Jun 24, 2018

Love


My fellow follower of Christ,

I feel it is time for us to have a serious discussion. I have felt uneasy for quite some time about how things are going. I guess I was hoping things would turn around, that they would get better. I hoped that there would be some sort of unity or reconciliation. But everything is getting worse. It is spiraling out of control, truthfully. It kind of feels like one of those old Hollywood bar fights that start between a couple of dusty guys in dusty hats. Then it takes over the whole bar. Eventually it pours out into the street for everyone to see. That’s where we are right now. We are a bunch of drunk cowboys fighting in the street. Shooting and punching and yelling and destroying. It’s not a good look. 

This goes beyond politics, beyond denominations, beyond worldviews, beyond resolutions. This is so much bigger than all of that. It is about the heart - literally - of who we are, who we claim to be, Who we follow. We have divided our attention and betrayed our affections and confused our direction. And we have lost the most important facet of all, the one thing that is supposed to define us. The one thing we were told time and time again that we should pursue. The one thing that was preached from the front of The Book to the end. 

LOVE

If a poll was taken about Christians, if a hundred or a thousand random people were asked what makes a Christian, it is doubtful that love would make the list. That is not our defining characteristic. That is not our calling card. It probably wouldn’t make the top ten. The top twenty. We would get lots of other words: judgmental, closed minded, hateful, intolerant, mean, out of touch, harsh, greedy, hypocritical. But we certainly wouldn’t get love. 

This is so wrong. Even as you read this, chances are good that some of you are already getting angry. You’re wanting to scream at me, to write a vicious comment on the link. “Loving doesn’t mean accepting!” “God doesn’t tolerate sin!” “We are supposed to stand up for what is right.”  It is amazing the arguments we will make to defend our lack of love. It is startling how far we will go to dismiss that commandment. How we will use legal and economic and political and logical treatises to justify our sinful behavior. We will point out all of the other people doing things wrong. We will quote the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, Atlas Shrugged, Joel Osteen, Stephen Furtick, Donald Trump, Sarah Sanders, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, George Clinton. We will use anything we can to justify our NOT doing the thing that we were supposed to be doing. 

From the very beginning, God had some simple instructions. They were woven through the Ten Commandments. They were peppered through the Old Testament. They were preached by Jesus Himself. They were echoed by His Disciples. 

Love God.
Love Others. 

It doesn’t say to be the judge, jury, and executioner. It doesn’t say to be the moral compass. It doesn’t say to be the behavior police. It doesn’t say to wield the most political power. It doesn’t say to dictate financial policy. It doesn’t say to promote your country of citizenship. It doesn’t say to decide your race is better. It doesn’t say to oppress people. 

Love God. 
Love Others. 

We see it in Leviticus 19:18. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

We see it in Deuteronomy 6:5. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

The Ten Commandments can be divided between the ones telling us to Love God and those telling us to Love Others. 

And lest those statements confuse anyone, God went so far as to clarify what neighbor meant. Leviticus 19:34 and Deuteronomy 10:18-19 explicitly tells God’s people to extend that love not only to those like them, but also to the sojourner, traveler, refugee. This was a hallmark from the very beginning. From the first set of laws laid down, God clearly commanded His people should be people of love. 

Deuteronomy 11:1 You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. There is no wiggle room. God demands obedience to His statutes. His statutes include loving others. 

This is echoed over and over again. God demonstrates His propensity for love and demands His people follow likewise. 

Psalm 31:23, , Psalm 33:5, Psalm 100:5, Psalm 103:8, Lamentations 3:22. They all describe God’s loving and patient nature. How He is slow to anger and quick to love. 

Proverbs 10:12, Isaiah 61:8, Amos 5:15. They all instruct us to pursue love and justice and put aside strife and wrongdoing and evil. 

 Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? and abounding in steadfast love It is there in black and white. The characteristics desired are justice and kindness and humility and love. This is undebatable. It is the clearest set of marching orders anyone could require. 

I know what’s coming. I know that the responses of “But that is the Old Testament. We aren’t under the Law. We are under grace. We are not the modern reincarnation of Israel.”  First if all, those protests only come up when it suits our needs. The same person who will reject the Old Testament teachings on things like this will embrace them when teaching on homosexuality or tithing or God being a wrathful God. Second, dismissing the call to love would possibly, maybe make sense if the New Testament veered away from this calling. And that is not the case. If anything, Jesus’ life and teachings ups the ante on the need for love. 

Jesus time and again calls on His followers to live lives defined by love for God and love for Others. His entire purpose for coming is presented in one of the most famous passages in the entire Bible. In John 3:16-17 Jesus tells Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Love, not condemnation. Love and salvation, not banishment and death. Jesus came and died out of love. And He consistently taught His disciples to live in the same manner. 

Jesus didn’t get in trouble with the authorities due to His refusal to give up His rights, or pounding the moral drum, or seizing political power. He got in trouble with organized religion because he kept calling for people to Love God and Love Others. That was why they mocked Him, hated Him, and killed Him. They refused to Love God and Love Others. 

Jesus said to ...
Love God
Love God even more than money
Love our neighbors
Love one another
Love our enemies
Love those who persecute is
Love those who hate us. 

That just about covers every loophole. There is no one escaping those descriptions. It wasn’t, “Criticize each other.”  It wasn’t, “Point out everyone’s sins.” It wasn’t, “Attack everyone who disagrees with you.”  It wasn’t, “Push aside everyone who looks different than you.”  In fact Jesus went so far as to tell us specifically to NOT do those things. He told stories that illustrated how we should love people, no matter their characteristics. He demonstrated how to love people of every background and weakness and sin style and belief. From whores to lepers to children to Romans to the establishment to criminals to average guys. Jesus loved them all. 

People were drawn to this Jesus. They couldn’t get enough of Him. Children loved Him. You ever been around kids? They don’t flock to someone who is going to be dark and moody and judgmental. People don’t usually follow a miserable malcontent around all over tarnation. They had never seen anyone like Him. They had never been loved by anyone like Him. They weren’t used to having their petty concerns cared about, their little needs seen as important. They were used to people walking away and ignoring them. People didn’t care if they ran out of wine or if they were blind or if they didn’t have enough money or if their servant died or if their child died. Society kept rolling and everyone was caught up in their own problems and issues. And then Jesus came along and fed the masses when they were hungry. And He healed the meaningless beggars. And He brought the regular people back to life. And He listened and cared and celebrated and mourned and loved them.

Before Jesus left He took Peter aside and talked with him. This man was a coward. He swore he didn’t know Jesus and ran away when things got rough. He hid like a little kid. He was a screwup. He failed so badly, and all after he bragged so loudly. This was Jesus’ opportunity to really rub it in his face. Instead, Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him. He lowered the bar all the way down and asked Peter if he even liked Him. Peter kept saying he did. And each time, Jesus said that if Peter really loved Him, he should take care of people. The ragged lame poor stupid different oddball people. The terms Jesus used were so tender. “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep.  Feed my sheep.”  You don’t go running up to feed a lamb with a whip, screaming. You don’t tend sheep by getting in their faces and yelling. “What’s your problem you stupid sheep? Why don’t you do this right?” The mantle of loving was passed on. 

Jesus made it as clear as possible in John 13:35. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. People will know you are a Christ follower by your love. Not the fish on your car, not the party you vote for, not the church you attend, not the people you hate, not the things you do, not the things you DON’T do. By your love. Love for others in your family, your workplace, your church, your denomination, your neighborhood, your city, your state, your country, your planet. 

Jesus’ followers got this. It wasn’t unclear to them. That is why Paul’s Epistles are flooded with verses telling us to love those around us. ALL of those around us.  There are so many verses to pull up. However, the  most famous passage about love comes from Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. Read this and see if it sounds like Christians today. 

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.  Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.  So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

That should make us fall to our knees, begging God and everyone around us for forgiveness. It should make us delete our Twitter account and start over. It should make us re-examine our Facebook and Instagram profile. It should make us take a long hard look at how we treat those people different from us. The ones with different colored skins. The ones with different beliefs, different lives, different incomes, different nationalities. How can a people that clearly called to love be so willing to hate? To discriminate? To marginalize and abuse and hurt and wound and kill? 

Even Peter himself finally got it. He actually sums it up quite nicely.  1 Peter 2:17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. And in 1 Peter 4:8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins  No one is omitted from this list. Not people who wrong you, not people who rule you, not people who betray you. No one. 

The final word on love comes from John, Jesus’ closest Disciple. His book of 1 John is a dissertation on how much love should be a part of our lives. In chapter four, starting in verse seven, he goes through and again clearly explains that it is impossible - yes, IMPOSSIBLE - to follow Christ and not love people. 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.  By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother

This is as plain as it can get. We should be people defined by love. But we are not people defined by love. This is wrong. It is sin. It doesn’t matter the situation. There is no scenario where we can escape this calling. And there is no way that we can argue with this.  And there is no one out there who can just nod his or her head and say, “Yup. Good points. I’m nailing it.”  Every single one of us should be heartbroken at how poorly we are representing our Lord. We should wail out in sorrow at the people we have led astray due to our hate and prejudice and callousness and selfishness. If we truly want to see this country, this world to change, we have to stop fighting and start loving each other. We have to stop striving for power and start loving. We have to stop attacking and start loving.  We need to stop pushing agendas and start loving. Love is the only thing that will make a difference.  

Love, 
David

1 Corinthians 16:14. Let all that you do be done in love.

May 11, 2018

7.0

I have been absent from the blog for a while.  Oh, you didn't notice?  I did.  I had a plethora of things that I wanted to write about.  I even started on several of them.  Their half-formed bodies litter my hard drive and blog dashboard.  Writing is hard.  For most people, it isn't physically exhausting.  It can be for me, since I have medical issues that affect me when I sit and type for long periods of time. But, overall, it isn't nearly as physically challenging as, say, logging or road paving or bear wrestling or excavating.  It is emotionally wearing, though.  Any artist will testify to this.  When you are creating something like music, writing, painting, sculpture, you are putting yourself into that effort.  The media you use may be clay or paper or virtual interweb bits.  But the true material is a piece of yourself.  You birth an idea in your head and decide you want to share it with others.  That idea gestates during the rumination and creation process.  Finally, it is birthed into the public eye.  Many of these ideas are miscarried, though.  Sometimes, the idea is just flawed and not worth completing.  Other times, the artist is afraid that it isn't worth putting out there.  So it gets hidden away with all of the other incomplete ideas to probably never be visited again.

My biggest challenge when writing is getting past that hurdle.  I will start off like gangbusters, typing like crazy and busting gangs.  Then I will hit a wall.  The words may not flow as easily. I may not have as much time to sit and type. Whatever the reason for the pause, immediately the doubt seeps in and squelches the project. I worry that my opinions don't matter, my view on life is pointless.  People don't care.  There is enough garbage flying around in virtual space already to distract the masses and my contribution is only another piece of trash on the heap. So I stop.  I have a couple of dozen blog posts sitting there unfinished. In my Dropbox account, I have an outline for an entire series of young adult novels. Sitting.  Hoping someday I will return.

I am fighting this and working hard to ignore this debilitating process of fear and doubt. So over the next week or so, I hope to actually finish some of the things that I have started and not seen through to completion.  It is important to me to do this; it may be helpful to someone else as well.  So I begin with a very personal post.

On Tuesday, I saw my doctor.  This is where the number in the title comes from. About three years ago I was diagnosed with Diabetes.  This was one of the most humiliating events in my entire life.  I've dealt with Rheumatoid Arthritis for well over a decade now, but that is something that I had no control over. My weight battle has been well documented over at the Darth Fatso blog, but even that I can sort-of justify as a product of bad genes.  But diabetes? That is straight up my stupid fault for eating like a foraging raccoon college student for my entire life. It isn't like I don't understand diabetes.  My father was diagnosed with it and didn't try to control it as well.  He got all the way up to insulin injections, thinking the medication would  make up for his undisciplined eating habits. I've seen friends and family dealing with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, but none of them triggered any permanent changes for me. Even after my initial diagnosis, I never stuck with an intelligent approach to make dietary changes. I'm an American, dang it! I may make a few changes here and there and keep them up for weeks or months.  But soon enough, I would be back drinking Mountain Dew and sneaking cookies, like a whirling Tasmanian Devil of self destruction.

My physicians did a great job trying to control diabetes in a person who was not compliant.  I took my medicines religiously, hoping like my dad that they would fix the problem I wasn't willing to attack. One medicine, two medicines, three medicines. Each one would see a brief drop in my blood sugar numbers, but the number would creep right back up. Increase the dose, increase the other dose. Slight dip in the numbers. Bounce back up. Finally three months ago, my doctor had reached the end of options.  My a1c was 10.7.  For those of you who are not up to date on the diabetes lingo, 10.7 is awful.  A1C is not confused by having a bad breakfast or drinking one soda.  It is a measurement of three months worth of behavior and it is incontrovertible.  Normal A1C in a  person is between 4 and 6.  A person with diabetes needs to aim to get below 7.  Mine was 10.7.  So my doctor said the words that terrified me.  "I don't really have any more options, so you need to see an endocrinologist and start insulin." Crap.

To me, insulin was the ultimate disaster. In my family, when my dad was dealing with his diabetes, insulin was always dangled as the outcome that would occur if he didn't get his act together. He thought he could use it and be able to do whatever he wanted. But that wasn't correct.  If it ever got that far, then I knew I had failed miserably. I figured once I was on it, I would never get off of it. So that day, as disappointed and frustrated as I was, I made a choice.  I decided that before I had to start jabbing ANOTHER needle into my body, I was going to actually make one legitimate attempt at fixing things the right way - the way I should have been all along.

I went home and threw out all the cookies and ice cream; I poured the soda down the drain.  Next I went to Costco and bought things that would help me to make a legitimate effort.  Then I started actually taking my blood sugar every morning and on some evenings, to see where things were.  At first, they were bad.  Whooooo.  But I started to see numbers drop, and I got excited. I kept it up through Valentine's Day and Easter.  Even on my birthday! I had my normal breakfast, wings for lunch, steak for dinner.  My big splurge was having a baked potato with dinner and a cupcake sized cheesecake.  No leftovers floating around, so no temptations. And I've behaved the entire time - no cheating. For three months straight, I was as disciplined as I ever had been with food in my life.

I went to the doctor and she was asking me the usual questions, but remarked, "You seem much more relaxed today."  I told her I was excited to see my numbers.  I could tell she was a little hesitant, thinking that maybe I thought I was doing better than I was.  And also my morning number was often higher than she wanted, but the rest of the time everything was perfect.  She went out and got the results.  I heard her say, "WHAT? Really?" out in the hall.  Then she came back in with a little smirk and said, "I know you've been excited to see this.  It was a 7.0.  That's in range!" She was so happy for me (and I was happy for me too). "Just keep doing what you're doing."  I asked about the morning numbers being a little high some days.  "I would just keep doing what you're doing. It obviously is working."  It was the first time that I felt GREAT leaving a doctor's visit where my weight and diet were discussed.  Even when I lost a ton of weight back in Tallahassee, it always felt like a prison sentence.  And doctors still would say stuff like, "You still need to lose a little to get to your goal."  Uh, 100 pounds, dude.  Not good enough.  The crazy thing about this time is that I've only lost maybe 12 pounds.  I know I've lost weight - my clothes fit better, I can wear 3XT shirts, people I work with online have commented about it.  It just isn't a huge number.  And I'm okay with that.  My goal was to lower my sugar and I did that.  And I can maintain that.  Now I can start adding in more exercise and other things to help myself even more.  But I accomplished a goal finally in a way that worked for me.

So, what did I do? I know that somebody out there is struggling with this same issue.  And I want to help if I can.  I have been in those appointments with doctors and nutritionists where they give you a huge book and guidelines that seem absolutely ridiculous.  "Eat a piece of chicken the size of a deck of cards."  You're kidding, right?  I drop that much for the dogs when I'm cooking.  "Eat 7-10 servings of vegetables a day."  If I was open to eating that many vegetables, would I even BE HERE!?!?  This is what I did. It wasn't approved by a doctor or a food guru.  It was my attempt to do something I could handle long term to actually make changes.  Here is a list of steps that I took, that could work for you as well.

  1. Fight one battle at a time.  For me, I decided the blood sugar fight was the most important one. So I have not been measuring calories or portion sizes. I have focused strictly on eating in a way that will keep my sugars balanced, which I believe will ultimately help with everything else. You may have a different thing that is pressing for you.  Choose one.  My last serious attempt at losing weight was very successful for a whole year.  But then it completely unraveled because I had done everything at once, very strictly. And when one part started to fray, the whole thing came loose.
  2. Carb/Protein Balance.  This is the easiest food guide ever.  15 carb to 6 protein.  Match those up.  15 carbs is 1 carb serving; 6 protein is 1 protein serving.  If you are going to eat carbs, you need to eat protein too.  Then limit the carb servings you have - I usually won't do more than 3 at a meal.  How you generate those carb servings is up to you. But be careful! Unless you are actively looking at labels, you will GROSSLY underestimate how many carbs in are in things.  I've seen hamburger buns with 5 or 6 carb SERVINGS in one bun. There are some foods that are life savers, which I will detail in a little bit.  By just having those foods WITH your carb serving you help your sugars. This is still EXTREMELY restrictive based on our normal diets and will take some major upkeep.  I've gotten used to taking half of a bun off of a burger, dumping the contents of a taco out on the plate, asking for half rice servings places.  All of those things will help.
  3. LifeSaver Food.  Greek yogurt is my lifeboat.  You may not like yogurt, but I love it and always have.  My breakfast every morning is vanilla greek yogurt with peanut butter and banana mixed in.  For snacks, I'll grab a yogurt in the afternoon.  If I want a dessert, sometimes I'll grab a yogurt.  And there are so many kinds and flavors. My new favorite is Tillamook brand.  Their coffee flavor (only available at Target, as far as I know) is dynamite. READ those labels, though.  Not all Greek yogurts are created equal.  Some of them will have more carbs and less protein.  I try to pick one that gives me two protein servings in one cup and only one carb serving.  They are out there.  Other lifesaving foods.  Cheese.  This is a huge benefit, grabbing a cheese stick or a pack of mozzarella balls.  Add cheese to your sandwich or meal.  Meat sticks.  If you like jerky, knock yourself out.  I'm not a big fan, plus they have a surprising amount of sugar.  But I have discovered different kinds of dried sausages - Duke's is my favorite.  Three sticks have 9 protein and 1 carb.  That's my jam.  Nuts. Again, read those labels.  I like macadamia nuts, and Costco sells some good big containers of those.  I also like almonds.  And there are lots of new products catering to high protein, low carb diets.  I found a thing of Blue Diamond blueberry almonds the other day that is a 1 carb to 1 protein serving pouch.  Delicious.
  4. Don't Skimp on Products.  My big discovery on this came with peanut butter.  Go ahead and admit it; you've been judging my peanut butter for breakfast comment.  I put two big ole spoonfuls in there.  Sometimes I will just take a spoonful out and eat it in the middle of the day.  Shocked? Disappointed? Go read your peanut butter label.  I'll wait.  (Hey Katie.  How are you little doggie? You're so cute.) Back? Surprised? Yeah, I was too.  Peanut butter has a GREAT amount of protein and NOT a lot of carbs.  And it doesn't have to be that nasty natural stuff with a layer of grease on top or the low fat one nobody will eat.  In fact, there is hardly ANY difference between the different brands and variations.  There certainly is not enough for me to switch from Jif to all natural, crushed in the store, tastes gross stuff.  When you are picking your items, you may not want to go with the off brand.  I'll tell you what, HEB brand yogurt sucks.  It is truly awful.  Publix brand is amazing, as are all things created by Publix.  (Moment of silence for those separated by miles from Publix.)  Is it worth it to save 10 cents on a yogurt you won't eat? Find something you like and get it.  Same thing if you find a specialty protein product that costs a little bit.  Like, take Real Good Food enchiladas.  This company is brilliant.  They use chicken and parmesan cheese to replicate pizza crusts and tortillas. Their cheese enchiladas are wonderful, but they cost like 4 bucks a box.  "Oh my gosh! I don't want to spend 4 bucks on a frozen meal."  No, go spend 9 bucks at McDonalds.  If it keeps you on track, go with it.  Another great option is Stubbs frozen bbq meat.  The pulled pork version is soooo low on carbs, but it is probably the best pulled pork I've had in Houston.  Yeah, I know.  Not saying much, but whatever.  
  5. KICKSTART. Soda was going to be the hardest thing for me to give up. It isn't because of the caffeine because caffeine doesn't even affect me at all.  This is one hundred percent true.  I can drink an energy drink or coffee right before bed and just go right to sleep.  In fact, it seems at times to have an inverse affect on me where I get tired when I have too much.  Mountain Dew makes these Kickstart energy drinks and they just introduced a "Original Dew Flavor" version. And it tastes virtually like real Mountain Dew.  It is a little over 1 carb serving (80 calories), but I usually have it with a meal, so it cancels out with my usual abundance of protein. (There is a Ultra version of this with Aspartame and 0 calories.  But I can't drink Aspartame.  So I haven't tried it.) I've also found some coffee drinks that are 1 carb to 1 protein. HEB redeems itself with its 100 calorie mocha iced coffee on this.  You can even have Starbucks skinny drinks - again, don't skimp and demand skim milk unless that is how you like it.
  6. Be Kind to Yourself  This may be the hardest of all.  We all know how cruel our own heads can be, so don't be surprised when your brain starts berating you all the time about all the things you've done wrong -- or you're afraid you've done wrong.  For Easter, I had part of a dark chocolate bunny because it was a special occasion.  Then I gave the rest to my kids.  For my birthday I had a cupcake. The other day I wanted Reese's Cups, so I got a small two pack and ate them with dinner.  None of those things destroyed my efforts.  In fact, I will often purchase an ice cream novelty item to have at the house for days when I really need/want something like that.  I don't buy a bucket of ice cream because I'm not a total moron. But I will sometimes get Tillamook or Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches or Yasso yogurt pops. I know what the carb to protein ratio is in advance and know that I'm okay taking the hit. Sometimes we just need to do that. I still have pizza once in a while.  But it is once in a while, not as a regular menu item. And I have changed even how I order it or what I order to ramp up the protein on it to offset the crust. And I eat fewer slices as well.  I still eat burgers (with bun modifications) but don't eat the fries.  You still can have stuff you like - just be smart about it.
I am not even beginning to say that I have everything figured out.  Nope nope whole lotta nope.  But I have had some short term success with very sustainable changes.  So, maybe that will be something helpful to someone - well before they get the gut punch at the doctor's office.