10 Diet Tips to Tame the Tongue

We all stumble. We all mean well, and still mess up. We try, and we fail – time after time after time. However, stumbling requires something: it requires action. Meaning, you can’t stumble if you are sitting down. Another words, as long as you are trying, you will stumble at some point. The key to success is to keep getting back up and moving forward again.

One of the biggest ways we stumble starts with our mouth. As our pastor reminded us yesterday that our tongue gets us in a heck of a lot of trouble. Then it got me thinking. My tongue doesn’t just get me in trouble with what comes OUT of my mouth, it gets me in trouble with what goes IN my mouth too.

I looked up the word tongue on my Olive Tree Bible app and I got 115 hits on the word tongue alone – most of which are very convincing words of just how powerful our tongue is – both for good and bad.

James wrote “Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.”(James 3:2). Basically he’s saying it’s impossible to control and that we’d have to be perfect to tame it – and last I checked, the only time we’ll be perfect is when we are dead in Heaven. With that said, even knowing how hard it is (actually impossible), we are still encouraged to TRY to tame our tongue.

I believe when things are SO difficult, that we often are tempted to just give up – and give in.  Listen, dieting is difficult and eating healthy can be challenging. We are not perfect and we are not always strong, BUT that doesn’t mean we quit trying.

Taming the tongue is something we should work on every day, every hour, every minute and every second of the day. If we can’t always say what we want, what makes us think we should be able to eat what we want. The answer is control, control, control!

10 Tips to Tame the Tongue

1. Use small salad plates instead of dinner plates to control portions.
2. Avoid dining out to prevent eating hidden calories cooked by a chef who cares more about how you think food tastes than your waistline.
3. Cook whole foods instead of casseroles and multi-ingredient dishes.
4. Eat 5-6 small snacks and meals a day instead of a couple large meals.
5. Eat prior to going to parties to avoid being hungry while surrounded by unhealthy foods.
6. Hang out with other Tongue Tamers. It’s easier to eat healthy around like-minded friends.
7. Split dinners when dining out to cut calories and cost.
8. Carry a protein bar with you for emergencies to avoid temptations.
9. Bring your lunch to work.
10. Just say “No”.

Watch recent messages from Calvary Chapel Vero Beach for more encouragement.