What's on your plate?

In December 2009 I came home for the Christmas holidays. At one of those gatherings, family friends and extended family members kept commenting on how it looked like life was treating me good (polite for ‘you’ve put on weight’). Their comments landed on deaf ears, for as far as I was concerned, I’d just added a tiny wee bit of weight- my clothes still fit so I didn’t understand what they were talking about (well, I’d bought new clothes in my new size hence I couldn’t tell). On heading back to work in January, my work uniform was no longer fitting properly. It had gradually been giving me issues towards the end of 2009, but now, I couldn’t even close the buttons on my blazer. Some of my colleagues made fun of me, especially my bully Sri Lankan brothers, but I chose to ignore them, especially because they were my partners in bad eating habits, and weren’t doing so well (weight-wise) themselves. When I went to the Hotel tailor to request him to adjust my uniform, he refused, he said I had to lose weight, and I thought he was just being mean. It was after I stepped on the weighing scale that I finally decided I needed to commit to work out sessions at the gym. The digits that came up caught my attention; I was now weighing 83kgs from 57kgs in a span of a few months! How the hell did I get here? (I thought to myself).  

To tell you the truth, I had the worst eating habits ever; I was surviving on fast foods. I’d adapted these bad eating habits when they changed the roster and moved me from morning shift (7am-3pm) to evening shift (3pm-11pm). I’d wake up at around 11am or midday, have my cereals, get ready for work and get on the 1pm bus, walk to the mall next to the office to grab me a large mug of a full fat milk latte and croissant, then walk to the office to begin my shift. At around 5pm, I’d have me a mug of pure milk hot Chocolate or Indian masala tea. At around 7/8pm, I’d either grab me a sharwama sandwich, fries and a large sprite from KFC, fries and a whopper from burger king or a large bowl of fries with lots of mayonnaise from the hotel room service kitchen. Before my shift ended, any of my colleagues would have brought a pizza, smoothies, fries etc. For us to share, and if I was still hungry by the time I was heading home at midnight/1am (after hand over), I’d dial a delivery (burger/pizza with extra fries and onion rings) on my way home so I would arrive the same time as the delivery. I’d then enjoy my meal while watching some TV or listening to online sermons, till about 4am before deciding to get ready for bed. Most times I fell asleep at 5/6am. And we’d do it all over again when I woke up. As if that wasn’t enough, there was always a large bowl full of assorted chocolate bars in my room; pints of assorted flavours of Häagen-dazs ice cream in my freezer and assorted junk foods in my kitchen cabinets (Pringles, cheese balls, dorittos, you name it). I hardly cooked like I used to when I was on a constant morning shift and when I did, it’d all be junk. I never watched what I ate. But seeing the 83 on the weighing scale caught me off guard and I had to do something.

One of my Bully Sri Lankan brothers, Chandana was going to tie the knot in around June that year and he needed to lose weight so he could fit in his tux whose measurements had been taken way before he’d gained weight. He requested me to be his gym partner since we’d miserably failed in losing weight on our own, and now we’d be accountable to each other. We began in March by requesting the same shift, and we picked on night shift (11pm-8am) since it was the least busy shift (I hope that makes sense). We decided cut down on carbs, fats, caffeine and sugar. I had to painfully get rid of all the junk food I had in the house. We began the shift by taking a mixed green salad or plain Caesar salad; most times with no dressing. We’d later then have a tuna or grilled chicken sandwich on whole meal bread if we got hungry. Towards the morning we’d have a shake made up of a blend of skimmed milk, almonds, banana, and dates. After the shift we’d meet at the gym at 10am and work out for an hour each day, ensuring we took lots of water. After workout we’d do healthy drinks such as carrot juice or grapefruit juice or a fruit plate. If we got hungry we’d munch on almond nuts but this was kept to a minimum of say 10 only per day. When I woke up to prepare for my shift, I’d have oatmeal porridge with skimmed milk, or a bowl of bran-flakes with skimmed milk.

In the beginning it was hard, it felt like torture and many are the times we were tempted to indulge especially when our workmates were enjoying a nice pizza with extra cheese. Oh the tortures of daily watching them try out something new on the menu that we couldn’t have. Our bodies were sore and we suffered withdrawal from our bad eating habits, and of course there were no visible changes at first. They mocked us saying we’d never last a week, but come the end of April we’d lost quite a bit of weight. I was down to 60kgs and it felt sooo good, I bought me a pair of awesome heels to congratulate myself! I fortunately/unfortunately had to redo my wardrobe as most of the clothes didn’t fit any more, they were too big. In June my brother flew to Sri Lanka to tie the knot and he looked fab in his tux. It felt good to close my work blazer again. From then on I became very cautious of what I ate, and even though I’m not a health freak, I’ve never let myself go like that again.

Putting on/losing weight is a gradual process; it doesn’t happen in a day. As believers we need to be very careful about what we put on our plate, as this determines our spiritual weight, which then determines our ability to accurately execute our God given assignment with precision. We are what we eat.

What we feed on with our eyes and ears determines our thought patterns, and our thought patterns determine our speech and action. The bible clearly tells us that man lives by every word that God speaks (Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4), so whatever else you are feeding on that’s not rooted in God, is the wrong kinda diet. We should be on a constant diet of God’s word through our eyes through our ears. Let what you allow yourself to watch and listen to be of God and hence allow your thoughts to dwell on the things of God. This should be a continuous practice, your lifestyle; because it’s very easy to slip and fall {1 Corinthians 10:12}. The same way you have breakfast, lunch, supper and snacks in between, is the same way you should constantly feed on what is of God. For the same way you cannot have a meal today morning and decide you’ve had enough to last you till the next day, week or month is the same way the spiritual food you eat should be topped up. What you feed on today may take you till tomorrow but it’s not enough, that’s why God is calling us to dwell in Him, so that we can constantly feed from Him.

Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. {John 15:4-5 AMP}

Dwell here means becoming a permanent resident. Just like a branch cannot get nutrients once it’s detached from the tree is the same way we’ll lack the required spiritual nutrients we need to build our spiritual weight, and hence bear fruit (accurately execute our God given assignments with precision); once detached from God. So from this place of intimacy with God (permanent residency); we become aware of what we are allowing ourselves to feed on. It also makes us alert of the people we allow ourselves to be around and the environments we allow ourselves to be in, since they influence what we feed on. Like I had to get rid  of my junk foods and habits to adopt a new diet, is the same way we should take drastic measures to change our diets. For the small ‘harmless’ things you allow are the things that will mess you badly in the end.

Bishop David Oyedepo in his sermon ‘Building your spiritual weight’ says “What you don’t want, you mustn’t watch (or listen to); whatever you don’t resist, has the right to remain and whatever you cannot confront, you can’t conquer” Allow me to paraphrase what he goes on to say “Your spiritual weight is the security/guarantee of your destiny and what determines your impact in life. Satan wants to blow you off from where you belong, as well as blow you away from accessing what belongs to you (Luke 22:31), therefore your anchor against any form of wind and storm is spiritual weight. With adequate spiritual weight, you are able to withstand every wind and storm whether you are asleep or awake E.g like Jesus was sleeping in the boat during a storm (Luke 8:23). Jesus was constantly in touch with His father (he was a permanent resident, constantly feeding from his father) hence He was an impossible target for the devil to hit”

So if you find yourself on a rollercoaster of repeated waves and cycles, please check on what you’ve been eating. What’s on your plate???????? You can’t be feeding on junk and expect to be spiritually healthy/unmovable/strong/God-centered and focused. Changing diets is not easy, but that’s why we have the Holy Spirit as a permanent resident in us, to help us. and once you've built your spiritual weight, don't be obese, put to work that which you've fed on, in the area God has called you to.

Finally Bishop Oyedepo ends by saying “The quality of your spiritual food intake is what determines your spiritual weight!”

SELAH!