A Southern Christian Woman's Guide to Getting Healthy

This will be the most personal blog post I will ever write. Thankfully, my blog is a judgment free place.

"Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister" Romans 14:13.

As a southern Christian lady, a few items are typically off the table for discussion. Age, gossip, and weight. The latter should really be a four letter word.

I mentioned in a previous post those of us so blessed to have been raised in the South learned early on that anywhere you're invited, you go with an appetite and covered dish. Southerners take a no holds bar approach to cooking and eating.

Food is comforting during the loss of a loved one and it is celebratory during times of happiness. Food unites friends and family. Food can turn a boyfriend into a fiancé or stop a crying baby. Food is life in the South. Jesus, family, food, and football. In that order.

As each birthday passed, each semester of college ended, and each boyfriend left me with a heartache, my waistline grew just a little. Before I knew it, I was 24 with a one year old and the biggest pair of pants I'd ever owned. Unhappy doesn't even begin to describe the way I felt.

I set out on a mission to lose weight and I saw immediate results. It probably helped that I was a poor single mom and didn't have it in the budget to indulge. I dropped a few sizes, got my cute figure back, and regained my lost confidence. Not long after that, I met my husband.

Any true Southerner knows the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Seeing as I'm a bonafide Southern lady, I stepped up my game and served him home cooked meals as often as he'd allow. My heart and my hips were exploding with love.

Fast forward to today, I am almost 3 years into my marriage, raising 2 beautiful children, and completely neglecting my health. I've tried to eat healthy here and there but never kept with it. I've tried to start an exercise routine but let one bad day throw me completely off. I've always lacked the willpower to persevere. The common denominator in all of my past efforts is I've been trying to do it alone.

I consider myself a devout Christian. In the last 18 months, I've grown leaps and bounds in my faith . I'm more comfortable sharing Jesus with others. I recognize the need for God in every aspect of my life. But it never really occurred to me, until now, to surrender my physical body to God too.

I bought the book Made To Crave by Lysa TerKeurst nearly a year ago. I read a couple of chapters and then never picked it back up. Once I decided enough was enough and I was truly ready to start this weight loss journey (I really loathe that term), I picked it up again.

Y'all, this is more than a book. It's more like a spiritual awakening. Every. Single. Page. I was all "yes, girl" or "oh my goodness, that is SOOOO me!". Straight truth on every page.

Lysa's mantra throughout her book is "everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial". She borrowed that from 1 Corinthians 6:12 and 1 Corinthians 10:23. It's Paul's mantra too, obviously, because he says it twice in the same book! She explains, in depth, how God created us to crave Him. When we crave something other than Him, we become slaves to sin. My pastor used the following verse in our sermon one Sunday and it fits so perfectly (funny how God works like that, huh?):

"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.

For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." Romans 7: 14-20

Humans idolize all different things: people, hobbies, jobs, etc. Then some of us, perhaps unknowingly, idolize food. Southerners included. While reading Made to Crave, I had so many light-bulb/aha revelations about my relationship with food and eating.

Lysa explains how we are "made for more". She encourages praying for your physical health regularly, not only your spiritual health. She shares personal battles with food and weight with her readers. I found this aspect incredibly encouraging because if you see pictures of her or see her on TV, she looks flawless. Not only that, but she is so Godly, a woman many of us probably look up to. For her to share with us that she was a slave to sin too, well, that just furthers her sincerity.

Throughout the book , the importance of prayer and living by the Spirit is emphasized. As Lysa says, "I'm not on a diet. I'm on a journey with Jesus." Our addictions to food cannot be overcome without Him. She points out that food has been an object of desire for many of us. She takes you all the way back to Genesis in the Garden with Eve and the apple.

The Devil knows precisely how to tempt us, ever so slightly, to keep us from God. Satan's smooth and subtle attempts dwell in our hearts without us even recognizing the problem. He can lure us with glamourous restaurants, exciting TV programs, adorable bakeries, or the comradery felt over a meal with friends. Hey, even Jesus broke bread with friends (read The Last Supper) so we know meals harbor significant impacts in our lives. But the sin lies in our hearts.

On my "fat days", you know you have them too, where I'm feeling down in the dumps about myself, I'll get on Pinterest and read other blog posts. You know the ones I'm talking about. Women who've "shed 100 lbs just eating kale" or something ridiculous like that. I think deep down I find more humor in those than I do motivation. The phrase that really burns my biscuits though is "if I can do it, you can do it". That's just nonsensical. Just because someone else does something does NOT imply that I can, or will. Lysa must agree with me because the introduction in her book is titled "Finding Your 'Want To'". Yes, our bodies are physically capable of just about anything. I mean, we do give birth to other tiny humans. That's pretty majestic. Lysa says "God made us capable of craving so we'd have an unquenchable desire for more of Him, and Him alone." How can you argue with that?

But for someone who craves food, who worships a good meal, who idolizes celebrity chefs, just because "she did it" doesn't mean "we can". Unless, unless we do it with God. The most misquoted, misused verse in the Bible (in my humble opinion) PROMISES we can do it with God's help:

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

Matthew 7:7 (NIV)

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

Mark 11: 24 (NIV)

See ladies, when we ask God to give us the strength to do something is going to make us closer to Him, He will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS provide. He will give you the motivation to workout. He will give you the strength to persevere when you're struggling. He will be there for you when you have a bad day and He will pick you back up and help you get back on course. Because that is God. He is your Heavenly Father and He wants YOU to be healthy. He wants YOU to learn to lean on Him for EVERY. SINGLE. THING in your life.

Whoa. I didn't mean to sound like one of those motivation fitness bloggers. Let me assure you, I am NOT. I am at the beginning of a long road, just like you. I am learning to crave God instead of chocolate pie, just like you. God laid it on my heart to share these miraculous things He's teaching me.

I'm a little over 30 days into my weight loss journey (we really need a better name for that). I am only down 11.2 lbs. Nearly every day I find myself thinking about doughnuts or a Coke or a slice of my homemade chocolate pie. But you know what? Nearly every day I find myself thinking more about God and this covenant I've made with Him. I find myself thinking less about cheating on my "journey with Jesus" because I know that would not bring me closer to Him.

If you crave food more than you crave God, I urge you to go read Made to Crave. Find your want to, evaluate your heart, and pray for God to help you. He will! And I will to! Let's do this together!

Blessings,

Anna

#Christianweightloss #healthyliving #loseweight #southernlady #Madetocrave