So... it's a bit late, but here's the update on how things went down with the pizza.

I did all right. I technically ate three pieces, but they were the smallest piece each from the pizza so I actually ended up eating less than two normal sized pieces. I did eat 1/2 of another small piece later that I was snagging for the J-man, and I did splurge and have a piece of dessert pizza later. So it was so-so. I did a really good job of dipping my fork into dressing and not eating loads of fatty dressing with the salad, and I loaded up on the carrots and cucumbers and avoided the cheese. It was lovely :)

Dinner wasn't the world's healthiest- there is this Seattle-famous chili tavern that Jas and I learned about on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network (we love Guy Fieri!) called Mike's. It actually may be Mike's Chili Bar. Same difference- we found out that it's literally about 30 yards away from our church in the Ballard area of Seattle. We have been attending the 8-week long membership class at our church, so we decided that for our last one we would have dinner at Mike's. That was last night, and I'll speak the truth- I had fries, a chili burger, and chili. Sounds horrible! But the good news is this: I had the small side of fries, the smallest serving (cup) of chili, and Jas and I split the chili burger. Calorically speaking, it was still a lot, but I had the peace of not eating just for my taste buds, but rather I ate controlled portions and didn't pork out. Lovely.

Today has been one of victory as well- I'm seeking to think on Jesus more through the day, to actually be prayerful about what I eat. To those who don't know Christ (and even to some who do!) that may sound ridiculous- why would Jesus care about whether to eat one chip when I walk by? The truth is, Jesus Christ is that intimately involved in the details of my life and He would love nothing more than that I acknowledge that and allow Him to the joy and center of my life in every way.

One cool thing is that a friend (remember the swell cookie idea? Yah, her again! She's so smart!) had an idea about filling up on my water bottle through the day, instead of snacking on junk, being a way to claim victory in Christ and overcome the sin of food addiction. I thought about that- this food addiction has overtaken areas of the lands of my soul and just devastated the life there. It's dry and wreaked with devastation. Only the Living Water (beautiful illustration of Jesus- read John 4) can ever restore any life into that area, and any attempts to irrigate in human wisdom will give the illusion of success but likely only weeds would take shallow root.

For this purpose, I'm going to treat my water bottle as a reminder of the Living Water. When I want to snack, I'll take a drink of water with the purpose of remembering that Jesus Christ will restore the lands the locusts overtook in my life. Food is an incredible blessing from God, but it was never meant to be my Daily Bread. If you are a Christian, I ask that you would pray for me to crave the Word of God with even more intensity than I ever craved food.

Today has been good to that end- we had Quizno's boxed lunches, and I chose to forego the condiments, to put the chips back, and to save the cookie for a day in the next week or so when I know I really, REALLY want it and not just because it's there.

Listen, friends; if you are also one struggling with your weight and eating habits, believe me when I tell you this- if I can refuse a bag of Doritos then anyone can overcome their struggle. I'm not even trying to be cute and funny. Keep up the battle, and thank you to all of you who are joining my ranks to encourage me in my personal war with this sin.