To want or not to want... Lust is the question.

Before I begin to describe the pictures below, I'd like to first talk about the title of this post. (My intentions are not to single out the men from this post, buuut I'm thinking that what I have to say applies more to the women).  To want or not to want, lust is the question. If there is ONE thing, the majority of all women have in common, its the rigors of dieting, eating healthy or adapting to a healthier lifestyle. Let's be honest ladies, any time we begin a new eating regimen, before we have established the details of it, we've already established our "cheat day(s)", right? I know, I know, it's a humbling truth but that's a good thing and the purpose for this post.
The Battle
The question on the table is WHY? Why do we have cheat days? Why do we feel we NEED a cheat day (or days for some of us)? Lastly, why do we have such a hard time sticking to what we know is better for us to do? In this post, I will address these questions with the answers I've been shown and I pray they will help you, encourage you and if nothing else, prompt you to taking an honest look at yourself.
Lust vs. Covet
Most of the time when we hear the word 'lust', our minds tend to place upon it at least 3 sexual connotations. When we hear the word 'lust' in reference to a person, well then we just put those 3 sexual connotations upon that person, huh? Lust is so much more than sexual immorality and desire. Lust can be very similar to coveting, but not similar enough to use them interchangeably as some do. To covet, one may just have vain wants, "I want this, I want that, I want, I want, I want"!! To have that persistent want, can be traced to a heart issue. There's a void/emptiness of some sort that a person is looking to fill, but doesn't quite know what the void is or even what it is they need to fill it.  Of course it's okay to want things, but it's the on-going want of vain desires that brings one to covet. Lust however, is similar in the persistent want, but with lust, one tends to have a concentrated focus of what they always want and never reaches a place of sufficient satisfaction in it, just temporal satisfaction, therefore the want continues. Lust, much like coveting, can also stem from a void, but more so, selfish, sensual desire.  With coveting, you can want something, get it, then want something else. With lust, you have a bottomless pit of non-stop want of that particular thing or things. There's hardly ever too much of that thing. Most importantly, lust is thoroughly damaging and corruptive to your mind and spirit because it is so self satisfying. When driven of lust, you will arrange your entire lifestyle and the people in it around you getting what you want. If something gets in the way of that, you either force it to succumb to your lust or do away with it so that you can still have your lust.
The Correlation
I'm sure you're thinking, "what in the world does this have to do with eating healthy"? Well, I'll tell you. A lust for food is something that I (and most women) personally struggle with. Food for us or anyone for that matter that perhaps struggles with healthy eating, weight or low self esteem due to weight, is such a comfort for us. (When I say comfort, I'm not referring to what's cliché. Society demonstrates food comfort as one who eats their emotions, which makes absolutely no sense to me at all. How can I eat what derives from me? I digress). It's comforting in that we're getting exactly what we want how we want to suit how we feel. We're often moody, hormonal and overall carrying many things in our spiritual womb (these are NOT excuses, but it is the way God made us). In a nutshell, a women tends to have 100 things her mind is on, 100 things her heart is set on and another 100 things her spirit is picking up on (and that's not "women's intuition", again, it's the spiritual womb God gave us). So with all this going on, it makes a lot of sense why we would lean to food to bring forth some sort of relief, alleviation of what burdens us or even a degree of happiness and temporary contentment. It's as if the palette of our tongue is ever changing and has a taste bud for each of those categories, so when we eat our food of choice, it caters to that palette.
The Proposed Questions and Answers
Earlier I presented 3 questions:
1. Why do we have cheat days?
2. Why do we feel we NEED a cheat day (or days for some of us)?
3. Lastly, why do we have such a hard time sticking to what we know is better for us to do?
(Please keep in mind, the answers I'm giving are what was shown to me about me. If they apply to you and help you, awesome. If they do not apply, again, I pray they will prompt you to have an honest glance at yourself and seek your own).

For the first question I found that much like my walk in Christ, I tend to slip and fall in the same areas. Those areas being weaknesses that I harbor. Instead of subjecting them to Him, I tend to lean toward what satisfies my body, my feelings, my emotions, my attitude and even my own nonsensical logic and rationale. When my mind was made up (though I was spiritually led) that I would switch to an all raw lifestyle, MY body, feelings, emotions, attitude, logic and rationale said, "I'll do that for 6 days a week, but for one day a week, I have my meats and cooked foods, a.k.a a cheat day. Even in doing the right thing that I know to be better for me and beneficial, I just couldn't get over my carnality which needs its sensual desires met. Sure a better way of eating is great, we all know, buuut a fruit medley doesn't seem anywhere near as satisfying as three scoops of Oreo cookies and cream icecream, or whatever your edible vice may be. What I discovered is that my "cheat day" (or some times cheat days) were nothing more than me STILL giving over to the foods I lusted.

Why do we feel we NEED a cheat day? For most women, being told we shouldn't eat certain of our favorite foods is like telling us shouldn't have a mind to think for ourselves. YES, men, it gets that serious some times. We know what is better for us, but when lust pokes it's ugly head out, we give over to its demand and this is why I felt I NEEDED that cheat day. It's that part of me/us that even when doing better, that one particular area is still very much so, lust driven. I've seen many times in women that are on strict diets and even in myself, we'll say "oooh, that one little bite of that won't hurt, I've done really good for 4 consecutive days"... my response here, a little leaven, leavens the whole lump. In other words, doesn't matter if you have a barrel of dough, one pinch of yeast will still cause it to rise. One bad apple spoils the rest, etc, etc. We think it's harmless, but after we fully give in (because it never stops at one bite), our first response is, "I shouldn't have ate that" and we feel defeated, yet again, by food.

The last question was, why do we have such a hard time sticking to what we know is better for us to do? This may sound a bit confusing, but I'll explain. Sometimes, our heart may know what's best, but our head clouds our will to do it due to logic and rationale. If our heart is where the issue lies, then it may send a thought to our head that again, may not line up with the logic and rationale. However, if our head and our heart could be on one accord, we could successfully stick to that better thing for us. This process is also called CHANGE. If you apply a temporary fix to a temporary problem, you'll have a temporary streak in combatting that issue. Instead, we MUST take on a permanent fix for that temporary problem (and yes, it is temporary) to reap the results of a permanent outcome, no more streaks, actual change. If we never go to the source of a problem, we will never accurately and effectively diagnose what the problem is. If our car doesn't start, we don't rush to the store to replace a headlight. Instead, we take it to a mechanic, or one who is expert in auto mechanics because they will take a deeper look and tell us what's going on. Get it?  Instead of continuously cloaking your mental, spiritual, heart and even emotional problems with diet regimens, attack them head  on! Seek the underlining root or cause of the problem and then seek what needs to be done to effectively rectify it, without the streaks. (I say "no more streaks" and "without the streaks" because a streak is an indicator that it has or will come to an end, change does not. If I add blue to my red paint, the color is changed. If I want it red, then guess what? I must CHANGE it again).
The Key
In conclusion, I discovered that I'm not a "food head" or a big "foodie" as popular trending culture likes to disguise things. No, I discovered I have a lust issue, my weapon of choice just happened to be food due to all the things that are apart of me (nostalgia, hormones, personality, self will, emotion, etc) are satisfied when I eat what I want. There is hope and His name is Jesus. He's willing and waiting to intervene, but only if you let him.   


BAKED Eggplant Burgers! (A healthier alternative to hamburgers)
*One eggplant will render five standard sized patties*
What you will need:
1 Eggplant
2 or more Garlic cloves or to taste, I used 41/3 of an Onion or to taste
2 1/2 cups of Italian Breadcrumbs
Garlic
Salt
Powdered Sage
Chili Powder
Lemon Pepper seasoning.

Step 1. Preheat oven to 350. Lay the eggplant on its side and cut into thirds. Skin the eggplant and thinly slice much like the size of French fries.

 
Step 2. Dice the slices into small cubes, can be bigger or smaller but the smaller the better.   
 Step 3. Add two eggs and stir till yolk is thoroughly mixed in the eggplant. Add 2 1/2 cup of Italian bread crumbs, diced garlic and onion, and your seasoning of choice. I used powdered sage, garlic salt, chili powder and lemon pepper. Next, stir all together until mixture begins to clump and stick together as I circled here in the picture. If it's not clumping, add more breadcrumbs. (Don't be discouraged if you think you've added too much breadcrumbs. Like all vegetables, when cooked they secrete water, that water with the breadcrumbs and egg will act as your binding agent to hold your patties together).
  
Step 4. Spoon onto oiled (coconut, olive or grape seed) baking pan, then press and shape into patty formation. In a separate pan I thinly sliced the eggplant skin and sprinkled on some garlic salt. They will crisp after 25 minutes of baking. If you desire them softer, bake for 15 minutes.

Step 5. Be sure to space patties in the baking pan, if not they will stick when you bake them. (They will resemble meat patties if adequate breadcrumbs are added.

Step 6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until they look to have your desired outer crisp. Then remove, flip and bake for another 15-20 minutes. (Notice the textural difference).
 
 Step 7. Dress your bun as you would your favorite burger. I added mayo, lettuce and tomato with crisp skins as fries. Enjoy!