I had my appointment with Dr. Novak today. After a 2-hour examination, I found that my body type is a Liver type. The different body types are adrenal, ovarian, thyroid and liver. I also learned that my body is craving sleep, hormonal balance, and less inflammation. The one thing that I learned which really made me realize that drastic times call for drastic measures is that I weigh almost 75 pounds more than I did when I met Jack 22 years ago. If that's not a wake-up call, I don't know what is.
I have to take a few minutes here and talk about something that is amazing to me and that's my husband, Jack. He has been such a source of encouragement. He has never made me feel "fat" or unloved. Jack, if you're reading this...thank you for always being there for me and for helping me on the days when my joints are too sore to make dinner or do laundry. You have shown me what unconditional, true love really is. I love you and can't wait to become healthy so I can be the woman you deserve!!
Okay, back to my appointment...I was a bit nervous when we came to the food part of the examination, but I'm actually very encouraged. I'll be allowed the following foods: Turkey, chicken, green leafy lettus, romaine lettuce, celery, beets, green beans, honey, and herbal tea. I go back tomorrow morning to get my actual diet and pick up my supplements. He'll break out what I eat when. I wonder if my breakfast will consist of green beans and a potato? Yum!!
Actually, that's not so bad, right? Well..in front of every silver lining, there's a dark cloud. There are 3 things that I must give up in order to allow my body to heal...sugar, Splenda, and it even hurts to type this one....coffee. Yes, coffee. That's so painful to type let alone read. Coffee has been my constant companion since I can remember. Coffee has gotten me through days where I thought I wouldn't even be able to lift my head up let alone actually function. Coffee has been a good friend. But as Dr. Novak says, it's not a friend if it hurts you.
So tomorrow, the battle officially begins. The battle with my body and mind to convince them that I don't need coffee to be the person I am. I didn't realize how much I relied on coffee until Dr. Novak told me to eliminate it...totally. It takes 72 hours for your body to detox from a substance. Only 72 hours. So why then do people battle addictions their whole lives? It's the habit of using the substance that needs to be broken. You know the old saying, "old habits die hard," well that's because they do. I've not smoked a cigarette in almost 15 years, but after watching my mother die, while driving home, I reached into my purse and realized I was looking for cigarettes - old habits die hard.
To help better equip myself for this battle, I'm arming myself with a few scriptures that I can summon to the battleground when my sugar and coffee cravings rear their ugly heads.
1 Corinthians 8:12 - "Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial." I will not be mastered by anything - not food, sugar, or any other wordly item.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body."
and my absolute favorite:
Matthew 16:23 - "Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Tomorrow my battle begins but I'm ready. Armed with God, the Bible, and supportive friends and family there's no way I'm going to lose - except this excess weight, of course!!
My Prayer:
Lord, I'm so thankful that I don't have to face this battle alone and I'm so thankful that you care about everything in my life, even my sugar and coffee addictions. I pray for anyone who's reading this who has a battle to face, whether physical, mental, or external, that they look to you Lord and know that all battles will be conquered through you. Amen and Amen!!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
She'll Be Comin' Off that Mountain Yes She Will!!!! YeeHa!!!
Well, today is the last day before my appointment with Dr. Novak tomorrow and I have to tell ya, I've experienced an array of emotions today...apprehension (do I really want to do this? I mean seriously, giving up sugar??), sadness (goodbye chocolate, cookies, and cakes, I will miss you - sniff sniff), anticipation (this actually may be good for me), and hope (need I say more?). I'm trying to not look at this as a doom and gloom time. I'm trying not to feel that I'm slowly walking toward an electric chair. Au contraire, I'll be gaining my life back, not losing it. I mean, seriously, enough is enough already. I've been battling these issues and burdens for years. Sometimes I feel like the Israelites, I'm going around the same old mountain again and again, year after year and getting nowhere. But the Lord showed me that I have hope.
We all have hope. Deuteronomy 1:6 says, "The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, you have dwelt long enough on this mountain." Yes I have - too long. Not only have I been on this mountain, I've been allowing the enemy to feed me lies to keep me on this mountain. You know the kind of lies I'm talking about...the little voices that whisper to you that you're such a failure so why do you think you'll succeed this time? Well, I'm here to tell you today is the day we kick those thoughts out of mind and get rid of that "wilderness thinking." Wilderness thinking is a certain type of thinking that keeps us in bondage. What types of bondage have you been carrying around your mountain again and again for? Some type of addiction? A family member or friend who you refuse to forgive? Bitterness? Jealousy?
Okay, so now that you've identified your burden, you're probably thinking, how are we going to get off this mountain? I'm so glad you asked!!! We're going to kick that wilderness thinking, or that stinkin' thinking right out of our heads and replace it with the only truth we have - and that's God's Word. We're going to renew our minds and our souls with scriptures. Already, you might be letting those little wilderness thoughts creep into your mind, those nagging little nasty thoughts...KICK 'em out...RIGHT now...just tell 'em...we're made for more than going around the same mountain day after day, week after week, year after stinkin' year!!!! God made us to be victorious!!! Still skeptical??? Read on, my friends, read on.
Now, we all know that the only truth is the Word of God, right? Okay, so let's open our Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15:57. Here God shows us that all Christians have victory. "But thanks be to God, who gives us all victory (making us conquerors) and gain a surpassing victory through Him who loves us." Now do you see? We're all victorious and we're all conquerors!! Isn't that awesome news? Isn't it good to know that there's a way to rise above all the things that bind us?
So tomorrow, I'm jumping off my mountain by going to my appointment with Dr. Novak - how about you? I know it's not going to be easy, but being free will be so worth it. Come on, jump off your moutain with me!!! If you'd like to share your "mountain" or write a comment, I'd love to hear from you, just click on "Comment" below. If you'd like to sign up to receive this blog via email, click on the sign up link to the right.
My Prayer:
Lord, I pray for all of us who are in bondage and stuck in the wilderness going around the same old mountain. But thanks to you, Lord, we know we can break free of this bondage by trusting in you and knowing your Word. Help us to replace our wilderness thinking and the lies of the enemy with your refreshing, renewing truth, Lord. In Jesus's name. Amen and Amen!!!
We all have hope. Deuteronomy 1:6 says, "The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, you have dwelt long enough on this mountain." Yes I have - too long. Not only have I been on this mountain, I've been allowing the enemy to feed me lies to keep me on this mountain. You know the kind of lies I'm talking about...the little voices that whisper to you that you're such a failure so why do you think you'll succeed this time? Well, I'm here to tell you today is the day we kick those thoughts out of mind and get rid of that "wilderness thinking." Wilderness thinking is a certain type of thinking that keeps us in bondage. What types of bondage have you been carrying around your mountain again and again for? Some type of addiction? A family member or friend who you refuse to forgive? Bitterness? Jealousy?
Okay, so now that you've identified your burden, you're probably thinking, how are we going to get off this mountain? I'm so glad you asked!!! We're going to kick that wilderness thinking, or that stinkin' thinking right out of our heads and replace it with the only truth we have - and that's God's Word. We're going to renew our minds and our souls with scriptures. Already, you might be letting those little wilderness thoughts creep into your mind, those nagging little nasty thoughts...KICK 'em out...RIGHT now...just tell 'em...we're made for more than going around the same mountain day after day, week after week, year after stinkin' year!!!! God made us to be victorious!!! Still skeptical??? Read on, my friends, read on.
Now, we all know that the only truth is the Word of God, right? Okay, so let's open our Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15:57. Here God shows us that all Christians have victory. "But thanks be to God, who gives us all victory (making us conquerors) and gain a surpassing victory through Him who loves us." Now do you see? We're all victorious and we're all conquerors!! Isn't that awesome news? Isn't it good to know that there's a way to rise above all the things that bind us?
So tomorrow, I'm jumping off my mountain by going to my appointment with Dr. Novak - how about you? I know it's not going to be easy, but being free will be so worth it. Come on, jump off your moutain with me!!! If you'd like to share your "mountain" or write a comment, I'd love to hear from you, just click on "Comment" below. If you'd like to sign up to receive this blog via email, click on the sign up link to the right.
My Prayer:
Lord, I pray for all of us who are in bondage and stuck in the wilderness going around the same old mountain. But thanks to you, Lord, we know we can break free of this bondage by trusting in you and knowing your Word. Help us to replace our wilderness thinking and the lies of the enemy with your refreshing, renewing truth, Lord. In Jesus's name. Amen and Amen!!!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
I'm Back and Ready for the Battle!!
During the past few months, our family has had a few difficult issues to deal with and I have to confess that I haven't dealt with them in the stoic, Christian-like fashion that I thought I would have. It's easy to give others hope and encouragement but it's so difficult to take your own advice. So, because I felt that I had no hope to give and no encouragement to offer, I simply stopped blogging and stopped writing.
For those of you who remember why I started this blog in the first place, it was to be obedient to what God was telling me to do. I felt the Lord was leading me to write and, oh, the freedom and joy I feel when I'm obedient is beyond my vocabulary. Having said that, I also feel that when you're not following the path that God has laid for you, that opens up the doorway for the enemy to slither in and just mess with you. And, boy, let me tell you, he's was messing with me and my family big time. But, in the midst of the many storms that Jack, Josh, Jakob and I were enduring, God reached down using a friend who I hadn't spoken to in a long time and through email, this friend asked why I wasn't blogging. I touched on a few of the lighter issues I was facing and after her unrelenting pursuit of meeting with me, I finally agreed to meet her for breakfast. Here, I found myself pouring out to her all of my troubles and she so lovingly and unjudgmentally listened and comforted me. Thank you, Lord, for putting Lorrie in my path, and thank you, my friend, Lorrie, for obeying God's call to reach out to me.
I'm not going to share with you all of the struggles my family and I had faced, but I will share with you my personal struggles which a few of you already know and have been such a huge support and I thank you. I have a 3-fold constant battle going on in my body. Each, by itself, is a battle in itself, but interwined together, it's a horrific storm that rages in my body every day. The components are weight, hormones, and joint pain. Here it's only fair that I admit to you something that's been such a battle and a struggle for me, something that has brought me much shame....
Hi, I'm Alesia and a I'm a sugaraholic.
Some of you might be chuckling at reading that statement and that's because you've never been addicted to sugar. But for some of you, you read that statement and felt something stir in your soul and my prayer is that you will find encouragement and hope in reading this blog.
For those of you who don't have a weight problem, perhaps you're battling another type of addiction...food addiction (carbs), alcohol or drug addiction, pornographic addiction, nicotine addiction, gambling or shopping (yes this is an actual psychological addiction). An addiction is anything that takes precedence over you and I'll be touching on this more in the days and weeks to come. For the rest of you who don't have any types of addiction, this blog is about healing, hope, and encouragement and will be based on scriptures and obeying God so if you've felt the need to start to dive into the Word more or have something that you haven't obeyed God for, then this blog will be a source of encouragement.
Today's blog is a bit long but I need to share a few things to get to the point where I'm at today.
My sister, Cheri, and I have been on a Christian-based eating program called Prism - not prison, although at times I felt like I was in prison. It's a wonderful program where you stop eating sugar and all bad carbs cold turkey. It works if you work it. I had lost 28 pounds 3 years ago in 12 weeks but I fell off the wagon when I stopped allowing God to be the focus and allowed by flesh to take over. Long story short, my sister and I had started back on Prism this past February 1. I feel off the wagon only a few weeks later but my sister is still doing it and you go girl!!! I'm so proud of you!!!
After beating myself up over why I can't stick to this diet and my sister can, I stumbled on a book called, "The Anatomy of a Food Addict." The author explains how sugar and carbs effect your brain's chemical balance in exactly the same way alcohol affects alcholics and drugs affect a drug addict. After reading this book, I now understand why I have such a difficult time not eating sugar. So, factor in the sugar addiction which leads to my joint pain and throw in menopause and no wonder I'm a mess. The hormones alone are enough to drive me over the edge. When they take over my body, I have no control over my cravings or my emotions. I would knock someone over and step on their body to get to a chocolate chip cookie!!! I admit that to you because I'm sure someone reading this can say "Oh, I've done that!!" Come on now, you know who you are!! The good news is I realize that I wouldn't actually kill anybody to get to the cookie - can I get a thank you Jesus!!!
After a few days reading and praying about how I was going to shed the weight, help my joints, and put my hormones in a very much needed time-out, I decided to make an appointment with a doctor who my dear friends, TJ and Linda, go to. I'm not sure how to describe Dr. Novak, and what he does since it's nothing I've ever experienced before. I suppose he's a homeopathic naturalist who utilizes your body's nervous system to determine what foods your body needs to heal itself. If your body needs only lettuce, peppers and green beans, that's what you'll be eating until your next visit. It's extreme, but at this point in my life, I need something extreme (I can hear the whip crack my hormones into remission as I type - ha - take that menopause!).
My main struggle with going to Dr. Novak was this question - was I putting my faith in Dr. Novak instead of putting my faith in God? God being God, who we all know is awesome, especially when things occur supernaturally when we don't expect it - allowed me to came across a book called "Made to Crave, Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food," by Lysa Terkeurst. Lysa discusses her weight loss journey and how she learned to replace her cravings for junk food with craving God's Word. While reading her book, I came to a section where she describes going to a nutritionist who put her on a strict eating plan, no sugar, no refined carbs (is there a theme here??). Then it hit me - the author went to a nutritionist. Let me say that again - the AUTHOR went to a NUTRITIONIST. Dr. Novak wasn't replacing my faith in God. God gave me Dr. Novak to go to but only God will get me through this journey. God and the help of my family and a few friends.
So, my appointment with Dr. Novak is this Tuesday, March 6 at 10:00 a.m. It will be my evaluation and then at the follow up appointment, I'll be given the foods to eat and the journey will begin.
Join me on this journey daily here at Hope Today Cafe. I'll be serving up my struggles, holding back nothing when it comes to the raw emotions of my screaming flesh not getting its way, putting my faith in and following God with lots of Bible verses to sustain any addiction you might be facing, and finally, I'll be serving up big heaps of hope and encouragement for whatever trials you're facing. Sign up to recevie this blog via email by simply clicking on the link to the right of this post.
If you know someone who needs encouragement in any of the areas above, please forward this on to them - you might just be the "Lorrie" in their life.
Until tomorrow...I leave you with Psalms 147:3 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (curing their pains and their sorrows)."
For those of you who remember why I started this blog in the first place, it was to be obedient to what God was telling me to do. I felt the Lord was leading me to write and, oh, the freedom and joy I feel when I'm obedient is beyond my vocabulary. Having said that, I also feel that when you're not following the path that God has laid for you, that opens up the doorway for the enemy to slither in and just mess with you. And, boy, let me tell you, he's was messing with me and my family big time. But, in the midst of the many storms that Jack, Josh, Jakob and I were enduring, God reached down using a friend who I hadn't spoken to in a long time and through email, this friend asked why I wasn't blogging. I touched on a few of the lighter issues I was facing and after her unrelenting pursuit of meeting with me, I finally agreed to meet her for breakfast. Here, I found myself pouring out to her all of my troubles and she so lovingly and unjudgmentally listened and comforted me. Thank you, Lord, for putting Lorrie in my path, and thank you, my friend, Lorrie, for obeying God's call to reach out to me.
I'm not going to share with you all of the struggles my family and I had faced, but I will share with you my personal struggles which a few of you already know and have been such a huge support and I thank you. I have a 3-fold constant battle going on in my body. Each, by itself, is a battle in itself, but interwined together, it's a horrific storm that rages in my body every day. The components are weight, hormones, and joint pain. Here it's only fair that I admit to you something that's been such a battle and a struggle for me, something that has brought me much shame....
Hi, I'm Alesia and a I'm a sugaraholic.
Some of you might be chuckling at reading that statement and that's because you've never been addicted to sugar. But for some of you, you read that statement and felt something stir in your soul and my prayer is that you will find encouragement and hope in reading this blog.
For those of you who don't have a weight problem, perhaps you're battling another type of addiction...food addiction (carbs), alcohol or drug addiction, pornographic addiction, nicotine addiction, gambling or shopping (yes this is an actual psychological addiction). An addiction is anything that takes precedence over you and I'll be touching on this more in the days and weeks to come. For the rest of you who don't have any types of addiction, this blog is about healing, hope, and encouragement and will be based on scriptures and obeying God so if you've felt the need to start to dive into the Word more or have something that you haven't obeyed God for, then this blog will be a source of encouragement.
Today's blog is a bit long but I need to share a few things to get to the point where I'm at today.
My sister, Cheri, and I have been on a Christian-based eating program called Prism - not prison, although at times I felt like I was in prison. It's a wonderful program where you stop eating sugar and all bad carbs cold turkey. It works if you work it. I had lost 28 pounds 3 years ago in 12 weeks but I fell off the wagon when I stopped allowing God to be the focus and allowed by flesh to take over. Long story short, my sister and I had started back on Prism this past February 1. I feel off the wagon only a few weeks later but my sister is still doing it and you go girl!!! I'm so proud of you!!!
After beating myself up over why I can't stick to this diet and my sister can, I stumbled on a book called, "The Anatomy of a Food Addict." The author explains how sugar and carbs effect your brain's chemical balance in exactly the same way alcohol affects alcholics and drugs affect a drug addict. After reading this book, I now understand why I have such a difficult time not eating sugar. So, factor in the sugar addiction which leads to my joint pain and throw in menopause and no wonder I'm a mess. The hormones alone are enough to drive me over the edge. When they take over my body, I have no control over my cravings or my emotions. I would knock someone over and step on their body to get to a chocolate chip cookie!!! I admit that to you because I'm sure someone reading this can say "Oh, I've done that!!" Come on now, you know who you are!! The good news is I realize that I wouldn't actually kill anybody to get to the cookie - can I get a thank you Jesus!!!
After a few days reading and praying about how I was going to shed the weight, help my joints, and put my hormones in a very much needed time-out, I decided to make an appointment with a doctor who my dear friends, TJ and Linda, go to. I'm not sure how to describe Dr. Novak, and what he does since it's nothing I've ever experienced before. I suppose he's a homeopathic naturalist who utilizes your body's nervous system to determine what foods your body needs to heal itself. If your body needs only lettuce, peppers and green beans, that's what you'll be eating until your next visit. It's extreme, but at this point in my life, I need something extreme (I can hear the whip crack my hormones into remission as I type - ha - take that menopause!).
My main struggle with going to Dr. Novak was this question - was I putting my faith in Dr. Novak instead of putting my faith in God? God being God, who we all know is awesome, especially when things occur supernaturally when we don't expect it - allowed me to came across a book called "Made to Crave, Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food," by Lysa Terkeurst. Lysa discusses her weight loss journey and how she learned to replace her cravings for junk food with craving God's Word. While reading her book, I came to a section where she describes going to a nutritionist who put her on a strict eating plan, no sugar, no refined carbs (is there a theme here??). Then it hit me - the author went to a nutritionist. Let me say that again - the AUTHOR went to a NUTRITIONIST. Dr. Novak wasn't replacing my faith in God. God gave me Dr. Novak to go to but only God will get me through this journey. God and the help of my family and a few friends.
So, my appointment with Dr. Novak is this Tuesday, March 6 at 10:00 a.m. It will be my evaluation and then at the follow up appointment, I'll be given the foods to eat and the journey will begin.
Join me on this journey daily here at Hope Today Cafe. I'll be serving up my struggles, holding back nothing when it comes to the raw emotions of my screaming flesh not getting its way, putting my faith in and following God with lots of Bible verses to sustain any addiction you might be facing, and finally, I'll be serving up big heaps of hope and encouragement for whatever trials you're facing. Sign up to recevie this blog via email by simply clicking on the link to the right of this post.
If you know someone who needs encouragement in any of the areas above, please forward this on to them - you might just be the "Lorrie" in their life.
Until tomorrow...I leave you with Psalms 147:3 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (curing their pains and their sorrows)."
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