I’m Not On A Diet. I’m Eating As God Intended.

WEEK 1

I’m on a workout routine and am changing what I eat to help the results. Specifically I am doing Power90 which as I understand it is P90x for slower, fatter, more out of shape people (like myself). Basically, it is an older version of P90x with phases that allow a weak, pathetic individual (like myself) to gradually increase the intensity of the workout.

But what I really want to talk about is what I am eating because you would think I was on a diet. And I guess technically I am but there is no plan or format, just a theory and some calorie counting. What is the theory? Glad you asked.

I believe people misinterpret what the “Daniel Fast” is really meant to be. Though by the time chapter 10 rolls around, Daniel is out of government service (Dan 1:21), he is still nobility and has access to the kind of food and feasts accustomed to that class of people. He does not say he is going to just eat fruits and vegetables, he says he is going to give up all the luxury foods he is accustomed to eating. That is the key!

Did you know processed foods are an invention within the last century? Do you know how many centuries people had to keep and store food without refrigeration (fridge invented in 1876)? My point is, in the last 100 years, our eating habits have changed dramatically but the human body, along with how it processes foods and what kinds of foods it needs, is pretty much the same since it was created.

Think about it. Back in the day, the way to keep food was to grow it and pick it when it was ready to eat. Many fruits and vegetables could be stored, but during the winter months, your diet was limited to what would keep the longest and what you could kill. For the most part, the process of killing big beefy animals like cows and deer was reserved for special events with many people in attendance. Why? Cause the meat wouldn’t keep but a few days. That means the majority of your diet during the year was fruits, vegetables, and small containable animals (i.e. fish, fowl, swine, etc.).

So I started thinking, what kinds of foods and what kind of diet would God want his people to have? I’ve heard the “your body is a temple” argument but it is really taking that passage out of context. I’ve heard the arguments about overweight is a sign of a lack of self control, which is a fruit of the spirit, which translates into poor discipline, which probably means you’re are not disciplined in other areas of your life (i.e. spiritual growth, family care, exercise, etc.). Thinking about and dwelling on those ideas, even if I agreed with them, had zero effect on me cause I would always come back to Paul saying I am free to eat whatever I want.

What did worked for me was realizing the mentions of gluttony in scripture are directed to those who have access to hoards of food and eat like kings whenever they choose. In other words, someone else was doing to work to hunting, harvesting, and preparing the meal and they were just eating it and eating it often. Guess what? With a fast food joint on every corner, pizza and chinese delivered to my door, and huge portions at countless restaurants within driving distance from my house, I WAS EATING LIKE A KING EVERY DAY!!! And I believe that is what Daniel wanted to walk away from for a while. He wanted to get away from all the “delicacies” and just eat controlled as God had intended.

And so that is what I am doing. I’m not abandoning my fridge or just eating grass and soy beans. I’m making a concerted effort to not stuff my face every chance I get. I don’t even really care about losing weight (though I’d really like and am trying to), I just want to really be free from any chains that keep me from loving and serving God with 100% of what I have to offer.

That picture of me is a representation of my starting this exercise program and rethinking what I eat. I didn’t have the foresight to get a week 0 pic. I’ll update my progress  every monday (my weigh-in day) so you can see my progress and help keep me accountable (read: if I start looking like death or Fat Albert, call me out.)

If you want to join the bandwagon I have started for myself, hop on!

Posted by willgoodwin