Margaret is a Faithful Finish Lines 2.0 member and Finisher who loves to read and write when she is not teaching. She lived overseas for a number of years and now resides in the Midwest where she serves the community by teaching English as a Second Language.
Transform your body and spirit—embracing weight loss to wellness with God’s guidance and discover a healthier, more fulfilling you.
Are you growing discouraged by the struggle of trying to lose weight and keep the weight off? It just seems impossible to keep the weight from coming back, doesn’t it? You might be surprised to learn that this is a common struggle experienced by millions of people who are dieting in an effort to reach a healthier weight.
Did you know that roughly 90 percent of people who lose a lot of weight eventually regain just about all of it? In fact, only about one in every six Americans who have ever been overweight or obese loses weight and maintains that loss, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. That’s pretty shocking, not to mention discouraging and frustrating!
What can you do when you want to lose weight but are faced with the fact that diets don’t work, that you are likely to regain the weight you lose, and that dieting can open you up to a greater chance of developing an eating disorder?
People trying to lose weight often run into a problem known as the yo-yo effect. This is when your weight loss journey follows a cycle of losing and regaining weight that is like the up and down motion of a yo-yo.
You successfully lose weight for a while, then you begin to struggle and perhaps try to change your methods, then you gain weight back and feel like you have to start all over again to be successful in weight loss.
You work so hard at losing weight, and yet you see your hard work disappearing with the rebound weight gain of your yo-yo dieting. It is so frustrating to realize that your hard work and sacrifice in dieting have only been temporary!
Is it even possible to avoid this vicious cycle and lose weight in a way that is both healthy and successful?
Thankfully, there is a solution to this disappointing cycle.
Christian weight loss (also called spiritual weight loss) is a faith-based weight loss approach that follows biblical principles to encourage you in your Christian walk as you lose weight. It is a holistic wellness approach that addresses not only the physical, but also the emotional and spiritual dimensions of a healthy lifestyle.
God’s plan for health is the best way to enhance spiritual well-being in your journey to lose weight and discover healthy eating. Aligning with God’s design for health offers a sustainable, fulfilling path to weight loss and true wellbeing.
Are you frustrated with traditional weight loss approaches? Do you seek a wellness and faith-based path to transform your body, mind and spirit as you pursue God’s design for lasting health and wellness?
If so, read on to learn how to transform your body and spirit, embrace weight loss and wellness with God’s guidance, and discover a healthier, more fulfilling you.
Understanding God’s Design for Health
In your efforts to achieve a healthy lifestyle, it is important that you understand God’s design for health.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 reminds us:
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
This means that how you treat your body affects you in both physical and spiritual ways, because the Holy Spirit dwells in you and it is important to protect and treat your body well as a sacred dwelling.
This does not mean you can’t ever eat chocolate or that you are condemned if you happen to make poor food choices from time to time. It does mean, however, that you should keep in mind what kind of healthy choices you can make that will honor God and support your physical and spiritual health.
Part of giving honor to God is practicing good stewardship over your body. A steward is someone who manages or takes care of property for the owner. As a believer, you are managing all that God has provided for you to be able to have honoring guardianship of your body, soul, and spirit.
To be a good steward over your body as part of taking care of your health involves eating a balanced diet, getting enough exercise, and making sure you get adequate rest.
Bethany Hamilton defines this type of stewardship very well when she says,
“the point of a healthy lifestyle is getting to the place where you know how to use everything you’ve been given to its fullest potential. You start to understand all of the beauty and functionality God has placed within your body when he created you.”
Bethany Hamilton
Part of good stewardship of your body is eating in moderation and with self-control instead of allowing yourself to fall into gluttony. Gluttony is the opposite of self-control and involves greed and a selfish desire to indulge in physical desires.
God’s purpose in providing nourishing food is to give you what you need to take proper care of your body and needs. He wants you to enjoy what He has given, while being careful not to abuse it or take it in excess.
When contemplating a wellness approach to losing weight, it is important to see how all the aspects of wellness are interconnected. There are physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions to wellness and weight loss that need to all be considered.
Wellness Approach — Mind, Body & Spirit Interconnectedness
Traditional wellness often focuses on just the body. But a more complete approach considers mind, body, and spirit as interconnected. By nurturing all three aspects, we can achieve a deeper sense of well-being and harmony.
Physical
Nutritional wellness results from eating a balanced diet, including a variety of foods that give your body what it needs for energy, protein, essential fats, vitamins, and minerals. According to the CDC, regular exercise and physical activity are also important to wellness because,
“it can improve your brain health, help manage weight, strengthen bones and muscles, and improve your ability to do everyday activities.”
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Together, proper nutrition and exercise can be of immense help to your efforts to lose weight. It can also be helpful to pay attention to what you eat before and after exercising, because it can make a big difference in how you feel during your workout.
By making a point to have balanced nutrition, you might feel more like taking part in physical activity, so that both nutrition and exercise will end up benefiting you.
Emotional
While proper nutrition and regular exercise are known to contribute to good stress management, the presence of stress and pain can affect your emotional wellbeing. In order to reach a good level of wellness, emotional health needs to be addressed.
Some stress is useful and good for you, as it provides motivation and even some energy to deal with things that come up in your life.
However, when stress becomes chronic, it will negatively impact your health and well-being. In addition, if you have chronic pain or underlying emotional pain, this will increase your stress even more and affect your ability to manage your health. Chronic pain is both physically and psychologically stressful, and emotional pain can be just as debilitating.
Learning to manage your stress will help you cope better with chronic pain and it will keep you from giving in to emotional eating, which will throw off your goals to get proper nutrition.
Spiritual
Marisa D’Amore emphasizes how closely physical and emotional health are related. She says,
“As we navigate our path of wellness, it’s important to understand the connection between physical health and emotional/mental health. They are not distinct, separate entities, but rather interconnected aspects of our overall health. Scientific studies affirm this connection, demonstrating how our physical well-being can significantly influence our emotional and mental states and vice versa. Regular exercise, balanced nutrition and adequate sleep, for instance, are proven to enhance mood and mental clarity. Conversely, persistent stress or emotional distress can negatively affect our physical health, often manifesting as fatigue, pain or even chronic diseases.”
Marisa D’Amore on Physical and Emotional Health
She goes on to talk about your relationship with God and its effect on wellness:
“Honoring God through healthy living isn’t just about the food we eat or the exercise we get. It means nurturing a disciplined spirit that aligns our physical practices with our spiritual beliefs. It’s about acknowledging that our bodies are vessels of the Holy Spirit and treating them accordingly. This commitment to self-discipline in our physical lives often translates into increased discipline in other areas as well, including our prayer life, Bible study and service to others.”
Marisa D’Amore on Physical and Emotional Health
The spiritual aspect of your health is the key to the rest of your health. 1 John 1:2 says,
“Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.”
1 John 1:2
Good physical health and good emotional health work together with good soul health, contributing to complete wellness.
Detriments to God’s Design — Identifying Obstacles
God designed your body to enjoy food and He provided all manner of food to sustain you as well as to give you enjoyment for your good health. There are obstacles to seeing and accepting that design, however, and these obstacles can prevent you from fully realizing God’s desire for you in His design for your health.
Distorted Body Image
Body image is how you see your body and the feelings you have based on that perception. The world’s view of body image is distorted and this can lead to feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, and a distorted view of your worth.
The world is obsessed with external appearances, and a current emphasis on being thin has resulted in little tolerance for anyone being overweight. Women in particular are falling prey to negative views of themselves because the world sees extra weight in a negative light.
God’s perspective is different. His creation is widely varied and includes body shape and size just as much as it includes different varieties of flowers, birds or trees. Being thin is not a prerequisite for being considered beautiful in God’s eyes. The Bible teaches that true beauty comes from your inner character and heart rather than any kind of external feature.
Body image in Christianity declares that God created you and as your creator, His opinion of your beauty is what matters. Nothing the world says can stand against that truth. This is something to be grateful for, and something you can trust.
While it is not easy to go against a negative body image to love yourself as God loves you, it is glorifying Him to accept His opinion of you. As you express gratitude for all God has created and how He created you, you will learn to love and appreciate yourself.
Emotional Eating
Another obstacle to appreciating God’s design occurs when seeking comfort or reward in food rather than God. That’s basically what emotional eating is — instead of allowing Jesus to be your source of comfort, you turn to food when you are struggling with your emotions.
Emotional eating and faith do not go well together, because the relief you get from food is not lasting; you will have to turn to it again and again because your comfort will disappear along with the food.
God, rather than food, is the source of emotional wellness, so turn to Him in prayer and reflection when you are in need and your faith will be strengthened.
You won’t be immune to problems in life as a Christian, but because you have an intimate relationship with God, you can approach Him with confidence through prayer, and He will help you keep your thoughts, emotions and behaviors healthy.
Lack of Boundaries Leading To Self-Harm
God’s design is also obscured when a lack of boundaries leads you to harm yourself by eating too much on a regular basis.
Aside from the discomfort you might feel when you eat too much at a meal, there are other long-term effects that are harmful to your body. If you are regularly overeating, such as gaining an unhealthy amount of weight and being at higher risk for diseases like diabetes or heart disease.
While you might think you are free to do what you want and eat freely according to your desire, this is how the world defines freedom, and in reality, it is the road to self-destruction. Freedom in Christ, on the other hand, gives us boundaries to protect us.
As Becky at So Very Blessed shares in this article about food freedom, it is not a freedom without healthy boundaries. Such freedom assures you of your identity as a child of God, and puts food in its proper place in your life.
Spiritual Disconnection
Another obstacle to realizing God’s design for wellness is the lack of peace and guidance you feel when you are not rooted in faith. Having roots to your faith is like a tree that has strong roots at its foundation; strong roots allow the tree to grow tall and strong and give it the necessary nutrients it needs to grow and produce fruit.
In the same way, a relationship with Christ gives you the roots and foundation you need to build a life of peace and faith in spite of difficulties that might come against you.
You can build that strength into your wellness journey through spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, Bible reading and study, and worshiping God in fellowship with other believers. With such disciplines in place, you will be better equipped to take the practical steps you need toward wellness.
Practical Steps toward Weight Loss and Wellness in God’s Way
What are some of these practical steps you can take as you seek to lose weight and establish wellness in a way that is pleasing to God?
Prayer & Surrender
The very first practical step is to seek God in prayer for His guidance and strength for the journey. He wants you to do well and feel well, and He will support you and encourage you as you step forward in faith to please Him.
Surrender your unhealthy habits to Him and trust Him to guide you in how you can change those habits into good, healthy ways of eating and thinking.
If you need extra encouragement along the way, these Bible verses about weight loss from Sara at The Holy Mess will help you keep God at the center of your journey.
Mindset Shift
This kind of change will involve a shift in your mindset. Replacing negative self-talk with affirmations of God’s love for you is essential to learning how to think in healthy ways about yourself. Remember that you are His daughter who He created, and you are beautiful in His eyes! Trust in that!
Instead of focusing on the negative, focus on progress, not perfection. Give yourself grace when you make a mistake or don’t meet your goals. God is not looking for perfection from you, He is looking for a heart willing to trust Him and keep trying, and He loves it when you make progress!
Intuitive Eating Informed by Faith
In your journey to wellness, practice intuitive eating as you listen to your body’s cues for hunger and fullness. God made your body to function in a certain way and you can learn how to work with that as you trust Him with your food and your health.
Respect your food as something God has given to you, a provision for your good health as well as something that brings you satisfaction. As you enjoy it in moderation, you will be satisfied in all ways.
Sustainable Exercise
Moving your body is important to gain strength and flexibility, so finding a form of sustainable exercise that you enjoy is essential to your wellness journey. God created you to enjoy everything He made and provided for you, so why not glorify Him by learning how to move your body in a way that is not only beneficial but also a blessing to your heart?
Not only will you find joy in movement and strengthening, you can glorify God as you exercise by making it an act of worship. In this way, you will learn to view movement and exercise as acts of gratitude to the body that God made for you.
Community Support
One of the most important steps you can take toward wellness is to make sure you surround yourself with positive, faith-centered influences. There are many ways to do this — be in fellowship with other believers, join a support group, find an accountability partner.
If you are seeking the fellowship and support of like-minded Christian women, a community I have personally benefited from in my own journey to weight loss and wellness is the FREE Faithful Finish Lines weight loss community. Join us for support and loving encouragement in your weight loss journey.
Experiencing the Blessings of Wellness Beyond Weight Loss
Achieving wellness with your weight loss is a wonderful goal, but there are blessings to be experienced beyond losing the weight.
Increased Energy and vitality
God has designed your body so that it benefits from exercise and healthy eating. One of those benefits might be less weight, which is certainly one of your goals, but you will also be amazed at the increased energy and vitality you experience as you journey forward towards wellness.
Improved Mental Clarity and Peace
Mindful eating improves you mentally as well as physically. You will discover that you have more clarity and peace as your body becomes stronger and you learn to appreciate God’s design and experience His loving care and provision.
Deeper Relationship with God
When you take good care of your body, you are honoring God because He created you. You are also equipping yourself to be able to serve Him with all your strength. Transformation from the inside out will be achieved as you develop a deeper relationship with God, one of worship and gratitude.
Living a Purpose-Filled Life
A deeper connection with God results in a more purpose-filled life. Having purpose and direction improves your health in general, and is also beneficial to your mental and emotional well-being. There is great satisfaction to be had in serving others with your gifts, and God desires this for you as well.
Maintaining Progress and Overcoming Challenges
No doubt you will meet with challenges along the way as you seek to eat in a healthy way that will bring you to full wellness. With God’s help, you will overcome those challenges and keep making progress.
Grace, Not Guilt
You will make mistakes along the way and have setbacks, but embrace God’s grace instead of concentrating on guilt. If you focus on the long term goal and keep in mind your successes, you will do well. Remember, the key is progress, not perfection!
Addressing Root Causes
Keep up the habit of self-examination so that you discover the root causes of poor food practices or emotional responses in relation to food. Again, remember to embrace God’s love and grace as you deal with these root causes.
The Power of Prayer
Continued dependence on God is vital, so remain in prayer and never hesitate to come before the Lord with your needs and desires. He is waiting to help you!
For consistent encouragement and resources, sign up for the Faithful Finish Lines email list to stay connected.
Sustainable Wellness with God
Remember, God’s plan for health is the best way to enhance spiritual well-being in your journey to lose weight and discover healthy eating. Aligning with God’s design for health offers a sustainable, fulfilling path to weight loss and true wellbeing, and it is a path to fulfillment and freedom.
Sustainable change is truly possible with faith! God loves you and honors you in your journey towards wellness; with His help, you will see significant change in your physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
You can grow your faith and lose weight by joining this FREE Weight Loss Program for Women; it is a great first step as you seek to honor God’s design for health.
Begin your wellness journey with God. Transform your body and spirit with God’s guidance and discover a healthier, more fulfilling you.
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