“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” –Psalm 73:26
In light of the extreme fitness culture we are living in today, I would be remiss not to talk about portion sizes.
Portion control sizes are out of control! Talk about extreme! The exploding portion sizes did not happen overnight. It was a slow and sneaky increase in size as the years of mass-manufactured food grew up from infancy to its current steroid-using adulthood.
When you couple the post-depression mentality alongside the rapid growth of the industrial revolution then fast forward into the future, you will arrive at Costco.
We, the American population are believing the lie – more is better. This is the heart of the extreme fitness culture we are in right now. If we have ears to hear, God has been asking us to learn sufficiency for some time now.
“Everyone gathered just what they needed. Moses told them,” Don’t save that food to eat the next day.” But some of the people did not obey Moses. They saved their food for the next day. But worms got into the food and it began to stink.” –Exodus 16:18-20
I grew up in a home of TV dinners and packaged food. These foods were considered a luxury by my parents post poverty standards. Mom and Dad bought them by the cartload and I ate them at free will.
It wasn’t until my roommate in college showed me how to read a nutrition label that a bombshell went off in my soul. For the first time, I understood that one of my favorite childhood comfort foods, Swanson’s Chicken Pot Pie, was 29 grams of fat. (And I wondered why I was putting on the freshman 15? They were cheap…and GOOD!). By today’s chicken pot pie standards, 29 grams of fat is light!
God rests in reason friends. We can no longer claim ignorance. We need a portion for our heart that is greater than portion control methods.
Sufficient over stuffed
Allow me to challenge you to this; the next time you sit down to eat, ask God to help you look at your plate and put a reasonable amount of food on the plate. Ask Him! I dare you…ask Him! Then sit down, slow down and eat..just enough.
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” –Psalm 73:26
Just in case you have forgotten, refresh your heart with these practical hunger scale for weight loss, in the chart below.
Getting comfortable being uncomfortable
For those of you who know God has been asking you for some time to put down the fork and put on your moving shoes, this hunger scale chart probably makes you a little (or a lot) anxious. It’s our natural “survivor” instinct to say “It’s not enough!”
Trust the God who has hardwired you for the hard stuff! Yes…you can expect to have a little bit of hunger after you eat. This is going to be new territory for you. I challenge you to be okay with the slight hunger. (You can best alleviate this hunger by consuming foods that are rich and dense in fiber; i.e. fruit, nuts, seeds, legumes, vegetables).
Please hear me when I say, don’t be a fool and try to take the lead on portion control, you will either end up restricting yourself into a dangerous eating and metabolic disorder, OR you will be so dang hungry that in one moment when you are bored, you will be elbow deep in the pantry.
For those of you who constantly control what you are eating, obsess over your six-pack abs in the mirror, compare yourself to others, and daily measure yourself by the scale, take a break. Slow down, step away from the scale, and get your eyes on Someone greater than yourself.
The enemy of your heart is waiting for you to make your plan and break your promises to yourself. He waits for you to fail so he can be the first one to call you fat, ugly, powerless, helpless, useless, and a good-for-nothing fool.
Never forget we make terrible, terrible Gods!
“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” –Proverbs 14:12
Slow down, step away from the scale, and get your eyes on Someone greater than yourself.
Let me hear how God is speaking to you after reading this by commenting below!
A Healthy and Whole Food Journal
We hope you will find strength, not in writing down your food intake, but by becoming more aware of what you’re using to nourish yourself.
Looking for more?
Get all your weight loss questions answered in the Ultimate Guide to Weight Loss God’s Way! There is a better way to weight loss and it doesn’t start with striving and restricting – it all starts with God.
