"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels."

     I'm sure most of us have heard that famous quote by Kate Moss: "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." ....Can I just say, "What a bunch of crap!" Seriously, that to me basically sounds like, "Hey girls, deprive yourselves of food so you can be skinny because that's what's important!" I closely follow that with the thought: "Homegirl obviously never tried Bostwick Lake Inn's truffle fries."

     Speaking of truffle fries, I have an update on the "Kick the fried food cravings" goal: A number of you have contacted me to offer encouragement, accountability, and advice (THANK YOU! I SOOO APPRECIATE THAT!) and one thing that a few people suggested was giving myself a "cheat day" on which I can eat french fries and/or other fried foods if I choose. I think that is really great advice, but I know myself well enough to know that I will most definitely abuse a cheat day and then struggle with getting back on the band wagon. So I came up with a (brilliant) alternative to a cheat day. I came up with a "cheat restaurant!" The one thing I was really truly bumming about was giving up those gosh dern BLI Truffle Fries. (Seriously, if you haven't had them; do! They're heavenly!) So I decided that since I rarely go to the BLI, and since I love those fries more than any other fried food, I will allow myself to order those when I go there - but any other place, and any other day I'm going to choose something other than fried food. I really want to train myself to view this as an act of sacrificial worship vs. self-deprication and a "get skinny quick" technique. So, with that being said: I invite every last one of you to randomly ask me how I'm doing on that (or on any of the other goals). And I ask that you please pray that I will remember to view my choices as worshipful moments.

     Tonight I had coffee with a really wise and awesome lady: Heather B. She told me a bit about her journey to healthiness and she had a lot of the same struggles as me! (so encouraging, helpful, and motivating!) She told me she realized that  losing weight had become an obsession to the point of sin, and I was really humbled because I realized that that wasn't far off from my position. For so many years I kept thinking, "I've got to lose weight in order to become: beautiful, desirable, confident, etc." but this year I felt the Lord whispering to me, "My dear Aleece, this is not about the number on the scale or on the tag of your pants. This is about whether or not you love Me more than you love the satisfaction you gain from eating. This is about you realizing that doing everything for My glory means even having lunch is a spiritual act of worship. This is about you learning to fully commit to My plan for you."

    2 Kings 17:7-23 describes the amount that Israel had become enmeshed in idolatry. As I read that I realized that I have let food and comfort become idols in my life. I have placed my personal satisfaction above my love of God. Even though I know full well that I am his temple, I have continually filled it with garbage and refused to clean it out or keep it up. This sobering realization brings to mind Psalm 32, especially verses 3-5:

³ When I kept silent,
    my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night
    your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
    as in the heat of summer.

⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to you
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
    the guilt of my sin.

How incredible and gracious of Him to keep His hand "heavy on me" until I acknowledged my sin to him - and I think that's especially applicable as I was keeping my silence with people as well. What a blessing you all have been! Once I started speaking to you, you let me know that you are praying for me and rooting for me! Thank you all so much for your belief in me, and thank you Father for your forgiveness and grace!