Is Food Your Focus? Struck Truck
By: Lynn Bolster
Food. We all must eat to live but what happens when food becomes our focus? I’ve known many drivers who have battled obesity and health issues. The sad part is they have more control over their bodies than they realize. I never knew this either but had a couple of experiences that led me to the light. I waitressed at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant in high school and our cook Mark, was a marathon runner. When I heard about this, I couldn’t believe anyone could run 26.2 miles and not die. I was fascinated. I tried running, it was okay; I didn’t stick with it, but it never left my mind.
When I went away to school, I put on some weight my first year there. I needed a way to drop it but I didn’t want to diet. So I went to the track, remembering Mark, and began to run laps, real slow laps. Then a gal in really good shape passed me and I thought how do I get like that? I vowed to come back each day. The next morning after weigh-in I knew I had to go after seeing the disappointing numbers. On day four, after having run that morning, I spied pound cake and ice cream for dessert at lunch. I knew I shouldn’t eat it but I decided to anyway, knowing I was doing deliberate damage. The next day I weighed in and I had lost two pounds! How could this be?
So I tried running and eating whatever I wanted within reason for the next week and I continued to either lose or maintain what I had lost. And it came to me: as long as I paid my ‘running insurance’ I was able to eat whatever I wanted! I could see my metabolism was changing, a huge motivator. I was hooked on going to the track and watching my progress; the weight disappeared. I even felt my scalp sweat for the first time! I’ve been running and distance walking ever since and also ran some races over the years. When we were trucking, it was hard to do but I made time on the weekends to fit it into my schedule. Show up, be consistent, pay your ‘insurance’, go slow, and pick a specific distance as a goal, a mile is a good start. I have had more success running or walking to lose weight first, then lifting weights to tone things up afterward.
The second experience happened when I worked at a girl’s summer camp in Maine. A camp counselor, Julie, was anorexic, an eating disorder where the person has a very low body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight, a flawed way of seeing their body, and may exercise compulsively. We were all concerned for her. There was only one male counselor on staff and he said something I never forgot: “Food was never meant to be what society has made it. It’s not for comfort, it’s not for celebration, it’s not to ward off boredom, it’s not for rewarding yourself…its true purpose is to keep us alive.” And when you think about it, that IS all it is. When he said that, something clicked for me. To this day, I rarely use food for those things, and I try not to eat my feelings. Why has it become so much more? Don’t let any of these things win – discouragement, depression, past mistakes or rejection steal your self-worth. Why are you using food as comfort, what’s eating you?? Dr. Phil says we must require more of ourselves to address our issues and face those fears.
Evangelist Billy Graham said: “The Bible speaks about weight issues, both directly and in a general way. I hope you’ll take what it says seriously, because even if your weight isn’t causing health problems now, eventually it will — as every doctor will attest. One reason the Bible warns us against obesity is that it’s often a sign that food has become too important to us, a sign of gluttony, an idol. God gave our bodies to us, and he wants us to take care of them. First Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” Those of you on the road may not be able to apply some of the things in this story but I’m sure you can take something away from it that you can use. Please take these words seriously and make a commitment to honor Christ by the way you live, especially the way you eat.
