The Hope Hotline - The Hope Hotline | S01-55 | 07-26-23

Episode Date: July 26, 2023

Question #1 I like to gamble. Christians tell me all the time that I shouldn’t do it. I don’t see anywhere in the Bible where it says it’s a sin and when I do gamble, I set a limit on how much I allow myself to play. Question #2 All my life I have battled my weight and I would say I am not the most attractive person out there. People don’t treat me the same as other people. I’m not feeling sorry for myself I just know it is true. I’ve never really been excepted or popular. I want people to like me don’t know how to make friends. What should I do?

Hello and welcome to the podcast, Hope Hotline podcast. I'm so glad. Oh, let me fix that. You know what? I don't need to fix that. Got a new computer, people. And I thought I was going to have to fix something. I don't have to fix anything.

Nothing's showing. I don't like that little apple sign. So getting rid of the apple sign. Let me see my color real quick. What do you think? My color's okay. Do you want to go darker? I have to fix my color. quick. My color's okay. Do you want to go darker? I have to fix my color.

My hair is not this orange. Yeah, I'm going darker. Are you fixing my color while we talk? Yeah, that's fine, right? That's fine. Look at, ooh, look how nice. Sweet. There you go.

Hey. It looks different on there. That's too bright. You're fine. It was very bright. I look like a pumpkin. No, you don't. See, when the countdown starts, guys, I can't see squat.

So. You look beautiful. I'm going to pull it back. I'm not orange. Well, I guess I am kind of orange. It's copper. But. Golly, man, that looks bad.

All right, guys. How are you doing today enough about me um great things great things going on um i don't know what they are but they are all great things going on i can't think of anything right off the top of my head tracy i i'm clueless. Like I have nothing going on in this vacuous or whatever the right word is brain right now. But something good's going on somewhere. Yeah, I know that. Trying to help you out here. I'm fully aware about the Beloved Conference.

Okay, good. That's good. I do know about that. But I thought, you know, maybe something good's happened to me today. Maybe like, I don't know. But no. So hopefully something great's happened for you guys. Nothing horrible's happened to me, but nothing great.

Okay. Usually something, like, something unusual occurs. I have a situation when I'm working out. All I can tell you as far as working out goes, Vanessa and Tracy keep, like my daughter, they keep ditching me. I'm working out by myself pretty much. Oh my gosh. So whatever. Hey, Vanessa says, Ginger is on trend. I'm not Ginge. Oh, well, actually, Ginge does run in my family, but I'm not Ginge. Well, that's what she's saying.

Tommy's got Ginge, but not me. Okay. But thanks, Vanessa, who dogged the crap out of me this morning. Appreciate that. So, let's talk about Save the Date, the Beloved Ladies Conference. We got this going on August 24th through 26th, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Thursday night is me. Friday morning is Magalas.

Friday night is Pastor Adalas. And then Saturday is anyone's guess. That's going to be fun. We got something planned. I just don't know what it is fully but we're gonna figure it out and it will be fun it will be yeah lots of people registering at the well we don't have that on that sheet but if you go to the foundation church website we'll put it in church we'll put the link in the comments right now okay so look at the link look up the link right now in the comments but see there's the problem and then afterwards we'll put it in the caption and it will always live there beautiful okay so we're are you putting that everywhere

that people are watching right now well we'll put in the all the everybody right now watching will see it and then people afterwards that are watching the replay will be able to see it in the, all the, everybody right now watching will see it. And then people afterwards that are watching the replay will be able to see it in the caption. Okay. You got to register, people. You do. I need you to tell us what t-shirts you need. Now, you can't come to the church right now and buy t-shirts because we don't have them. But we do have t-shirts for you to measure your body with.

And they're very soft t-shirts. They're unisex t-shirts. Do you have a picture of them? She's going to pull one up. I think I hear her clicking so you can see it. They're gray and they're pretty and they're soft. And, uh, no, no, you don't okay you're not gonna see him no no i'm i'm clicking other reasons whatever next time if heather was here next time she was producing she'd be able to do it no she wouldn't i will say if you tune back in on friday we'll have a picture move good save So they're great t-shirts. But for me, I have to try them on. Because I've got a little problem with the upstairs.

So not everything fits. And let's face it. We do not want to be obscene. And not a good way obscene. Like not in a woo-woo obscene. But a scene. Okay. So we're not going to do that to people.

So you might want to try it on. Otherwise, not good. But they're great t-shirts register. We have, I think it's over a hundred people registered right now. That's awesome. Don't be a procrastinator or a last minute.

Yeah. I don't like that. I hate being a,minuter. Yeah. I don't like that. I hate procrastination. I'm not like Heather. Heather has to have it. If it was supposed to be done on Friday, she needs to know about it on Wednesday so it could have been done the following Monday, the Monday before that. Like everything is beyond of being on time.

It's like days early. Thank you for confirming. No, you're 100% right. I don't tell her things on purpose. I know. Otherwise, I might kill her. Like asking me Wednesday. I'm like, it's not even due yet.

And you're asking me on Monday. It's due on Friday. She's like, ah. She has lists. She likes getting things off her list. All right. So register. Don't procrastinate.

It helps us out if you don't. Because every night she has something planned food-wise to bless everybody with, and we need to know all of that. So that helps us because we have to have that in advance. And I don't know when the last minute is to register. And then this Sunday is baptism. So if you come to Foundation Church or if you live out of the area and you want to fly in to be baptized, go for it.

We are now over 80 people being baptized it's crazy it's pretty crazy it's amazing that's amazing plan to stay all day people yeah we're coming to church on sunday it's going to be an all-day event no we got a plan in and out in and out in and out not like at the river we're in a pool they're dunking you back and bringing you up three or four at a time. Yes. No, we're not doing that. Okay.

Not that that's a bad idea. Yeah, yeah. But they have hundreds of people. Yeah, there was like 1,000 people that got baptized that night, and the youth and the kids. Oh, okay. Yeah. That's a lot.

That is a lot. It went on for almost an hour. It started like 11 and ended after midnight. I watched it. It was awesome. That's crazy. It went on for almost an hour. It started like 11 and ended after midnight. I watched it. It's awesome. That's crazy. It was. We had a lot of kids. We had a lot of our kids get baptized up there. That's awesome. So that's awesome. What a great, I mean, what a great experience. Yeah. Like you'll never forget when you got baptized. Oh yeah. Being baptized there. I love that. So let's see. Baptism.

I think that's it. I think so too. I think we can go to the questions. Okay. Let's do it. Let's do the first question, people. I like to gamble. Christians tell me all the time that I shouldn't do it.

I don't see anywhere in the Bible where it says it's a sin. And when I do gamble, I set a limit on how much I allow myself to play. I know people that are like this. That they gamble, but they'll'll say, I'm only going to spend $200, and once I lose the $200, I'm done. It's definitely not a sin. It doesn't say that it's a sin. I would say, is it wise?

Probably not. I mean, it's a waste of money to spend $200. I mean, how much fun can you have losing $200? Some people think it's a great time. I personally don't like losing money, so I don't think it's a great time. It's not worth the risk to me. I see no purpose. I think it's not being a good steward of your money,

personally speaking. But I don't think it's the worst thing ever that you could possibly do. And in a lot of cases, it can be harmless fun. But here's the problem. There's reasons why the scripture says do not place yourself into temptation. And the reason is because if you have an addictive personality,

gambling might not be for you. It can take people down the swirling toilet. It ruins families. It ruins people. I mean, people have killed themselves over gambling and the addiction of it. It's like alcohol, drugs, things like that. The only thing I would say about gambling that's different from those things, you're not killing body parts.

Your liver is not going to be destroyed because like alcohol does that. And then drugs kills different body organs and then the brain. But gambling, the stress and the pressure of losing money, that has to cause some kind of anxiety inside of you, like bodily form. Have you ever watched those pro gamblers? Man, they are stressed. They are like, it's tense for them. They're all playing like they're cool as a cucumber, but if they lose money, it's a big deal. Some of them are pros, so it's not a big deal. But like how, for me, I know stress is not good for the body. So putting yourself through that all

the time seems insane. Yeah, I agree. I don't know. but I you know I what I find is funny is though I will say this there are Christians that tell you you shouldn't gamble but they'll go buy a lottery ticket right the hypocrisy knows no bounds yeah and I'm like what's the difference? It's just $10 versus $100. It's irrelevant. It's hypocrisy. Lottery is gambling. And maybe you don't get, I mean, there are people who, I hate the lottery. I do.

I hate the lottery too. I hate a lot of things. But I hate the lottery. And I hate going into 7-Eleven or Racetrack or something and standing in line and then the person in front of me or several people in front of me go, I'd like to buy a lottery ticket.

Or they want you to run all their numbers off of all the hundreds of cards. What do they call those things? Those little printouts? I don't play the lottery. Score cards? of cards or what do they call those things, those little printouts? I don't play the lottery. Scorecards? So they want you to run their scorecards to see if they've won.

And now my ice is melting. Or my Slurpee for my husband. Yeah, exactly. I mean, and usually I have more than one thing, so my hands are full. They don't have cards. They don't have, like, you don't get to walk around with a basket at 7-Eleven, a racetrack.

So my thing is, is think of the people behind you. Because I don't want to wait on you while you're trying to figure out your, or they're trying to figure out what number they want to play, and they can't remember their kids' dates, birth dates. Like, ah! Or they're buying the ones that you scratch off, and they have to stand there, and they just have to look. That one.

Oh, no, not that one. That one's $5. I only stick with $2 ones. Okay. Literally want to kill myself. You spend a lot of time in a gas station. So, listen, I am an everyday visitor of 7-Eleven. Right.

You are. I'm married to Mr. Slurpee. So, listen, it's a lot of time standing in line. It's true. Let alone for regular food, but the lottery, they should just make a line all by itself. They should.

When you go to Publix, you know what? I love it. You go to Publix and you, the register, the one girl that's off to the side, you got the lines going through the, the other registers,

like the, the, what do you call those? Cashiers. And then you got the one that's the customer service person. And can actually check you out yeah and you go over there like i'm in gold i got two items and then the person just gets right in front of you i'd like to buy some lottery tickets i'm like oh my gosh kill me does that not happen oh yeah no definitely that's a thing but it's okay to play the lottery.

It's not okay to gamble. I cannot tell you how many. I mean, I've heard that. I just let your yes be yes and your no be no for anything more than this. It comes from the evil one. That's what the Bible says. True. So lottery is gambling.

I'm not a big casino girl. I'm not a big gambler, like I said. But to each his own. If you don't have an addictive personality, like I have no addictive personality. So for me to go gamble would mean absolutely nothing to me. It would be nothing. Tracy's, same way. Logan, you don't seem like

you have an addictive personality at all. So I would think, or do you have an addictive personality? Are you OCD? I am a little bit. Dear God, don't go to the gambling. Don't go to the casino. It's the environment for me. I don't like it. The smell of smoke, the drink. You're not surrounded by like-minded people. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. It's sad. Like, for me, it's, I just was at the Hard Rock, right? Mm-hmm.

And the hoochie mamas are coming out quick. And I'm like, do you see the clientele? Is that what you want to, for me, I'm like, if I was a hoochie mama, I'm going to go to like, the Ritz Carlton,

up to the bar, and hopefully land a big fish. Okay? I am not going to the Hard Rock Casino. How's it going, Maude? I'm not doing that. You know? That's funny.

Hit the dice. You know? Let's go to the roulette table. I mean, come on. I just have no. That's not what you're looking for. Like, the way these girls are dressed, though. Yeah.

And they're older than me. They're in their 60s and one woman i'm not kidding you if she hit a speed bump everything was falling out and it would not have been pretty she thinks it would have been pretty yeah it would not have been pretty it was a sight it was a sight So I agree with you on that, Logan. Sorry, Logan. I agree with you on that. Not the kind of environment and people you want to be around. It stank so bad. Like when we went to Vegas, we were at the Wynn. Okay. I said to Tom, I'm like, what the heck? The Wynn is so much nicer and so much classier. And he's like different clientele.

But basically what I paid for, what you pay for the Wynn is what you pay for the hard rock. And it's two different lives. Two different styles. Yeah, I'm not a gambler. Let's look at the scriptures and what they say now I'm gonna do the New Living translation for this one which is very unusual for me but I do love the New Living I knew normally stick to the New King James proverbs 13 11 and this is this is things that I say about gambling right

not heaven and hell but it's wise words to guard and protect you. Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappear. Wealth from hard work grows over time. It's like the ant. Like we're expected to be like the ant. The ant works hard and it has a harvest so that when it's time, it has the harvest to live off of. That's why you work hard all your life,

earn a good living, so that when you retire, like the ant, you have something to live off of. Make sense, girls? Yeah. Yes. Okay.

Playing the lottery and hoping that you win millions to live off of it's not smart and all these people have their hopes and dreams on i literally feel like people go to to get the lottery ticket they lay down at night and they think and dream of everything what will happen if they win that big pot a hundred hundred percent. It's a high. It's a high. And it's like, that's not reality. The odds are slim to none.

And all you've done is waste money that you could have put away towards your future. You'd be shocked at how much, I mean, even like buying a Starbucks coffee. Right. Like if you didn't buy that every day. Yeah. And I'm not saying that people should be cheap. That's not what I'm saying. But I'm just saying to you, if you look at money that is spent frivolously and they have nothing to speak of,

then it's like everybody else's fault sometimes or poor woe is me. And I'm like, well, here's the thing. You had the same opportunities, you had the same choices, and you had the same decisions like everybody else for the most part because we make or break. I mean, people have come from very hard lifestyles and ended up with more than anyone in the area that they lived in by far and they had the same same set they had the same opportunities as everybody else in that same area

and yet they chose to rise above. It's the same exact thing. It's what is it worth? What is the cost? Are you willing to count the cost and are you willing to go for it? And most people quit because when the times get tough, they get going. They don't stick. 2 Thessalonians 3.10 says, For even when we were with you, we commanded you this,

if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. So people want to gamble and play the lottery in hopes that they'll strike it rich. They'll hit the lucky number. What's it when you play the slots and it goes bing, bing, bing, and it's all the same thing? You get all tens or whatever. Jackpot.

They want the jackpot. Well, what happens is it doesn't end there. Because a lot of times people are always like, oh, if I hit the jackpot one time, I can hit the jackpot again. So they don't just take that money and walk away and say, now I'm going to put this away. They go, let's see how much more I can make off of this. And that's not smart. There's one thing I wanted to say about that. I got to think really quick.

I will. Oh, this is what I wanted to say. I should have looked this up, but I didn't think about it. How many people have played the lottery, won millions, and are the most unhappiest people? They've been taken. They've been used, abused. And there's a, I saw on some kind of, I don't want to say it's a show, but you know where they do the studies on like lottery

winners and stuff like that have you do you know what i'm talking about it's not like 2020 but yeah i don't know yeah i have i have a number for you you have the statistics 70 of lottery winners go bankrupt within a few years it's because they did not never learn to be good stewards they never learned how to they're always spending spending spending spending because go ahead i want to hear more is that it oh oh yeah um that's the first thing that popped up but like business insider has like i would love to know how many uh lottery winners commit suicide because there is a high number because they realized that was not happiness okay i, I'm looking it up.

We'll be with you in one moment while she looks it up. Me, me, me, me, me, me, me. Help is available. Speak with somebody today. What? They're giving a... No, it's not popping up right away. How about you tell them something else? Oh, commit suicide due to gambling okay let's see gambling related suicide i should have looked this up but

i i did think about it and i'm like people who've won the lottery are so miserable they are a lot of times they're so miserable um and a lot of them don't invest it and spend it wisely or do the right things with it. This one says, well, between 7% to 30% of individuals have attempted suicide. That's close enough. Approximately 40% of help identify as being presenting of a risk. So about 40% present a risk of suicide. Don't play the lottery, people. It's like it should be, there should be like a cigarette warning.

Yeah. You know how cigarettes have a warning that it causes cancer? Yep. Playing the lottery should have a warning. It's high propensity of suicide. It's not good. People think it's the answer to all their problems. That's not the problem.

You're the problem. You fix you. It won't matter how much money you have. You'll be happy. That's just the way it is. That's right. All right, next question. All my life, I have battled my weight,

and I would say I'm not the most attractive person out there. You know, I mean, a lot of people could say that because they look in the mirror and they just don't like what they see. But that doesn I mean, a lot of people could say that because they look in the mirror and they just don't like what they see. But that doesn't mean that you're not attractive. And I will tell you some of the most, like we were somewhere, I don't know where we were. It was like a week ago or two weeks ago or something like that, Tom and I. And there was a girl, she was, she was a heavy girl, heavier girl. That girl was so beautiful. Like one of my favorite people that attend this church,

she's always like doing keto and stuff like that and always being really careful with her weight. She's one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen, like hands down, personally, no. She's like gorgeous. So just because you're overweight does not mean that you're actually not attractive because there are a lot of listen i was fat i'm still working on it i don't look in the mirror i mean i ain't the most beautiful thing on the face of the earth and

i ain't looking at myself going eesh i mean when i had a double chin, I'm going to thought that. But I'm just saying, on the whole, just because you have pounds to lose does not mean you're unattractive. So maybe that you should reevaluate. But I digress. Let's go back to the question. People don't treat me the same as other people. I'm not feeling sorry for myself. I just know it's true. I've never really been accepted or popular.

I want people to like me. I want people to like me, don't know how to make friends. What should I do? I did do some research on this because actually people who are overweight are mistreated. They get treated as subhuman sometimes. I personally think I don't like that. Yeah. I don't like it when people go out of their way

to be unkind to people for whatever reason it is. And I'm not one of those be kind with the B and then the Yeah, you're definitely not. the word kind. I hate that.

I hate this big be kind thing that's going on right now. It's all because we should really accept and love one another. Bull crap. I hate this big be kind thing that's going on right now. It's all because we should really accept and love one another. Bull crap. We don't accept sin. We don't accept compromise.

But what we don't do is we don't mistreat people because they don't look like us. Or they don't have the same as us. Or they don't fit this certain criteria of individual that we believe that everybody should be in order to be in our sphere. You know, I don't like that. But let's, I'll get to this, but I'll get to something in a second to address the other side of that for devil's advocate. Okay. Look at the statistics, nearly one in three adults. So 30.7% of people are overweight. Nearly one out of three people are overweight. Now, listen, I know this because I, I, I actually was overweight and I'm still losing weight. I I actually was overweight. Right. And I'm still losing weight.

I'm still considered overweight right now. So I'm one of those three. I get it. It's rough. Like before you know it, you've gained pounds that you never thought you had gained. You blink and there's rolls. Listen, I drive down the road. This is not a lie, people. I drive down the road. This is not a lie, people.

I drive down the road, and you know how you're steering your car, and I put my arms down, or I have one arm down, and I'd be like, what is that? What is it? I'm like, I've never felt that before. What is it? That's fat. Okay?

It took me a little while to figure it out, but that was fat. That's special. It wasn't pleasant. But the truth is the truth. Before you know it, you literally can have pounds on that you never even thought. Because when you go from being able to eat kind of like what you want, and then you can't. Or maybe you've never been able to eat what you want,

but you don't have to watch the calories as much as you had, and then all of a sudden, like, life has a way of changing slightly, okay? Hormones have a way of, you know, changing. I'm not saying people need to be overweight. I'm just saying it can happen and it can happen fast. And like you blink and you just don't even know it. Which again, hello, that's me. More than two in five adults, 42.4 have obesity. So obesity is way different than just feeling the fat on your sides. Right.

Or like in my case, the fat on the front and the fat on the sides. And then the fat on the thighs. My fat went everywhere. Some people are like, Heather, it goes everywhere and you can't even tell. And then there's me. And that's not the case. But obesity, that's a lot of people. Two out of five are obese.

42%. That's almost half of the population are obese. So being heavy is a definite problem. Yes. That's, so what I'm basically saying is if guy or girl, don't feel bad. Half of the world is in your same shoes. We're all fat. You fit in real well. No, don't stay like that.

About one in 11 adults, which is 9.2, have severe obesity. Those would probably be 600 pound lifers. Yeah. I would think. Right? Yeah, which is 9.2, have severe obesity. Those would probably be 600-pound lifers. Yeah. I would think. Right? Yeah, I think so. Wouldn't you think that's... I mean, yeah, I think like being overweight is like 20 pounds overweight, right?

It's not much. It's like 15 to 20 for your BMI. Oh, then I was way over that then. Let me look it up. So I might have been in the obese category because I was over 20 pounds that's interesting yeah it's it's yeah it's not much and if you're like tall or even like the BMI which I'm not right the BMI thing can be kind of confusing too because if you're very muscular too which I'm not true you're getting there though, girl. Look at those arms. Well, not,

no, well. Well, no. Oh my gosh. Not really, but. There's a cut. You got a cut. And then there's cellulite next to the cut. And my legs are just disgusting. Oh my gosh. Stop. I'm just saying that's 9.2% have severe obesity. One out of 11 people. That's staggering. Yeah. Because it should be, I would think it'd be like 30 people. One out of 30 people are severely obese. What?

How tall are you? I like to say I'm 5'2", but everyone likes to say I'm 5'1". Okay. Well, yeah, let's see 5'2". Thank you. So if you – oh, man, mine came up so easy. Oh, there we go. 5'2".

If you weigh 100 – you should weigh 100 pounds at 5'2". Yeah. Right. I'm obese then. My doctors used to tell me I needed to be 103 at the most 107. When I met Tom, I was like 98 pounds. And he used to tell me to go home and eat ice cream before I went to bed. He's like, girl. And I did because I love it. Okay. I found it. Here we go. Moderate weight is 104 pounds to 131. If you're five to overweight is one 36 to one 58. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Okay. Repeat that. So I can go up to one 31. Yes. To be a moderate weight, which your bmi is 19 to 24 i'm like that's not my goal weight but okay so tell me what is overweight is actually 136 to 158 that was me okay and i was way over 136

yeah so i was overweight like I thought. Yeah. Yeah. I'm trying to find obese. It's not popping up as easy. So obese is going to be 150. 164 to 213 for your height. So that would be obese. Wow. That's 30 to 39% body fat.

That's a. Hmm. Yeah. Wowzers. percent body fat that's a yeah well I can see now how it is that those percentages are but if you're 5'2 yeah if you're 5'2 like being in the anything over in the 160s that makes sense to me yeah because that would be. That would be a lot of weight to carry. That's a lot of weight on your body. Yeah, that's a lot of weight on your body. Now, I will say that, I will say for me, I would say this for most people. Most people can lose weight. There are situations where it's very difficult for people,

and it might be near impossible for them, but the numbers or the statistics of that number of people is very, not very low, but not as high as some people would like to think it is. I think that most of the time the reason why people are overweight and I'm going to use me as an example because I know what it's like I used to be a person that could never gain weight

I was so thin that people were kind of like I was gross too skinny and it wasn't it was just because I have a really high metabolism I ate a lot I did not not eat but if it wasn't, it was just because I have really high metabolism. I ate a lot. Like I did not not eat, but if I, if I wasn't hungry, I didn't eat. So not that I was anorexic,

but I was super, super skinny. Um, and people would be like, they thought that was gross. Yeah. And I don't blame them. I think that that's gross. And my thing would be like, well, I'm eating all the time. It's not like, like I don't want to be this skinny either. So people don't understand that side of the things. People are like, wish I had that problem. Like, no, you don't wish you had that problem because it's almost as annoying as somebody who's trying to lose weight and they can't. Right. It's a pain in the butt.

But that changed. I just stopped having that problem. And the thing is, is I will tell you when, and this was a problem for me. And when you go from being able to eat anything you want to not being able to eat anything you want, you forget that you can't do that. You need to be making wiser choices in your eating. And a lot of times people, what they do is they eat at the wrong time. They eat more than they should on a plate. Like their portions are large. They poor choices in what they should eat. That's huge. What they'll say is, well, I ate a good dinner, okay,

but then you ate a candy bar after dinner. Or throughout the day, like we have a big bucket in this room, and that bucket is just huge. It's just full of candy. It's full of candy it's it's full of candy and what will happen is is I'll use this bucket as an example somebody who's watching their weight they won't eat breakfast which I don't think that that's wise to do because you should eat something even if it's small keep keep your metabolism going, but make sure it's protein-based and it's good.

They have great protein shakes. So they'll not eat anything for breakfast. They'll eat something small for lunch. So they're like, oh, I can eat that piece of candy. So they'll come in to the room back and forth, back and forth and back and forth and convince themselves, well, I've earned the right to be able to eat that because I haven't eaten very much all day. The problem is that piece of candy, the calories that that piece of candy has versus that protein shake if it would have been drank, doesn't even come close. And that's what we do to ourselves. We convince ourselves so we can reward ourselves with something

that we have no business eating. Everything in moderation, right? And listen, you're talking about junk food junkie girl. Okay, I love junk food. But if you want to lose weight and you say, well, I hardly eat anything. I think if you wrote down everything you ate all day long, like you'd be shocked at how much you actually do eat.

I think we deceive ourselves that we don't eat very much because maybe you're eating smaller things, but the things is that those calories of that small thing. I like, I used to drink my calories. Okay. I, I'm a, I love coffee. Now I don't have to drink a cup of coffee every day at all. I mean, I drink maybe one cup a week, but therefore I was drinking them every single day. And the sweeter, more dessert tasting. Yeah. Delicious. I'm one happy chick.

But you, so many people, I think I was talking to, I think Magalas told me, she's like, she drank her calories. I can't remember. It was somebody like somebody, I was talking to somebody about it and they were like, that's what they did too. So, which people forget about that they drink all their calories what I would suggest to you is this drink a lot of water yeah nobody wants to drink water like all of them want to drink diet soda and I'm not saying diet soda is wrong but they drink diet soda all day long right and

diet soda is not good either not that this is a health podcast because it's not I'm just saying like if you can't lose weight you really can it's just you haven't dissected what the issue is once you dissect the issue you'll start losing weight now I will tell you this ever since I started exercising I haven't really dropped a lot of pounds I think I've dropped five pounds but I'm fitting in pants that I've never fit in before in a really long time because if you exercise you may not drop the pounds but you'll drop the inches that's huge too doing a combination of things and I never wanted to do it but I'm so glad and grateful that I did because it's the best thing that's happened to me

in a really long time. I mean, I, we never have, you could have never convinced me. Eating healthier and exercising. Like, I just hurt so bad from crossing my legs just now because yesterday we did glutes, which was a lot of squats and stuff, so my legs are killing me. But, but like I like crossing my legs and having

pain you know why because I'm doing something exactly yeah I am doing something so you would be shocked and amazed and most people can't work out by themselves but everybody has a friend right come on I just never wanted to phone the friend because I didn't wanted to phone the friend because I didn't want to work out but everybody has a friend and you can absolutely even if it means you go out your front door

and you start walking and you call your friend while you're walking everybody has somebody that they can talk to if they don't want to work out by themselves there's always reasons but they're cop outs you can lose weight. The only time people can't lose weight. And I say sometimes, cause it depends is medication

will cause you not to lose weight. That will affect you, but not all meds, just some medications, hormones, depending on what the situation is, hormones can cause you maybe a thyroid issue but that would be medication surgery not being able to work out because of surgery or but you can still eat healthy but listen it is still hard if if you're if your hormones out of balance and you and you had surgery because you can't burn extra calories so some people just retain the weight worse than others but there's always maybe you have a physical issue or something like that that causes you you can exercise i'm just saying pretty much everybody can lose weight and there's not any extra you can go dag dag them into the pool. I was going to say, go swimming.

There's no excuse. I mean, there's always low impact. There's always something that can. It doesn't have to be strenuous. It just, you have to move your body. Put you guys on since Logan's going to talk. She's on. Oh, sorry.

I can't say you're strenuous. You just have to move your body. You have to know your lifestyle, your blood type and your body type and you have to form a routine for that specifically not somebody who's going to do HIIT training like you is going to get the same results and listen drop a lot of pounds well and for me like I got injured a lot at the very beginning because I was so out of shape and and when I say injured a lot I mean a lot but most people quit right and there's always an alternative exercise that can keep you may not like I knew when I was doing that alternative exercise the only thing I'm doing is burning maybe a couple calories

because I'm moving still. And so instead of feeling defeated that I can't do that exercise, I might as well quit. I'm like, well, at least you're moving. Right. And the next exercise you might be able to do. I mean, it's like adapt and overcome. You have to.

You can't quit because. No have to, you can't quit because and you can't quit because of pain. Like it hurts. It hurts. I mean, Advil was my best friend for a really long time. Every time I went, uh, every, before I left for working out, I was popping Advil because I knew when I was done, that's going to hurt. Yep. But now I don't even take Advil because my body is sore, but I'm not in major pain. I'm not getting hurt. And I'm not getting hurt anymore. And I'm actually doing exercises and hardly ever having to do the alternatives. How long have you been working out now?

I was just about to say, which is pretty good because I'm into like my 12th or 13th week. That's amazing. Since May. Yeah. So listen, anything's possible because most people have worked out, played a sport, have some muscle memory. I have none. And I'm not exaggerating when I say.

Yeah. No, it's impressive. Except for my arms because everybody lifts something, right? Yeah. Come on. That's true. Everybody's lift a box here and there, but I'm just saying my legs, no muscle at all. It's impressive.

No muscle. Oh, yeah. I mean. No, it's impressive how you've, like, yeah, it's been two months. It's over two months. Over two months. Yeah. And you've been consistent and didn't give up.

Yeah. Even on the hard days. Even on the hard days. Even when your trainer wants to kill you. And there were some hard, hard days. Yeah. There were some hard days. I know.

Plus, I've gone by myself. Yeah, you have. When everybody else had something they had to do and they couldn't go. Right. I'm like, here's where the rubber meets the road. Am I doing this for me or am I doing this? Which, listen, if I didn't have them, I might not want to do it. That's the truth.

Yeah. But I do, and not all the time, but it helps knowing that for the most part, when I go to the gym, I'm going to have one of my friends there. Yeah. That does help. Here's my big problem. Okay, everybody battles weight to a certain extent. Not everybody.

Lots of people battle weight. I mean, it's almost 50% of the population battles weight. And I don't like, I mean, that people can do something about. What I don't like is being mean, just because you can be mean. When you act like somebody doesn't exist because they're overweight or they don't look like you do or they don't act like you do or they don't talk like you do. Or they don't act like you do. Or they don't talk like you do. I don't like that. I think it's mean.

It's not. And especially if you call yourself a Christian. I really don't like that. Heavy people. People actually. I've seen where people have done. Those shows where. People put on those fat suits.

They went from being really good looking out on the streets and everybody acknowledges them. Is very, is very, the word inviting isn't the right word. Approachable? What? Approachable? Very, well, people like smile at them. They acknowledge them. And then other people, if the person's good looking, that's doing that. When they respond, then they're all like, you

know, but then that same person will put on the fat suit and realize what it's like to be somebody who's overweight and realize how somebody who's overweight is so badly prejudiced and treated. Yeah. And it's not nice. No, it's terrible. I don't like that. I don't either. It's not cool at all, especially if we're Christians. Right.

And especially if that's a Christian. Right. It's even worse. Because even though there's something maybe they can do about losing weight, they're not a lesser being. Right. They just have a different problem than you have. You may be skinny and fit, but maybe you're skinny and fit because your mind's cray-cray. Right.

And always having to be at the gym. It's true. You know, it's all different things. And nobody mistreats you because you're cray-cray. So that's my thing. It's like, it's, I think we just need to always be looking at ourselves and saying, are we being, are we treating others the way we would want to be treated if we were in their shoes?

Right. And I say this jokingly, but I'm not joking. Like, when Magalas was encouraging me to lose weight, she knew I was fat, okay? She knew I needed to lose weight, okay? She wasn't saying, hope you're fat so you need to lose weight, but she basically was saying, hit the gym, girl. Yeah. Okay? She knew I needed to lose weight. Okay. She wasn't saying, hope you're fat. So you need to lose weight, but she basically saying hit the gym girl. Yeah. Okay. Now I could take that as mean, or I can say she's challenging me to be a better me. Right. And so if you're heavy and

somebody is doing the same for you, or maybe you have something different, if somebody's challenging you and they're doing it in a nice way, don't be offended. Don't be a victim and say, maybe I should rise to the challenge. Right. Maybe I should be a better me. Right. This is the only you you're going to get. So maybe you need to make it the best you that is possible

externally and internally i'm always about on the internal parts of your spiritual walk but externally there's a lot that we can do with that especially if you're a person that wants to get married and you can't find somebody to marry you might want to look at the exterior and say is this something and if you're a woman especially because men are very visual yeah it's true there's not a lot of men that are like fattalicious okay there's not there's a lot I have somebody else in the room. Okay. Not a lot of people are like that. It's funny. Most people don't want model skinny either because that's gross too.

They want somebody with some meat on their bones, but not meat hanging off the bone. I'm trying to say this nice. That's good. I like that. So if you're a woman and you want a man, you better be appealing to the eye. Or it's not that necessarily a guy is going to look you over and disregard you in a mean way. He's just going to say, you're a nice person. I like you as a friend, but that's about as far as it's going to go. That's it. I know. And it's going to keep happening over and over because I have seen very attractive girls that are larger and they're still single and the guys that they want, they're never going to get.

I mean, I've seen some guys that some of these girls that are heavy really find to be like off the charts. Yeah. And I'm like, even the most attractive girl that is got a lot going on for herself, she can't even get that guy probably. I know. It's like they know they're pretty in their head. Get yourself on. They know they're pretty in their head,

so they have high expectations for what they should get. Oh, no, they have hopes and dreams. Hopes and dreams, I know. It's not even an expectation. It's lofty. It's like thinking that you're going to be that one in a million jackpot winner for the lottery. Okay. Not going to happen.

This is more gambling. It's a lot of gambling. And it's just such a shame because a lot of people, guys, men and women who are heavy, have so much to offer as far as relationship-wise. Absolutely. They are phenomenal people. Yeah. And people just disregard it because the outer appearance is not something that's appealing.

I know. Which is a shame, but we live in a shallow world. But there's stuff people can do about it. For the most part, there's something that everybody can do about it. Right. So just, you got to do it. Try something new. Just like you did. You tried something new. can do about it right so just you got to do it try something new just like you did you tried something new and you liked it too you didn't know you're

gonna like this i had no idea yeah because i even said i'm gonna we're gonna go to this gym right and we're gonna do it for a month i think as i said i'm gonna pay for the month yep we're gonna do it for the month and then we'll see. Right. And here we are. Yeah. And we've made friends in there. I mean, it opens doors you never thought. True. Beyond just getting healthy.

Right. I mean, it really does open doors friendship-wise, witness-wise, that kind of thing. So, but devil's advocate here. What a lot of people do is they'll say, I don't look like everybody else. So nobody likes me. I'm not as pretty as everybody else. So nobody likes me. I don't dress like everybody else. So nobody likes me. I don't dress like everybody else. So nobody likes me. You got the people who that don't fit in. But the reason they don't fit in is because they're weird.

They are personally weird. They're very needy, very draining. I'll say this. Like, there are nerds. Like, there are nerds, right? Yeah. And even nerds fit better in with people than needy and people who love to be the victim. 100%. And everybody says, like, everybody excludes the nerds.

Bologna. No. That's not true. I mean, nerds, like, a lot of the nerds that I know and love, like, I know lots of nerds. They're my friends. Yeah. They can laugh at themselves.

Right. Like, they're very appealing. They're great personalities they're extremely smart very attractive in their own right yeah just because you're nerd doesn't mean you're not attractive it just means that you are on a higher spectrum and scale of intelligence level that I will Marvel at for the rest of my life yeah but they don't tend to even be like well you're not my iq so i can't talk to you right okay but needy victim people victim mindsets like you're

so unappealing and you're weird if you're like people the weirds the weirdies like i don't understand it it's not like you're weird yeah how do you not know i don't understand it. It's not like you're weird. How do you not know? I don't know. And nobody wants to be your friend, but it's everybody else's fault but yours. And my thing is if you go from one place to the next place to the next place to the next place, and I'm not talking about moving from state to state. I'm talking about moving from job or friend group, not even friend group because most of them don't have friends.

But I'm just saying if you go from one place to a next and you still can't make a friend, you might need to think about maybe it's not them. Maybe it's you. Maybe you're so needy that nobody can stand to be around it. Neediness is like a bug repellent. It is. Neediness is so unattractive. Now, as I said before, if you're a needy girl,

some guys love that because nobody else wants them. So you being needy makes them eligible for you. But that doesn't mean that your neediness is great. No. It just means they're desperate. And you're all that they can get. Because if they could get something else, they probably would go with that. Not with you, the needy person.

Neediness is not beautiful. Being a victim is not beautiful. Being a victim is not beautiful. Being a victim and everybody's always trying to hurt you or it's always somebody else's fault. Again, self-evaluation. Always. Always self-evaluation. Am I making myself,

because the thing is I don't want somebody who's overweight, that's a needy person or a victim to think that I have now validated all of that. I'm not validating because sometimes there are elements to things that also need to be addressed. And if those are yours, listen, if you want to be a friend, be friendly. Don't sit on the outskirts and say, nobody will talk to me. I can't make any friends because people aren't friendly. No.

You sit on the outskirts and you're hoping that no one will talk to you so that you can use that against them to validate your victimhood. Yep. Okay? Nobody, people who, people that are not stupid, they can see that. The people who you can manipulate, they might not, but eventually they will. And then you'll even lose them because people who manipulate people don't last with those people right manipulative people are not friends again if you want to be friend if you want a friend be friendly but if you're gonna be in a manipulator just know that you're going to go through friends like water because nobody people don't want to be

manipulated and they'll see it and eventually leave you. The other thing I would say is. Friendships don't happen overnight. Now I'm going to make you girls get on the screen. Get on the screen really quick. Close friendships. Do not happen overnight. They happen through time. Bonds and relationships.

And people who expect a relationship to be like that, like all of a sudden you start hanging out with people and you expect everybody to be very close, very quick. I've never experienced that in my life with anybody that I'm friends with and even really close friends with. I mean, have you guys ever experienced that? Um, I, I feel like there's times where you like click really well with people right away and you just kind of know that this, this friendship could kind of like progress, but you don't, I'm not like best friends with

them right away. Cause you kind of have to feel people out for a while. Like at the beginning, your first friends and it's like, is this just something new and exciting? And then you find out later they have a lot of different likes and interests. It doesn't mesh well anymore. So, no, it definitely doesn't happen overnight. And it shouldn't happen overnight. Anything worth anything, in my mind, is like a fine wine.

It takes time. Truthfully. Yeah. Not that I drink. I just heard that. Yeah, yeah. No, that's a good one. My friend Sarah's here.

She's laughing. Yeah. But, Logan, what do you say to that? I think Tracy said that perfectly. I've met a couple people like Norma who I click with immediately, but it takes time to develop our relationship and you don't spend every waking moment with them and you don't expect them to do every single thing with you no ebb and flow yeah ebb and flow yeah

ebb and flow and Sarah you're new here run over there to the thing real quick get up or another really when it comes to Sarah. And see, Sarah, and here's the thing. Sarah, how much weight have you lost? So this question, actually, if anybody could probably relate to this question, it's probably you. How much weight have you lost? 60 pounds. Which is huge. How long did it take you? I lost 40 pounds in about three months, and then the next 20 has taken a while. But now I'm to the point where I've changed what I'm doing physically,

so I'm not losing weight anymore, like you were saying. But my clothes, my pants fit differently. Just the other day, you were like, you're looking skinnier. And I'm like, yeah, well, the scale doesn't seem to think so yeah but um yeah I've I think it's mostly about for me like I was fat my whole life okay when I look at pictures of myself did you think you were like that heavy actually fat isn't that funny but it was a. And so I prayed for a long time. Like, I don't feel good. I want to feel better.

I will say this, though. My husband doesn't care what size I am. You're fattalicious then. You're fattalicious. Fattalicious. Yeah, fattalicious. Some people love it. I mean.

Tom didn't care either, but I wasn't obese. Yeah. If I had gotten there, he might not have. If you look at the chart right now, like, I'm still considered obese. Interesting. Because if I were to tell you how much I weigh, you'd be like, there's no way. Because you're probably like Heather. You can spread the wealth.

Yeah. Well, it spreads. All right. Especially when I sit down or lay down. Yeah. Well, it spreads. All right. Especially when I sit down or lay down. Yeah. But my thing to that is, did you feel like what I said about people being mean to people who are overweight? Do you feel like that is true?

But you've got a very outgoing personality and you pretty much are love me, I'm in. Yeah. Here's the thing. I really don't care what people think so that helps like it does help um and if somebody was mean to me i i get i'm like oblivious to those things that's good but some people are not do you feel do you feel like pete that is true about overweight people that people do to mistreat them or do you think that's a cop-out I think it's I don't know I think that they it depends but really like you can be fat but if you have a really good personality and like people don't care like I don't I don't

think maybe at first glance maybe like your first interaction with somebody they might get that more but like also so if you don't like it do something different yep i agree with that too now what was my question i was going to ask you about being friends because say sarah you've been coming to this church now for how long um we came here the first sunday we came here was the february that we moved in this building so okay so you've been here for a year and a half now i will say this to you about, because you're new and so is Logan. Logan has always been super fit, super toned. You are not. Right.

Right? Do you feel like people at this church were, did you feel like... Did I bully you? No, not bullying. No, no, no. That's not what I was going to say. Do you feel like making friends was like, did you expect everybody to like totally be

in and like you're going to have friends overnight? Or did you just know that it would progress? Because you have lots of friends. Like Sarah, you have lots of friends here. Like Tracy does too, but Tracy's been coming longer. Logan does too, but she's been coming a long time. What is that? This is very new for me in my life. What do you mean? I do. I am. I am not someone who has,

who usually has a big circle. Oh, I'm going to get emotional. Okay. I'm trying. I won't cry, but I will say that when you are chasing after God with your whole heart, he will bring people into your life that are going to support that and that are going to help you to maintain, you know? So yeah, I have a lot of people that I could call on at any moment now, but that's very new in my life. I, I love being prior to coming here. I loved being a home body. Like I could stay at home with my Netflix and my weighted blanket and I was happy. Like, um, but now I crave that fellowship and I need these people. Yeah.

I love you guys. But you knew going in, friendships take time. And it's sometimes a very slow progression depending on who that person is because I'm a very guarded person. So for me, I'm not overnight with people. It's a slow progression for me with friendships. I'm not seeking out making new friends. I'm not.

I'm happy with the friends I have. God's blessed me. But I'm not seeking for new friends. And if somebody wants to be my friend, I'm not saying that I'm not not going to be their friend. But what I am going to say is it's not going to happen overnight for them with me. Unless I had to work with them every single day or on a regular basis, then it probably would happen. But if it's not a situation where I see you all the time or I have a lot to do with you, it's going to be a slow, integral process.

Because for me me friendship is trust that's the core honesty transparency so for me like when people want to be my friend even my kids friends my kids tommy's less than norma but norma's very guarded so she'll like people she'll hang out with them she'll laugh with them but if she sees one thing that's like a red flag for her she's usually like me going in the opposite direction she's like i don't have time for it i don't want to deal with it so i'm i'm happy with the people i got so um not to say that that relationship or those people can't come back it's just and the red flag fall. But, and then there's other people that are not guarded and they're accepting all the time.

And they're like, oh, come on in. You know, Tracy, you're one of those people. Yeah. You don't care. I don't. The more the merrier. I'm not the more the merrier. But also not seeking.

Like I'm not against it, but I'm not seeking like deep friendships because that cup is very full for me. But it's like God just keeps bringing in people. Like it's insane right now how many people I feel like close connections with. And it almost seems overnight, but it's not when you like look back. And it builds. And we spend time talking and texting.

We spend a lot of time together. Yeah, absolutely. And so for me, I feel like there's people that feel very lost, very lonely, very isolated. And I feel bad for them. I feel for people that feel like that. But I would say, I would ask you to ask yourself, is that because that you're weird?

Truthfully, are you weird? Are you weird? Are you needy? Because those are repellents. Being a weirdo. Like we have people on our podcast that are men. One in particular that reaches out to single women. I mean, you don't do that. And I'm not going to have to block you if you don't stop. It's just the truth. But you don't do that's weird. Sorry. It's creepy and weird. You don't

do that. And if it but there are lots of people that are like that and you sit there and go how do you not know that but they will sit there and go I have no friends and they'll blame everybody else but themselves and they're but I try and be friends no you try and be friends creepy and weird that's the truth that's not how you make friends or if you're a manipulative person you're not gonna make friends because eventually you're going to smell and people don't want to be manipulated. So I would ask you those things. And the other thing is, is do you just want closeness too fast? Yeah. Because closeness happens over time. Yep. And eventually you'll

have more friends than you know what to do with. You just, it takes time. Yeah. So, and then everybody's in different phases in life because some people have, they have young children, so they're limited to that sphere. Um, like me, I can be friends with women who have young children. I can be,

cause I have no young children. I'm free, but I mean, your sphere widens the older you get. Yeah. What are you guys laughing at? I guess I'm not going to be free. What is that?

I'm not going to be free in the foreseeable future. No, sister. Life is coming fast and hard for you, but you're going to love every minute of it. It's true. It's the best. It'll be the best thing. And the thing is, is that there's times and seasons for everything. And you'll group yourself around women that are just like you going through the same thing

in life. You'll still be friends with Tracy and stuff like that, but you'll tend to go veer more towards the people that are experiencing things in the same place that you are. And you'll love every minute of it. Yeah. Great, strong bonds. And so do you need Jesus? Are you creepy and weird?

Good transition. Are you lonely? Jesus is the answer. And that's being funny, but it goes back to what Sarah said. When Sarah said that she has friends because first time really in life, she's chasing after God. And really, everything, everything revolves around, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

Amen. Okay. So whatever is lacking in your life, you're lacking it because, one, either your walk with God is not being taken seriously and he's just fitting in where you fit him in and convenience sake. Two, you're not saved. Or three, you've walked away from him. You've known that life and you need it back. The only way to fix those things is one, to repent and change your life and live for him, and then go after it.

Or two, you're saved, but you got to fix things. Like you have to seek him first. You cannot, it's like having a best friend that you barely ever talk to, and then when you call that best friend up and you expect him to be your best friend, but you haven't talked to him in a really long time, there's no closeness, because there's no real relationship. That best friend is in name only.

It's not because of a very close bond that's been developed and created through situations and time. And it's like I always, and this is my thing with when, when it comes to life, the closer that I grow closer to the Holy Spirit, when every single thing, and I'm not talking about when I go to Burger King, which I don't, but if I went to Burger King, I prayed, do I take a Whopper today, Lord? Or do I do the chicken sandwich? Okay, that's not what I'm talking about. Don't be super spiritual. But when I go through my day-to-day activity, I involve the Holy Spirit in my day-to-day activities. And the more that he's a part of those activities and those situations, the closer I get with him because I spend time with him. And, you know, you usually get really tight with someone when you go through difficult things

or even the most joyous occasions. There's a thing that says families always get together when there's a wedding or a funeral. That's when everybody gets together. Well, my thing to that is joyful occasion is the wedding, and everybody's elated and they feel very close, right? And then the funeral does the same thing. Well, the Holy Spirit wants to be in those day-to-day activities, the highs and the lows, all throughout the day.

Just like family, it's a tight-knit group because of experiences. And the Holy Spirit wants to be involved in every experience, not just when you deem it necessary. And if you allow him to be that integral in your life, then things change radically on a daily basis for you, spiritually and externally. And you'll not even know what to do because life will be so different. And I say this in a funny way, but I mean, it will be so grand. It will be the biggest, best thing that you've ever thought possible. You want to pinch

yourself because you won't even believe that life is that good. Because when the bad things happen, they're nothing. It's literally nothing. It's not even like a speed bump. It's like a pebble in the road. And when the great things come your way, there's somebody to celebrate it with besides a physical body. Maybe there's not for you, but then you have the Holy Spirit to celebrate it with. And it's more, it's more spectacular than it would have been if it's just a regular situation. I hope I'm explaining that correctly. Does that make sense? Like even the highs are higher and the lows, they're not that low. It's just crazy. You can have that life and it's as simple

and easy as asking Him or getting things right with Him and then just doing it. So let's start right now. Say this prayer with me. Heavenly Father, I thank You, Lord, that I have the opportunity

to be Your kid. That You loved me so much that Jesus, you died on that cross. That you bore stripes on your back for my healing. And that you were bruised and beaten for my sin. And that it's as simple as me saying, Father, I ask you to forgive me of my sin. I repent. I ask you to be my Lord and Savior. From this moment on, I will live for you, and I will spend eternity with you. I thank you for what you did on that cross. And from now on, I will live for you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Simple, simple, simple. Now it's just, what are you going to do with it? And I strongly suggest you get a good Bible. You find a good church. Every day, the word says we're to pray without ceasing. Pray, worship, read, and see what happens. I'm going to give you the same thing Magalus told me. Do it for four weeks. And pay your tithe. And give. So do that for four weeks.

And if in four weeks you don't look different, you don't sound different, and you don't feel different, I will be shocked and amazed because you're doing something wrong. Thank you for joining in. I'll see you Friday. Bye. We'll talk.