Key 2 > Learning to Love Your Body

Lively - We moved last July, to a place which is much smaller all over. I'm still finding ways of fitting things in better. It was so stressful at first, but I'm getting used to it now. I still have things that need to find a place in our home. My task for today, actually, is to get the last 2 carrier bags of stuff into permanent homes in the office somehow. In the kitchen, if I have something on a shelf that only takes up the bottom few inches height wise, I find something I can store underneath it. Most things are stored in tiers. I have put hooks on the doors so I can use that space for storage. The vacuum cleaner hose is hung on a hook on the back of the bedroom door! Nobody sees it, as the door is nearly always open. So I know how you feel. I haven't yet gone to the extreme of hanging things from the ceiling!

1. I happen to weigh less than some, and it sometimes people resent it, or make remarks. They don't know how much effort it takes at times ( to only eat maybe 3-8 of my favorite dark chocolate almonds). How sometimes I would rather pig out on some favorite think ( that I try not to overdo. ). Some of it was because I saw with my own eyes, how diabetes killed my best friend. I don't mean I am obsessed by fear. It's just I try and be an example, and hope a few will actually listen, and not go through such trauma.

There are so may diseases or problems we can't do anything about. I just have developed the idea, if these 40 things might give you cancer or whatnot... it's smart to avoid them or limit them

2. I have also seen that the people that have much going on, SOMETIMES have extra anxiety, guilty, unforgiveness and could grasp God's love more fully. We can all grow in practice with these things..
3. Like many of us, I do get frustrated too easy because I'm not being consistent with everything. I try and write down either when I finally get something right. For example, I got an app about Habits. I have been tracking about 5 things for several months. I am in the word and praying more. I am drinking more water, and doing the dishes . We have a tiny kitchen, so there is a lot of adapting , since our move. This is a point of irritation. I have to climb into a cabinet or climb up on a stool to obtain anything. I still need to do better with work outs. it's been raining a lot, but often it's just motivation.
4. Thar does make me feel better, than I am less than 12, but I had been 12-14 before, and I was sluggish and tired. My husband has made remarks about a roll or hips, but he didn't say that, until I told him he lost his waist somewhat. He put on 15 pounds the first 6 months of retiring. To be honest, I felt bugged, because when he wishes, weight falls off him. I eat better and move more. He also gets sick less.5. I do think it's good to think our body is our friend or vehicle ( tent ), whatever, to accomplish more. This is another reason people also get bent out of shape to me sometimes, because I tell them they are not old ( particularly when they are younger than me ). It's because they don't want to do any lifestyle chances.

I don't either, but I like feeling decent.

I'm trying to get my mind off losing weight and on to looking after my body.

On Friday I'm starting my 12 weeks of daily devotions by Sue Prosser on How To Stop Dieting and Start Living. It's now 9 days since I stopped trying to lose weight.

I'm still working on habits of all sorts using "Atomic Habits".

Also, I'll be reading through 100 More Days of Weight Loss, and the Beck Diet Solution (pink book) with the people on those teams - but with an eye to getting what I can from them that will help me but without being too diet based.
I will just be reading the threads rather than reading the books as the books have become unavailable, and I'm taking it as divine guidance that I should focus mainly on Atomic Habits and the How To Stop Dieting and Start Living book/devotions.
Even Joyce's book has become "unavailable" but I have read it before a couple of times so should be able to chip in on the discussions still.

5 Ways to Nurture Self-Love

1. Don’t chase your youth.
People who long for their youth are never content, because everyday that youth gets further away. Don’t despise getting old; if you stay alive you can’t avoid it. Enjoy who you are now and try to live and look appropriately for someone like you. Seek someone who’s age is close to yours (or older) as a role model.
Celebrate differences. Love yourself and love your life; it’s the only one you have.

2. Learn to receive God’s love.
The greatest gift that can be given is His love. Receiving God’s love is an important step because we can’t love others without it. Be passionate about it. Go after it, study it, meditate on it – and you will receive a revelation deep in your heart that will change your life.

3. Focus on the Journey, not the Destination.
Time does not go any faster it we get frustrated about it, so we should learn to “wait well”. On your own journey to looking great & feeling great, you also need to enjoy the ride. The important thing is not what you weigh today, or how far you can run, but that you are improving. Be proud of today. Think about your successes rather than your failures.

Let your days be filled with good choices, healthy food, lots of activity and good thoughts. As you enjoy the journey, you’ll discover how easy it is to love and affirm yourself.

4. Learn the facts.
The average woman in America is 5’4” and weighs 152 lbs. She wears a size 12.
We should be more health conscious than weight conscious. If we concentrate on good health we will ultimately weigh what is right for us as an individual. A study found that risk of death was more connected to fitness than weight. The issue has been confusing because most fit people often have normal weights.
This isn’t a license to ignore what you weigh, but is an invitation to refrain from obsessing over it.
Here is a mindset that will ultimately lead to victory: “I want to be healthy and believe that if I am, then I will weigh what I am supposed to weigh.”

5. View your body as your friend.
If your body is larger than you’d like and filled with aches & pains, don’t hate it or treat it as an enemy. If you had a friend who was sick or in need, you’d try to help them; that’s the attitude you should have toward your body.
It’s a product of what you’ve put into it and treated it for years, so perhaps we should apologize to our body for mistreating it. We have made poor choices that only we can reverse.

What action have you committed to this month?

thank you for these threads very informative

Media messages - use this delicious extremely fattening chocolate cake recipe and this fad diet and look like this air brushed model!...

For those who may not yet have had a chance to read the book, I’ll share some bits & pieces from the first half of this chapter that jumped out at me:

Most people don’t like themselves and, because you are everywhere you go, you’re in for a sad life if you dread your own company.

Factors that may have contributed to your feelings of self-hate toward your body:

1. Abuse in childhood.

Hating your body is learned, not something we were instinctively born with. And if we are not living in harmony with our body, sometimes we do things to punish our bodies – e.g. not exercising or exercising excessively, not feeding our body with good food leading to unhealthy disorders (obesity, bulimia, anorexia).

Some who have been sexually abused may gain weight because they don’t want their body to look desirable.
Other people just don’t take care of themselves because they don’t feel they are worth it, and others may simply have grown up with poor role models.

Until you confront your feelings and find peace, you will be in a constant state of warfare with yourself, and will experience stress, trauma and exhaustion. We must replace a root of shame with God’s unconditional love & acceptance. We must learn to love ourselves in a balanced way and embrace who we are at this moment in time.

2. Misunderstanding the Bible’s Teachings

The Bible does tell us to “resist the flesh” and embrace the Spirit, but that doesn’t mean to hate the flesh! Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit; don’t hate your body, use it to bring Glory to God.

3. Media Messages (and our Ego)

Models in magazines & billboards and actresses in movies look “flawless” – due to a lot of help from outside sources and tricks-of-the-trade to create the illusion. And even if we know this in our head, the message still creeps into our subconscious.
The real culprit that makes us feel bad is Ego, the part of us that sees our value in how we stack up in comparison to others. Competition cannot bring us the one thing that really matters – eternal salvation and peace with God. Ego is the opposite of Spirit; it doesn’t look internally; it is never satisfied. Forsake Ego and embrace the Spirit.

In God’s eyes there are no hopeless cases, no useless people. Each of us is His special creation. If we will give Him the opportunity He will restore everything that has been damaged and help us become someone that we can be delighted to be.

Take what you have and do the most with it. Try to look your best, but don’t allow yourself to be pressured by unrealistic expectations.

4. The Beauty Industry

This can be even more dangerous than the Media if we don’t like ourselves. Although some products are excellent and may help us look our best, we cannot allow ourselves to be deceived by thinking all we need is one more whatever.

You are already beautiful in God’s eyes and if you accept yourself, know your value,and follow His principles, you will systematically look better on the outside. Worry less, be happy on the inside and look more refreshed.

Take better care of yourself beginning today. If you genuinely feel that a program or produce will help you, go for it; but don’t desperately try everything that exists. If you don’t like who you are, you won’t feel any better than you did before trying the newest cream or pill or program or procedure.

Pray about everything and don’t do anything unless you know your motives are right and you have peace about doing it.

5. Age and Sickness

You may have been comfortable with your looks and immune to the spells of the media and beauty industry, and still fall out of love with your body as you age, and start to resent the slowing metabolism and other limits.

50-year-olds shouldn’t try to look like 20-year-olds, or necessarily expect to feel like them. By beginning to take care of ourselves, we can feel better, although we may need more rest/recovery time or just cannot do everything we once could.

Decide right now, “I am going to be happy with what I’ve got and do the best I can with it.”

There are two schools of thought on snacking.


One says that controlled snacking (feeding the body something every 2-3 hours) is essential to stoking the metabolism, fueling the body, maintaining blood sugar levels, etc.


Others maintain that we were never designed to eat 5-6 meals a day (every 2-3 hours) and that eating less often is more beneficial to the body. If we date back to the Paleolithic era, there wasn’t an abundance of food and we followed a feast and famine type of ‘diet.’

Choosing the right nutrition program is complex and unique to every one. Do what is best for your own body.


Moderation in all things.

And pray to the Spirit for guidance on how to care for His temple.



Edited by: CHERRIET at: 2/7/2019 (15:55)

well, , I have to clap for you. It's pretty hard not to snack.

Just thinking, just maybe after you have got it out of your system... you could when you desire... introduce those half baggies of premeasured healthy snacks. Also one isn't allowed to go get 3 of those or lots of helpings.

For example, I let myself have 3-5 chocolate dark chocolate nuts or 1/2 cup of good yogurt or good fruit or veggies.

I'm learning, when the quality is better, it's more satisfying, not to eat more, or go hog wild.

My sis tracks these things, so one doesn't go crazy or gives up something to add a tiny treat.

Number 3 (Focus on the journey - not the destination) resonates with me. This is also discussed in James Clear's "Atomic Habits" which I am re-reading at the moment. (Well not right at the moment obviously cos I'm typing this post!)


Anyhow - I have also started weighing daily recently, because my weight fluctuates quite a lot, and it can be very discouraging - so I am weighing daily to make sure that if I put on it's only a blip - and also to make sure that what I'm doing is working, over a period of time. Don't mind how fast I lose, just as long as I do lose.

Currently focusing on just one thing - overcoming my tendency to snack - I am done with letting snacking undo all my good work. So I am re-reading Atomic Habits, and scouring it for all the things I can do to conquer this bad habit. (I know some people like to snack, but to me I feel better when I don't) (and snacking for me can also on certain occasions turn easily into eating all day long...thankfully not too often - at the moment at any rate)

Last 5 days I have done 4 days snack free. I need to cut them out completely - hoping after some time has gone past I will just not want them, and I will truly be able to say when I am out/away that I really just don't want the snack that's being offered.

I've looked for this book discounted. also the one on Atomic Habits. I'll go to the library soon.

Thank you

This month we'll review/discuss/work on Chapter/Key 2. It discusses how this is a key to building a lifestyle that nurtures a sound spirit, soul and body. After reading the chapter, if you want to work on this area, we can do it together.

The key in this chapter is about Loving Your Body, explaining why we need to and why we don't, then gives 5 suggestions for incorporating change in this area.

At the end is a section called “Taking Action” where you can write down one way – just one – that you will start doing to implement that key. It is better to choose 1 thing, and really commit to sticking with it, than try to make many changes at once and lose hope if feeling overwhelmed or falling behind.

Personal health is an ongoing project, so we're focusing on one chapter/key each month, giving us plenty of time to work on each key before considering the next. You, of course, are free to read/work at your own pace.