Week 4:
Fueling the Body
Now that we have stripped down, we will shift gears this week and focus on fuel.
If we were to give particular diet advice it would be a disservice to you. Your relationship with food is as unique as a snowflake. The nutrients your body needs is particular to just you. Just as unique as your relationship with God is! So if we laid out a diet plan for you, it would likely fail, leaving you feeling like your body is broken and this health thing just isn't for you…instead we will talk concepts and what better way then through a story!
Here's Mark's story:
"I started my journey at 315 lb. From a food standpoint, food was my god. I violated the first commandment multiple times a day. I built my joy around my meals.
Moving from obese to overweight was absolutely the easiest part of my journey. It was much easier knowing that all I needed to do was have one cheeseburger at lunch instead of two. I was still allowed a small dessert at every meal. I was able to eat anything I wanted as long as my calorie deficit existed. Sometimes I would starve myself all day so that I could have a 3,500 calorie dinner. The next day I was still a pound and a half lighter. This is NOT food = fuel, this is removing food as my life, while still refusing to purge the excess.
Once I had gotten to the point where I stopped losing weight simply from a calorie deficit, the game changed. I began looking for ways to make my calorie deficit more extreme, because that is the only way I had seen success in the past. What is the best way to increase a calorie deficit? Work out and exercise and keep the same eating habits.
This worked for several months. I could still eat the cheeseburger at lunch I could still have the ice cream cone after my cheeseburger. There was no need for breakfast and I could eat dinner with my family, and I cook with lots of butter. This is still removing food as the focus, but not willing to purge the excess…
As my journey continue food started to look more like fuel as I noticed trends with my workouts vs what I was eating. But I was stuck in a yo-yo effect that was hands down the most frustrating part of my journey, something I did not understand for several YEARS. I stuck with what I knew which was a simple calorie deficit but never went any further than that.
I started working with a personal trainer and learned
Purging≠cleansing!
I don't care what kind of metaphor you want to use. When you are wiping down your kitchen counter you don't use a dry cloth and wipe. When you go to confession your sins aren't just thrown in the trash, they are replaced by grace. And the inverse is true. When we receive the Eucharist, we are also purged of our venial sins.
Purging is effective to the point you are able to remove the excess evil in your life, but it will never be enough to truly enhance your life. Similarly, purging your calories will never be enough to get you to your final goal. You must fill that deficit with calories that are beneficial to your body and mind in order to strengthen yourself to continue purging the evil. A knight can only continue fighting if he has the proper rest. Maximum fitness can only be reached if you are purging the evil and fueling the good. If you fail to fill the space that was once taken up by the evil, it will return. You must fill your void with good to prevent the evil.
Food is good. The love of food is bad. Purging is good, but when accompanied by improvement, will eventually be unnecessary.... If we purge ourselves from the worldly life, and replace it with holiness, eventually, we can become saints, at which point we have no more space for worldly goods. Only space for God whom we will never purge."
When it comes to food as fuel. It is important to take your purge into account, but fuel must be the antithesis of your purge. It is worth your time to identify what nutrients you are lacking, and identify the proper balance to fuel and purge as necessary. If you are low on vitamin D it can affect your overall health. If you are low on protein it will definitely affect your overall health. If you are low carb and high energy you are off balance.
Stay balanced with your food and it will be the fuel you need!
Challenge:
Track everything that passes your lips for an entire week! Use an app or a classic pen and notebook. Measure or weigh everything.
This can seem overwhelming but ends up being much simpler than you may think.
But measuring your "typical" week will very quickly show your weak points and where you can be fueling better!
If you need help, reach out!
Becoming conscious of how you feed your body allows food to be far more efficacious. Just as when we become aware of God's grace in our lives, how much more we allow that grace to do!
Comments