul talks about it in Romans 12:2 he says, ‘Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind.’
“It doesn’t say, ‘Transform yourself by finding the perfect diet to help us lose weight and keep it off.’ Or it doesn’t say, “Transform by exercising like crazy.” He says to be transformed by the renewing of the mind.
“We still do these things, we still have some weight loss program or maintenance limits, and it’s good to exercise, but the truth is that if we don’t change the way we think about food, we’ll never be able to lose that weight and keep it off.” the away. It is just as important to work on our thinking as it is on our physical exercise and eating right.
“The renewal of the mind is the take-off and the apparel. Paul says it is not the old self that puts on the new self. We also remove all those lies we put about the food and put in the truths. We take our cultural perspective off of looking at life and put our biblical perspective on life.”
How to do it on a practical level?
“Let’s say I’m just going about my business and trying to follow my weight loss limits (maybe I’m doing calories or points or starving or low carb) and then all of a sudden I’m walking past my kitchen counter and I see this 9″x13 pan ” with lemon bars, just sitting there waiting to be eaten. It doesn’t fit my limits, but I really want those lemon bars. So I should refresh my mind.
“I have two options: I could either try to say no to the lemon bars with self-control, or I could rewire my mind, change my mind about those lemon bars so that I don’t even want to eat them.
“For anyone struggling with weight, myself included, we don’t have a lot of self-control in that area of our lives, so we can enlist self-control from time to time, maybe even for a few months to lose some weight. But if we haven’t changed our minds about what we think about it, we’ll gain the weight back as soon as we lose it.
“So what if I wanted that lemon bar, I could meditate on some scripture that talks about discipline or food. I have several Bible verses in me I deserve a donut book you can use to meditate on the scriptures.
“Or I could have a conversational thought. I have many questions in my books that you can use to discuss with God about temptations depending on the lies we believe. There are several ways to refresh your mind. Whatever works to change our perspective on food at that moment.”
What lies might we believe?
“A lie I might believe with lemon bars might be that if it’s good and available, then I have to eat it.
“Or I could say, ‘It’s just one bite,’ and maybe I’ll plan to eat just one small bite of that lemon bar. But we all know what happens when we eat just a small bite. We want more and more bites right?
“Or we’ve all laughed at ‘I need chocolate.’ That would actually be a lie that we need chocolate.
“Or we could say, ‘I deserve this.’ You know my day was so bad I deserve this.
“Or we might think, ‘It’s the holidays, I deserve this treat.’
Ask yourself questions
“There are many reasons why we might feel entitled to eat. So the next question is: “Do you believe that God agrees with your view of life? Why or why not?” If we are to renew our minds, we must be actively engaged. We have to think about every question. The questions themselves are not going to change anything, but talking to God about the questions and rethinking the way we look at life will change us.
“Would God agree that I deserve a little treat when life is hard? You know, if you think about everything, all the people who went through hard things in the Bible, God doesn’t respond to our American culture that says, “Hey, you don’t have to have a hard life. Your life should be easy and if it’s hard you should at least deserve a little treat.’
“It’s more about giving up rights, being good to other people, and He wants us to find our satisfaction in Him and be filled with Him. Immediately when I answer this question I remove those lies that I have been raised to believe and then when I put in the truth that automatically changes my desires.
“What usually happens when you live with your rights and your feelings in this area of your life? What usually happens when I eat a bunch and then gain a bunch of weight, right? So, on a practical level, this is not really a good policy for eating whenever we feel we deserve it. It doesn’t make our lives better.
“The questions will help you remove the lies that make us want to eat, overeat and break our boundaries.
“The limits are just the limits we set. The voluntary limits we set that determine how much we can eat, perhaps when we can eat. What we really like to do is eat whatever we want whenever we want, but when we do that we will never have a hard time losing weight or keeping it off. If we want to live with freedom in this area of our lives, we have to eat with some kind of limits.”
Since interviewing Barb, I have become more aware of the lies I tell myself and have worked to refresh my mind by asking questions and considering the way I think about food.
Although the podcast is no longer available, if you would like a copy of any of the full transcript of the interview, please email me.
This was an excerpt from the Health Matters Podcast, believing that prayer and Bible study are to the spirit what exercise and healthy eating are to the body.
Blessings on your journey to health.
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