“I think we’re the only people left who are still eating anything with flour or sugar in it,” I said to my husband the other day.
’Tis the season to do penance for holiday eating sins and it seems nearly everyone in my universe is on a diet.
In fact, it’s hard to know what foods are okay to serve guests these days. Offer a yeast roll or cookie and you may get a reaction that makes you feel like you’ve just tried to serve rat poison.
Eating healthy is, of course, a good thing. We all know that by now.
How could we not know it? At least once a week we’re treated to TV news footage of giant heinies waddling down city streets while a reporter recites obesity statistics.
January is typically the month when many folks resolve to climb off the Good Ship Lollipop and onto the diet bandwagon.
That’s not a bad thing, but it sure seems like dieting has gotten more extreme in recent years and I’m just not willing to go there. Eliminating entire food groups feels too much like amputating a limb.
I was at a gathering of women around this time last year when the conversation turned to losing weight. As I recall, the discussion went something like this …
“What are you on?” one lady asked a few of us standing around her.
(In another context, that question could have elicited all kinds of sketchy responses, but in this tame group, we knew what she meant.)
“I’m on the Paleolithic Diet,” one lady replied.
“The 17-Week Diet,” another chimed in.
“I like the Hallelujah Diet,” someone else said, “but the good ’ole Atkins Diet really works, too.”
My head was spinning. I felt like I’d landed in an alternate universe.
“Wait a minute,” I finally interjected. “I can’t get past that Paleolithic thing. What on earth is that?”
“You know, you eat what cavemen ate,” someone answered.
“Whaaaat?” I laughed. “Cavemen? Really? So what did cavemen eat?”
I suddenly realized I was the only one who thought this was weird. I find myself in that spot often, but it’s still a bit disorienting.
“Cavemen ate whatever they found—nuts, fruit, meat,” a woman matter-of-factly explained. “Nothing processed. Nothing you wouldn’t find in the wild.”
“Everything I eat is found in the wild,” I said. “Do you know how wild Walmart is on Saturdays?”
It was obvious I just wasn’t tracking with these chicks.
I think life’s too short to eat caveman food. And I know full well I won’t stick with any extreme diet for very long. Few people do.
The only way I’ve ever successfully lost weight has been to consistently eat smaller portions, eat more slowly, and to exercise. That’s the only plan I can realistically stick with, and sticking with good habits is what brings real, lasting change.
In fact, hanging in there for the long haul is the key to unlocking most good things in life, which is why the Bible is full of admonitions to finish, endure, and overcome.
The book of Revelation includes many amazing promises of great blessing to those who remain faithful to the end.
The apostle Paul was able to say near the end of his life what I want to be able to say at the end of mine: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7).
Whether it’s something as temporal as losing weight or as eternally significant as faithfully following Jesus Christ, if something is worth starting, it’s worth sticking with.
If we’re in it, let’s be sure we’re in it for the long haul.