When on a diet, people will say you shouldn’t deny yourself the foods you love. You should just eat less of them. Telling yourself “no” will only make things worse.
I don’t work well with authority. The idea of someone who has always been mostly healthy and thin telling me how to eat better makes me want to grab a Wendy’s triple with cheese and scarf it right in front of them.
I have the same problem with religion. It doesn’t help me to have people who have always been religious tell me how great God is.
I want to hear how to eat well from someone who was 350 pounds and is still tempted by a cheeseburger every once in a while. I want to hear the testimony of someone who didn’t grow up with Jesus, someone who found the light after hitting rock bottom.
Before the skinny and pious get their panties in a bunch, I’m not saying that the lessons that can be learned from you are any less valid. It’s not my job to question your faith or the way you eat. I’m not saying that if you have always eaten healthy you should grab some super nachos and a large Coke and make a pig of yourself every now and again. I’m not saying that if Jesus has been a part of your life since you were a kid and you’ve always believed that you should head to Sin City and let loose, just to see what you are missing.
What I’m saying is that for me, I want to hear from someone who has lived on the other side of the law. I want to hear from the guy who had to struggle with temptation and found a way to call on the Lord for strength. I want to get diet tips from someone who ate the 96-ounce steak and decided that was no way to go through life.
So here’s the deal. I’m figuring this whole thing out. It’s going take some time and it’s not going to be easy. Really, it hasn’t been easy so far. I suppose the good news is that I’ve given in to my bad food habits more often than more sinful temptations that have plagued me.
I’m never going to be perfect. (And neither are you, not on this earth, anyway.) I can lose some weight and I can lead a clean life. Maybe I can even be the example I’ve been looking for. You know, the fat guy who learned to choose fruit over French fries; the guy who decides that some of the music he really loves isn’t making him happy.
Right now, I’m in no position to be an example to anyone and that’s not the goal. I’m not doing this for you or to make anyone look good. I’m doing it for me. Because if I can be a better person—in my physical and spiritual health—I’ll be around to continue making my wife the happiest woman on the planet. I’m not doing it alone, that’s for sure.
Right now, I’d like to eat an entire pizza and drink a two liter bottle of Mountain Dew. I’d like to watch some movies that don’t glorify anything that anyone should be involved in. But I’m not going to.
I’m not denying myself these things. I didn’t tell myself “no.” I made the decision to engage in more uplifting activity (such as writing this) and eat better food.
And it didn’t take a man in a suit and tie to tell me that’s what I wanted to do. Just a long haired, sandal-wearing wanderer who defied the authority of His day.
