Permission control

Week 3 of the My Loss Their Gain Campaign. Pounds lost: 0. Pounds gained: 2.5! Blech. Back on the home scale this morning, and while I wasn’t surprised, I was disappointed.

Yes, I made poor eating choices. My youngest was sick, away from home, thus away from our doctor and didn’t sleep well most of the week. Neither did I. So, I compensated with too much coffee, too much Diet Coke and chocolate whenever I could find it. I was on deadline for a writing assignment, too. With the added child sickness stress, I snacked a lot in the afternoon trying to stimulate my brain to function.

The crowning moment of the week, however, was a haircut.

I thought that would be good for a half-pound of weight lost, at least. It’s good for morale, anyway.

The day that most characterized my eating struggles this week was Saturday. I attended a bridal shower (food+cake+punch=full), then joined my parents for a pizza/baseball game trip, where I added to my gluttony. And paid for it later. (Pizza+breadsticks+Diet Pepsi+ice cream+popcorn=becoming too familiar with the guest bathroom when I should have been sleeping. Enough said.)

A long car trip home capped the week.

So, here I am short on sleep, with leftover road snacks in the house, in desperate need of a trip to the grocery store. We’re home for 2 1/2 weeks before we head back to family and friends in Illinois.

And this is what I need to practice before then: self-control. I’m not always going to be able to eat only what I’ve bought in my house or cook the foods that are best for me. We will go out to eat. We will eat at family member’s homes. And even though one friend made concessions with me in mind (thanks for the wheat tortillas!) I don’t expect everyone to do the same.

I will memorize and apply this verse to my eating habits.

“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. (1 Corinthians 10:23)

Am I free to eat whatever I want? Yes. Does it benefit me to do so? Is it helping me with my goal? No, on both counts.

Let’s end on a positive note so that my whole week doesn’t seem like a downer: I ran 2 miles on night with my cousin’s wife, something I hadn’t planned for my week but really appreciated. And, my grandma is on board to match my pledge for pounds lost. So now, for every pound I lose, $10 will go to help widows and orphans in Liberia. Great news!

Now, I owe it to them to get back on track.