Faith Venture

I subscribe to a lot of research on a number of issues. Rather than look at media (national or social) headlines for information, I get it from the sources. This research about weight loss is informative.

Researchers looked at what happens to your mental health when you go on a restrictive diet plan. The researchers found that people who went on restrictive plans had higher levels of binge eating, more food cravings, less control, more preoccupation with food, and more guilt when they ate foods they enjoyed.

In fact, according to the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR), a list of more than 10,000 people who have lost weight—and kept it off for years — tend to eat carbs, enjoy breakfast, and avoid extreme restrictions and gimmicks. It’s the opposite of what you hear in most diets, and that’s not a coincidence.

Here’s your new game plan: stop chasing 100 percent weeks and start avoiding 0% weeks. Instead of every decision being black and white, or every day being make or break, zoom out, see the bigger picture, enjoy some flexibility, and give yourself space to build better habits.

This thought applies to almost all areas of our life.

Suppose we see Richard J. Foster’s list of spiritual disciplines, or read Igantius of Loyola’s rules, or Dallas Willard’s writing. Suppose you try to follow these perfectly.

Then imagine yourself in a state of frenzy caused by missing one of the rules or falling short on worship or service or reading. And you feel bad. The fruit of the spirit are missing in your life even though you are trying so hard.

Quit.

The child is sick. The boss calls an impromptu meeting. A sudden travel requirement pops up. You can’t get in all the study, meditating, service, prayer today. 

That’s OK. It happens. Just don’t let it become a habit. We can’t be perfect.

Like the writer about nutrition above says. You can’t always get 100% weeks. Just don’t have any 0% weeks.

The first management conference I attended many years ago featured a productivity consultant. His mantra? Try Easy.

Some teachers, not wanting to scare people with the word “discipline”, chose to water the term to spiritual practices. I saw the pool guy yesterday afternoon. We usually meet 2-3 days a week when I’m in the hot tub following my workout, and he’s doing whatever the pool guy does with chemicals and equipment. He asked how I was doing and then said, “You’re quite disciplined.”

When I get the Yoga mat out I am practicing Yoga. When I do it three days a week most weeks, then I have a discipline. Discipline is not a “four-letter-word.” It’s simply a part of my life.

People get on diets to lose weight. Pretty much all diets will cause you to lose weight. That’s not the point. The writers in one of my nutrition and fitness newsletters recently wrote, “The common denominator of all successful diets is how long you can stick to the plan. And that means following a plan that gives you the best chance to stay consistent for many months, and, ideally, years.”

He wrote about some research, “In the study, diet breaks were not associated with faster or more significant fat loss. But that’s only half the story. Even though one group took a one-week break every 2 weeks, they still lost the same amount of fat as those people who dieted without any time off.”

Our nutrition discipline, our physical training discipline, and yes our spiritual disciplines all benefit from a few simple things:

• Do something that you can stick to for the long term
• Don’t be afraid to modify along the way to keep it interesting
• If you need to take a break for travel or life, don’t sweat it
• When the break is over, have that discipline ingrained such that you fall right back into it

People try to meditate like the pictures of the beautiful model sitting in lotus with fingers touching looking over the waves of an ocean. Maybe somebody told them 20 minutes twice a day. Some say you need to light candles and burn incense.

Nonsense. Don’t make it so hard. Find a solid chair. Sit upright with good, but not tense, posture. Take a deep breath. Exhale slowly and relax. Focus on your breath. Inhale. Exhale. If thoughts come, heck when thoughts come, don’t worry or force them out. Just let them come and go. You have 2 minutes. That’s a great start. Maybe next week 5 minutes is easy. Most of us just can’t sit still. That takes practice. After a couple of weeks, the practice becomes a discipline. Ha! You have sneaked up on a spiritual discipline. Hopefully one that continues for the long haul.