Musings: The King's Food is a Bad Idea

 Recently we were studying the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible/Hebrew Bible.  I have always loved Daniel and the stories of faith and courage we read.  This time when I read the story of Daniel and his friends refusing to eat the rich food the king was providing for them it taught me a lesson I wish I had learned many years ago.

You know the story:  the chief of the eunuchs was taking care of these captured Hebrew boys who had been brought into the king's court.  When they saw the food that was to be provided for them, they begged off and asked that they be allowed to eat pulse and water and possibly other simple food.  At the end of the ten-day test period those boys were beautiful and healthy and the other young men who had eaten the rich foods and beverages were in rough shape, or at least not strong and full of health as Daniel and friends were.

This story caught my attention this time.  If you know me, you know I have struggled with weight issues ever since the unspeakably difficult things I went through as a young girl.  At that time I put on a lot of weight as a protection. (Actually it did not turn out to be a protection, but I did not know it at the time. I also did not realize that is what I was doing by pigging out on a regular basis...trying to put on a shield of protection.)

To come up closer to today, in July I saw my wonderful healthcare provider who suggested it was really time to go for it on the weight loss front.  She suggested a couple of things including getting little containers that helped with portion control.  She wanted me to come back in a month having taken off 3 pounds. I did order the containers and sort of used them for a while.  When I went back in August I was down 4 pounds.  She was so happy. I was marginally happy because I thought I would have lost a good deal more.  Well, that would only have happened if I had actually used a portion-control way of eating.

Since that time I went through a period of eating out with friends, eating meat of some nature two or three times a week and adding commercial salad dressing to our salads and other fats to our regular diet.  This made the salads even more appetizing.  Moving to the present day/after studying Daniel, I find that I have successfully gained 20 pounds in 3 months.  THE KING'S FOOD HAS NOT BEEN GOOD TO ME!  It has been very delicious and I have enjoyed every single lunch or dinner out with our friends.

Now this has to stop. If I want to be beautiful and healthy like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, I need to get a grip, stop it with the luscious king's food, and go back to eating pulse and water.  I take pulse to mean eating whole plants.  Which is funny that I have not been doing this right along.  That is how I lost fifty pounds when we first came to South Carolina.  I won't tell you how much I have gained back...

Now I am starting over.  Right at holiday season...!  Can you believe it?!  If you are a praying person, please pray for me to grab on to self-control, use portion control, and the simple foods that Daniel ate.  I would appreciate the help.

 

This is an example of simple yummy food with a portion controlled system.  This is a burrito bowl.  The bowl is about half full of freshly washed spinach, a half cup of fat-free homemade refried beans, a half cup of cooked plain brown rice, lots of chopped scallions and a few carrot as decoration, though I did eat them.  The refried beans and rice were put on the spinach hot out of the pot.  I mixed this all up and ate it down. It was so good. I was not hungry again for hours.  I hope I am smart enough to make this again often.  Sadly, Dear One ate his but was not excited by it.  Oh well.  I may have to find something else for him, or just wear him down by serving it three times a week! Or some variation of this. If you have suggestions that do not include meat, fish, dairy, or fats, I would love to hear. And mushrooms. He does not care for mushrooms.  If he recognizes them in the food...