March 9, 2011

Made To Crave by Lisa TerKeurst

In January, my friend Stephanie of Stephanie's Mommy Brain blogged about her experience reading Made to Crave.  You can read her amazing testimonial here.  I was privileged enough to win one of two copies of the book from her, and have been on my own Made to Crave journey ever since.  Can I just say this isn't easy?  It's fulfilling and meaningful and life changing, but I want it to be fun and exciting.  It's not. 

For any readers not familiar with the book, a quick summary would be that we are meant to have our needs met by God and not food.  And when food (OR ANYTHING) else besides food meets our needs everything gets out of whack (sp?)  This is not just a passing idea for me...this is a lifelong struggle.  It's a battle that I am facing meal by meal and minute by minute. 

I have been making small steps since I received the book (starting to work out semi-regularly, cutting out sodas, etc), but on Monday of this week I finally started eating well.  By eating well, I mean getting some fruit and vegetables into my daily plan and not eating ice cream.  This is day 3, and it's just hard.  I walk around the house with the book close by saying to myself, "Alicia, you were made for more".   So, I'm doing it, but not exactly happily.

After hoping to start blogging regularly again in February, I haven't.  Ever since Monday I haven't written any new Facebook status updates.  Why?  Because all my energy is being taken up by redirecting my cravings from food to God.  I don't mean for this blog to turn into just a food blog, but it is supposed to be about "experiencing each moment".  These are my moments right now. 

I know Lisa's book has spoken to a lot of people, and yet I don't hear anyone sharing the struggle I feel.  If you know of someone blogging their battles to crave God instead of food, please write it in the comments!  I've spent 37 years using food to address all my different emotions.  I have a lot of re-learning to do.  And it isn't fun.

3 comments:

Marc and Charity said...

I just read that book, very eye opening or me. I've not really struggled that much until about 5 years ago and while I do WANT to eat healthy, I love my Coke and chocolate. So, it's been a struggle for me too and just reading your post made me realize that I need to get back on track. I am working out regularly now since December and that is helping my outlook on life, however I've only lost 4 pounds since and that is frustrating!!! I know it's not all about losing weight but you would think after eating right and working out it would fall off, but for me it's not. it's going to a slow journey me thinks.

Stephanie Kay said...

Oh friend, I didn't mean to give the impression that it's easy. It's hard. Plain ol' hard! And I fell way off the bandwagon back in November. I bought the book and dvd series and plan to go through them sometime in the next few months, though the reality is it might not happen until school is out. Choosing to turn to God instead of food takes a lot of energy and thought for me. Food is so easy and plentiful in our culture. So, keep up the work. Stay strong and keep your scriptures close! And blog/ FB about it so friends can support you. You are NOT alone in this journey! You are not the only one who wants to sit down with a Coke and a bag of chips at the end of a long and tiring day. But together we can discipline our cravings and look to God for our energy and comfort.

Shanda said...

I just bought this book and am one chapter in. I knew when I reached my highest weight since pregnancy that I had to try something different. I've tried everything and have lost and gained more times than I can remember. so your blog gives me hope!