Discussion Board

I am praying for your comfort, Luv.

In regard to back pain, I will share this with you. I finally decided to go to the hospital in December of last year after my pain was so great that I missed a class. I think I was having back spasms and suspect that is what your have been experiencing. I could not get comfortable in bed, standing or walking. I could sit in certain positions and be comfortable for a while. I was quite miserable.

The doctor ordered a CT and I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease (DJD). As I learned more about this, mainly from the Internet, I was relieved to know that people often get better spontaneously! I took three days of PT at the hospital but I was still uncomfortable in bed knowing that I needed bed rest (strict bed rest according to one doctor). So I did not spend much time in bed. Over the next few weeks, I gradually felt better and better and after I was comfortable in bed and could spend about eight hours/day there, it seemed that I got much better. This pain lasted about a month. Since then I have been virtually pain free and I am so grateful!

The reason I am telling you this is that back pain is often mysterious. Conservative measures (PT, massage, gentle stretching, bed rest etc.) over time can often provide relief. So try not to do too much! Be gentle with yourself. I hope you will soon be feeling much better.

thanks jub and pink for your prayers and concern. they mean alot!

I rarely have ever had any back problems, usually just something dumb like this happens once in a great while. I did a little stretching and I will have hubby rub some bengay on it tonight along with a nice loonnnggg massage I'm also going to look at the "Pain Free" book we have that I first learned about here on the boards.

I'm functioning - but just whining as I do it!

Sorry that you had such a time with your back pink - that sounds awful. I'm glad you are doing so much better now.

Good morning all -

Thanks for those prayers jubilee and pinkrose. I am feeling much better this morning. I went on a nice 3 mi. walk and felt a little tight in my back, but now after a shower and some stretching I feel like new. Praise the Lord.

Hope EVERYONE has a wonderful weekend worshipping God and counting your many blessings. God is good all the time.

YIPPEE! Luv, I'm so glad you're feeling better. Thank the Lord for His gracious answer to our prayers. May you have a pain-free and joyous weekend!

Blessings,
Jubilee

YES! Luv, I am also grateful for your "newness"!

Do you recall the story of Naaman (2 Kings 5)?

The reason I have been thinking of this story is because of one of my relatives. He had a CABG several years ago. At first he was serious about trying trying to follow a "good" diet (not McDougalling). However, during the last few months he seems to have slipped back into some of his old habits. He has gained weight and his cholesterol is at 400.

I have corresponded with his wife/cook about this and she told me some of the things she was doing in regard to cooking to help him and herself. I think they are like Naaman after he had dipped a few times. In other words, if he had dipped less than seven times, I think he would have died with leprosy. What do you think?

In regard to diet and health, as many have pointed out here, extremism is not a vice. The vice is moderation! So when we think of McDougalling, we are (compared to most folks in "developed" countries) thinking about something that is "extreme". It is as extreme as dipping seven times in the Jordan river...and you know the rest of the story!

So I urge you today to be faithful to what you know is good and right! Dip seven times! Go all of the way in regard to your devotion to our Father. Go all of the way in regard to your commitment to eating the best diet (McDougalling, right?) and taking care of God's temple (your body)!

"1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12, NIV)

Happy Sunday from China!

Here's the youtube link. She documented it on video, but I only saw the first one, the 123rd day, and two that she did one month after, and six months after. It's possible that this is false. Either way, she definitely got GAUNT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgNh9mGb2K4

Good Morning buns,

I was going to pm you this morning - I wanted to ask your forgiveness if my doubts seemed like they were directed towards you - because they weren't. I'm sorry about the tone of my post.

Thank you so much for the link and I'm going to check it out when I have more time later this afternoon.

Again, please forgive me for any hurt I may have caused you.
Have a great Lord's Day and blessings to all!

aw, Luv...

No hurt, no harm. Your tone was just fine, dear (((HUG))) It is reasonable to be skeptical about someone going that long without food. I brought it up because she looked like a war camp survivor, you know? VERY gaunt and skeletal.

Our former pastor and his wife did a 28 day fast, and lost scads of weight. Their pictures from before show two quite rounded bodies, and now they are lean and seem healthy. I always thought 40 days was the limit, and even asked this person on YouTube in her comments section "The Lord Jesus fasted for only 40 days. Why did you choose to go three times that long without food?"

And guess what she ate first, when breaking her fast? ....MEAT!

Good afternoon everyone!

Life (as usual) has picked up its pace for me, thus the extended absence. God has been challenging so many areas of life for me in this last week - it's been wonderful! It was very encouraging for me to come back and see all of you faithfully praying for one another and lifting each other up - the body of Christ is truly amazing.

School is starting up for me this week. It's been challenging, mostly emotionally, with maintaining my dietary lifestyle with more and more of my fellow students coming back. I thoroughly enjoy this style of eating and I am not one to compromise on what I know to be true, so that isn't the issue. What has been tough is finding the balance between staying true to what I know is right and not offending a fellow brother or sister. I don't want my choice of (dietary) lifestyle to negatively influence a relationship with my family in Christ. However, I know God is faithful and He will continue to guide my step - I simply need to recognize that my flesh has been crucified and that it is Christ's life living through me. Balance and discernment are two things I could use prayer for.

Again, it's wonderful to see how everyone is doing, I will continue to lift each of you up in prayer. I'm so encouraged that we can utilize the body of Christ like this across the world from one another.

Your brother in Christ,
Matt

It is nice to read the other posts here too and I am grateful for our prayer connections!

Matt, you have written about the challenges that face all Christians since all of us should seek balance and discernment. For those of us who try to eat first for health, we have our own special challenges.

As I sit here with my big hot bowl of carrots, green peppers, snow peas and leafy greens (the main course for breakfast), I am thinking about your post.

I share all of your concerns about wanting to prioritize properly, maintain the right balance and not say or do anything to offend another person in regard to diet or anything else. Another issue for me is that when I sit down to eat with others I do not want to spend much time talking about food but too often we do since my diet is so strange. I would like to talk about more important matters (Colossians 3.1-3)!

Historically, however, if you think about centuries and not just about recent history, it is good to ask who is really eating a weird/strange/extreme/dangerous diet. Dr. McDougall has indicated that the starch based whole foods vegan (or almost vegan) diet is the diet that most people followed until the 20th century. So when we follow his guidance, we are eating a traditional diet that can be credited with providing good nutrition for billions of people for many centuries.

So whether we really want to talk much about it or not, we probably will since people think we are weird. Perhaps if we could just quickly sum up what we are doing (eating very much as our well nourished ancestors ate for hundreds of years before all of the "advances" in food processing and trying to eat for health) we could then move to another (more important) subject. With few exceptions I am not interested in "converting" people to this way of eating since I think very few are ready for that but I would like them to know why I eat this way and not think I am just strange or gullible!

So what I am saying (as I enjoy my hot veggies) is that I have not figured all of this out either. Let us pray for wisdom and focus first on the kingdom.

"5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the LORD; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does." (James 1, NIV)

"17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." (James 3, NIV)

Good Morning Friends:

Hi Matt - it's great to hear from you! I'll be praying that this is a good semester for you and that the Lord will guide your steps! (Prov. 3:5-6) I can understand how you want to be true to eating properly and at the same time not offending others. It is an issue that we all want to have balance in and God's wisdom. I think as a family we alienated some people when we first started McDougallling because we were so zealous about spreading the word. I now know that unless I am asked, it's probalby best not to talk about it. And pinkrose is right, there are so many other things to talk about - especially God's goodness! I'm reading John Robbins' book called Healthy at 100 again, and he talks about the cultures that have always had a plant based diet. They don't talk about food when they eat - they talk about family, work, and life!

Hi buns - I watched several of those youtube videos, and boy you are right. She looked so very gaunt at the end. I had mixed emotions while watching them, but this morning just a feeling of sorrow really for her. She was happy with what she had done and said she felt closer to God, but still, looking at her speaking with those sunken cheeks just made me feel sad.
I forgot to mention that about a year ago I read a book recommended to me by our former Pastor called "The Power of Prayer and Fasting - 10 secrets of spiritual strength" by Ronnie W. Floyd. It was a good book and I think it gave a very balanced and biblical approach to fasting.

Well, it has been hot, hot, hot here so my appetite is down a bit which is fine. I'm feeling a little leaner and the scale has shown a bit of a downward trend so I'm happy.

Blessings to all of you and thanks for all the thought provoking posts!

HELLO!!!! Anybody here??? Ha ha!

Have we all lacked the energy or inspiration to post anything here recently?

Have some of you been too busy with your family duties, work etc.?

Sometimes I feel empty, that I have nothing significant to share and I like to just listen and pray. Do you ever feel that way?

OK, here is your assignment:

1. Check in! Please let us know you are OK...if you are or let us know if you are having a struggle we can hold up to Father.

2. Please share a recent victory with us!

My victory...was marshaling the energy and mental resources to post this! Ha ha!

"28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40, NIV)

Hi there Pink!

I have been extremely busy, working at least two hours past my usual clock-out time every day but one, this past week, and then having other duties, such as back-to-school, a couple of volunteer duties in the community, etc. I come home and generally veg out hee hee, gettit?

ehem....

well, anyway. Busy-ness and lack of inspiration have kept me from posting here or anywhere else. But I'm reading a good book that also compels me and to which I have devoted much of my free time (The Bible IS the "good book" and I read there every day, as well...) the book I'm talking about, though, is called "Hearing God" by Dallas Willard. I'm learning a lot, but it isn't diet related so I haven't necessarily been moved to share it here.

It does bring up a thought, though. You know, when we are relearning how to eat...how to get away from the constant richness and over abundance, fat, sweet, salty of the SAD diet...we must learn to become content with simplicity. Not that we can't have amazingly delicious foods in McDougall. I really do prefer the flavors and colors of the foods I now eat, over most of the things I used to eat...however, the idea that we can be content with a bowl of oatmeal and banana. it fills us up and nourishes us. And we can live on that, every day, if need be. It is sufficient, even if it is the same thing every day.

Even so, longing for some exalted experience in the Word EVERY TIME we open it, can be detrimental. I do ask God to show me every time I read "Speak to me, Father. What do you want to say to me here today?" and sometimes He lifts my soul, or makes a sentence or even a word spring to life for me....more often, however, I "read to live" and am nourished by the simple act of reading and being with Him in His Word, whether He manifests some deep joy or wonder or repentance, or not.

Just as we mustn't feast sumptuously and richly every single time we eat, maybe we mustn't look for overwhelming emotional "jolts" every time we read the Bible. We trust that the oatmeal and banana are feeding our cells; we can trust that the daily intake of Bible reading is nourishing our spirits, EVEN IF we don't "feel" like God is meeting us.

I'm here! Thanks for getting us back together, Pink.

I've been enjoying having my youngest home from Mexico and Ecuador this week! What a blessing to hear all about her ministry opportunities there, and how the Lord worked. She had some challenges getting home (like her plane tickets purchased 6 months ago on Mexicana Airlines which has since gone bankrupt and cancelled all their flights, lost luggage, etc.), but the Lord provided.

I'm also grateful to the Lord that He's helping me to stay on track here in spite of the new challenges. One of the things she wanted to do when she got home besides catch up on sleep, and see everyone, was to enjoy the foods she didn't have there. (Surprising what she did have, though). The first couple of days I gained back a pound or so, and realized that I couldn't do this. All it takes is one cookie here, a bite of someone's sandwich there, and almost immediately I start gaining again. Last night the rest of my family had Domino's pizza. I knew they were planning this because it's one of her favorites, and she was waiting for her sister to come home (she's been on call all week). I ate ahead of time so I wouldn't be hungry, and then just excused myself from the room during the meal. I look forward to being able to stay and visit without being tempted, but for now, if I was seeing and smelling it, I'd be tempted and give in or sit there feeling sorry for myself. No self-pity, just acceptance that this is how it has to be. I used the time to call a friend whose son left yesterday for Afghanistan with the military, and we had a sweet time of fellowship over the phone. And thank the Lord, I lost .5 lbs. yesterday! God is good!

Oh, I posted on the menu thread looking for a recipe for thai red curry. Anyone have that? I had it for the first time this summer on vacation, and it was delicious. Seems like something I could McDougalize fairly easily but I'm looking for a recipe to start with. Lots of choices on google, but I'd prefer something recommended on this board if possible.

I'm hoping that everyone is plugging along and eating healthy so as to present our bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord. We are better able to serve our families, and the Body of Christ when we can move without pain, and are not focused on illness because of our poor eating habits.

We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength, friends.

Blessings to each of you,
Jubilee

Hi everyone. Today is my birthday and I am about ready to head out to the farmer's market and a birthday lunch at a restaurant on the lake. (I checked out their menu online and it looks like they will have some good vegan choices for me, even if not strictly under the McDougall "rules.") Want to post a quick reply before I go though.

First, thanks pinkrose for waking us all up! I was looking at the forum last night wondering why I hadn't seen any new messages, and realized I wasn't the only person who hadn't been posting recently. I guess I have just been busy with life, work, etc. - nothing exciting. I have been praying for a closer walk with God and a more devoted life. I feel so inadequate and ashamed when I read about some of the wonderful things others are doing. I know those thoughts are from the enemy, but I do pray that I would follow God alone and better resist the temptations of this world.

BunsofA - I loved your thoughts on Bible reading. I love to read, but confess that I don't read the Good Book enough. I love Bible study, but seem to have a hard time disciplining myself to sit down and read it on my own. Maybe I have been looking for that "rich dessert" instead of being nourished by the "oatmeal" I find there! Thanks for that insight!

Jubilee - so happy to hear your DD is hope safely and I'm sure you are being richly blessed by her presence and hearing about her ministry. Kudos to you for resisting that pizza and using the time for something good instead of feeling sorry for yourself! I gave in to eating birthday cake at the office this week, and paid for it. I picked carrot cake and the cake alone might not have been TOO bad, but that cream cheese frosting was not good for me at all!

I checked out a Moosewood cookbook from the library and want to copy some recipes out of it before returning it. I think there is one for Thai Red Curry so I will look and post it later when I get a chance.

Gotta run now so we can get to the farmers market while they still have some good fresh produce! Wishing everyone a blessed day!