Eating everything on your plate

There are so many issues that surround the consumption of food that there is rarely a short, simple, easy answer that resolves all the fears and concerns people have about their eating habits. There are short absolute truths, which when adequately understood, can resolve those fears quickly. But gaining sufficient understanding of those brief ringer truths often involves thinking through several issues first to clear the mental view enough to make the final and full demonstration of total dominion over food.


We’ve been thinking together about some of those issues on this blog.

One belief that I’ve had to think a lot about over the years is the proposition that you should eat whatever is on your plate. This admonition has deep roots from times past when food was scarce, hard to come by and treated as a limited resource. It is only fair to mention that in many parts of the world today this is still the case, even in America.


I have senior friends who grew up in the Depression and suffered from hunger because they had no food. The effects of that searing experience have not always been easy to shake later even when food was easy to come by. Some virtuous qualities grew out of the austerity such as learning to not let anything go to waste and finding a way to use leftovers creatively. But attitudes, such as “Eat everything on your plate,” which was obviously the wise and grateful thing to do at the time, have also held on.


I grew up hearing “Eat everything on your plate.” My parents knew what the Depression was like and did not forget its lessons.


But I’ve also seen great harm from blindly following the “Eat everything on your plate,” instruction.


What if there is too much food on your plate? Are you required to eat it anyway, stuffing yourself beyond reason?


Oversized proportions are frequently served in restaurants. You order, the chef prepares your order accordingly to management policy, a waitress serves the order, and a plate is put before you.


To listen to mom’s voice in the background that counseled through your growing up years, “Eat everything on your plate,” is to feel obligated to eat it all, or guilty if you don’t.


I broke free from this constrictive mind-grip when I quit listening to those voices and started reasoning my decisions out spiritually.


I grew to love Jesus’ statement, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” This guidance told me that it wasn’t food that sustained me, gave me life and kept me healthy and strong. It was the word of God, or truth, that supported me.

I may not fully understand this truth to demonstrate it totally. I still eat food in my belief that I need it to live. But nonetheless, Jesus did demonstrate it fully and left us his example to learn from. Step by step, or perhaps, bite by bite, it is okay to prove truth in degrees...


To “take in” the word of God required spiritual mindedness, I decided, and listening to the voice of Truth, and growth in spiritual understanding.


When I sat down for a meal and concentrated on thinking about spiritual truth rather than what was on my plate, I found I ate a lot less. I wasn’t as hungry as before. And my desire for garbage food significantly diminished. I learned from experience that consuming truth in thought, reasoning with it, loving it, and growing with it was far more desirable than any food I put into my mouth.


On the other hand, though, when I neglected to pray during a meal and got all consumed into eating bite after bite, I went into a semi-mesmerized state of thought, ate far more than I needed too, even to the point of stuffing myself.


I began to see a direct trade-off from concentrating on the intake of material food versus concentrating on the intake of spiritual truth. And the latter was far more desirable in effect on my thought and body.


So, when wrestling with, “Eat everything on your plate,” I realized that the issue was not how much food I ate , but how much spiritual truth I thought. When thought was balanced with God, the amount of food I ate was balanced with the right amount of food appropriate to eat.

“Eat everything on your plate,” is a human instruction, a mortal opinion, often based on fear and not necessarily on divinely inspired ideals, at least in circumstances where lack of food is not an issue. They were words of wisdom that had served their purpose and were ripe for replacement in a society where often way too much food was placed on a person's plate.

Rather than getting overworked about answering the question “Did you eat everything on your plate?” perhaps a better question would be, “Is your thought filled with truth and love?” The effects are much better.

What do you think?

Part II tomorrow…

What influences your food choices?

I am humbled by all the very thoughtful comments being posted. Nice work! Thank you.


As one commenter queried, “How do you maintain the spiritual facts of being, decide what food to buy, and not get caught up into all the material health laws you hear about these days?”


This is a critical question to answer because the more one’s thinking gets down at a mortal level of contemplating calories and carbohydrates, fat and sugar, fiber or not, it loses sight of Spirit, God. You just can’t stay mentally focused on the chemistry of food and spiritual truth at the same time. It’s a trade-off, like looking to the right and left simultaneously. You look one way or the other. Spirit and matter are exact opposites. To get absorbed into dietary rules loses sight of the healing power and influence of divine Mind.


The way to deal with this quandary is to understand that true health is not a function of what you eat, but a consequence of being under the influence of the divine Mind. The more we consciously depend upon God for direction, guidance, satisfaction and joy, the better choices we make and the healthier and happier we live. And amazingly, at least in my experience, we make what many would call wise food choices.


Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “Man, governed by immortal Mind, is always beautiful and grand.” I think it would be appropriate to add healthy and fit also. Under divine Mind’s influence, food is no longer the issue, but living a spiritually balanced life is.


For instance, the atmosphere of thought in society is filled with a multitude of beliefs, theories, advertisements, “expert-testimony,” nutritional opinion, and more, pushing particular diets, fears and concerns per food. To demonstrate a spiritually balanced life, we have to resist the influence of these mortal mind advertisements. We can’t let them take over our thinking, or we start acting as their slaves, which of course, is what the promoters of their position want us to do. That’s how they sell their product.


A spiritually balanced life is the outcome of thought under the influence of divine Mind, and not under the despotism of fear, sensual pull, or absent-minded ignorance.


I like potato chips. I’m chuckling now… for when I eat them, I think, “Now why am I eating these? There is nothing to them. They dissolve into thin air, and then I want more. Is their any value in eating these things? Do I need them?” I laugh at myself, eat a few more, and then stop. These questions have helped me keep a perspective on food because they make me realize that I often eat things not because I need them, but because I like the taste in my mouth. And that's not enough of a spiritual reason for me to continue the practice. Before I lost weight 25 years ago, eating what tasted good, aka cookies, hard candy, and cake, got me into a bodily mess.


Many of you mentioned moderation as a key to balanced eating. Moderation is a spiritually inspired quality to live and express. It’s healthy, and it brings balance into people’s experience, including the body. There's nothing wrong with good tasting food, but when salt and sugar are the driving force for more, there is a spiritual imbalance that needs to be addressed. Happiness doesn't come from food. It comes from Spirit, God.

When I do the grocery shopping and I pass the chip aisle, frequently there’s a voice within that says, “Oh, you should get some potato chips. That sounds good!” If I obeyed this voice every time I heard it, I think I would not like the results on my body. It would not be practicing moderation. So, I check it. I ask, “Now do you really need those chips?” And the answer quickly comes, “No, it’s a purely sensual indulgence, and you need to keep those in check.” And I walk on by the aisle without regret. Every so often, though, I cave and buy some chips. Or at outdoor picnics, I’ll head for the chip bowl. I don’t have a problem with that and don’t seem to be suffering either. I practice moderation.


Point being, what is having the overriding influence on our thought?


From a purely nutritional point of view, I believe chips would be super low on the scale of food value, and I’ve heard some “experts” say, “Never eat a French fry.” But I still eat French fries, some, and I think I’m fine. But I do practice a spiritual discipline of listening to God first, and striving to live a spiritually responsible life.


Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “If we follow the command of our Master, ‘Take no thought for your life,’ we shall never depend on bodily conditions, structure, or economy, but we shall be masters of the body, dictate its terms, and form and control it with Truth.” This is powerful truth here…


She isn’t preaching ignorance of our acts, gastronomical negligence, or mindless sensual indulgence. It’s much more. It means that the more we honor God first in our lives and live for spiritual reasons, the more mastery and control we can exercise over the body, and over food.


When we honor the divine Mind as the source of all satisfaction, happiness and joy, deciding what to eat won’t be the issue anymore. Staying spiritually minded will be the issue. And when you’re spiritually minded striving to live a spiritually responsible life, you catch the evil influences of mortal mind that would pull you in a self-destructive direction. Like those instances when it’s time to say, “I’ve had enough chips." Or, "I don't need those chips."


The enemy to health and fitness is not food, but gross sensual indulgence, over-indulgence, consumption in excess, lack of care, mindlessness, ignorance, and their kin.


I find that when I am spiritually full, meaning inspired, I’m not drawn to extra sweets, big amounts of food, or constant snacking to feel happy and content. I have found my goodness in God, through spiritual mindedness, and that seems to have the healthiest effect of all.


Here are some more wise words from Eddy, “In a world of sin and sensuality hastening to a greater development of power, it is wise earnestly to consider whether it is the human mind or the divine Mind which is influencing one.”


When you are consciously under the influence of divine Mind, food will no longer be a challenge or fear for you. It’s just not an issue anymore.


It’s the food of truth and love that fill you up with genuine contentment. Spiritual mindedness automatically protects thought from dangerous temptations and wards off unnecessary and even harmful delectable extravagances.


Ohhh…there is so much more to say…

Making food choices

From all the comments posted on yesterday’s blog, deciding what to eat appears to be a top of mind issue!

It looks like it will take a few days of postings, more comments from you, and more thinking and pondering together to cover this issue even partially.

For me, making the right food choices starts with making moral and spiritual choices about the life I live.

To look at making choices from a different angle, for instance, if I’m looking for a book at Barnes & Noble, I’m guided by values I treasure when selecting a book. I look for healthy uplifting prose that takes my thought to a better place. I read to learn, to become a better person, to learn more about the world I live in and how to write better myself.

I am not attracted to the shoot’em up, wipe’em out, blast everything in sight, science fiction stories. Other people are. But I am not. I make choices. How else could I select a book? And my choices are guided by values I cherish.

Now back to eating.

Grocery shopping involves choices. You just can’t get around it. When you walk down the cereal aisle and see 110 different cereal brands to choose from and assuming you’re not Bill Gates and can afford to buy one of every box, or you can’t eat 110 boxes before they go stale anyway, you have to choose one or two or three.

Which box do you choose? You have to make a choice.

Do you grab the box of airy-fairy sugar poof-balls on the lower shelf that your five year old is pointing at, or the natural granola on the top shelf that is hard to reach and is more expensive?

Eating, cooking, shopping requires choices. Hmmm…

Sometimes, it seems that Jesus’ statement, “Take no thought for what you eat,” is used as a cover-up to make poor choices. I’m guilty too.

Like one man struggling with obesity said to me, “If it doesn’t matter what I eat, why can’t I have my box of doughnuts each morning?”

It has taken me many years to understand what Jesus was saying with his “Take no thought,” command, and I’m still trying to fully comprehend the spirit of his words.

But it seems to me “Take no thought…” does not mean choose whatever you want. Wants are often misguided.

The NIV translation states, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” (Matt. 6:25)

When I read this, I see Jesus telling me not to make life conditional upon what I eat and drink, but to understand life first, and expect eating and drinking issues to be resolved favorably.

And here is perhaps the pivotal point to consider, is the real issue about the food, or the life we live?

What do you think?

More to come…

Choosing what to eat

How do you decide what to eat? It’s a question millions of people struggle with everyday.

Grocery stores are filled with thousands of food choices. Fruit, dairy, meat, and bread are plentiful and easy to find. But what about the candy aisle, the sweetened cereal, the energy drinks pumped up with caffeine, the sugar laden soda pop, the salty snacks, the processed food that Mother Nature would look at with a skewed eye and say, “What’s this?”

Are a doughnut and a cup of coffee a healthy breakfast? Is it okay to fill up on macaroni and cheese and skip the carrots? How much double chocolate cake is safe to eat? Does an apple a day keep the doctor away? What about those cans of beer?

One’s mind starts to swirl when sorting out the options.

Does deciding what to eat have to be so complex? One might wonder.
 No doubt, most of you are familiar with the multitude of advice and counsel coming from dieticians, doctors, nutritionists, weight-loss gurus, and their associates. Some of the advice is good and needed. Reason easily argues that it's better to enjoy a banana than down a pound of vaporous potato chips. But implementing the wisdom seems to be a challenge for many.

Obesity is running rampant in the world and growing worse by the day. Eating habits appear out of control. People feel out of control.

Suffering hearts cry out, “There has to be an effective way to deal with what to eat and following through with making wise choices!”

I believe there is a better way—a spiritual way to resolve the quandary of what to eat.

Making healthy food choices does not have to be a tortuous fearful exercise when guided by spiritual principles and values.

Before I start sharing some of my ideas, though, I’d like to hear from you.

What values and principles guide your decision-making when choosing what to fix for dinner?

Deciding what to eat

It’s a common question for dieters to ask when praying for a spiritual solution to losing weight, “How do I know what to eat?”

The sound waves of mortal mind are filled with suggestions and decrees about what food is proper and what is dangerous. “Cut the fat, decrease the sugar, increase the protein…” and countless other verdicts are rendered on our behalf everyday. Many opinions contradict each other. Even scientific studies tout opposite conclusions.

How does one know what food to consume?

There’s a better way than trying to figure it all out humanly.

Jesus Christ, a spiritual thinker who exercised masterful control over the human body, instructed, “Take no thought for what you eat.” Sounds blasphemous, even heretical, doesn’t it?

How could it be? We wonder. “Take no thought for what we eat!” Isn’t that pure foolishness?

It's not foolish when understood properly.

Jesus was not advocating naiveté or an ignorant approach to eating. He was showing us a better way to make wise choices, a spiritual way.

Jesus always turned to God first for instruction and guidance. He listened to his Father first and then acted.

“Take no thought for what you eat,” is not an advocacy for neglect and bodily abuse, but for getting thought headed in the right direction, in a spiritual direction, before acting. We need to listen to God first, not human theory, when deciding what to eat.

God is an all-knowing, all-wise Mind that makes the best possible choices. When we listen to Mind for direction, we reflect Mind’s wisdom which always has a good outcome.

When walking down the grocery store aisles, we often make choices based upon personal feelings and unstable emotions. We make poor choices when our desires are guided by selfish want rather than divine wisdom.

Practice something.

Next time you go shopping, start your decision-making by asking God for guidance. Listen for divine direction before grabbing an item off the shelf. See what happens. Chances are you’ll make choices you feel better about.

God knows what’s best for us and He leads us to the best possible scenario when we let Him. It takes humility to walk the divine path for we have to put material reasoning, medical theory, and personal guessing aside. But the divine Mind never fails to lead aright.

Listen to the divine voice within, and see what it puts into your mouth.

The qualities of honesty, obedience, balance, temperance and moderation and God at work within, and they translate into wiser human actions.

Dominion over food

Four years ago, I received a letter from a Christian Scientist who brought a friend to a lecture I gave on Christian Science healing. She wrote that after the lecture, she took her friend out to eat and during dinner the guest have been wolfing down a plate of pasta and sauce. At one point, mid-sentence, the guest dropped her fork and wailed, “Oh my gosh. I’m not supposed to be eating this food. I have a severe case of acid reflux.” She thought for a moment and then exclaimed, “But I’m feeling fine!”

The Christian Scientist assured her guest that she was healed from the truths voiced at the lecture and she didn’t need to worry about eating certain foods any longer. The friend wasn’t so sure, but after a moment of silence agreed. She felt healthy, which was a first after many months of terrible suffering, and something within her affirmed things were different now. Time proved her to have been instantaneously cured of that illness. She no longer stuck to a stripped down diet of simple bread and water. She ate a full-fledged menu once again.

In thinking about this healing I can’t help but see the so-called impact of food on the stomach and body to be an illusion. This person had lived for months in fear of food. She had been taught by mortal mind that something was wrong with her internally, there was a penalty to pay, and eating food was one of those penalties.

The Bible tells us that God gave man dominion over the earth and everything upon it, including food. Food does not have power over man. Man has God-given power over food.

I asked myself, “What changed in the two hour period this woman was transformed from being victimized by acid reflux to being able to eat anything?”

Nothing material was done to her body. It was her thinking that changed. In some way, she glimpsed her spiritual individuality to a greater degree than ever before that assured her she had dominion over matter, including food, and matter did not have dominion over her.

We are taught from all directions today that food has power over us…power to make us fat, to make us sick, to make us well, to make us hyper…and on and on. This is an unfortunate course of reasoning, for the better way to health and freedom is to understand God’s power over us that results in dominion over food and diet.

We are not fundamentally organic material beings controlled by what we put in our mouth. We are spiritual beings, reflecting the glory of God, and it helps to know that the glory of God is not subject to meat and potatoes. The glory of God exists independently of matter and is sustained by Spirit.

I rejoice in knowing that we don't have to bow down to food. God is our creator and maintainer, not sugar, carbohydrates and protein.

It's better to stick to a diet of Truth then worship and fear fiber and fat. It’s healthier and happier that way.

Eating the right amount

I momentarily marveled this morning at our son’s ability to stop eating when he’s had enough food. He’s always been able to say no to over eating. He can have a whole plate of food before him, take a few bites and say, “I’m full,” put his fork down, and be perfectly content until the next meal. He will not nibble, take a little more to pass the time, or eat the food anyway. He’ll stop. That’s it. No more. He’s done, and happily so.

My wife and I struggled in the early years of raising our children with how to educate our two kids about eating. We both had been raised in the mantra of “Eat everything on your plate,” but we both had struggled in times past with eating too much food and didn’t want our kids to struggle with the same nonsense. So, after much prayer and discussion, we adopted the habit of giving them small portions at mealtime, and then letting them ask for more if they desired. As time evolved, they rarely ask for seconds, and learned through experience to eat modestly and happily so. And their plates were generally clean when finished.

As I rejoiced over our son’s self-knowledge of knowing when enough is enough, I thought about ways people are mentally influenced to step over the bounds of reason unthinkingly and then act out the role of victim when it comes to eating.

It’s a common excuse for overeaters to utter complaints such as “I couldn’t help it. I didn’t realize I was eating so much” and so on. But in truth, we can help it, and we can stop, but mortal mind has so educated us to believe we can’t think for ourselves and act according to what we know is right, that we believe it and act out the helplessness.

The dictum of “Eat everything on your plate,” should be banished into the cauldron of “never again” forever.

What if someone gives you too much food? What if you unthinkingly took too much food and soon realized your error? What if you’re at a restaurant that serves enough helping to one person to fill three? Should you still have to eat it? Definitely not. We should eat what is appropriate, not what mortal mind is whispering into thought we should do.

The one Mind thinks for itself and is not swayed by popular belief, mom’s opinion, cultural customs, past habits, restaurant practice, the eyes, the stomach, mindlessness or gluttony. As children of God, we are in possession of the one Mind that thinks for itself and makes wise sound decisions. When we sit down to a meal, we are not governed by what is put before us. We are governed by God, and God will lead us aright if we listen and faithfully follow.

We can say “Enough is enough,” put our fork down, walk away and be perfectly content until the next meal.

Mindless nibbling

Have you ever done it? Open a bag of potato chips while reading a book and chomp your way through the whole package until the last chip is gone? Oops…Maybe a few chips too many??

In the comment section of my blog entry, “Smaller portions of food,” posted last Sunday, reader Cindy commented about certain foods being produced with a goal of getting the consumer to mindlessly eat their way through the snack.

I asked Cindy for some background information and she supplied the following quote from the text “Strategic Management Concepts and Cases,” by Thompson and Strickland. It’s from a case study of PepsiCo's Acquisition of Quaker Oats in the section that talks about the acquisition of Cracker Jack.

I think you’ll be interested in reading the quote:

A Frito-Lay executive who championed the acquisition discussed the additional appeal of Cracker Jack: "We were missing out on 50 percent of the snacking opportunity because when people snack, they first decide whether to go for a salty treat or a sweet one." The executive also commented that the product met Frito-Lay's "mindlessly nibbling test" since "once you open the bag, you just keep eating them until they're gone."

Isn’t there an ad on the market right now for some snack about not being able to put the bag down until the last item is gone...?

For one who used to fight being overweight and tried not to eat until the last one was gone, I never could see the attraction behind such ads. I’ve since conquered that temptation with finding more spiritual contentment.

One lesson from the above is remembering that we have to think for ourselves in this world of advertising barrage and consumer driven marketing. We have to spiritually counter a mindless nibbling mentality that would lead us to “eat the whole thing” when we don’t need the empty calories.

In an effort to make wise decisions over gluttonous choices we can rejoice in knowing there is one Mind, the divine Mind, to guide and govern our eating behaviors.

We are not mindless robots programmed to err and overindulge. We are thinking beings designed to express the intelligence, wisdom and balance of God.

Soooo, mindless nibbling, be gone!

Smaller portions of food

My wife, Kathy, recently started buying bread in smaller loaves. The kids and I looked at the miniature sandwich slices and complained about their tiny size. Kathy pointed out that when she was a kid, all bread slices were that size, and we had gotten in the habit of thinking humongous pieces of bread were normal rations.

Ouch! She got us.

Thinking back to my bread-eating habits of yore, I realized she was right. What used to be “normal” in food helpings years ago is now considered small. And what is considered a normal sized ration today would have been considered outright gluttonous 3 decades ago.

I’ve known this lesson for years in other ways. My wife and I routinely share meals at restaurants because of the gargantuan amounts served, and our family as a whole eats quite modestly. But the bread slice lesson was an eye-opener for me.

With the obesity epidemic sweeping the globe, it can be helpful to stop and ask oneself when preparing to eat, “Do I need to eat this much food?”

Jesus taught, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.” Integrating this admonition into my lifestyle helped me lose 30 pounds over 20 years ago, and permanently so.

With the vast temptations to overeat being served to us from all directions these days, I still pray to know what keeps me genuinely filled. And thanks to my wife, I can see in another degree that it’s not large slices of bread we need, but a growing commitment to understanding God better and keeping my thought filled with spiritual mindedness.

It’s a diet that works.

Too thin models

“Thin is not in—at least in Madrid,” AP reports.

Fashion models with a BMI of less than 18 were turned away from Madrid’s Fashion Week show recently because they were unhealthy and promoting an image that young girls try to emulate to their own health detriment. Organizers want to project an image of beauty and health—not the waif-like lollipop or heroin-chic look models have gone for in recent times, the article reported.

This is good!

Yes, many people need to lose weight not gain it, but too much weight is not the trouble on fashion runways and advertisements. The opposite extreme of not enough substance begs for attention. Trying to maintain an unnatural body weight can lead to eating disorders, anorexia, bulimia, and a poor self-image. Thinkers are finally standing up for a health principle and protesting unnatural and distorted practices and images.

Hooray! I’m grateful for teenage girls and budding women everywhere.

The real sum and substance of a woman is not a BMI or any type of mortal measurement. Spirituality is the reality, not physicality.

I look forward to the day when spirituality on parade is the fashion, rather than lanky looks and overly thin physiques.

Many model bosses don’t agree with Madrid’s decision. They want to continue promoting the “dying to be thin” craze regardless of the harmful consequences it causes to women’s self-image at large. But right triumphs sooner or later and I pray that people everywhere value women more from a spiritual point of view so this obsession with unnaturally slim figures dissolves.

What do you think?

Does it matter what you eat?

Have you ever wondered what Jesus Christ meant when he told his followers to take no thought for what they ate or drank? Was he saying we could eat whatever we wanted, however much we wanted and whenever we wanted without any bad effects?

Temptation to over-indulge abound in our daily schedule from the calorie laden made-to-order coffee in the morning with a couple of donuts to put it down, a Biggie fries for lunch accompanied with a giant soda pop, chocolate for a snack, and ice cream after dinner. It’s not uncommon to see people living on such diets.
Should any of it matter if we are to take no thought for what we eat?

I suppose if we truly were not taking thought, it wouldn’t make a difference. But if the truth be known, people eat out of whack diets because they are taking thought—the wrong kind of thought.

A man trying to lose pounds asked me why he couldn’t eat several donuts every morning if he wasn’t supposed to take thought for what he ate. I asked him “Why would you ever eat so many donuts every morning? Why not skip them and eat something else?” He replied, “Because I really like donuts!”

My point was quickly realized. He loved those glazed confections. He was taking immense thought for what he ate, even though his attraction had become unconscious because of his long-running habit. Those donuts were like a god to him. He loved sugar! And that is taking thought! And is exactly what Jesus was counseling against.

When Jesus told us to take no thought, he didn’t mean eat and drink absent-mindedly and without moderation or temperance. He was instructing his followers to avoid making a god out of food.

There is one God, the divine Spirit, and to truly love Spirit, we can’t be in love with sugar, greasy foods, soda pop or even lettuce.

When we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll know what we’re truly worshipping. Is our thought focused on God or food?

I find it helpful to keep attention centered on understanding God better and truly valuing spiritual mindedness above gastronomical indulgence when making food choices.

I don’t follow any diet plan according to accredited dieticians, because that would be taking excess thought too. But I test my choices by asking, “Can I not eat this and still be happy?” Or “Can I eat vegetables and fruit and be just as happy as eating a dessert?”

Ideally, we eat what is put before us. But we must be sure it’s not gluttony and dishonesty that is piling our plate high with food we don’t need.

Trying to lose weight?

Are your eating habits out of control? Do you need to lose weight?

One fear dieters often confront when trying to get a lust for food under control is the argument of “If I don’t eat, I’ll get hungry.”

Gluttons get in the habit of stuffing their mouths at will or whim. It brings pleasure, they believe, and also prevents them from feeling hungry.

“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled,” Jesus taught.

When I committed myself to spiritually losing weight over 20 years ago, I saw the need to reduce snacking between meals. I wanted to pray more instead of weigh more! But 11 a.m. would roll around, and I’d feel starved.

One day, after struggling with the temptation to snack, I realized that I didn’t need to fear hunger. Waiting until noon to eat was not going to kill me! I didn’t live to stuff a stomach. I lived to glorify God, and eating more than I needed did not glorify God.

As I prayed daily for spiritual support and strength instead of going to the kitchen for more cookies, the dreaded hunger pangs left. I soon found it easy to wait until mealtime to eat with no snacks in between.

I lost the extra weight, and I’m wearing the same size pants today that I discovered in the new me back then.

Don’t fear hunger. It won’t hurt you. God is giving you everything you need internally to feel happy, contented and well without having to chomp on something between your teeth.