Trouble with jaws

Do you like surprises? My answer to that would depend on what the surprise is.

When the right-rear tire in my car blew out on I-40 while driving 70 miles per hour, that was a BAD surprise! After some excitement, which included wildly swerving in both lanes, I finally brought the car safely under control. I am thankful that no other vehicles were within a half mile.

But a different kind of surprise was awaiting me two months ago. Although I knew that my belt had been slowly getting tighter, I was surprised on May 18 to find that I weighed 182 pounds! I am only five feet, eight inches tall with my shoes on, and should not weigh more than 165. Carol is a good cook and feeds me well, but I don't need to weigh that much. So I said, "Precious, I am disgusted."

When Carol asked, "What's the matter?" I told her that I am having trouble with my jaws. "What do you mean?" she asked. I said, "My jaws are processing too much food and my tummy is revealing the consequences."

Laughing, she asked, "Are you going on a diet?"

"No, and yes. No: I am not going on a traditional diet that people make and break 12 times a year. And yes: I am going to count calories." And so we started. I say "we" because Carol volunteered to perform this experiment with me. We found that to lose weight at our age, height, and activity level, Carol should eat less than 1700 calories a day, and I should eat less than 1950.

So, how did it go?

In our first week, I averaged 2,134 calories each day and Carol averaged 1,721. That wasn't too bad because we had been averaging around 2,700 a day. But for the next six weeks I averaged 1,548 calories a day, and I reached my target weight of 160 pounds. Carol also experienced significant weight reduction because we had easily disciplined ourselves to a new way of eating.

Here is the plan: we eat anything we want that is good for us (plus pie and ice cream), but we stop eating before we reach our predetermined caloric intake. Yes, we blow it sometimes, but we reduce our count the next several days to average it out. I find myself eating more fruit and vegetables, and I have lost interest in some foods that are low on nutrition. Therefore, I feel better, I have more energy, and my clothes are no longer too tight.

You may ask, "How will you keep the excess weight off?" I weigh myself every morning. Whenever I approach 165 pounds I eat less and do more yard work.

By the way I did not "LOSE" the weight, because I know where it is: it's hiding in the refrigerator and the food pantry. But the trouble with my jaws is a thing of the past because I have established my weight limit. The key is "discipline."

Do you know that humans have "weight problems" in other areas? Several examples are: emotional baggage can really weigh us down; we may have an overabundance of material stuff -- much of which we don't even use; we might have an over-inflated sense of importance; our weekly schedule might be so heavy that we don't have time for family relationships; and we may not know how to properly worship or honor God. All this produces another problem: spiritual weakness due to a lack of spiritual food.

We tend to focus on things of this world that don't feed our spirit. Oh, we think we are balancing our lives but we are spiritually UNDER-nourished. What should we do? Increase our spiritual caloric intake.

We need to feed on God's word every day and cut out the stuff that weakens our relationship with God. As we take stock of our daily mental and spiritual intake, we will find some things that are low on Godly content and are emotionally and spiritually unhealthy. They should be restricted or eliminated from our lives. If we live for the Lord with our whole heart, soul, and mind (Psalms 9:1, 40:8, Proverbs 3:5-6), and obey God continuously (1 Samuel 5:22), our spiritual clothing will fit perfectly (Ephesians 6:10-18).

So eat a balanced spiritual meal every day, and be healthy.

You'll be glad you did.

-- Gene Linzey is a speaker, author, and former pastor. Send comments and questions to [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.