Made to Crave

Well I have to say that last night was probably the hardest night that I have had while on this journey.

Seriously.

It was rough.

I don't know about you, but I have always been taught that calories don't count when you are with your girlfriends.

I don't know who started that. But it's a bold face lie.

Calories do count when you are with your girlfriends.

I will openly admit that I am BRAND NEW when it comes to counting calories. BRAND NEW.

I have never given thought to how many calories I should consume in a day or given even LESS thought to how many I was actually consuming. For a good week to week and a half, I have been keeping track of EVERY thing that I put in my mouth. Everything is counted. I have tried to keep my caloric intake around 1200. And I have done well. I'm not hungry at the end of the day and that to me is what matters.

Last night was the HUGE eye opener for me.

I went to dinner with my girlfriends last night. I being the good calorie counter looked 1st at the calories of what it is I wanted.

I immediately went to the double steakburger and ginormous fries with a side of blessed cherry coke.

Guess how many calories?? Over 1600!!!! For 1 meal! And that isn't including the 500 I could have consumed with the brownie sundae for dessert.

That.

is.

a.

sin.

2 months ago I wouldn't have given thought to ordering that. I would have said.....well, I want it, that's what I am going to eat.

So I thought......Ok, I will see about just a regular cheeseburger and small fry with maybe only 1 glass of coke.

Still 1000 calories. A 1000 calories!!!! That's crazy talk as my brother would say.

So instead, I begrudgingly ordered the southwest chicken salad with no chicken. It was good. It was filling. And I will order it again. (For the $7.50 that it was, I should have had twice as much as I was given.) I also had about 3 tall glasses of water. (so you can imagine where I was the rest of the night!! )

I consumed 300-350 calories last night and stayed within my calorie intake for the day. I was proud of myself for that. Yes, last night was hard. My flesh CRAVED that cheeseburger, fries, coke and brownie sundae.

If it were not for my friends (they literally told the waitress that if I order some dessert that she wasn't allowed to bring it to me.) who stopped me from throwing in the towel last night at what I have worked so hard for, I would have given in to that temptation. I would have woken up this morning and felt guilty for what I had done to to my body. To my body that doesn't belong to me. You see it is Christ's. He dwells in me. I need to treat my body with respect and feed it food that is beneficial to me. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

So today. I am thankful for my friends who kept me accountable to myself and to God. I am THANKFUL that they didn't let me order that brownie sundae. I am thankful that they reminded me of my goal and made me remember that calories DO count. Even when you are with your girlfriends.