You can expect that by Christmas I’ll look like the guy over on the Jollyblogger.
Here’s the deal.
Proverbs 25:28, says, “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.” When we fail to be disciplined, our lives are vulnerable to all kinds of invaders.
And, we are in an increasingly undisciplined culture. Hence, our lives are invaded by obesity, financial irresponsibility, temper problems, poor time management, and many other symptoms of a lack of self-control.
So, I’m thinking about doing a series on self-control in the Fall – – not a real long one – -just a parenthesis in our time in Hebrews.
But, preaching a series means that I have to get my own house in order and one of the areas where I am most undisciplined is in how I eat. Jollyblogger has me thinking about the low-carb approach to life. He refers to this Jimmy Moore guy who has lost a “Subway-Jerod” (see here) like amount of weight.
Here are a couple of questions for you, dear reader.
(1) Can you think of other areas besides the ones I mentioned (eating, finances, time management, and temper) in which a lack of self-control causes problems in life?
(2) Do think a series on a biblical theology of self-control would be good to do?
(2) Do you have experience with a low-carb approach to eating? How did it work? How did/do you feel?
I never liked bread that well anyway.
I did a series on Romans 12:1-2 and I knew I had to practice what I preach (offering my body to the Lord, which is His to begin with) and I began to workout with strength training and cardio, and lost 43 lbs.
I stopped eating, sweets, bread, pasta, anything fried, and I wouldn’t eat after 6:30pm if I could help it… and I refused to go to any restaurant with a buffet! I drank a lot of protein shakes and ate a ton of fruit/veg, to make sure that I got the nutrients I needed (I also took one Flintstone vitamin daily).
Yogi
Those Flintstones vitamins are good, though I’ve not had one in about 30 years.
;-(
I’ve seen great results with the Atkins diet. By that I mean losing 18 pounds in about 6 weeks.
In general, minimizing carbs is huge. I’ve been able to keep off 20+ pounds consistently, though I’m still about 15-20 from where I’d like to be.
My Kryptonite is ice cream and milkshakes and being prone to extremes. I’ll give myself a “day of jubilee” per week and I can still lose greatly. But, if I go too crazy, knowing “the diet starts tomorrow” (so I better live it up), that’s hard to recover from.
In general, I’d recommend the Atkins diet and cutting out the Cokes and snacks. Just eliminating those goes a long way.
I’ve been “doing Atkins” for just over 4 years…have lost 60 pounds so far but I do have my slips. For me the carbs are an addiction – once I get started I have to really fight to regain control in spite of feeling like a pile of dog mess.
I have PCOS and the low carbing/weight loss has fixed some of those issues.
Unmedicated, my triglycerides have been measured at over 1400 pre-LC. 2 medications got me into the 300’s…within a month of LC I was under 200 for the first time ever and have gotten them down as far as 55.
I have more energy too…my line was always “I’ve been tired for ___ (insert my current age here) years”…I no longer have those issues either.
LC may not be for everyone, but it’s a way of life that I am sticking with for the rest of my life (which may just be longer than if I hadn’t!) because it works FOR ME.
At the young age of 34 I had already been on every low-calorie low-fat diet out there. I was in poor health and getting fatter every year. Then once I started the low-carb high-fat lifestyle my life started to change. My health started to improve and the weight started coming off.
As a child, I loved beans and corn bread night! My grandmother used to tell us, “You better eat your beans because they stick to your ribs” (little did I know they really would stick to me!). Because of our wonderful diet I was over weight all my life. I remember going on my first diet the summer before my freshmen year in high school. I limited myself to 500 calories a day. I ran a mile in the morning and before bed. During this time I also had summer Marching band practice and Colorguard drills all on 500 calories a day. I lost 25 pounds that summer just to regain it as fast as I lost it. So started my yo-yo dieting of starving and low-fat eating which lasted around 19 years and left me weighing a whopping 325 pounds.
In November 2007 I sat in my doctors’ office with type 2 diabetes, PCOS, high blood pressure and taking all kinds of medications for all my ailments. My doctor came into the room with my lab results shaking his head. He told me my results were not good and then went on to tell me that he was going to have to add another medication to my list because my cholesterol was high. It was then I knew I was going to die if I did not make a change. The doc then told me that if he sent me to a dietician it will only make me sicker. I looked at him in shock. He then handed me a two page Diet outline he wanted me to follow. After looking it over I realized he just told me to go on a low carb diet.
I went home, talked to my husband and started a new chapter in my life. Low-carbing was hard at first. I wanted bread so bad I could taste it. I started researching and joining low-carb support groups and cooking at home. It only took a few weeks to start feeling like me again. I started working out and coming home and eating bunless hamburgers with a side salad and low-carb pizza with loads of vegetables (which did feel a little strange at first). I was no longer hungry all the time and my blood sugar was under control. I also started having monthly menstrual cycles again and the weight was falling off.
Six months later I went to my doctor for a follow up appointment. My doctor was in shock! I had dropped 59 pounds, my blood pressure was normal my cholesterol was down and my Diabetes was under control. He took me off my medications for all my ailments and cut my Diabetic medication in half! My doctor told me I was his first Diabetic patient to ever change there health around the way I had and that he wished he could have someone follow me around to see how I did it. I was thinking “What?”, “I am living the low-carb lifestyle like you told me” but he was out the door before I could say a word. The doctor was out in the hall telling his staff the great news! I was on cloud nine.
In conclusion, my new found low-carb high-fat lifestyle has taken me from a young dieing woman with uncontrolled Diabetes, PCOS, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, taking all kinds of medications and a whopping 325 pounds to a healthy young woman with controlled Diabetes, PCOS, only on one medication and down 59 pounds! Low-carb is my life and living this way will keep improving my health and help drop the pounds so that I will have a long and fulfilling life.