When we make New Year’s resolutions to be svelte, they are typically falling apart about this time of the year. For those practicing Christianity, sometimes the Lenten season can add a boost if they choose to give up something like sugar for the forty days between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday. However, most of us ignore our New Year’s resolutions and leave them behind to die quiet deaths in the corner so we can go do what we want. Making changes in our habits is hard!
The story behind the Lenten season is that of Jesus walking through the desert for 40 days and nights and being tempted by the devil. Jesus was fasting so the devil went for the most logical temptation: freshly baked cinnamon swirl bread with warm butter. Jesus, being the dude that he was, may or may not have been tempted. Regardless, he did not budge and kept fasting whereas the rest of us would likely be wiping crumbs from our faces.
Let’s name the factors we have to contend with when trying to make healthy lifestyle changes:
First, there is the physical factor. In trying to eat healthier, we often either starve our body, aka. die..t, or make our body withdraw from something it loves such as sugar or ice cream. In return, our body rebels like a grounded teenager and won’t quit nagging us until we give it what it wants.
Second, there is the issue of lifestyle convenience. It is a lot simpler and time efficient to reach for a high-calorie bowl of cereal than make a healthy salad. We often defeat ourselves because we haven’t fully planned out our strategy and don’t have what we need on hand.
Third, there is the mental battle. If we are not good at managing our focus, our body leads a coup on our mind, takes over the controls, and focuses it on all the stuff we can’t have. We then walk around with a tremendous feeling of lack and deprivation thinking about all we are missing.
The reality is all of these things can be overcome quite easily. For example, you don’t have to give up sweet things or dairy products. Just change the way you get your sweetness to another source, preferably something like dates, or stevia as opposed to artificial sweeteners. Use almond milk. You can also gently wean yourself from sugar, dairy, and whatever else you deem unhealthy.
Second, you’ve got to plan out your food so that healthy options are always available and are, perhaps, the only option you have. It is when we are hungry and without any good options that we are more susceptible to falling off the wagon and eating whole Snickers bars.
Once those two practical things are in motion, then we can address the biggie: mind control. And, yes, we are going to talk about Jesus again – though this has nothing to do with religion. It is about the power of controlling your mind when it is tempted.
In the lens through which Jesus looked, he placed himself in a position of power to walk away from anything that tempted him. For Jesus, being in alignment with the Holy Spirit/God was much more important than any freshly baked cinnamon swirl bread and made his decision to forgo it quite simple.
The lens we look through is our “why” and it has the potential to give us access to incredibly powerful energy and makes us capable of resisting temptations and leaping tall buildings. Think about the lens you would need to make your “why” big enough for you to change your habits and come into your svelteness.
Here is some food for thought – pun intended:
For family – a healthy lifestyle can mean a longer life. In terms of why one of my in-laws has powerful genetic factors that negatively impact his life. To combat these factors, he eats no sugar and minimal fats. What would be your “why” here?
For friends – maybe you can find someone to work out with and be your gym buddy or accountability partner. (I’m looking for one so email me if you want to go this route) What would be your “why” here? For me, it is the power of having someone with me on the journey.
For your faith – many believe their bodies to be “the temple of god” and that is enough to keep them on the straight and narrow. What would be your “why” here?
For your pride – it is okay to love yourself and looking your best can definitely impact the way you feel. What would be your “why” here?
For your career – perhaps your appearance will impact how much you are appreciated and paid. I’ve also seen this work with teens to get them stay away from cigarettes and alcohol because they didn’t want their colleges to catch wind of any bad behaviors. What would be your “why” here?
For your health – having a healthy body and one where your muffin top doesn’t roll over your jeans feels good. What would be your “why” here?
For financial reasons – it is a lot cheaper to be healthy than not to be. What would be your “why” here?
You can choose your lens and the lens through which you look at your world will either empower your goals or depower them. Perhaps none the lens above resonated with you. That’s fine. The point is to find one that does and use it.
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