Once you have decided to give up a lifestyle of making excuses, and after you have prayed through your acceptance and responsibility, then it’s time to examine your motivation for wanting to lose weight.
LOOKING AT YOUR LIFE
If you had a magic wand and could wave it over your life, what three big changes would you most like to see and why?
Our emotions are the warning lights on the dashboard of our lives. When we find ourselves flashing with a strong emotion—fear, anger, worry, sadness—it’s time to “pull over,” so to speak, and “look under the hood” at what’s really going on inside us. Does the idea of self-examination trouble you or excite you? Why?
Research tells us that people become more successful at long-term weight loss when their motivation is to become healthier, not thinner.
Be honest—which of the following options might you choose? Why?
• Living another thirty years, while enjoying an absolutely flawless physique—a body off the cover of some magazine.
• Living another fifty years, in a reasonably fit and healthy body—though not necessarily a body that would cause people to stop and stare in envy.
LEARNING A NEW WAY OF LIFE
As you learn more about making good food choices and self-care, your focus should be on becoming a healthier, not just thinner, you. This change in attitude and motivation is essential.
“I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).
If one’s goal is merely to look more attractive, rank the following ways to do that, from 1 to 10 (1=most effective; 10=least effective):
___ liposuction and other forms of plastic surgery
___ gastric bypass surgery
___ vegetarian diet
___ low-fat diet
___ low-carb diet
___ aerobics classes
___ new wardrobe
___ cosmetic dental surgery
___ tanning booth sessions
___ weight/strength-training
If one’s goal is to become an overall healthier, happier person, what activities might need to be added to the above list and why?
Read 1 Timothy 4:7–8. What does this passage suggest is important in achieving overall health?
In Philippians 4:13, the apostle Paul exclaims, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” What is the significance of this statement to those who are opting for the long-term view of lifelong weight loss/management?
LOSING IT FOR LIFE
Perhaps you are frustrated because it seems as though you’ve been dieting forever and haven’t lost a pound. We know the drill!
In the LIFL book, Dr. Linda tells of her college “cottage cheese diet” that helped her gain fifteen pounds her freshman year. She reports how she skipped breakfast every day (food or sleep was her option), ate cottage cheese and fruit for lunch, and ate a regular dinner. Staring daily at her little bowl of white mealy curd lunch, she believed she was making the ultimate sacrifice to lose weight. She ate it religiously and thought the pounds would fall off.
What she forgot to add to the equation were her nightly visits to the dormitory snack machines. In addition to her 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. dietary discipline, Dr. Linda was also ingesting late-night fruit pies and cinnamon buns and chips and chocolate. Add up all those extra study snack calories that didn’t “count” because they weren’t part of her “healthy” meals, and it’s no wonder she didn’t lose weight.
Studies also show that people who record what they eat lose more weight and keep it off compared to those who don’t.6
What are your snack habits?
When do you find yourself most susceptible to nibbling and grazing?
Research shows that very few people have metabolic disorders or genetic factors that cause obesity. The truth is that most people grossly underestimate what they eat in a day and they exercise far less than they think.7 It’s not that people intentionally lie about what they eat. They just forget all those random moments in the day when they grab a handful of chocolates or taste a few spoonfuls of chili while preparing dinner. A little here, a little there adds up.
Get a small blank tablet that you can carry with you. Begin right now writing down everything you eat in a day for a week or two. This may sound tedious, but it will provide you with a greater awareness of what you are eating. The food journal will also pinpoint eating patterns—when you eat, how much, how often, what you eat, etc. This information will later be used to make changes.
Find a companion who will do this with you. Having a partner to remind you and encourage you is a great way to develop this new, important habit. Use the following format (also provided in Appendix A) to help monitor your progress.
After you have set up your food journal, commit this exercise to God with this prayer:
Father,
I have begun this new adventure that I hope and pray will become a new way of life. I do not want to be controlled by food or by unhealthy emotions. Give me the grace to lean on You at all times. Help me change my mind-set so that I am motivated by a deep desire to be healthy. And grant that I might attain that goal, to Your glory and my own good. In Jesus’ name, amen.