Discussion Board

Hey everyone,

I just had a quick question for people to ponder on, I'd really like to hear your responses.

Are there times when you feel that your emphasis on food takes up more of your mind than you believe it should? In other words, does food/healthy choices ever become a bigger part of your identity than your position in Christ?

I've been evaluating this idea the past couple of days. I've been realizing that I think about things like upcoming meals, planning for events, rebuttals/evidence/facts etc. more than I've been dwelling on the goodness and love of God. I know part of it has to do with the fact that I'm newer to this program and when I learn something I want to know everything about it. But my priority has to be, first and foremost, to learn more about my God and Savior.

I was just curious where you all find that balance. Hope your day has been Christ-centered!

Great spiritual victories are won or lost on our willingness to endure spiritual hardship and temptation out of love and faithfulness to the Lord.

My diet is very simple. I like to eat vegetable soup and fruit. All the people I know are used to how I eat and so I don't have to explain it. I do not feel like a healthy diet distracts me from my faith. Being healthy gives me the strength and stamina to be of service to the Lord.

One of the reasons I have never been a big "dieter" is because I didn't want to get obsessed with food. even now, fully committed to eating the McDougall way for the rest of my life, I don't get all tied up in it. Thus, when I went out of town last week, and we ate at restaurants, I ate pancakes and nuts and other "non-plan" stuff, just no meat nor dairy of any kind, so as not to be fussy.

I'm at a place now, where I keep it really simple. Beans over rice and some steamed veggies, or a quick mushroom and zucchini stir fry over rice or potatoes.

All the foods that we have been blessed with, from rice to spinach to cream, to a juicy pork roast...all of it comes from the Father of Lights, and is worthy of our gratitude. We make the mistake when we think we have to have cream and juicy meat at every meal, eh?

I want to share a link to this Christian recipe website with many good recipes for the McDougall diet. My daughter has made many of the smoothie and dip recipes.

http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes.html

I looked briefly - what a treasure trove! I plan to delve in further later. Thanks for the link.

You have asked a good question and your priority is certainly the best, Matt!

I think it is possible to be zealous for God and to also be zealous in regard to health. Since millions are afflicted with the diseases of affluence related to "rich" diets, I think we can encourage people to be content with less (less junk--fat, calories, etc.) and to take good care of God's temples, our bodies. So while health is not my highest priority, it is important and I hope we are improving our lives and helping others to do likewise.

Especially when we think about the many problems related to poor eating habits, I think we can show the love of Christ to others when we provide a good example for them in regard to diet and health.

Hey, everyone!

I trust that the Lord is directing and blessing your days. Have we lost KC and Mrs. Doodlepunk? I expect that TexGal is trying not to roast in Tex! I pray that they are well, and continuing to eat healthily. Good to hear from you Bunsofaluminum and LuvOatmeal. Thank you for your kind encouragement with my kidney stone issues. Wow, Luv, it must be such a blessing to be within 10 pounds of your goal. Your faithfulness and diligence certainly is an encouragement to others as well.

I appreciate your excellent question, Matt. It's a good reminder or caution, to not let eating take a higher priority in our lives than God. It would be easy to do that, wouldn't it? You sound like a very wise young man. May you continue to keep your focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, and serving Him only.

Thank you also, Pinkrose for the perfect response. You summarized my feelings on the matter better than I could have. Healthwise, I am at a point in my life where serving God is negatively affected by the consequences of years of wrong eating. If I am to continue being able to serve God by serving others, I'm going to have to take much better care of this temple, and that means making it a priority until it becomes a habit, to eat and exercise as best as I know to do. Also, I've been careful to keep some part of my posts here focused on eating the McD way, since that is the purpose of the forum. I expect that is true of others as well, so it probably sounds like we focus on it more than we actually do. Still, a very, very good reminder!

I hope that everyone is enjoying the blessings of summer. I'm certainly enjoying all the fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and corn that we have had lately. I thank the Lord for providing these gifts for us even when I couldn't have my usual garden this year. How about you? How has God blessed you this summer?

I'm also looking forward to my youngest daughter returning from her summer mission work in Central and South America, pretty soon. I hear about her leading groups of young people into the jungle to bring both the Living Water, and pure water filtration systems to the villages there, while also bringing Gospel programs for the children, and I wish I could have been there too! I'm so thankful for the Lord giving her this opportunity as she continues to yeild to His leading in her life, and I can't wait for her to get home so I can hear all about it. She has known since she was 11 years old that she has been called into mission work, including Bible translation, so this is so exciting to be realizing the desire of her heart all those years.

Thank you satan's Foe for the quote- "Great spiritual victories are won or lost on our willingness to endure spiritual hardship and temptation out of love and faithfulness to the Lord."

I'll chew on that one awhile today.

Blessings to you all,
Jubilee

Good Morning Friends,

Thank you for the good question Matt. I have been guilty of letting thoughts of weight loss consume my mind during the day rather than dwelling on God's Word. I feel guilty about it when it happens, and I'm always striving to put Phil. 4:6-8 into practice on a moment by moment basis. But as the cook and grocery shopper in the house, I do have to spend a certain amount of time planning the week's menu out and looking for new recipes to try. But I don't feel that how I eat is what defines me. I'm a Christian first, a wife and mom next, and a McDougaller is down on the list.

Thanks Satan's Foe for the link. I've bookmarked it and plan on looking at it in more detail when I have the time. It looks interesting and I love all the pictures!

How are you feeling buns? This is day 5, right?

Hi Jubilee - it's good to hear from you. I appreciate all your thoughts in regards to Matt's question. I think we all want to be good examples and take care of our temple's so that we can serve the Lord to the best of our abilities.

I hope we haven't lost KC and Mrs. D, and hopefully texgal is sitting in air-conditioning eating watermelon.

Oh, and I have to comment that when I started McDougalling it was more for health reasons than to lose weight. This silly 10 pounds is something I actually have put on in the last couple of years from indulging in nuts and cereal. Shame on me.

So many good posts here! I am grateful for all of you who participate on this thread!

A personal note: My better half and I returned from a trip to Jiangxi province Friday. The scenery was spectacular, especially Lushan, a very famous mountain range there. It was not hot up there! We enjoyed our time with one of my young colleagues who served as our hostess and guide.

As a McDougaller in China, when I travel I really miss my wife's cooking. It is very difficult to get plain veggies and starches in restaurants here. That is one reason I am grateful to be back at home. I am also grateful to be here because it is so hot in China now--not the best time to travel. I have decided that I do not like to travel in the summer because of the heat but I may change my mind by next summer! Ha ha!

You can see our photos here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zhong_pu/

Click on the slide show icon near the top on the right to see them optimally!

What BEAUTIFULphotos!!!
Thank you for sharing those pinkrose

Thanks so much for the replies everyone, they were tremendously helpful. It's been good to reevaluate where I'm at and re-dedicate my focus on the Lord. I definitely have a "learner-for-life" mentality and I tend to get caught up in things when I'm learning about them. This was helpful for me to get my priorities straight again.

This week I'm going through leadership training at my school for being a Resident Advisor this upcoming year. It's been such a blast and I've felt God challenging me in so many areas for growth. He is so good all the time!

Pinkrose, those pictures are beautiful - it looks like you had a great time. I actually took Mandarin for one year my sophomore year of college (2 years ago) and went to Taiwan for a month last summer, so I'm deeply fascinated by Chinese culture. It was great fun looking through your photos Makes me want to practice my Chinese again, I've forgotten so much of it.

I'll also be leaving this Sunday to go on a leadership camping trip, so I won't be posting for a little while.

Hey there. I'm doing great with this fast. Today I ate some hummus with pita chips, tabouli, black beans w/seasonings, and some radishes, and was full at about the halfway point (I packed a LOT of food, because I have been able to eat that much up to today)

and I'm not hungry at all this evening, which is good. Went to the discount grocery store and bought out all their garbanzo beans and a lot of their black beans. Also, found four cans of fava beans, which are DELISH!

Today is day five, thanks for asking I don't know what God is doing in me with this,. beyond some self-discipline...which is good, actually. I have been led around by my stomach for my whole life, so a prolonged self-denial such as this is turning into, is good for me. I don't know about one meal a day forever...not enough calories, really. But I have enough fat on my body to carry me, and I'm eating very healthy.

Watching an ad for some medication for Deep vein thrombosis, I thought "If we would only take care of ourselves, God has created a body taht will carry us in good health, into very old age." ... I feel bad for people who are medicated for so many things that diet could completely cure...

well, it's bedtime now.

take care, and blessings on all!

Are there times when you feel that your emphasis on food takes up more of your mind than you believe it should? In other words, does food/healthy choices ever become a bigger part of your identity than your position in Christ?

Hello Everyone,

Got back from vacation in one piece. Exhausted, dirty, happy.

Matt, I know how you feel exactly. I feel God gave me this diet. In the last 5 months, there has been a lot of learning. Can't turn 55 years of SAD eating without a learning curve. Some may do this program to the T and some may not. Make it your own with the Lord guiding you. I went camping and to help me stay on track, I took cans of beans, boca burgers, and wraps. I ate oatmeal for breakfast. Still I had a smore and about 6 cookies over the 4 days. I went hiking, bike riding, and had a great time. I came home feeling smaller and healthier than ever camping. Glory to God! After five months, I have found what works for me. I have learned of a few places to go where I can be served food my way. I have learned to always take food with me.

We went to marine World and I packed a small container of Quinoa and a prepackaged beanw/ lentils. maybe not mcdougall but it wasn't the cheese and pep pizza, buttered corn, cotton candy, corn dog that everyone else ate. I'm happy. God bless all of you.kc

Hi everyone. Thanks to those of you who have asked about me. Yes, I am mostly trying to stay in the A/C and out of the Texas heat! Unfortunately as I have gotten older I can't handle the heat very well, so I haven't been doing much outdoor activity. Sitting in front of the TV and computer entirely too much recently!

I recently discovered a store about 30 minutes from my house that gives cooking classes, and I have attended 2 free classes there. One was on Healthy Mexican Food and one on making vegetarian sausages. I probably won't use some of the recipes again as they don't really fit my diet and idea of what's "healthy," but I did learn some tips and tricks that will come in handy. Next week I will be taking a bread baking class.

We have been trying to get out to the farmer's market most weekends, and have really been enjoying God's bounty of fresh vegetables and fruits. Today I bought Japanese eggplant for the first time, so I am looking forward to trying that out. I have tried out new recipes recently for okra, squash, and other vegetables, and made my first batch of fig jam.

I have really been enjoying all the tastes and am delighted that I am getting so much pleasure out of these whole fresh foods. I guess from one point of view this could be seen as focusing too much time and attention on food and meal preparation, but I see it more as trying to be a good steward of the body and the food gifts that God has given me. I know we had a similar discussion a month or 2 ago, so I won't repeat all my thoughts again now. I guess like anything else in this life, it can become too much of a focus and take your eyes off what is truly important, but I think trying to eat healthy meals and sharing that with others can also be a good act of stewardship and gratitude to God for all His gifts.

Speaking of gifts, I am so happy to hear about the ministries being done by you and your children. We are so often bombarded by bad news and negativity, and it is uplifting and encouraging to hear about the people doing God's work and sharing His message.

That's about all the news I have for now. Blessings to everyone - buns, Matt, pinkrose, Jubilee, luvoatmeal, SF, LTL - and those who haven't been posting or are just reading and remaining anonymous. Thanks to all of you for sharing your struggles and your victories and blessings.