July 15, 2003
FSM 343 CM/FM
09/99
Copyright © 1999 by The Family
Dear Family, Mama shared messages from the Lord and Dad about bulimia and anorexia in Mama's Memos!—No.11 (ML #3253, GN 858). Please refer to this GN for Words from Heaven on this topic. We love you!
PLEASE NOTE: This mag is geared to teenagers and young adults, who generally speaking don't need to diet (unless they are truly overweight). Middle-aged people in their 40s or 50s generally do have to keep an eye on their weight; often they have to watch what they eat and at times even go on a moderate diet in order to stay healthy. Anorexia or bulimia can occur in an older person, and some may need to watch out for this problem. However generally, the bodies and level of activity of older adults are much different than that of teens and young adults. The two age groups have different needs, and often need to do different things to take care of the bodies the Lord's given them.
Two girls share their struggles with eating disorders, and how the Lord and their loved ones helped them overcome.
By Elise
(formerly Miracle, SGA), ASCRO:
This is the kind of testimony which is not always the easiest to share, and can in fact be a bit embarrassing. Nevertheless, if in any way it can be an encouragement or blessing to even one other person, I feel it's worth it.
As a child I was a bit on the round side, and on through much of my teen years as well. At that time my weight fluctuated quite a bit, like a yo-yo going up and down. This was mainly due to different crazy diets where I would lose some weight, but as fast as I'd lose it I'd gain it back because it wasn't the right kind of weight loss.
As I grew older, my weight became a big thing for me, to the point where I would get very discouraged from thinking so much about myself and how I looked—or didn't look! I easily fell into comparing myself with others, and not only how they looked, but how I thought they were accepted or loved according to the way they looked. Lord help me! In other words, I thought that we can earn love by how we look. Being an emotional Cancer who tends to eat more when feeling down, the more I thought about it, the more I ate! So I would get even more discouraged, feeling condemned about overeating, which would keep the vicious cycle going.
Something I enjoy a lot is reading. However, sad to say I didn't always read the right things. What I read wasn't closely shepherded, and I lacked wisdom and discernment in my choice of reading material. At 14, I read about people who overate and then made themselves throw up their food, either because they felt so bad about overeating, or to lose weight, or to keep from gaining weight. Since I was already weak in this area and hadn't asked for help, I thought maybe this could help me.
How blind I was! I didn't realize I was falling straight into not only one, but quite a few of the Enemy's traps. So I tried it. At first I knew it wasn't right, but I was so frustrated with the way I looked that I thought it would help. Anyway, I figured, I wasn't doing it so much—only a little here or there. But as I continued, it became more and more of a habit. And the more I did it, the worse I felt.
Now I was not only eating for no reason and the food just being wasted, but I was also making myself throw up in secret, trying to keep it hidden and covered up. Although in a way the conviction started wearing off that was I was doing was wrong, at the same time I felt so condemned, like a real sinner whom the Lord must be mad at. I felt I was a hopeless case and that no one could have the faith for me. Now it seems so silly, but at the time it was quite a big thing.
It's so true how Dad says that one little bit of straying from the right path leads to more. It was not just a physical thing but a spiritual problem also, for which I needed help, as it was affecting other areas in my life. I started seeing the bad fruit it was bearing in my spiritual life, as well as how it was affecting me physically. It was not only an awful feeling and experience each time, but it even got to the point where my throat hurt and was constantly sore. My body had grown used to me using my finger, and when that didn't work any more I started using the end of my toothbrush.
I so much wanted to stop and get a lasting victory but I just couldn't do it on my own, no matter how hard I tried. There were a few times when I would stop for a while and get a temporary physical victory, but not a spiritual one. I say this because yes, I would stop making myself throw up, but then instead I would go on some crazy crash diet of starving myself and over-exercising. Then I'd go back to overeating in the end because I hadn't eaten much for so long.
Needless to say, all this took a toll on me physically. Apart from feeling quite weak and tired with lots of headaches, etc., I started having two strong one-week periods every month, and had problems with my uterus as well. During those years of not eating properly nor taking good care of myself, I weakened my body in general. Thank the Lord, today for the most part I am strong and healthy, however, I still feel the effects all of this had on my body.
Thank the Lord that the answer is always there if we want it and are genuinely seeking for it. For me, it came in the way of the Honesty Revolution (ML #1926, Vol.16 and DB2), when many of us were learning some needed lessons, especially on openness and honesty. (I was 16 at the time.) Even though I felt like such a rotten sinner that no one would understand, I knew I had to get help. I had to be able to tell someone and get the prayer I needed.
I mustered up the courage to write and tell my shepherd about it, at the same time sharing other things I had been holding on to and covering up for while. I was pretty nervous, wondering what the reaction was going to be, or if I would have to confess it in front of the whole Home, etc. I had opened myself up and given my heart to someone and was waiting to see how he was going to treat it. God bless him, he treated it ever so lovingly and prayed for me. I felt like Mary Magdalene when she came weeping to Jesus' feet, so sorry and repentant, wanting to change and begging forgiveness, when He told her to go, and sin no more.
Thank You Jesus for the victory He gave me! It was still a fight for a while—over the next year or two, actually. I did fall from time to time, but knowing that I had done my part in confessing my sins gave me the faith that He had forgiven me and given the victory, and I just had to keep fighting and holding on to it.
At times when I had overeaten and then would be put to the test, one of the main keys was to have something to hit the Enemy back with. The Letter Attack (ML #171, Vol.2 and DB5) has been a great help to me in this and other battles as well. I learned to acknowledge the battle, recognize it and hit it head-on, especially with the Word.
For example, to this day I get hit from time to time with battles of discouragement about my weight and appearance. And though I do what I can to keep fit and in shape, when the Enemy tries to get me with the line that no one will love me or even want to be around me if I'm overweight and blah, blah, I hit him back with the fact that if someone loves me just for the way I look, that's definitely not the Lord's love and not what I want! Now, thank the Lord, I can look at it from this point of view. Others love me in spite of the way I am or may be at the moment—and that's real love.
Your body is a beautiful creation of God! (ML #258:25, Vol.2).
I am very thankful for the lessons He's taught me through these things and the victories He has given me! In the past few years, as I've been learning the lessons that He has had for me, I haven't had so many problems with my weight and have been able to stay at a pretty good, steady weight. Thank You Jesus!
Before closing, I'd like to add some things which have been a special help and strength, a little Word study that I put together on the subject of comparing, particularly about our body and appearance but also in other areas:
[ ] Why Do People Become Bitter? in Bitterness: The Deadly Root that Devours and Destroys, ML #2672:31-35, Vol.19 and DB10.
[ ] Comparing Yourself to Others, FSM180, Teamwork, par.185-204.
[ ] Self-Righteousness, ML #2140:51, Vol.16 and DB8.
[ ] My Body, My House, in Total Joy, Marvellous Marriage, p.517.
[ ] The `Count Your Blessings' Game, in ML #2621:52-59,Vol.19.
These passages bring out many good points such as:
—The Lord has made each of us just the way we are, for a certain special purpose, and He loves each and every one of us the same.
—Comparing will only lead to bitterness.
—We should avoid thinking so much about ourselves and the way we look, but instead think about Him and others.
A quote in Marvellous Marriage sums it up for me: There are many things I can never change about myself, but I'm not going to waste any time wishing I could. I accept them (sometimes over and over) and then I can get on with the important business of giving, loving and bringing joy to myself and others. As Jesus said, there certainly is more to life than the body! Your body is just a shell, a `house' you wear. The real you which is inside your body will someday leave. Life is so short. Begin today to develop your talents and personality. The ache of inferiority is a tragedy and a waste. As you accept and develop your personality, you'll be more positive, energetic and enthusiastic! (pg.518).
I love you all!
Love, Elise
By Esther
(of Thaddeus), Eastern Europe
I want to share how the Lord delivered me after many years of continual fighting to overcome the hold that this spiritual disease, anorexia, had over me.
To begin I will have to go back to my life before I was saved and joined the Family. I was living with a boyfriend who asked me to take contraceptive pills, as was quite commonly done. In my heart I didn't want to do this, but I went ahead anyway. The pill caused a reaction in my body, making me put on some weight, and although it was not a lot, it made me feel very uncomfortable as I was normally quite slim.
After one month I decided not to take the pills any more, and consequently lost all the weight I had put on. But the seeds were sown—of concern, of being aware of how quickly one can become overweight, and I began to watch that I wasn't overeating.
For a few years I had no trouble with this, as I was eating pretty normally and maintaining a good, healthy weight. It was about this time that I met the Family (1976). Although I asked Jesus into my heart, I didn't join at that time.
A year later I was married to my husband Thaddeus, who was a lot like me about wanting to do more for Jesus—with one exception: I did not want to join the Family and he did. Coming from a churchy background and with a lot of bad publicity raging at the time about the then COG, I was quite hardened to any truth about the Family.
After eight months I became pregnant with my first daughter. It was while going for medical check-ups and seeing a lot of pregnant women becoming very overweight that my initial little seeds of worry about being overweight were fed and nourished, as I definitely did not want to become like a lot of them. I started to watch my diet even more and to be very conscious of what foods to avoid. Fortunately the process was very slow, and throughout this pregnancy it did not yet become extreme.
But after I had my child, keeping my figure became increasingly important to me. At the same time I felt that there were some areas in which my husband and I were drifting apart. He was still quite into drugs, which left me feeling very alone and alienated from him. We were still trying to read the Bible and bring our little girl up in the Lord's ways, but there was something missing.
It was at this point, I think, that I unconsciously thought I would get the attention from my husband I was so desperately looking for by staying very slim. My weight was now becoming more of an obsession, and the Enemy was beginning to have a lot of control over me.
Just over a year later I became pregnant again. We were quite happy about this, and I wanted to have all the children the Lord would entrust to me. Before I actually discovered that I was pregnant, though, my eating habits had radically altered; I was not eating very much at all. On top of that, I was exercising excessively, either by going for long, long walks or playing a lot of beach tennis, all to the extreme and with one purpose in mind—to keep from gaining any weight.
Needless to say, this excessive exercise was not very healthy for a pregnant mother. The baby failed to thrive, and I miscarried. This was a real jolt for me, and although for a little while I tried to overcome being so aware of what I was eating, I never confessed my problem to anyone. I was fighting alone and was not able to make any progress. In fact, I was becoming more and more aware of exactly how much I was eating, what kinds of foods I was eating, and avoiding everything that had a reputation for being fattening.
A few months later when I again became pregnant, things had advanced to the stage where if I ate just slightly more than I felt I should (which was far too little anyway!), I would make myself throw it up. Going for extremely long walks was also something I felt guilty if I didn't do. It is a total miracle that my second daughter survived and that I managed to keep nursing her.
By this time we had already decided to give up our System job and home in one city and move around the country, working in different cities, trying to preach the Gospel as we went. It was here that the same brother who had earlier led us both to the Lord found us (he had been faithful over the years to keep in touch), and along with his new wife and four children, he began strengthening us in our faith.
After one of their visits the Lord spoke very clearly to my heart, saying that the things which are now in secret shall be shouted from the rooftops. I desperately wanted to get rid of any unyieldedness in my life. After much deliberation and a lot of inner fighting, I plucked up the courage to confess my state to my husband. Thank the Lord, he was a real anchor and encouragement to me, and after prayer for deliverance, I began fighting for victories.
It is miraculous that I can enjoy a meal without feeling guilty.
Not long after that we joined the Family. Thank You Jesus! However, my fight was not over, as this habit of analyzing what I was eating was very difficult to break. I would compare myself to others and make sure I was eating less than they were. Every time I got pregnant the trials would start again, and there were times that I even fell back into the pit from whence I had come.
At times like this I would hate myself and the vile things I was doing, but because I was yielding to it, I had little control over myself. After a few years I was having a lot more good months and even years than bad ones, but there were still occasions when I was tempted and fell. During the times that I fell I could definitely feel the presence of something that was not of the Lord take me over. It was becoming very apparent to me that the Devil was out to destroy me and my usefulness to the Lord. Seeing that helped me strengthen my resolve.
Also every time I tried to make myself throw up, I would start bleeding from my throat, and that scared me. I thought I was going to get cancer and die. My desire to fight and give no place to the Enemy was getting stronger, and I was able to ask for help more, so the battles decreased.
In 1990 and 1991 I had my last bouts of real bad battles that lasted for about two weeks to a month. I would feel guilty about the amount I had eaten, or if I felt I had overdone it I would end up feeling very guilty. I had constant inner battles, with one voice telling me that I should just throw it up, and the other warning me not to give place to it. I got the victory though, and after that period it became easier for me. Over the past few years, I have not been plagued very often with these thoughts anymore. I wouldn't say that I have attained, but it is miraculous that I can enjoy a meal without feeling guilty. Thank You Jesus!
In my life in the Family, I have come across a few girls I felt were extremely close to the place I fought so hard to get out of. It was sometimes difficult to be around them, as my spirit would pick up on theirs, and it would be battle time again. On the other hand, I could not let it pass, as I wanted them to know that the Enemy plays for keeps, and how for me those times were some of the darkest in my life. I know how King David felt when he said that the Lord brought him up out of the miry pit.
I am not sure to what extent I had this illness; I never had it diagnosed and never was treated by the medical profession. The Lord did it all! At times I was extremely thin and proud of it, and even then still felt like I was fat! Looking back now, I can see it was all a deception, as I looked awful, and to tell the truth, except for that one month in my life when I was taking the contraceptive pill, I had never had cause to be concerned about my weight.
In an old Letter Dad said that anorexics are self-righteous (see ML #2911:120, Vol.21), and although initially I felt that it was a bit unfair to say that, knowing all the battles they go through, I now agree! I would even say that in my case—and I would venture to say in most cases affecting Christians—it is demon oppression. Thank God for the victory we have through Jesus!
The thing that people fail to realize when they fall into this pit of comparing themselves to others is that the Lord handles all of us differently.—And what's good for you, may not be good for someone else! The Lord knows what's best for us, so He gives us all what He knows will help us each to grow the most and learn the particular lessons He is trying to teach us.—ML #2672:33
Update from Esther:
It has been four years now since I wrote the above testimony, and I am very thankful for the way the Lord has helped me to hold on to my victories. I have had two more children since then, and through both pregnancies I had very few battles with my diet. This is miraculous, as pregnancy used to be a severe testing time for me. Although it was still slightly difficult for me, I managed to keep fighting and give NO place to the Devil. Thank You Jesus!
I wish I could say that I don't have battles, but for sure they don't have a big hold on me anymore. I am now able to enjoy a good meal without any guilt, and am eating some starch at every meal and enjoying it! I can also enjoy a healthy snack, ice cream, etc., on occasion, which is something I would never have managed before. As with all girls, I do not want to get overweight, and I haven't just let go and let it all hang out. On the other hand, I don't spend valuable time worrying about it so much.
One suggestion that might be a help to others who have similar battles is to just take one day at a time. After my initial deliverance, in the beginning I had big battles about people expecting me to eat a big plate of food all of a sudden. I slowly increased my intake of all those I considered offending foods (but that were actually good for me), until I was eating reasonable amounts. It was hard for my faith to stretch to an all-out immediate victory. If I thought too far ahead, I would often relapse and start battling again and then would be discouraged. Taking baby steps and walking according to my faith was a real key, although I had to make sure that I was making progress. The Lord never allowed me to get away with standing still either, and would faithfully check me along the way. My job was to stay open, yielded and ready to keep fighting.
I certainly pray for anyone who has similar battles, as I know what a hold it had on me, and what a big battle it has been. Keep fighting! It certainly is worth it!
Whenever we are tempted to complain about whatever our problems are, it's very easy to find others with much greater problems than ours. And if we take the time for this little exercise in comparison, without exception we come out feeling much better and very happy and thankful for all our blessings!—ML #2621:53
I faced a scary choice: Eat or die
By Marya Hornbacher
(From USA WEEKEND, Feb. 20-22, 1998)
Hornbacher is the winner of a White Award for Best Freelance Story of 1993—a story that grew into a new book, Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia. Now 23, she doesn't discuss her weight, as part of her ongoing recovery. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband.
I became bulimic at age 9, anorexic at 15. At 16, I walked into the revolving door of hospitalizations that career eating-disordered people get stuck in. I still manage to get out only for brief periods. In 1993, I hit bottom at 52 pounds and was given a week to live. Faced with a choice—eat or die—I ate. It was not as easy a choice as one might expect. In fact, it was the most difficult one I've ever made.
I keep having to make it, every day.
Today I appear, to our skewed cultural eye, relatively healthy. My body doesn't know that. What it knows is that I've been starving it for nearly 15 years, careening from bulimia to anorexia and back again. In the back of my mind, I understood thinness as a synonym for control, control for respect—respect I thought would finally let me feel worthwhile. As I wasted my life in search of something that doesn't exist—that perfect body, perfect self—my body ate itself away. And now it doesn't work.
My lifelong struggle
I battle this illness both in the hospital and out and in again. I've been hospitalized seven times.
I am 23; my body thinks it's far older than that. My bones are brittle, my heart weak and erratic, my esophagus and stomach riddled with ulcers, my reproductive system shot, my immune system useless. But I'm alive.
I'm alive. That, for me, is a daily surprise and delight. Having lived so long in the dark, cold place that is profound obsession, the small pleasures of living have incredible meaning for me.
And though this is a constant struggle, though my eating disorder is still at my back, I am better able now to sense it and fend it off.
An eating disorder, while also an addiction, is in some ways a simple way of avoiding the pain of regular life. Every emotion, every struggle, is reduced to a war between you and food.
To bring myself back from the edge, I had to question the belief that self [who I really am] and image [how I see myself] are one and the same. I had to decide whether I would continue my frantic quest for thinness, or find something more important to do with my time.
This is an ongoing process. I struggle daily with food, with my image in the mirror. But four years ago, I didn't even put up a fight. Now, more often than not, I win: I eat, I work, I live my life.
I began to get well, I think, when I realized that I had been living a lie. I was living for thinness, as so many millions of people—so many of them women—are. It's no way to live.
Though I sometimes fall back, and though I am constantly reminded of just how powerful the forces of this disease can be, I am nevertheless learning, finally, to live.
(Jesus, please help this woman, and so many like her, who battle this spiritual disease without knowing they can call on You for help. You are stronger than any other spiritual force—a strong tower we can run into and be safe. Help us to share Your loving Words with the world, so people like her can have Your power over this and other addictions that plague modern man. And help us to treasure the gift of life You've given us, Jesus. Help us, to be good stewards of these bodies of ours, which we sometimes forget are the houses You live in, the temples You choose to inhabit. Help us to be thankful for our bodies, and to let You shine through, Jesus, with Your beauty, the true beauty and attractiveness of Your Spirit. Amen.)
(Excerpts of an article by Stephen S. Hall, NY Times News Service.)
Tormented by an unattainable ideal, boys are learning what girls have long known: it isn't easy living in a `Baywatch' world.
There is a kind of timeless, archetypal trajectory to a teen-ager's battle with body image, but in most accounts the teen-ager is female and the issue is anorexia or bulimia. As any psychologist knows, however, and as any sufficiently evolved adult male could tell you, boys have body-image problems, too. Traditionally, they have felt pressure to look not thin, but rather strong and virile, which increasingly seems to mean looking bulked up and muscular.
Still, a lot has changed since I was 15. A number of psychologists with whom I spoke returned to the same point again and again: the cultural messages about an ideal male body, if not new, have grown more insistent, more aggressive, more widespread and more explicit in recent years.
Since roughly 90 percent of teen-agers who are treated for eating disorders are female, boys still have a way to go. But to hear some psychologists tell it, boys may be catching up in terms of insecurity and even psychological pathology.
Katharine Phillips, a psychiatrist at the Brown University School of Medicine, has specialized in body dysmorphic disorder, a psychiatric illness in which patients become obsessively preoccupied with perceived flaws in their appearance—receding hairlines, facial imperfections, small penises, inadequate musculature. In a study on 30 cases of imagined ugliness, Phillips and colleagues described a surprisingly common condition in males whose symptoms include excessive checking of mirrors and attempts to camouflage imagined deformities, most often of the hair, nose and skin. The average age of onset, Phillips says, is 15.
Two years ago, Harrison G. Pope Jr., of Harvard Medical School, and his colleagues published a modest paper called Muscle Dysmorphia: An Under-recognized Form of Body Dysmorphic Disorder in a relatively obscure journal called Psychosomatics. The study described a group of men and women who had become pathologically preoccupied by their body image and were convinced that they looked small and puny, even though they were bulging with muscles.
You don't have to buy the alarmism to appreciate that boys, like girls, are keenly aware of, and insecure about, their physical appearance. Boys, unlike some girls, do not talk about it with their parents, other adults or even among themselves, at least in part for fear of being perceived as sensitive, a code word for weak. Indeed, they tease each other, on a scale from casually nasty to obsessively cruel, about any perceived flaws, many of which involve some physical difference—size, shape, complexion, coordination—and since adolescent teasing begs for an audience, much of this physical ridicule occurs in school.
I had gone to see [Pope] and his colleague Roberto Olivardia. Olivardia emptied a shopping bag full of male action dolls onto a coffee table in the office. The loot lay in a heap, a plastic orgy of &&&superhero beefcake — three versions of G.I. Joe (Hasbro's original 1964 version plus two others) and one G.I. Joe Extreme, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo in their 1978 and mid-90's versions, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Batman, Superman, Iron Man and Wolverine.
Once Pope and Olivardia gathered new and vintage action figures, they measured their waist, chest and biceps dimensions and projected them onto a 5-foot-10-inch male. Where the original G.I. Joe projected to a man of average height with a 32-inch waist, 44-inch chest and 12-inch biceps, the more recent figures have not only bulked up, but also show much more definition. Batman has the equivalent of a 30-inch waist, 57-inch chest and 27-inch biceps. If he was your height, Pope told me, holding up Wolverine, he would have 32-inch biceps. Larger, that is, than any bodybuilder in history.
Now let it be said that measuring the styrene hamstrings of G.I. Joe does not represent 20th-century science at its most glorious. But Pope says it's a way to get at what he calls evolving American cultural ideals of male body image. Those ideals, he maintains, create cultural expectations that may contribute to body-image disorders in men.
Since the early 1990s, evidence has emerged suggesting that a small number of adult males suffer from extreme body-image disorders. In 1993, in a study of steroid use among male weightlifters, Pope discovered that 10 percent of the subjects perceived themselves as physically small and weak, even though they were in fact large and muscular.
Researchers termed this syndrome reverse anorexia nervosa and started looking for more cases. Two years ago, the Pope group renamed this disorder muscle dysmorphia, the more specialized condition that involves an obsessive preoccupation with muscularity. Men who were clearly well developed and, by anyone's standards, exceedingly muscular, repeatedly expressed the feeling that they were too small, too skinny and too weak, to the point that their obsessive quest to build up their bodies began to interfere with work and relationships—in short, their entire lives.
I look in the mirror and I don't see what other people see, Alexander told me. I look in the mirror, and I see my flaws.
A Word from Jesus on How He Made Us
My wish is for all the young teens, older teens, YAs, and SGAs to accept themselves with the body that I have given them. All are different, but each is attractive in his or her own way. Yes, they can develop their bodies but it should not be a preoccupation, an obsession, to the point that they think they are not worth anything if they do not have big muscles. The most important thing is the heart and the spirit. So while girls appreciate My creation in a well-built young man, they will primarily look for those who give and return love, who are vessels of My love and allow themselves to be recipients of My love as well; they will look at how the boys act—their kindness, gentleness, whether they show love and are considerate.
The standards of the world, in men's bodies as well as in other things, can lead to snobbery, exclusion, hurtful comments and not appreciating the Spirit. But My love and My standards lead to acceptance, understanding, appreciation of the finer qualities of a person, love for him or her for who they are, and embracing the deepest wishes and prayers of their heart. This is real love, and this is eternal—it will last even when bodies are weak or in need of comfort because of some handicap or affliction.
So look for the Spirit that satisfies and for My love in each other, and you will not be disappointed. And remember that I made each of you different so that the world would not be boring and there would be something for everyone! You are all perfectly formed in your own way, as David said, Thy hands have made me and fashioned me. I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psa. 119:73; 139:14). I love you! Love, your Jesus.
By Mary Mom, Europe
(Editor's note: There's been a lot in this mag about going overboard and dieting to the extreme, but at the same time the Lord may lead some of you to watch what you eat or go on a diet because of actually being overweight. If so, He can help you do it healthfully. Those over 40 often have to change their eating habits, as they begin to put on weight more easily. However, young bodies need more food as they are growing and are more active. Take advantage of Heaven's counsel on how to stay a good weight, in shape and healthy!—Ask the Lord for specifics on your food intake and exercise, as He knows you better than anyone, and wants you to be a beautiful sample and take good care of your body. The following class gives information on what a teen or young adult body needs.)
Many teen girls I have come in contact with have thought they were overweight—or at least want to be skinnier than they are naturally. As you enter your teens, you ladies start to get some hips and thighs and your breasts start to grow. You're just growing into your adult, womanly body, which of course, is different than your little-girl body—more filled out and curvy. This is natural; it's just a new shape the Lord's giving you.
I thought you'd be interested to know some of the things that can happen to you while you're still growing if you don't have a proper balance of nutrients in your diet. (And these problems can happen to older folks who miss out on important elements in their eating, too.)
I'm not against all dieting. There are certain ways to diet that are fine, as long as you have the energy and nutritional input that you need. But the crash diets—not eating breakfast, trying to sneak a cup of coffee here and there to replace a meal, only eating fruit or vegetables for lunch and a tiny bit of starch and meat for dinner—can do some of the following things to you.
Now you may not think you're experiencing any of these things while you're dieting so you may pooh-pooh this whole thing. But nevertheless, if you're on a crash diet or an unbalanced diet, these processes are taking place in your body to different degrees, whether you realize it or not.
Live at Full Capacity
I'll start off with a quote from Adele Davis from her book Let's Get Well, pg. 8:
Within each of us is an immeasurable capacity for love, understanding, compassion, creativity, joy and positive qualities! The tragedy of illness is that it prevents the full expression of outgoing, healthy emotions and creative abilities. Instead, it focuses abnormal attention inward, upon one's self, causing one to retreat into a body that may become a prison with dungeon and torture chambers.
I feel that the achievement of health is worth considerable effort and attention because it can add happiness to our lives and to others', can help us to know love and warmth, song, laughter and music, to experience the joy of creativity and the satisfaction of accomplishments well done and to have wide interests. It seems to me that health also can bring the oneness of understanding, the silence of meditation and the whisper of prayer. We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are.
Problems Resulting from Poor Nutrition
The following symptoms can be caused by something other than a poor diet. But poor diet, nevertheless can cause some of these problems in your body—especially in young, growing, maturing ones preparing for adulthood.
Health problems for girls:
Painful, irregular, scanty or heavy periods.
Dull, brittle hair that splits and breaks easily, hair that is falling out or thinning hair.
Cellulite build-up.
Increased irritability and upheaval in emotions during period time.
Health loss in general (both boys and girls):
Lethargy and lack of energy.
Muscle aches and pains when trying to exercise.
Bruises.
Pimples.
Pale face and eyes.
Constipation.
Insomnia.
Nail biting and nervousness.
Lack of sex drive.
Low blood sugar (waking up in the morning feeling dizzy, sluggish and slow to get to work, not so much ability to concentrate).
Unhappiness and moodiness.
Indecisiveness.
Poor appetite.
So as you can see, you can often be on a bummer just from poor health!—It may not have anything to do with the Devil or anybody else (although the Devil will sure have a heyday with it!); it may just be that your body's not getting what it needs!
When you girls' bodies are changing, what you mainly need is good exercise, proper sleep and rest, and the right foods.
How to Feel Good and Have Energy
The following quote is from Nutritional Healing by James F. Balch, M.D. and Philis A. Balch, C.N.C., from the chapter Nutrition, Diet and Wellness, pg.11:
In order to maintain proper health and well-being, many nutrients are needed by the body. People who are active and exercise regularly need higher doses of nutrients.
In addition to a proper diet, exercise and a positive attitude are two important elements that are needed to prevent sickness and disease. If your lifestyle accounts for each of these, you will feel good and have more energy—something we all deserve. The nutrients listed below are recommended for good health:
Vitamins A (beta carotene), B complex, (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, pyridoxine, folic acid, inositol, choline, PABA, and vitamin B12) C, D, E, F, K, bioflavonoids, hesperidin, and rutin.
Minerals: calcium, chromium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, potassium, selenium and zinc.
(Editor's note: Amino acids are also needed nutrients. There are 20 amino acids, of which at least eight are essential: isoleucine, leucine, methionine, lysine, trpytophane, phenylalanine, threyonine, valine, and sometimes histidine. They are found in protein.)
Where to Find What Your Body Needs
The following is a list of foods where you can obtain the above vitamins and minerals. (Hopefully you can find something amongst these food groups that you like, and can find and afford.)
Vitamin A (beta-carotene): fish oils, alfalfa, apricots, asparagus, beets, broccoli, cantaloupe, carrots, Swiss chard, dandelion greens, garlic, kale, mustard, papayas, parsley, peaches, red peppers, sweet potatoes, spinach, spirulina, pumpkin and yellow squash, turnip greens and watercress.
Vitamin B (thiamine): dried beans, brown rice, egg yolks, fish, peanuts, peas, poultry, rice bran, soybeans, wheat germ, whole grains, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, most nuts, oatmeal, plums, dried prunes and raisins.
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin): beans, cheese, eggs, fish, meat, milk, poultry, spinach, yogurt, asparagus, avocados, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, currants and nuts.
Vitamin B3 (niacin, niacinamide, nicotinic acid): beef, broccoli, carrots, cheese, corn flour, eggs, fish, milk, potatoes, tomatoes and whole wheat.
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid): beans, beef, eggs, saltwater fish, fresh vegetables and whole wheat.
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine): brewer's yeast, carrots, chicken, eggs, fish, meat, peas, spinach, sunflower seeds, walnuts, wheat germ, avocado, bananas, beans, blackstrap molasses, brown rice, and other whole wheat grains, cabbage and cantaloupe.
Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin): cheese, eggs, kidney, milk, seafood and tofu. It is not found in vegetables; it is available only from animal sources.
Biotin: cooked egg yolk, saltwater fish, meat, milk, poultry, soybeans, whole grains and yeast.
Choline: egg yolks, legumes, meat, milk and whole grain cereals.
Folic Acid: barley, beans, beef, bran, brewer's yeast, brown rice, cheese, chicken, dates, green leafy vegetables, lamb, lentils, milk, oranges, split peas, root vegetables, salmon, tuna, wheat germ, whole grains, whole wheat and yeast.
Inositol: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meats and milk.
PABA: molasses and whole grains.
Vitamin C: asparagus, avocados, beets, greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cantaloupe, collards, currants, grapefruit, kale, lemons, mangoes, mustard greens, onions, oranges, papayas, parsley, green peas, sweet peppers, persimmons, pineapple, radishes, rose hips, spinach, strawberries, kiwis, Swiss chard, tomatoes, turnip greens and watercress.
Vitamin D: fish liver oils, fatty saltwater fish, dairy products fortified with Vitamin D (e.g., milk), eggs, alfalfa, butter, egg yolk, halibut, oatmeal, salmon, sardines, sweet potatoes, tuna and vegetable oils. Also can be manufactured internally from the action of sunlight on the skin.
Vitamin E: cold-pressed vegetable oils, whole grains, dark green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, legumes, dry beans, brown rice, cornmeal, eggs, oatmeal, sweet potatoes and wheat germ.
Vitamin K: alfalfa, broccoli, dark green leafy vegetables, soybeans, blackstrap molasses, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, egg yolk, oatmeal, oats, rye, safflower oil and wheat.
Bioflavonoids: The white material just beneath the peel of citrus fruits, peppers, buckwheat and black currants.
Vitamin F (unsaturated or essential fatty acids): apricots, cherries, grapefruit, grapes, lemons, oranges, prunes, rose hips, seeds, wheat germ, fish oils, primrose oil, flaxseed (linseed) oil, and the golden vegetable oils such as soy, safflower, and corn.
More Protein Anyone? Some Meat Substitutes
Would you like to hear some ways to have more protein in your diet from sources other than meat, in case you can't get enough of it on a regular basis, or need to cut down for health reasons?
Complete proteins are necessary for sustenance of life. They provide the structure for all living things and participate in the chemical processes enabling life to go on. The following food combinations add up to a complete protein. Although each food lacks one or more of the necessary amino acids, together they are a complete protein and a good substitute for meat:
- Beans combined with any one of the following: cheese, corn, nuts (all), rice, seeds (all), brown rice, or wheat.
- Brown rice combined with the following: beans, cheese, nuts, sesame seeds and wheat.
- A combination of any grain, all nuts and seeds, legumes (such as beans, peanuts and peas) and a variety of mixed vegetables.
By adding any of the above combinations to meals, the body will not require animal protein.
(Editor's note: For any of our FGA crowd who may be reading this article, protein sources other than meat are worth looking into if you are interested in limiting your intake of animal fat and cholesterol because of heart problems, high blood pressure, or other health difficulties.)
All soybean products such as tofu and soybean milk are complete proteins. The availability of foods that are complete proteins when eaten alone is limited. Soybean products, however, contain the essential amino acids, plus several other nutrients, and are used to round out the vegetarian diet. Soy oil, soy flour, soy imitation meat products, cheese and many other soy products are available in most countries.
Yoghurt is a high-quality source of protein that is derived from animals. (Editor's note: The author is saying this because yoghurt does not contain the fat and cholesterol that is associated with meat, whole milk, and cheese.) Yoghurt also contains Vitamins A and D, as well as the B complex.
Wonder Foods
Say the Lord has confirmed your cutting down on certain foods—would you like to have more energy at the same time? The following excerpts are taken from Know Your Nutrition by Linda Clark. The section is called High-Power Foods, pg. 222:
Brewer's yeast is one of the biggest food finds of the century. This is not a calculated guess; it is a fact as proved with thousands upon thousands of cases of health improvement resulting from its use. A list of its contents explains why it is such a high-powered food. It contains all of the major B vitamins (except B12, which can be especially bred into it), 19 amino acids (making it a complete protein), and 18 or more minerals. Except for vitamins A, E and C, which it lacks, it can be considered a whole food.
Wheat germ is a superior food. The U.S. Department of Agriculture considers it an excellent food for the following reasons: `A grain of wheat, like all seeds, contains the nutrient needed for germination and growth of the seedling. Protein, minerals, B vitamins, fat and carbohydrates are present in the right proportion. The germ or embryo contains a large proportion of the vitamins and protein of superior quality. White flour, as it is milled today has removed the germ, also the greater part of minerals and vitamins and much of the protein. Losses in milling are even higher for some less familiar nutrients. For example, Vitamin E is present in high concentrations in the oil of the wheat germ. Nearly all of this vitamin is removed with [the removal from white flour of] the germ.'
Sunflower seeds. Most seeds are an excellent source of many nutrients, but sunflower seeds take the prize. They raise the blood sugar naturally through protein content and are much wiser to take than something sweet.
Alfalfa is said to be one of the most complete and nutritionally rich of all foods tested. It's high in protein and contains every essential amino acid. It has a fabulously high potency of vitamins as well as minerals. (Editor's note: E-coli bacteria may be carried by raw alfalfa and bean sprouts, so please check into the conditions for their growth in your country and clean these accordingly—or cook them, when in doubt.)
Cultured milks are of great value for health. Cultured milks include kefir, cultured buttermilk and yogurt.
Blackstrap molasses is a food that you may hear belittled. Those who do not understand nutrition may consider blackstrap a fad. Blackstrap molasses contains: calcium, phosphorus, iron, copper, potassium, inositol, thiamin, and riboflavin.
Sprouts. Many seeds and nuts are nutritionally rich. They contain Vitamin E as well as protein and other vitamins and minerals.
(Excerpts of an article by Dave Barry, Miami Herald.)
If there's one ideal that unites all Americans, it's the belief that every single one of us, regardless of ethnic background, is fat.
It was not always this way. There was a time, not so long ago, when Americans did not obsess about fat. In those days, a man could be portly and still be considered attractive. The standards were also more lenient for women: Marilyn Monroe, whom nobody ever called skinny, was a major sex goddess.
By today's beauty standards, of course, Marilyn Monroe was an oil tanker. Today's beauty ideal, strictly enforced by the media, is a person with the same level of body fat as a paper clip. Turn on your TV, and all you see are men and women who would rather have both eyeballs removed via corkscrew than eat a slice of pizza. These are genetic mutants: You can see their muscles, veins and neck bones almost bursting through their fat-free skin. I don't know who decided that the see-through look was attractive; I, personally, have never heard anybody express lust for anybody else's internal organs. But we normal humans are constantly exposed to the zero-fat mutants in the media, and we naturally assume that we're supposed to look like them. This is of course impossible, but we try. We diet constantly, especially young women, many of whom now start dieting while still in the womb.
Will this craziness ever end? Will Americans ever come to their senses and stop wasting millions and millions of dollars on hopeless efforts to look like people who don't really look like people? I hope not, because I'm planning to cash in on this. I got my idea from a wonderful newspaper article, sent in by alert veterinarian Steven Berry, from the April 7, 1999, edition of the Leader-News of Central City, Ky. The article, written by Paul Camplin, is headlined COBBS INVENTED ODD SPORT OF BEE FIGHTING AS FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT. It concerns the descendants of Bunn and Betty Cobb of Calhoun, Ky., who have gotten together annually for about 70 years to fight wild bees for fun. The article, which I am not making up, is illustrated by photos of members of the extended Bunn family, including grandparents, wildly waving branches at bees.
When I saw those photos, I knew I was looking at a gold mine. I'm talking about the Next Big Fitness Trend: Tae-Bee. I'm going to make a 30-minute TV infomercial wherein enthusiastic hired mutants stress the benefits of bee-fighting (... and while you're OUCH burning fat, your arm motion is also OUCH building those OUCH ... ).
So laugh if you want: I'm going to get rich on this thing. And then I'm going to hire a personal trainer. His sole job will be to order my pizza.
From Growing Up Healthy, by Myron Winick, M.D.
Adolescents of both sexes require increased amounts of virtually all nutrients.
First and perhaps most important, the adolescent—particularly the adolescent boy—requires more energy in the form of calories.
Requirements for protein also increase, again more in boys than in girls, because of the heavy demands made by the body as it deposits more muscle tissue. Many foods contain generous amounts of protein. Of course, meats and fish are high in it, but dairy products, eggs, and peanut butter can also supply needed protein. Many vegetables, when consumed in the right combination, can supply adequate amounts of good-quality protein.
To supply the additional calories and protein that you require, complex carbohydrates (such as whole grains and starches) are best, since they supply both calories and vitamins and minerals, which are also needed in increased amounts during adolescence. Natural sources of sugars, such as fruits, some vegetables, and juices supply vitamins and minerals along with the calories.
he requirements for virtually all of the vitamins and minerals are greater during adolescence. The increased appetite should ordinarily take care of these needs. The most important vitamins usually in short supply are folic acid and Vitamins A and C. Supplementation is generally not necessary if the diet is varied—fruits and juices for Vitamin C, cereals for B vitamins (which include folic acid), and yellow vegetables and fortified foods for Vitamin A.
hree minerals—iron, calcium, and zinc—are particularly needed in larger amounts during adolescence. Iron requirements increase markedly in boys because of the greater volume of blood necessary to supply the growing tissues and the increased number of red blood cells. Although the need for iron does not increase as much in girls, they begin to lose iron regularly as menstruation starts. Hence they require more iron in their diets just to keep their iron levels constant.
uring this period the body's need for calcium is greater than at any other time of life. The skeleton contains virtually all of the body stores of calcium, and about 45 percent of the total adult skeletal mass is laid down during adolescence. [Note: Most soft drinks contain phosphates—as well as a lot of white sugar—which inhibits calcium absorption somewhat. If you're eating out, a better choice is fruit juice or milk or even a real milkshake, which supplies some calcium!]
Jesus speaking:) Most important for teens is for them to get the building blocks they need while their bodies are in the formative stages—these are the vitamins, minerals and proteins. Then they also need carbohydrates, so that their bodies can have something to burn as energy. But they can get these carbohydrates in the form of non-fattening carbs, or healthful energy sources. It's fine to have snacks every now and then, but they shouldn't rely just on snacks for their caloric intake—for fuel to burn. They should also have some complex carbohydrates such as potatoes, bread, and whole-wheat pasta. Avoiding too much fat is a good practice—like butter, oil, and mayonnaise in excess, but again, moderation is the key, because some of this is needed to oil the body mechanism, prevent dry skin, etc. Too much can result in pimples and acne, so teens often need to stay away from too much oil, as well as too much sugar.
ost of all, food is to be enjoyed—not indulged in immoderately, nor neglected and avoided so that bad health results. Ask Me to help you find the right balance, so that you will be happy and healthy serving Me—a testimony to others of the good life you lead and how well I take care of you. Your Father David summed up many good health rules in his Health Revolution (see MO's Pointers for Health, ML #353, Vol.3), and if you follow those, as well as the additional counsel that has been poured out to you in the Family pubs, you will do well.
lease remember to take good care of yourself! You belong to Me, and I love you. I want you to be beautiful or handsome—and you are! Just keep on taking care of what I've given you—your body, the temple I live in—and you will be the best packaging there is of My message of love to the world.
hank you for being faithful to pass on My love to those around you, and to the needy ones outside the Family. I need you and can't do the job without you! So take good care of My package—you!—and you'll find great happiness in fulfilling the role I have for you, in being an appealing and attractive bearer of My Words and message of love, liberation and hope to the world. (End of message.)