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My
Humble
Thoughts
on
Losing
Weight and
Exercise
by Barb Shelton
 I
have now lost 44 pounds!!!
(As of
February 2,
2005)
Dave,
my wonderful husband, says that if I don't lose another pound, he's fine
with this being my "final destination."
 But I'd still like to
lose a few more as there are "problematic areas" I'd like to
"de-problemize."  So I'm
thinking that another 5 or so pounds off and continuing the exercising
I'm doing (which I was planning on doing anyway) ought to do it!!!
This is a DREAM COME TRUE!!!!!! I
have come to this place
because ~ and ONLY because ~
of
the Lord's FAITHFULNESS to "complete the work He began in
me"
many
years ago! I cannot even begin to tell you how WONDERFUL it feels
to be getting closer to Jesus,
"abiding
in Him" in THIS
area of my life too ~ a place I wouldn't let Him into for a long long
time(!) ~ and
getting set FREE from my life-long addiction to food!!!
I'm so sorry and ashamed to admit that
I have lived most of my life addicted to food. But the Lord, in
His mercy and grace, and true to His own nature (which is beyond ME to
fathom!), is "faithful to complete the work He
began" ~ in me ~ LONG ago! And there is something very relieving,
comforting, restful and releasing about GOD (as opposed to ME) being the
one completing the work that HE BEGAN. This is not a work of
myself; it is HIS work IN me! **I** am His work! I do
not need to figure it all out a nd
go on a self-improvement kick!!! I just need to LET HIM do HIS
work in me!!! He Himself will do it!
Food addiction has been called the (supposedly) "socially acceptable addiction," but
it is nonetheless just-as-binding-and-sinful as any other addiction.
But by "the Lord's mighty power at work in me," Jesus is releasing me
from that addiction!!! Healing me!!! Re-setting "bones" within my soul
that have grown weak, twisted, and distorted over these many years of
being too closely attached to and dependent on food!
Although the work in my heart is not yet "done", my new-found freedom
thus far is soooo WONDERFUL!!!!! God has given me ~ led me to ~ two
grace-based "tools" to help lead me out of "Egypt":
~ One of them is "Thin Within." Their website is
at
Thin Within; the book ~
by the same people ~ is called "Thin Again." You will not find the book
at the website, at least I couldn't, and I'm not sure why, but here's
the scoop on it... The original book, called "Thin Within," was written
by the author(s) when they were unsaved. They later came to the Lord,
and their entire message changed drastically! But the other book was
still out! So they wrote this second one, which is the one that's from
a Christian perspective. We do sell the book; it's linked from the
title: Thin Again and is the last (fourth) item on that page.
~ The other tool is an accountability/focus thing I am doing, and have
been doing for four months, at the time of this writing, which is
mid-December)
I felt the Lord leading me to start this a few
months ago, with my daughter, Sharnessa. I had received $50 for my
birthday, and felt that I wanted to spend it on getting serious about
"accountability in my weight loss," so I asked Sharn if she would do
this for me ~ be my accountability person ~ and I would pay her $10 a
week, for 5 weeks. Thus the $50. Yes, I wanted this bad enough that I
was HAPPY to spend a whole birthday gift on it! I felt then that it was
the best gift I could give myself, and am totally GLAD that I did
it!!!!! Sharn was very willing to do this for/with me, but didn't want
me to pay her. However, I insisted, as I knew it would take her some
time to read my chart and journaling each day. Plus I just wanted
to bless her. Also I knew it would make ME more serious about it,
as we tend to value something more that we have paid for!
This chart, which I call my "PERSONAL CARE FOCUS CHART," has many things
on it that I am wanting to focus on. I don't know why, but I have a
very hard time KEEPing my focus on things I actually want to focus
on. This helps me. Here is my template that I open each week and begin
afresh with:
In
Rich Text Format (RTF)
~ for those who don't have Word
In
Word Format
~ for those who DO have Word
I do a lot of copying and pasting on this form ~ like the checkmarks
(which may or may not show up for you; if they don't, then your program
does not have the font to support it.) The items that are X's I
just double click on and fill in my current quantity or whatever, and
font is all ready for me.
Very handy and easy. I do my journaling
starting on the second page. If you are wondering what the
SPIRIT-EMPOWERED VICTORIES TODAY part is about, here is one of my
entries from last week. (If you do not have a problem with food, you
will think I'm CRAZY!!! But if it helps someone who IS, then I'm happy
to look like a fool to you others!!!)
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SPIRIT-EMPOWERED VICTORIES TODAY: Dave made microwave
popcorn with BUTTER tonight (another of my VERY favorite foods!)
He asked me if I wanted any, and I said "Just a LITTLE," so he
gave me a LITTLE bowl of it. But then when I picked up the bowl
to eat it, I felt a surge of GRACE to say "You know, I can really
live without this," and then poured it ALL into Dave's bag!!!
Oooooh Susan!!!! WHAT JOY!!!!!! … Also, at
dinner at my sister Julie's… I ate just a LITTLE soup and just one third of a roll!!!! (with BUTTER, though!) And just
about 2 bites of sauce cake ~ which IS one of my fav foods!!!
(Hmmmm… it's beginning to sound like I have a LOT of "VERY
favorite foods," isn't it?!?!?!?! :-) I KNOW it is
GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
(Yeah, I know;
I get a bit excited!!! Someone amusedly told me that the
exclamation mark must be the first key on my keyboard to wear out!!!!!
 )
My Basic Eating Plan:
This is actually quite simple:
 Wait till I'm hungry to eat,
and stop when I'm satisfied. This is nothing new; thin eaters do
it all the time!
In the
meantime, when I'm not really hungry, and "head hunger" is raging and clamoring for my attention,
demanding to be fed, I GO TO GOD to be satisfied deeeep within me.
Eat more fresh
veggies and fruit, more whole grains, less refined sugar and flour. BUT, as quickly as I
say that, I must quickly qualify it by saying that exercise and eating certain
foods ~ even healthy ones ~ are NOT the key to what I am doing!!!
Allowing God to change my HEART is! Specifically, turning my
heart from food and toward God; learning to abide in and lean on Him, and be
satisfied by Him! As others have put it: I thought I had
a weight problem; what I really had was a spiritual
problem. ... So, back to food... I eat whatever sounds
good to me! However, since I am waiting until I am actually
hungry to eat, healthy foods sound MUCH better to me! In
fact, some that I only "sorta liked" before are now absolutely
SCRUMPTIOUS!!!!!
In Thin Within, you are free to eat whatever seems right and good to you, you just wait
until you are hungry to eat, eat what you are hungry for, and stop when
satisfied. Click
here
to read their whole philosophy
of eating. "Thin Within" didn't create this approach to eating;
it's really just the way God originally set it up to work. Thin
Within just recognizes it, and outlines and explains it for those of us
who have a hard time figuring it out ~ much to the amusement of
 thin
eaters, since this is really just "thin eating" ~ and also gives MUCH
spiritual counsel and
insight to help us get over the hurdles that
keep us bound from being FREE to follow these simple eating guidelines!
My Basic Exercise Plan:
~ Do my "Stretching Routine" for 10 to 20 minutes, 6 to 7 days a week
~ Do my "Floor Exercise Routine" for 15 to 20 minutes, 5 to 6 days a
week
~ Go for a "One-Mile Walk" 3 to 5 days a week
~ Aerobics: 5 to 10 min. a day (Work up to 15~25 min.)
(Do this instead of Floor Ex. or the Walk one of the other two.)
As you can see, there is a lot of flexibility in my plan.
I don't want to exercise for much more than an hour a day. And to
some it might seem like a lot, but that's a
good amount for me since my lifestyle ~ with no babies, and a sedentary
job at home ~ does not include much physical activity.
"By the Lord's mighty power at work within me, to will and to do His
will," (yet another example of this portion of my journaling), I
have been doing the above for several
 months
now; an average of 45
min./day!!!!!! You have NO idea what a MIRACLE and true WORK OF
THE LORD this is!!! I have DETESTED exercise!!!!!!! But the
Lord has changed this in me! I actually ENJOY doing this now!!!
All glory and credit
go to HIM alone!!! NOT to "will power"! The key is in
SURRENDERING MY WILL to the LORD'S so that He is free to work HIS WILL
in and through me! It's simple, yet hard to get and walk in
because in involves DYING TO MY FLESH! Yet "unless a seed (my
flesh, in this case) falls into the ground and DIES, it cannot bring
forth life." And LIFE is what I want!!!!!!!!
I don't use any one resource
or "tool" for my exercise; mostly I have just learned things over the
years that make sense and feel good to me. Many years ago (23,
to be exact, as of Jan. of 2005!), I choreographed a fitness program/class that included
aerobic dancing and floor exercise. I was not "professionally trained,"
but did a lot of research on my own ~ and with the other gal I created
this with ~ and learned enough to be able to put together what *I* felt
was a good program. (We had instructors, classes presented in 12-week
sessions, done in church gyms.) So I still have all that "under my
belt" knowledge to draw from. But exercise videos and audiotapes abound
if you don't have that background.
One unique thing that I have enjoyed, and
that we carry, is
called "PraiseWalk"! (It's the first item on
this page at our online catalog.) You don't NEED to to be able
to walk; it's just fun and adds a whole new dimension!!!
STRETCHING
- is SO beneficial!!! I
used to think that, since it isn't very "exertive," it really wasn't of
much value. But there are MANY benefits to stretching! At the
www.dummies.com website, I
just found a good, quick summary of...
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"Why you need to stretch:
Stretching is the key to
maintaining your flexibility — in other words, how far and how
easily you can move your joints. As you get older, your tendons
(the tissues that connect muscle to bone) begin to shorten and
tighten, restricting your flexibility. Flexibility is one of the
keys to good posture. When your front neck muscles are short and
tight, your head angles forward. When your shoulders and chest are
tight, your shoulders round inward. When your lower back, rear
thigh, and hip muscles are tight, the curve of your back becomes
exaggerated. A regular stretching routine also can reduce pain and
discomfort, particularly in your lower back. In fact, the pain
often disappears when you begin doing simple stretches for your
lower back and rear thigh muscles. What's more, flexibility
exercises can correct muscle imbalances. Say that your front thigh
muscles are strong, but your rear thighs are tight and weak. As a
result, you end up relying on your front thighs more than you
should. Chances are, you won't even notice this. Muscle imbalances
can eventually lead to injuries such as pulled muscles. They also
contribute to clumsiness, which in itself can lead to injury." |
I used to have a very hard
time getting and staying comfortable sleeping. I would toss and turn 10
to 25 times a night. (usually on the higher end) Now, because of
stretching
and exercise, and having lost 30 pounds, I have a MUCH easier
time, and turn only 3 to 6 times a night!!! What a difference! Our
bodies LIKE to exercise, and naturally want to be our natural, God-given
size and shape. I used to always say I hated to exercise... and
didn't! It was really only my very lazy "flesh man" who didn't want to
go to the trouble, and it was my "flesh" (literally) that paid the price
~ in much less flexibility, getting winded and tired very quickly, and
disturbed sleep. (or lack thereof!)
If this is a "hard thing" for you too, know that the Lord understands,
but also wants to bring you to a new place!!! If you are sensing a
desire to get into better shape, know that this desire is from the Lord,
and whatever He calls and leads us to, He will also equip and give us
the grace for!!!!!! It is truly "ours just for the asking"!!! "You
have not because you ask not"!!! Do you need motivation? Then ASK
God!!! Do you need ideas?
Then ASK God!!! He will lead you to whatever is just right for YOU!
(And there are TONS of resources online! Just do a search!!! And WE
sell ONE wonderful resource called PraiseWalk! (It's the first item on
this page.
You just need a walkman to be able to utilize this! If you want to
know more about fitness and exercise, the next resource down, Fit or
Fat, is WONDERFUL!!! And then the bottom one on that page is Thin
Again ~ the one that I am currently using for the spiritual healing
aspect, although it deals with the physical stuff too.
)
 My Plan for if I'm not
feeling well 
~ Pray my "Basic Connection" prayer ~ either on my own, or if I'm having
a hard time thinking, then pray the one in my "Loving Letter to
Myself". (I will be providing a link to that, if you want to see
it, in just a moment.)
~ Do at least a little stretching as this will make you feel better.
~ Try to walk a little ways, even slowly, just to get some fresh air,
and get the blood circulating.
My Long-term Goal(s)
WEIGHT-WISE:
My
starting weight was 182.5. I'm not sure exactly what weight I want
to get to; it depends on how I look and feel when I start getting down
there. I'm sure I'll need to get to at least 140 before I'll start
feeling like it's where I want to be. So that's 47.5 pounds. And
I have currently lost 39 of that!!!) Time-wise I have no goals
for losing that, though the sooner the better.
I'm
VERY happy with the progress thus far! So is my husband. In
fact, as I say below my "Almost There" picture
below, my husband says that even if I don't
lose another pound, he's
totally happy with where I'm at now!
PHYSICALLY:
I don't want to be a fashion model; I just want to feel good, look nice,
wear all my "skinny clothes" comfortably, be sick a lot less, especially
headaches, have feet that don't constantly hurt, and have more energy to
live a full, fun, and enjoyable life! And I'm tired of huffing and
puffing when I've done hardly anything, and of avoiding active
activities!!!
SPIRITUALLY:
I really want to glorify God in my body!!! ~ and not be a "shame" to
His reputation. Right now (and this was when I was first starting out)
I feel like, if people look at my body, they say "Hmmm, really?!?!?! It
sure doesn't look like God is really Lord of her WHOLE life!" And
this is actually TRUE! How can I say or think God is truly the "Lord of
me" when, truly, He is NOT Lord of my eating!?!?!
My Short-term Goal(s)
Listen to my "Thin Within" audio tapes as I fold laundry. (I have a tape
player set up on a shelf Dave made for me just for this purpose in my
laundry area!)
Read "Thin Again" book. (When done, keep going back through it to
the starred and underlined portions for reinforcement and encouragement ~
which is
what I am now doing.)
Spend time with God every day to get my heart and mind on track.
Keep track of my
progress in my "Personal
Care Focus Chart"
and journal.
Send my chart to Susan (a DEAR sister-friend of mine!) every day for
10 weeks
Read a portion of My Loving
Letter to Myself each day when I need
help putting words to what's in my heart.
In Conclusion
Having gone the "health food route," tried just about every diet there is, and now doing
the Thin Within program, I have come to believe that the single factor that affects health even more than
the specific foods we eat is
excess weight. Once we get rid of that, and keep it off, a lot of other health problems
"miraculously" disappear.
Research confirms this; it's not just my own observation.
What I have learned and gleaned in Thin Within (and previously in Weigh Down) has affected every area of my life.
Focusing on healthy eating, exercise, and herbs, minerals and vitamins, etc. is
not the main key to weight loss or good health, just as "curriculum" is not the key to successful homeschooling!
These can be elements of it, but not "the key" or "the
answer." And "the key" in losing weight is
Jesus Himself. If we want all that God has for us in either
area, we must "take up our cross" and "die to self," surrendering all to God.
This is not a nice "side dish"; it is absolutely foundational. Nothing else is more important or more effective if we truly want all that God has for
us in any area of our lives.
I know personally, and only TOOOOO well, what a
burden excess weight is, not only physically, but also emotionally,
mentally and spiritually. I want the same freedom for YOU all in this
area that I am beginning to walk in and enjoy! (At the time of
this writing, I am 35 pounds down! See photos below.)
(Click
here to see the write-up on the book, called
Thin Again. Scroll down a few items until you come to it. You
can purchase it at the end of that write-up.)
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"BEFORE"
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"DURING"
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"ALMOST THERE!"
(Although
my husband is fine if this is "After"*)
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Here I'm 37 pounds
down from what I was in my
"Before" picture above. |
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(And, since my face looks a
bit "gravelly"
in the picture on the left...)
Here's a close-up of me
and my wonderful "Honey," Dave!
(This one doesn't show the
wrinkles too well, but that's OK!)
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(*My husband,
Dave, says that even if I
don't lose another pound,
he's totally happy with where I'm at now.
I still want to go another
10
pounds
down or so, see how I feel
there, and then I think I'll be satisfied.)
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 A
Bit More About Thin Within
Hundreds of
men and women
have lost
thousands of pounds through the
Thin Within
ministry, and have kept it off!
Visit the Thin Within
website
(click
here, or here's the name:
www.thinwithin.org)
to read
success
stories of these people,
as well as more information
explaining what it's all about. It's not just
about weight loss,
but about getting victory (via the Cross of Jesus)
in
any area of your life that currently
has control over you.
(If the above sounds like an ad for Thin Within,
I assure you it is totally
unsolicited, most sincere, and free,
meaning I wasn't paid or even
asked to say all this!
I'm simply SOLD on it!!!)
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Side note
to homeschoolers
Thin Within is to the world of weight and food, what Lifestyle of Learning is to the world of education.
And if you haven't heard of Lifestyle of Learning yet, you'll be learning about
it in your Season of Re-education, in
Wisdom's Way of Learning in particular. (Note: There is NO connection between Lifestyle of Learning and
Thin Within
other than the connection I have made in my own life and present to you
here! The two are entirely separate entities.)
Both concepts are revolutionary in our culture, yet neither are really new in God's eyes at all!
And the two go hand in hand completely! The messages are similar
because they both usher us to the foot of the cross. The slight difference
is in their focal point; one being on renewing of the mind in education, the other on renewing of the mind in
food, health, and weight. Both expose misperceptions, lies, and wrong thinking that our culture is steeped in.
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I
got these darling borders from:
To the Article Chart
/ To the Main
Lobby
To the Mom's Personal R & R
& R catalog page
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