“I’m so sick and tired of dieting and not losing anything! What’s wrong with me?” If this resonates with you, please keep reading.
The first thing I want to say is that you’re not alone. You haven’t failed at dieting, dieting has actually failed you!
In fact, my hope for you today is that you can actually lose weight by firing your diet and recognize that you are loved. You matter!
As a believer, it’s so important that you recognize that you have value, that your identity is in Christ, and that the scale does not define you. The number on the scale does not tell us who you are or how valuable you are.
It’s time we ditch the diet culture – “Fire Your Diet” – and begin to use Scripture as a guideline for living our best life. The Bible is our blueprint, our roadmap, our guide, so let’s fire our diets for good and start living a happy, healthy lifestyle today by inviting God into our journey.
The Bible As Our Blueprint
I used to have a go-to diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet, and every time I felt like I needed to lose some weight or I felt like my clothes were getting tight, I would start on it again. And each time by lunchtime I hated what I was doing. I hated dieting because I felt like I was being punished; I felt so restricted and felt like I was eating things I didn’t really enjoy eating. It was like being imprisoned in my own head and body and I despised it.
Does this sound familiar?
When I finally fired my diet and began to treat my body like a temple, I found freedom with food for the first time. Living my best life through the lens of scripture, I can honestly say now that I enjoy my healthy lifestyle and I no longer worry about getting on another diet. In fact, I have completely “Fired My Diet!” Yep, I kicked it out the door and I don’t ever want to go back to that way of life. There is no more “Cabbage Soup Diet” for me!
If you’re struggling like I was, I’m here to tell you that you can “Fire Your Diet!” and lose weight. You can find freedom with food. You don’t have to hate the way you look or despise yourself any longer. It is possible to learn to love yourself the way God sees you and begin to treat your body like a temple one day at a time. God designed you perfectly and knit you together in your mother’s womb, so it’s time to see yourself the way God sees you. I needed to understand this concept too and once I did, it completely changed my life.
You might find it hard to believe that your body is a temple, but 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV) says:
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.
1 Corinthians 6:9-20 (ESV)
The Bible has so much to say about how we should treat our bodies. We must learn to love ourselves like we do our neighbors. Scripture says in Mark 12: 30-31:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.
Mark 12:30-31 (NIV)
We are not told to forget about ourselves, but rather we are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves. The question to ask yourself is, “Are you loving yourself?”
Are You Loving Yourself?
If you do love yourself then you will be taking care of your temple and I would say you are probably living a happy, healthy life. If you’re not taking care of yourself, I encourage you to start today.
God is big enough, strong enough, and patient enough to walk this journey with you. He is going to take care of you if you simply trust in Him. This sounds so easy, and yet it is difficult to fully grasp. The hardest part is to be consistent, to keep on going without falling back into your old ways. Remember, you are a New Creation, the old is gone.
So Why Do We Keep Going Back To Our Old Way Of Living?
The devil prowls around seeking to devour us where we are weak. He causes us to doubt and then we begin to feel like a failure. We fall into the victim mentality, the pity pot mode where we feel sorry for ourselves and compare ourselves to everyone else.
We think – “Oh Poor Me! Why can’t I eat like them and stay thin?”
This is when we need to take our thoughts captive and get back to focusing on the process of the journey. Remember…we are learning and growing and our goal is to treat our body like a temple, becoming more like Him every day. We are not on a diet where we hate what we are doing. When we fall down, we must pick ourselves up and get back in step with Jesus.
We know that God made us all unique and different. God knows each one of our weaknesses, and He also knows each one of our strengths. Step by step through this journey, we can become more like Jesus if we just follow the blueprint for living. As we grow, we will begin to produce the fruits of the spirit, and self-control is one of the fruits that will help us in our weight loss goal without having to diet.
Temptation And Food
Food is a big temptation for many of us. Thankfully we are always provided with a way of escape for every temptation; we just have to find the escape hatch and take the exit.
If you’re reading this, I know you’re feeling the same way that I did. I was so sick and tired of all the diets because they were not helping me get to my target goal weight. I was miserable and so focused on the outcome that I forgot to enjoy the process. Living a healthy lifestyle and treating your body like a temple will allow you to reap the rewards of weight loss while enjoying the journey.
Living one day at a time and enjoying the process helps us grow in so many ways. When we succeed today, it boosts our confidence level knowing that with God’s strength we can do it again tomorrow. This is how we become consistent and stay focused. We can live a healthy lifestyle when we don’t try to do the journey alone. We must keep relying on the strength of the Holy Spirit to guide us daily.
So if you’re sick and tired of dieting like I was, I invite you to try something new, something different. Begin by inviting God into your weight loss journey today. I really believe this is the missing piece of the puzzle.
Invite God Into Your Weight Loss Journey
Let’s surrender this journey to Him once and for all. He understands our temptations. In fact, Jesus talks a lot about food in the Bible. Jesus went to parties; He went to wedding feasts. I’m sure He was tempted just like you and I because He was fully human, yet still fully God. I’m sure the food at the feasts were delicious. Scripture says He was tempted in every way, so that includes food temptation. BUT…He never indulged in gluttony. He was without sin. He never overate. Jesus had self-control. Jesus did things in moderation. And Jesus focused on people – the fellowship – rather than the food.
Let’s start today by surrendering our journey to God. When we do, we will learn to have freedom with food and begin to shed the weight. This journey is more about self-control, moderation and portion control and being mindful of what we put into our bodies. Let’s surrender our weight loss to the one who understands and He will give us the strength we need to overcome the temptations.
Jesus is our source of love, our source of peace, our source of comfort. He wants us to bring our cares and burdens to Him. Next time we are tempted to feed our emotions, let’s feel them instead of feeding them and bring our emotions to Jesus. We may be eating because we are angry, depressed or because we have stress in our life, but in these difficult times, let’s turn to God rather than to food. We think food will relieve us from the stresses of life so we turn to food for comfort. However, only God can truly give us what we need.
Together let’s begin to enjoy the process and know that God will sustain us with the peace that surpasses all understanding. Invite God to your table today and trust the process of learning to live a happy, healthy life God’s way.
Blessings,
Ruth Verbree
🙋♀️ P.S. Are you ready to start eating delicious food, while also treating your body like a temple? Join our 10Day WeighDown Plan so that you can lose weight once and for all, and invite God into your journey!