Recoving When You Mess Up, Exercising Self-Control

I seem to remember reading that there is a link between poor money control/bad spending habits and being overweight. I tried to find it online, but every search term I tried just brought up that poor people are more likely to be overweight. I think that money habits and eating habits are definitely linked.

Something that helped me to ditch soda was realizing that at just one fountain drink a day, that's $1 a day (conservatively), $365 a year, and over the last 24 years that equals $8760. And that's conservative. Plus add in lost interest, if I had more than one soda, drinks at fast food restaurants, etc. I've easily blown more than $10,000 on soda over the last 24 years! Imagine if that had been Starbucks coffee at $4 a pop!

The past is gone, it can't be changed, you just have to move forward from here. Remember, God's mercies are new every morning. Don't beat yourself up about it, just resolve to exercise the self-control God gives us:

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Something I have been thinking of: if I know that something is bad for my body, then eating it is like poisoning myself. So when I think, "I deserve a treat, I should get a soda" ... I try to switch that thinking ... "I deserve health, I don't eat poison, my body is not a trash can, go away Satan!"

I pretty much do not eat out anymore. If I let someone else control what goes into my food, then I have a good chance of getting glutened or carbed. No one else cares about what I eat they way I do.  When we ate at IHOP recently, I requested the omelette made with real eggs instead of the eggs with pancake batter in it. I got the one with pancake batter, but didn't realize until later when I felt horrible. And then I had carb cravings. Plus it is way cheaper to make steak at home than to order it out.

I think the key is planning ahead. Setting aside time to bake "bread" or make desserts. Cooking 10 pounds of chicken at once, and freezing the extra. Thawing meats ahead of time. Using the slow cooker (pot roast, chili, pork roast). Washing the lettuce and chopping the celery when you get home from the store.

We have to learn to put our needs first, so that we are healthy and have energy to help others. Like when you're on a plane, and they tell you to put your own oxygen mask on before you put your child's on. God's Word says that our body is the temple of the Lord, so we need to treat it with respect and reverence.

Just my two cents :)