SO, about a week ago I decided that I really needed to cut back on the soda consumption. Part of it was the weight that I had gained recently (see post on Getting Some Exercise...). Part of it was also that I thought I might feel better if I cut out some of the soda.
Here is my plan: I drink water almost exclusively throughout the day. I allow myself to drink Soda only during 1 meal. I get to choose which meal, but only 1 meal of the day. All other meals I have water. I really hate the taste of the water in Morenci, so we have been buying bottled water, which has helped tremendously.
I was really concerned that with cutting most of the soda out of my diet that I would suffer some pretty severe caffeine withdrawal headaches. So far I am about 1 1/2 weeks into this journey and I haven't really suffered any caffeine withdrawal headaches. I have been pretty diligent about making sure that I am staying properly hydrated, which has been good for me and I think been a reason I haven't suffered too much with headaches.
I believe that as I make some of the tough decisions (decisions that I don't really want to make) such as extremely cutting back on Soda, or getting on my bike for exercise, in order to improve my health and my life overall, God is going to bless that. He is going to see you through in areas of your life where you might have thought that he wasn't really concerned about. I never really considered that God might be concerned about how much soda I am drinking, or how much exercise I am getting - I have now changed my thought process. I believe that God is concerned about every aspect of our lives, and he wants what is best for us in every area.
So what is it that you may need to give up, or moderate in order to improve your life?
What part of your life have you said, "God is not concerned about that"?
1 comment:
Good for you, man. I was in your shoes a couple of years ago, and made the decision to drop soda from my diet. Today, it doesn't even sound good to me... it actually nauseates me. I replaced it with water and iced-tea, and have gradually weaned myself toward unsweetened tea, or just sweetened with honey. Beats the tar out of sugar, let me tell ya.
I made a decision, also, to begin "portion control" of all of the food I eat. And, I don't eat dessert anymore. Although I still eat most of the same things I did previously, I eat about 1/2 the quantity of food, and find that I don't miss "seconds" one bit. In fact, when I eat at restaurants, I intentionally order lighter meals, since I can't hardly "clean my plate" with most "restaurant portions", except at the occasional "fine(r) dining" places, where the portion served is usually more reasonable than the typical restaurant.
Since January, I've gradually lost weight, and w/o exercise, I'm down from 194 then to 179 today. I really made a lot of progress when we did a church-wide, 21-Day Daniel Fast from late January through February. My metabolism changed, and I found that I needed to consume far less food than I thought, following the fast.
I began hiking again, today, just to up my metabolism a bit more. Although I don't have a solid target weight goal, my intent is to increase my overall health, stamina, and energy level.
I want to continue the gradual adjustments to my lifestyle until I'm living at optimal health. It motivates me that I'm going elk hunting in September, and my hiking regimen -- along with good nutrition decisions -- will pay off.
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