eating

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Discipline Can Be Very Elusive At Times

 

There are certain situations or places that trigger a lapse in discipline … and I’m in one of those places right now.

discipline can be very elusive at times

Creating a habit or trying to form a pattern in life takes discipline – lots of it, in many cases.

For instance, if you are trying to get fit or lose weight or just eat healthier, you have to work at it. No one drops 20 pounds by not making some sacrifices. No one gives up pizza twice a week or pop every day of the week without some effort.

Well, for the past 6 or 7 months I’ve been making a real effort to stay fit.

Now that I’m retired I’ve let my work go, but I don’t want to let my body go as well. I’ve needed to be disciplined at exercising every day and eating at the right times.

Through the winter, exercising came easily. I played hockey 4 or 5 times a week and on the off days worked out in my home gym.

Eating was not as easy, but I decided to keep my food intake to between 9 am and 6 pm (which I didn’t realize at the time was a form of intermittent fasting). 

I haven’t followed any meal plan or diet of any kind. I only eat food in that window, don’t eat junk food at night and keep snacks down to a very small amount. 

Things were going well – I mean, pretty well. The biggest hurdle was finishing dinner by 6 pm. … It should have been easy but I haven’t been able to convince Lily that we need to be done dinner by 6 pm. 

She controls my evening meal because, though I’m an excellent breakfast maker and micro waver, I’m not much of a cook. To be honest I’m not a cook. I can make a grill cheese sandwich and soup but that’s a lunch meal. I can also make spaghetti, but I can’t eat that every night. 

Let’s just say, for the most part, I have been disciplined and things were going really well.

Then summer happened. I spent more time at the cottage. And along with the change in environment came a dip in my discipline. 

For some strange reason being at the cottage means snacking at night, eating out more often, extending my meal window by sometimes a few hours and not exercising every day.

I was having no problem at home, but that same discipline I had a home didn’t get packed in the trunk to take to the cottage.

Oh, and it doesn’t help that there is a candy store and three ice cream shops in town. With only having my bike for exercise up there, I don’t have a means to exercise on rainy days.

I know when I’m home I will have my discipline back, but right now my discipline is lapsing. 

Here’s the thing: Discipline can also be an issue for spending time with God. You may have a well-disciplined time with God at home, but when you are on the road that can all change. Your schedule is different and you don’t have the same set up or place to meet with Him. One thing I do is always make my time with God the first thing I do in the day. Then the rest of my day gets adjusted from that.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to get back to being disciplined about? Leave your comments or questions below.

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Fasting Is Not Always What It Seems

They say fasting is good for you, but the word “fasting” does not always mean the same thing.

fasting is not always what it seems

There are many different forms of fasting. When someone tells you they are fasting, you really need to know what they mean by that.

Recently I had a conversation with my daughter about fasting. She told me she’s been doing intermittent fasting. When I heard the word “fasting”, the image I got in my head was that there was no food involved for a day or two days or longer. 

But that’s not what she was talking about. 

The thing is that we throw around the word “fast” like it’s well defined and a highly disciplined thing. 

For instance, right now the Muslim faith is in the middle of Ramadan. That is a month of fasting for them. When you hear that, you might think they are so committed and disciplined, but that you could never do it. You might wonder why you couldn’t be so committed to what you believe in. 

Well, what’s not necessarily communicated is that when muslims fast for a month, they fast during the day, but each night they have a big meal in celebration. 

With that information, you realize you could fast for a month if you could still eat every day. You would actually really enjoy that one meal you ate and look forward to it all day. 

When I was a youth pastor we did a 30-hour famine to raise money for World Relief. 

For the teens, it was a major commitment to fast for 30 hours. Yet in all the years we did it, we never lost a single student to starvation. 

Fasting is not something that I have readily done … maybe because I get hypoglycaemic. My blood sugar gets low and my body starts craving food. 

You’ve heard the word “hangry” – a combination of hungry and angry. That describes someone who is having a hypoglycaemic episode. My wife has to put up with a hangry husband most evenings when I come home from work. I need food, pretty much right when I get in the door. 

My daughter, Karlie, has the same condition I do, and she has recently discovered that intermittent fasting is working for her. 

When I heard her say intermittent fasting, what I thought of was fasting one day a week, or fasting one day and then again two days later. That sounds like intermittent to me. 

But that’s not what intermittent fasting is. It’s actually delaying your eating until later in the day. Basically, Karlie doesn’t eat her first meal of the day until lunch time. 

I used to do that when I was young, but I called it, “not eating breakfast”. I never associated it with fasting in any way. 

So when people tell you they are fasting, don’t think they are being heroic, or showing unbelievable discipline or dedication. 

Ask them a followup question like, “What kind of fasting are you doing?”

Here’s the thing: People fast in many forms for many different reasons. But about two thousand years ago, Jesus fasted for 40 days – no food. That fast was to wear Him down to be tested, tested to see if in a weakened state He would be faithful to the will of God, His Father. And Jesus passed the test. Later He passed the ultimate test by going to the cross to pay for our sins. You can trust Him.

That’s life!

Paul

Question: What reasons have you fasted for? Leave your comments and questions below. 

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When Men Rise To The Challenge

In our world, men usually get a bad rap. It used to be a man’s world, but now it is anything but a man’s world.

The guys

On television, whether in shows, commercials, or movies, men are portrayed for the most part as babbling, goofy, unreliable, can’t-get-the-job-done idiots, while women and children are mostly seen as smart, capable and in control.

That is except in the movie I saw last night. There was barely a woman in the movie and the lead character (a guy) shot and fought with superior wisdom and stealth to defeat the enemy single handedly. I was proud to be a man!

It reminded me of the pride I had in being a man at my church’s Christmas banquet. I know, how could I be proud of being a man at a banquet? Women do the cooking and cleaning; they do all the real work, the men just do the eating.

Well, not at this banquet. Yes, we had some token women who worked hard and did an admiral job. But this banquet was the guys’ from start to finish. The whole idea for it came out of the mind of a man.

The men of our church planned it, executed it and got the job done. It was a beautiful thing. There were men in the kitchen cooking, men serving the food, men in the hall setting and taking down the tables and chairs, and men washing and drying the dishes.

Men, I guarantee, also did most of the eating. If you were a woman at our church banquet last week, there wasn’t much for you to do, although I saw some women desperate to get in on the glory, trying to make punch, and help clear some of the tables.

Sure, some of the wives helped their husbands prepare some of the food at home. And sure, the stores really cashed in on the pies that were bought for our dessert. But this was a guy thing all the way, and we pulled it off.

To me, this all shows the adaptability of men. There was a day when there wouldn’t be enough men that could pull off a banquet like we did. There might have been appendages in the carrots, undercooked meat, styrofoam plates and plastic cutlery.

But the 21st century man can do it all. We are tough enough for the big jobs and gentle enough for the delicate jobs as well. In a day and age when men can’t seem to get a break from the put downs, this was an heroic moment.

I think the women of the church had a hard time believing it was all real. They kept taking pictures of the men working throughout the whole meal. It was like they needed to record this for history.

I do worry, however, that the pictures may be used against us at the next church Christmas banquet. The women may haul out those pictures as evidence to support the men doing it again.

Here’s the thing: We are all capable of doing things that we are not normally in the habit of doing. We don’t imagine ourselves doing it so we don’t even try; we might even argue  against it. God wants to stretch you to grow in your relationship with Him. And that will mean doing things that you are not in the habit of doing. Maybe it’s journalling your devotions, or spending more time with God, or serving in a new capacity. Whatever it is for you, don’t make excuses. You are capable; just try it and grow.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you done lately that is out of your comfort zone? Leave your comment below.

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Who, Me? A Calorie Counter?

Three times in one day I heard the same message and, no, it wasn’t from my wife. I heard it on TV, on the radio and at the movies. The message was, “If you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight.”

filipino_food_trans_fats

The next morning I decided to check it out. For me, everything is better if there is an app for it … and you better believe there are apps for calorie counting! As I started checking it out, both Lily and my daughter, Karlie, got into it as well.

Karlie had used one before, it was free, and seemed like a good one. I downloaded it onto my phone and couldn’t wait to start eating for the day. The great thing about the app is that it gives you a sense of how much you should be eating in a day so you have some kind of a gauge.

What I don’t like is having to enter all the food I eat and, worse, the amounts I eat (like I can tell what 4 oz of meat looks like on a plate?!) … I started to vaguely remember a nutrition seminar from my cardiac rehab clinic.

I remember the nutritionist had everyone grab some food labels and read the nutrition information on them. As she explained what the information meant, I was looking at the pictures on the labels and thinking I’d like to eat those items right then.

Needless to say, I didn’t get much from the seminar. But now I need that information. Thankfully, my app can scan bar codes, adding the nutritional info right into the app for me.

I’m getting the hang of it. It’s like playing monopoly every day. You start with a bunch of cash (calories), and as you eat, it costs you, like landing on a chance square or that dreaded income tax spot. But, like in monopoly when you pass “Go” and get more cash, in the nutrition game, you get more calories to use up when you exercise.

Now this is where it gets a little fun: I had a breakfast that cost me 391 calories, but then I went on a bike ride that bought me 432 calories. So before lunch, I had more calories to spend than I started the day with. It was great!

It bugged the girls though. They couldn’t get over the fact that I got to eat so much and could buy calories so easily.

After we figured out what dinner cost us, I decided to go for a bike tour around the area. Oh, and I purchased a $2 app that calculates my calories when biking or walking and syncs with my calorie counter.

That little trip bought me another 380 calories. By 8:30 pm I still had over 1100 calories to spend! I decided to have just a few chips, and some licorice, because just like in monopoly, I felt like I had some calories stashed under the board for when times get tough.

Here’s the thing: When you have worked at saving calories during the day, you somehow gain strength to fight the temptation of eating all kinds of junk food. You have a desire to keep what you fought for. When you fight against sin, a similar thing happens that gives you strength to stand up to temptation the next time.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What success have you had that has given you more power over temptation? Leave your comment below.

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Confessions of a Culinary Master

I’m not much of a cook; in fact I would say I don’t really cook at all.  Those who have the same kitchen skills as me might be able to say, “I make a mean Mac’n Cheese”.  But I don’t like Macaroni & Cheese, so I can’t even say that.

I do make my breakfast each morning that consists of cutting up half a grapefruit with a special knife that reduces the preparation time in half.  Along with that, I make a small bowl of Oat Bran Cereal that involves boiling water, 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt and a 1/4 cup of oat bran.  You know, just writing that, I feel, makes me sound like I can cook.

Then recently when I was alone at our cottage, and had to cook for myself, I made a meal that looked so good, I took a picture of it.

I know what you’re thinking looking at that picture, it’s got “Chef Silcock” written all over it!  When I put together this meal, how it looked on the plate impressed me so much I was compelled to record it so I could share it with others … at the very least, brag to my wife and daughter who probably wouldn’t even give me a passing grade at cleaning up the kitchen after a meal!

When I ate the meal, it was even better than it looked.  I savoured every morsel of it and when I was done, I sat back and marveled at how it had all turned out.  I didn’t get a passing grade on the clean up though.  I tossed everything in the sink to wash up sometime later.

Now for the confession:  Although I made the salad and cooked the beans, the meat had been pre-cooked by Lily about a week earlier.  She knew I was going to be alone the next week so she prepared it and put it in the freezer.  All I had to do was nuke it (however, I did that to perfection).

For the salad, the lettuce came in a large container.  I just reached in, grabbed a handful, plopped it on the plate, and added some croutons from a box and dressing.  The beans, well, that’s where my experience making Oat Bran came in.  I’ve been heating water on the stove for years!  A little water in a pan, tossed the beans in after cutting off the tips, finished with a little butter on top … de-lish.

Here’s the thing:  I can’t cook, but by all appearances from the picture it looked like I could.  By withholding information on how the meal came together, and by using words that suggested I had cooked it all myself, maybe you had an opinion of me that wasn’t true.  So, how often do we present ourselves or use words to give an impression of our spiritual state that isn’t quite accurate?

We shouldn’t give the impression that we are doing well spiritually when we are not.  On the other hand, we shouldn’t downplay the condition of our relationship with God to others either.  God desires us to live a life of integrity.  If spiritually you are struggling, don’t cover that up.  Get busy and work on it.  If you’re doing well spiritually, let others see and be influenced.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question: How do you struggle with integrity before God?  Leave your comment below.

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I’m Messy; Deal With It!

I’ll admit it:  I’m kind of a messy guy.  It’s never hard to tell where I’ve sat at a table for a meal.  There are usually more than a few crumbs that escape my plate and leave clear evidence.  However, I’ve never seen crumbs form the word “Paul” so one could argue that someone else was sitting in that spot.

I’ve been messy as long as I can remember, and it may even be a genetic trait.  My dad was a notorious spiller.  I could share many-a-story of his spectacular spills – stories our family still gets a good chuckle over years later.  All I have to do is mention the word “marinara” and a smile appears on the face of everyone in my family.

My son has a good chance of proving the messy gene theory because, when we eat at the same table, sometimes it’s hard to determine who sat in what spot.  But my wife, Lily, says I’m messy because I don’t eat properly.

Somehow, in all my years, I never learned to eat right.  If you ask me, this is a major slam against my mother who, after all, was the one who taught me how to eat in the first place.  But the curious thing is, it also incriminates Lily because she’s the one who taught our son to eat … and apparently he hasn’t learned to eat properly either!

Lily says the problem is simply that I don’t have my plate close enough to me, and therefore, things spill.  I am either sitting too far away from the table or my plate needs to be closer to the edge.  In fact, the other day she actually pushed my plate closer to me … and I promptly spilled something on the far side of my plate.  If she hadn’t have moved my plate I wouldn’t have spilled.  I get the blame but I’m telling you, it was her fault.  I wanted to pick up the food I spilled and place it on her placemat, but I restrained myself.

And, by the way, placemats are overrated, especially for messy guys like me.  A hard, smooth surface is much easier to clean and to quickly hide the evidence (one quick swipe, if you know what I mean) than fabric where the crumbs get stuck and remain for the CSI team (Lily) to investigate.

It really doesn’t matter if I’m spilling something on my shirt (and becoming more like my dad every day), or if I leave a ring of crumbs around my plate when I eat, that‘s who I am.  I’m messy.  If I’m going to be eating at your house, you have to be prepared for that, or reconsider having me over.

Here’s the thing:  We like to change people, but the reality is we can’t.  We can get quite frustrated with people who don’t want to place their faith in God.  We can try to change them, but it won’t work.  We can just walk away and not have anything to do with them, or, we can just accept them as they are and allow God to work in them.  Who knows?  God might even use you to push the plate a little closer to them.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question: How hard is it for you to just accept people whom you want to see changed?

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Life is a Buffet

Recently Lily and I celebrated our anniversary by going to a dinner theatre. The play was secondary; I was thinking more about the buffet and what I would be eating than what I would be watching.

The food was okay.  At a buffet it’s the volume that really matters … and there was volume!  I noticed some people piled the food on their plates as if it was their last meal.  Others went back for one or two more rounds.  Being a little conscious of what I’m eating these days, I kept my plate portions to a respectable side, but did visit the buffet more than once.

I find it amazing that if I had just ordered a plate of food, I would have been satisfied.  But because I can go back for more, something inside me says, “you’re still hungry, get back up there and get another plate”.  Or possibly it’s my wallet that speaks to me saying, “you’re paying $X for this meal; make sure the theatre isn’t making any money off of you … make them pay!”  It’s a crazy attitude to have, but somehow it pops into my head at the thought of a buffet.

A second plate wouldn’t have been that bad, but there was a dessert area that had not escaped my notice the two times I had been in the buffet line.  In fact, by the time I was ready for dessert I had already pictured what my dessert plate(s) would be filled with. Did I mention I had two runs at that line as well?

I had to visit the desserts again.  It wasn’t that I really wanted to; it was more that after my first plate I didn’t save anything to nibble on during the performance.  That, and there were still some things that I had noticed that I wasn’t able to fit on my first plate.

When I got to the line for round two, it was long.  It seemed I wasn’t the only one with an idea of having a plate full of goodies to carry me through the production (as if I might get a little peckish if I didn’t!).  I noticed some people taking dinner sized plates to put their desserts on, and I thought, “that’s not right”, but when I got close to the desserts something overtook me and I grabbed a large plate too.  It didn’t look right with just a few things on it so I had to put enough on the plate to make it look, well … uh … full.

When I got back to our table, I told Lily that some of it was for her, but she wasn’t interested in much, so it was left to me to finish.  I didn’t do a bad job; I kept at it right through the play.  And when it was all over, I waddled out of the theatre, like everyone else.  Oh, and the play was not bad either; it was a musical.

Here’s the thing:  in life we can fill our time – our daily plate – so full that when we get to the main attraction (the main reason we’re really here) that becomes secondary. You see, God has put us here to glorify Him and enjoy Him, and often we are so busy filling ourselves up with all kinds of goodies, that the production we came to be part of becomes an after thought.  I need to put more time and effort into the main thing, more focus on what I am here for.  Maybe if I did, I wouldn’t feel liking I’m waddling around in this life.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  What are you gorging yourself on that is taking way from your main purpose of glorifying God and enjoying Him?  Leave your comment below.