Make Weight Loss Easier: Let God Lead

It's the last in this series about how to make weight loss easier (even though that’s basically what I want to always help you with ;) )

This one is by FAR the most important.

If you want to make weight loss easier and sustainable, putting God front and center on the journey is vital.

Here are 2 main reasons why…

1. You strengthen your relationship with God, which strengthens your relationship with yourself and thus decreases emotional swings that lead to eating..
2. Willpower is fleeting but God’s gift of self-control that comes from His Spirit is always available.

Let’s break each one of these down so you can get a little clear picture of what I’m talking about.

Putting God front and center on this journey inherently means that you are going to grow closer to Him.  You will know God better and be faced with His truth more often.

The truth is, YOU are a creation of God.  This means that you are completely worthy, from the day you were born.  It also means you are called to “love yourself” _{(don’t stop reading if you are annoyed by this statement because I’m not talking about this the way the world does).}  

Here is what I mean when I say “love yourself”.  Why do you love your kids?  Do you love them because of what they can do or accomplish?  No.  You would say you love them because they are your children. 

That’s it.

You don’t need any other reason than that.

The same goes with you.  You are the you that God gave you. That’s it. 

You get to love yourself just because God created you.  That doesn’t mean you have to always like yourself _{(... because you don’t always LIKE your kids… but you always love them),} but you are called to care for, encourage, and support YOURSELF… just like you would your child.

Love is the VERB, the action… not the noun or the feeling.

You may not always feel love, but you take the action anyway because that’s what God has called you to do.

Let's go back to Jesus’s two commands.  Love God.  Love God’s humans (you being one of them). 

When you start to adopt this true mindset, that’s when your confidence, self-control, and peace flourish.

You see that you are an amazing human along with all of God’s other amazing humans.  You GET to support yourself with healthy actions even though they may be tough at times.  Since you can’t swap yourself out for another human, you make peace that this human isn’t so bad…actually, there are some redeeming qualities about you.

Since you make peace with yourself, instead of constantly beating yourself up, you feel...

• Less stressed because you know God is with you and working it out for your good.
• Less frustrated because you know that Jesus overcame sin and God always has solutions to help you do it differently.
• Less tired because you’re not operating out of your strength, but out of God’s.
• Less overwhelmed because God’s in control and you only worry about what’s in your control.

When you better handle these emotions, then you aren’t as tempted to reach for the chocolate or bag of chips to deal with them.

_{(I see how I probably should write a series of blogs just on emotions… there is so much more to talk about on this topic!)}

Let’s dive into the next reason…

Willpower relies on your human power.  Self-control is relying on God’s powerful Holy Spirit inside of us.

Losing weight is not easy… we’ve talked about this before.

But, I find we like to make it harder on ourselves by relying on willpower.

Don’t get me wrong.  Willpower is a gift.  Willpower is used at its fullest when we make decisions ahead of time that will set us up for success later in the day when our willpower runs out.

But again... willpower will run out.

My opinion here, but I think God created our willpower to run out so we KNOW who’s power to turn to…so we are always seeking HIM.

Self-control, which is part of the fruit of the Spirit, never runs out.  That’s because it’s from God… and God never stops having the strength or blessing us with what we need.

However, self-control requires us to look to God for truth and guidance.  It requires us to STOP, be present with Him, and shut down the crazy chaos going on in our heads.

Because that's what happens when we run out of self-control... we aren't present, we've had all these decisions spinning around in our brains, so we just check out and let whatever we want in the MOMENT run the show.

Self-control comes from continually asking yourself, “What is the loving decision I can make for my future right now?”

It’s not the easiest or quickest decision… it’s focusing on the LOVING decision.

Because God is love. 

Any decision made with LOVE is made with God.

And a decision made with God is made with self-control. 

You can always find the strength you need to make the loving decision because God is blessing you with that power.  

Maybe you’re saying right now, “Well, Amanda, that sounds all good in theory.  

How do I actually put that into practice and make weight loss easier?”

GREAT question.

That’s something we continually focus on in A Body of Grace group coaching membership.  But, let’s start with two tangible ways…

1. Start each day with God.  Starting your day with God in prayer or in His word is like setting an intention for the day.  It’s using the gift of willpower to set yourself up to move into God’s power.  To start your day with God means to begin asking yourself, “What is my next loving decision for my future?”  Asking yourself this question and making a plan for what you are going to eat for the day from this focus, is going to start you off on the right foot.
2. Speak the truth about who you are to yourself.  Make an “I am/ I have” list from who God says you are and speak that over yourself daily (I recommend multiple times a day).  Example:  I have a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline (2 Tim. 1:7). I am confident that God will perfect the work He has begun in me (Philippians 1:6).  Speaking these to yourself in this way not only reminds you of God's promises, but it helps you apply them to YOU.  We are great at believing these promises for others, now it's time to believe them for you! 

Those are just two ways... there are MANY more applicable ways to let God lead this journey and make weight loss easier.

If you want guidance, support, and encouragement in this, come and join A Body of Grace group coaching membership. 

You can set up a quick time to chat with me and get all the information HERE.