Day 16: Resolve to Control Your Eating Habits

Scripture to Memorize:
She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.
Proverbs 31:14-15
Passage to Read:
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you."
Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
At the end of ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.
Daniel 1:11-15
Prayer:
Dear Lord, thank you for including the story of Daniel in the Bible to instruct and encourage me to follow your directions, even in the area of food. These courageous young men show that by following your instructions instead of the worlds, or the culture the outcome is better health.
Holy Spirit strengthen me to make wise food choices. Help me to make conscious choices instead of just operating on autopilot. Help me realize that the latest diet fad is not the answer to a healthy body. Give me the strength to stick with a good healthy diet and not indulge in excessive indulgent of rich food or foods high in refined carbohydrates. Remind me that fad diets do not result in healthy weight lose but in weight lose that is rapidly gained back once the fad diet is stopped.
Dear Lord, for the bound of you abundant supply of good healthy food and for your provision so that I can provide this to my family, I give you praise and adoration. Help me to always seek your guidance and instructions on the matter of diet.
Personal:
I agree with the principles of Donna's comments in this section. However, I already know from past experience I will not follow her recommendaton for the next 10 days to eat only vegetables and water. However, I will resolve to may sound choices in my food choices and to keep my caloric intake under 2200 calories and to give up any form of junk food. I already know from past experience that although I could follow her recommendation of only vegetables and water as soon as the ten days were up I would revert back to old behavior. I determined sometime ago to follow the advice of "Lose It For Live" program which is to not diet but make permanent life style changes and to see the change as life style changes and not a diet.
Practical:
I do resolve to reduce amount of foods other than vegtables and water and increase the amount of vegtables I eat each day. I already consume the maximum of water and allow myself only one cup of coffee a day. However, I have found that if I add Crystal Lite it is a lot easier to drink the recommended 84 ozs. a day.