Sugar Is No Friend of Mine!!

Isn't this a great picture? No, I have no idea why there's a little man in the coffee, but did you know Spring can make a mocha frappe with skim milk and sugar-free chocolate syrup that's as good as Starbucks? Yum!

Well, I'm down to my last 3 training days until the Peach 4-Miler! Had a good 3.5-mile run with Annette this morning. I plan to run the next three mornings and then take Friday off.

I may run very very slowly, but I figure I'll beat all the people who stayed home in bed! I haven't set a TIME goal other than to come in under an hour (and hopefully under my own power rather than riding in the ambulance)! However, Friday I DID set a different kind of goal--NO SUGAR until I lose 17 pounds!

I went back and read my notes and was reminded that when I lost the first half of the weight I need to lose, it only took three months, and I did it by running AND by cutting out sugar. I didn't even eat my retirement cakes or Christmas goodies! I don’t think I’ll lose the other half while I’m still eating sugar, because that’s my downfall every time.

I love it how God speaks to me through his Word when I follow a plan of reading through the Bible in a year, and one day I was reading a normally-boring account of David’s battles, when of a sudden God spoke to me through it!

QUESTION: “Is this the right time?”
ANSWER: “Attack, I’ll give you the victory.”
PROMISE: “God will be two steps ahead of you.”

It confirmed to me that now’s the time to get to my goal weight, and that if I really ATTACK this thing, God will give me the victory!

Then he showed me a glimpse of how he would be two steps ahead of me! See, I knew the plan of attack would be giving up sugar, but I had two baby showers coming up in the next two days, and while I had already decided not to eat the cake, I really wanted to drink the punch. I knew it would feel awkward just sitting there while everyone else was having refreshments. Well, the solution God immediately gave me was to take Sierra Mist in my water bottle, which would be as good as punch and give me something to hold and drink! I did, and I was perfectly happy!

I also read the chapter on SELF-DENIAL in “Secrets of the Secret Place” by Bob Sorge, and it really gave me some great insights.

For example, did you realize that it was the lack of food that finally brought the prodigal son to his knees? When we’re WEAK is when God moves in with GRACE. The book even called it “THE GRACE OF SELF-DENIAL.”

It said, “Those who embrace voluntary weakness have personal ownership of this great principle: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Cor. 12:9). When we embrace weakness, his grace rushes in to strengthen us. Those who embrace self-denial will be stronger in hearing God’s voice and understanding his will.”

So the biggest challenge I'm facing this week isn’t my final training runs for the 4-mile race, but hearing God’s voice as he gives me “ways of escape” (alternative ideas) to sugar! I’ve been eating a lot of plums and cantaloupes lately, and they've been delightful!

Thanks, Lisa, for agreeing to pace me in the race, and thanks, Mark, for changing the rehearsal so she CAN!