Healthy Living Weekly Post: Rewards and Eat & Stay Thin book review

I must start this post by saying that the massage I had planned to reward myself with once I reached 160 pounds was WONDERFUL! It really seemed to reinforce the fact that I have made changes in my lifestyle over the past several months. I have decided that another massage is in order once I reach the 150 pound mark, whenever that may be. I'm not really focusing on losing a certain amount of weight right now, just making the changes necessary to life a healthy lifestyle. But I know that if I continue eating healthy food and proper portions and continue exercising regularly, I will continue to lose weight. This was a good week healthwise, I exercised & ate fairly healthy most days.

As a side note, yesterday one pair of my pajamas bit the dust. The elastic in the pants had been stretched out and now that I've lost some weight, they are too big. Plus they are about nine years old and were becoming rather faded and one button was missing from the top. (Even though I'm not purchasing new items for my scrapbooking stash right now, I can still recycle items, so I'm adding the remaining lavender buttons and a few squares of material to my stash!) While I was out getting my massage, Robbie snuck to the store and bought me three new pairs of pajamas and had them arranged on the bed with a sweet note when I arrived home. He said they were just another reward and reminder of my success so far in my quest for healthier living.

This past week or so I read through Joyce Meyer's book Eat & Stay Thin. It is a short book that briefly discusses twelves reasons people overeat: lack of knowledge, lack of a balanced diet, lack of exercise, bad eating habits, unbalanced metabolism, spiritual unfulfillment, emotional unfulfillment, loneliness, loss & boredom, preoccupation with food, impulse eating, passive eating, and lack of self-denial. It was an easy book to read, however it did not offer much practical advice for healthy eating. The basic premise seemed to be that if we choose good foods and eat healthy portions, our body will settle at the best weight and we must just continue to eat healthy and exercise to maintain that weight.

Overall the book was ok, nonetheless I don't think I would recommend this book for someone looking for motivation to begin or maintain a healthy lifestyle, primary because it is overly simplistic and I thought some of the examples were not good models. For example, in one chapter she described a time when her husband wanted to lose some weight so he did not eat supper until he reached his goal weight and then he was careful with what he ate to maintain that weight. I don't think skipping a meal every day is the healthiest way to lose weight and is not practical for many people (myself included since I really like to eat!). Also the title seems to imply that being thin is the goal, when in reality our goal should be to live a healthy lifestyle.

I did like the fact that she repeatedly emphasized that our focus should be on the Lord, not on food, and that many of the emotional and spiritual needs we try to "medicate" with food can only be healed by Him. I believe Joyce Meyer has a wonderful ministry and gifting from God, and therefore that particular focus of the book was excellent.  In spite of that fact, I did not find this book overly helpful or motivating in my quest for a healthier lifestyle.