You have probably heard a lot about mindfulness in regard to health and fitness. The general idea is that you will become healthier and more fit by being aware of what you consume. Logically, it seems to make sense, so why is it that people are still largely unhealthy and unfit?  ​We have all heard the saying, "mind over matter," on more than one occasion.  Consequently, people use different strategies to mentally prepare for a given task. For instance, some celebrities admit they employ an "alter ego" technique to get over stage fright. Other people give themselves "pep talks" to reinforce the belief that they can accomplish a goal. Then there are those who use meditation or other relaxation techniques prior to undertaking an important assignment.
 
People psyche themselves out to eat right and exercise, too. Some rely on other people. For example, making a commitment to be a workout buddy gives them a feeling of responsibility and accountability. Others join weight loss programs because they need a structured environment to succeed. Some people hire personal trainers to keep them motivated and to push them in ways they cannot push themselves.
 
We use these and other strategies for many reasons. On the one hand, it is hard to make yourself exercise. Likewise, it is difficult to find the time to prepare meals for yourself and your family for the whole week. And honestly, the last thing you want to do after a long day is cook when it is so much easier to place an order to be picked up on your way home from work.
 
It is not that your body cannot stand the discomfort associated with a workout.  It is not that your teeth are not capable of chewing vegetables, legumes, or baked fish. On the contrary, you can not only swallow eggplant, but your body can also digest it. The problem is that you do not want to do it even though you know intellectually it is what is best for you.
 
As you have learned from previous experience, the mental tricks only work for so long. Until you truly change your mind, none of the mind games will work long-term. A made-up mind is a determined one that will not be changed because of a little physical discomfort due to a workout or the inconvenience of having to alter your lifestyle in order to conform to a health and fitness plan. It is a permanent change because it is a part of who you are. It is also much easier to do when it is a gift from God instead of the result of a daily, internal war between your cravings and your feeble will. If you are willing to submit to God's will to eat and drink for His glory (1 Corinthians 10:31), then He will give you the gift of grace to be changed from the inside out by renewing your mind (Romans 12:2).
 
If you are ready to stop playing mind games and let God permanently change your health and fitness mindset through Christ, register today for the Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries Health and Fitness Course. The class begins on August 21, 2023, at 6:00 pm CST via Zoom. Space is limited so go to www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org to register now! Then purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com.  The classes and books will teach you the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God.  Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.
 
Follow us daily on Facebook, Threads, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Tune in to our syndicated radio show on iTunes, Spotify the the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends.  Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

Unfair comparisons are a hallmark of today’s society so much so that people get paid to do it. That does not mean their assessments are true. It is the same when individuals compare and contrast themselves with other people, especially when it comes to health and fitness. The only person you should ever compete with is yourself in order to become a better version of you! 

One of society’s favorite pastimes is watching and participating ​in sporting events. At times, the players can be so determined to win that losing is a painful experience which brings tears to their eyes. Even if we are not active participants, we can still be very competitive about our favorite teams. More than one friendship has ended because of an argument about who is the best basketball player or football player. Likewise, many parents set horrible examples for their children by becoming belligerent with referees or other parents during a child's game.
 
Sporting events are not the only areas where we compete against each other.  We do it at work by comparing ourselves and our salaries to a colleague's. We do it at church by comparing our spiritual gifts and the number of lives we impact with a fellow church member's gifts and influence. Moreover, we compete with others in terms of our physical appearance. Women are especially adept at making a head-to-toe comparison of another woman in contrast to themselves, especially when we go to the gym.
 
In fact, competition is so commonplace in our society that we hardly realize we are doing it. We compare things as quickly and easily as we do people, and frequently our snap judgments are dead wrong. Nevertheless, we continue to do it, and more often than not, the person who does not measure up to our standards is none other than ourselves. For example, the lady who rolls her eyes and says about another woman, "She thinks she's cute," does so because she feels inferior to the female she referred to. She has no idea that the lady in question is also insecure, comparing herself to the other women in the room, and secretly afraid that everyone will stare at her.
 
This mentality touches every part of a person's life and hinders success, especially when it comes to health and fitness. Many people will not go to the gym or to the neighborhood track because they do not believe they look as good as someone else in workout clothes. Others will not go because they are afraid of being stared at and talked about by the skinny, healthy looking people. However, they do not realize the enemy will continue to use this strategy against them in order to keep them ensnared by eating disorders or overweight and on their way to contracting an obesity related disease.
 
The truth is the only person who matters is you. Have you ever been a healthy body size and weight? Do you want to become free of an eating disorder and be healthy again? If you have never been a healthy weight and size, would you like to finally experience it? Then get tunnel vision and forget about what everyone around you does or looks like. Very often, what you perceive as health and fitness is merely a façade. Instead, focus on the image of you that you want to become and trust God to help you achieve your goal!
 
If you are willing to stop competing against others and focus on obtaining your health and fitness goals through Christ, register today for the Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries Health and Fitness Class. The course begins on August 21, 2023, at 6:00 pm CST via Zoom. Space is limited so go to www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org to register now! Then purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com.  The classes and books will teach you the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God.  Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ. Follow us daily on Facebook, Threads, LinkedIn, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips. Tune in to our syndicated radio show on iTunes, Spotify, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends. Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

The Bible says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Instead of taking comfort in this Scripture, we often complain about how long the “night” of our uncomfortable circumstances last. We do not consider what lessons are to be learned from the experience. Consequently, we fail to truly appreciate the silver linings God provides to strengthen us and encourage us to endure. ​When life is good, everything is, by and large, going your way and working in your favor. Consequently, the hard times you left behind often seem distant as if they occurred in another version of your life.  Conversely, the good times seem light years away and unobtainable when your good life turns hellish. It was that way for me when I gained weight and could not lose it on my own. No matter what I tried, any positive results were short lived, the weight returned quickly, and there was more of it. Perhaps you feel the way I used to. If so, do not believe your circumstances.
 
If you had told me ten (10) years ago that I would one day crave avocados, black olives, and kale, I would have thought you belonged in a mental health institution, but God still performs miracles in the lives of everyday people. If you are willing to turn your plate and your weight over to Him, He will turn your mind and your taste buds inside out. By His grace, working out and staying on a diet plan will become child's play, and eggplant lasagna will taste better than any pasta dish you have ever had.
 
Yes, in the past, you searched for your health and fitness solution in all the wrong places, but you will never find the answer if you do not go looking for it. The Bible says to "Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find! Knock and it will be opened unto you. For everyone who asks receives, and he that seeks finds, and to him that knocks, it shall be opened" (Matthew 7:7-8). God has responded to your prayers by leading you to the answer to your health and fitness problem. He has left the door open for you to enter into the Promised Land of Healthy and Fit for Life. In fact, Jesus is the Door (John 10:9-11).  However, it is up to you to walk through. Trust Him and make the journey from bad times to good times. There is no need to fear another failure. Through Christ, the best is yet to come!
 
If you believe your best health and fitness days are yet to come through Christ, register today for the Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries Health and Fitness Course. The class begins on August 21, 2023, at 6:00 pm CST via Zoom. Space is limited so go to www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org to register now! Then purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com.  The classes and books will teach you the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God.  Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.
 
Follow us daily on Facebook, Threads, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Tune in to our syndicated radio show on iTunes, Spotify, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends.  Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

Those who are overweight often have suffer from self-esteem issues. That can make losing weight even harder for them because they lack the capacity to believe they can reach their health and fitness goals. However, when you choose to lose weight and overcome eating disorders according to the Lord’s plan, your faith is never misplaced because you put it in the God who never fails. That said, having faith is not always a simple thing. Sometimes it is hard to believe, especially when reality appears to contradict your faith. Another thing that makes it difficult is when the object of your faith fails you. For example, we all have faith that the chairs we sit in will bear our weight when we sit down, but on rare occasions, chairs have been known to collapse under the weight of the person who sits down upon them. Not only is that a very painful and embarrassing experience, but it is also something that you will never forget.
 
You have probably put your faith in the wrong things at some point along your health and fitness journey. For example, did you trust your doctor to prescribe a diet plan that would work for you, but when it did not, he blamed you, accusing you of not trying hard enough? Have you consulted nutritionists or dietitians who provided meal plans that tasted horrible and left you feeling hungry? Did you believe the testimonials about the diet pills and smoothies, only to discover after you paid for the products that they, too, were ineffective?
 
Just like the faulty chair, each painful disappointment is a direct hit to your belief that you ever can or will reach your health and fitness goals. However, the worst part is that it eats away at your faith in yourself. When you initially started to gain weight, you were probably confident that you could lose it by dieting and exercising on your own, and you did not understand the people who allowed their weight to balloon out of control. Those entangled with eating disorders may have had similar thoughts. Over time, however, the repeated dieting failures resulted in you becoming one of those people. Consequently, the guilt, shame, and disappointment you feel is mostly because you let yourself down. In other words, you are the chair that failed to hold your own weight!
 
As a result, you no longer have any faith in yourself. Although you go through the motions of dieting and exercising, you never truly believe that you will succeed because you cannot forget your past failures. You are just waiting on the newest, inevitable dieting failure to manifest itself. Unfortunately, you are absolutely right. It will happen again and again and again so long as you keep wandering in the Wilderness of Obesity and Eating Disorders by putting your faith in all of the wrong people and things. The only way out is to believe the report of the Lord that He will give you the Promised Land of Healthy and Fit for Life and to fight the battle for the territory according to His plans. In the end, faith really is simple. All you have to do is believe the Lord (Genesis 15:6).
 
If you believe the Word of the Lord and are willing to keep the faith that He will bless you to finally become healthy and fit for life through Christ, register today for the Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries Health and Fitness Class. The course begins on August 21, 2023, at 6:00 pm CST via Zoom. Space is limited so go to www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org to register now! Then purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com.  The classes and books will teach you the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God.  Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ. Follow us daily on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Tune in to our syndicated radio show on iTunes, Spotify the DFW Den Radio Station, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends.  Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

When it comes to getting healthy and fit, we are constantly reminded that doing so will take a lot of hard work. However, no one ever stops to think that you must first allow God to do His work within you. ​I will be honest. I used to wonder how people could get up early in the morning to go jogging. I stared at people who ate salads without salad dressing in absolute awe. I was envious of the girls at the gym wearing the skimpy workout clothes on their perfect bodies. I could not help but ask myself why they had willpower to stick with a diet plan, and at the time, I did not. I was ashamed of the fact that I was too undisciplined to get up at 5:00 am every morning to workout. Instead, I preferred to sleep an extra hour or two or three. Those thoughts were almost always accompanied by feelings of shame, failure, and doubt that this time would be any different.
 
To this day, I still do not know the answer to the question. When I see a woman pushing her kid in a stroller as she runs, I do not know whether it is a normal thing for her to be at the track every day, or if she dragged herself out of bed kicking and screaming for the first time since giving birth. And neither do you!  The person in the restaurant eating a vegetable plate may be doing so for the first time since falling back into their old, unhealthy eating habits six (6) weeks ago. Likewise, the girl in the skimpy workout clothes who looks like she is having the time of her life on the treadmill may be working out because she gained ten (10) pounds, and for the first time in her life she realizes she has to make some serious changes to her lifestyle to keep her weight under control. She is singing to the music not because she is having fun, but because she is trying to find a way to get through another workout session just like you.
 
You can speculate all day about what motivates another person to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle, but it is a fruitless exercise because you will never know the truth unless the other person tells you. Sometimes the truth of the matter is that the person has not adopted healthier habits at all. On the contrary, the individual whose body you are coveting may be at the gym to mask the fact that she binges and purges regularly, but to all the world she simply appears to be another workout junkie.
 
The person who is rapidly losing weight could have had gastric bypass surgery or suffer from an illness. Nevertheless, the enemy wants you to make unfair comparisons and dwell on those negative thoughts in order to belittle you in your own eyes. He wants you to measure yourself against everyone else and find yourself lacking. He wants you to covet someone else's healthy and fit-looking body without knowing that person is just two (2) payments away from being unable to afford to have the lap band attached to their stomachs tightened again to keep the weight off.
 
To this day, I do not love to work out, and I still do not fully understand the people who do. However, I do love my Lord! Consequently, I count it as a simple thing to show Him I love and worship Him by obeying His commands to eat and drink for His glory and maintain the temple of His Holy Spirit by exercising. My God is worthy of the sacrifice to eat right and exercise because of the price He paid for me on the Cross where He put to death gluttony and idolatry to heal me by His stripes and make me the new, healthy, and fit creature that I desired in my heart to be instead of the sinner who made an idol of food, beverages, and my own stomach.
 
If you count Him worthy of those same sacrifices, you will discover that it is not your willpower that makes you choose to eat healthy foods and beverages. It is not self-discipline that causes you to rise early to walk in your neighborhood. On the contrary, when you surrender to His will in faith, love, and obedience, a strength exchange takes place whereby God's strength is perfected in your weakness, ‘For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:1).
 
If you want God to work in you to make you healthy and fit for life through Christ, register today for the Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries Health and Fitness Class. The FREE course begins on August 21, 2023, at 6:00 pm CST via Zoom. Space is limited so go to www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org to register now! Then purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com. The classes and books will teach you the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God. Don’t forget to read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ. Follow us daily on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips. Tune in to our syndicated radio show on iTunes, Spotify the DFW Den Radio Station, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends. Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

You have probably heard a lot about mindfulness in regard to health and fitness. The general idea is that you will become healthier and more fit by being aware of what you consume. Logically, it seems to make sense, so why is it that people are still largely unhealthy and unfit? ​We have all heard the saying, "mind over matter," on more than one occasion.  Consequently, people use different strategies to mentally prepare for a given task. For instance, some celebrities admit they employ an "alter ego" technique to get over stage fright. Other people give themselves "pep talks" to reinforce the belief that they can accomplish a goal. Then there are those who use meditation or other relaxation techniques prior to undertaking an important assignment.
 
People psyche themselves out to eat right and exercise, too. Some rely on other people. For example, making a commitment to be a workout buddy gives them a feeling of responsibility and accountability. Others join weight loss programs because they need a structured environment to succeed. Some people hire personal trainers to keep them motivated and to push them in ways they cannot push themselves.
 
We use these and other strategies for many reasons. On the one hand, it is hard to make yourself exercise. Likewise, it is difficult to find the time to prepare meals for yourself and your family for the whole week. And honestly, the last thing you want to do after a long day is cook when it is so much easier to place an order to be picked up on your way home from work.
 
It is not that your body cannot stand the discomfort associated with a workout.  It is not that your teeth are not capable of chewing vegetables, legumes, or baked fish. On the contrary, you can not only swallow eggplant, but your body can also digest it. The problem is that you do not want to do it even though you know intellectually it is what is best for you.
 
As you have learned from previous experience, the mental tricks only work for so long. Until you truly change your mind, none of the mind games will work long-term. A made-up mind is a determined one that will not be changed because of a little physical discomfort due to a workout or the inconvenience of having to alter your lifestyle in order to conform to a health and fitness plan. It is a permanent change because it is a part of who you are. It is also much easier to do when it is a gift from God instead of the result of a daily, internal war between your cravings and your feeble will. If you are willing to submit to God's will to eat and drink for His glory (1 Corinthians 10:31), then He will give you the gift of grace to be changed from the inside out by renewing your mind (Romans 12:2).
 
If you are ready to stop playing mind games and let God permanently change your health and fitness mindset through Christ, register today for the Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries Health and Fitness Course. The class begins on August 21, 2023, at 6:00 pm CST via Zoom. Space is limited so go to www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org to register now! Then purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com.  The classes and books will teach you the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God.  Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.
 
Follow us daily on Facebook, Threads, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Tune in to our syndicated radio show on iTunes, Spotify the DFW Den Radio Station, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends.  Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

Sometimes it is hard to imagine your body in its healthy and fit state because you have been overweight or dealing with an eating disorder for so long. However, no matter how long you have had an unhealthy lifestyle, God can deliver you.  That said, I am willing to bet that your weight loss and eating disorder goals are not being achieved as quickly as you would like. I know what it is like to have a vision of the healthy and fit version of yourself in your head only to be confronted by the realities of your overweight condition or lingering eating disorder every time you look in the mirror.  Even if you are on track to attain your health and fitness goals right now, there will eventually come a plateau or some other issue that slows things down to a snail’s pace. It is discouraging, to say the least.  However, that is the point. The enemy intentionally sends the opposition to discourage you from continuing.

He wants to use your negative feelings as a means to drag you back into your old eating habits. Do not let him win again. Remember that weight loss is the reversal of the weight gain process. You did not get fat overnight, and you are not going to lose the weight overnight. It is the same with eating disorders. Just like you learned to starve yourself, you now have to learn to take one bite of food at a time to nourish your body. Be patient with yourself! Contrary to the lies of the enemy, it actually is working. And it will continue to work if you do not quit. Instead, be grateful for how far God has brought you even if you have only lost one (1) pound so far. It is the first step in the right direction. Therefore, I encourage you to keep your faith and trust in God that He is the Alpha and Omega of every season of your life, and He even puts a time limit on your weight loss plateaus and eating disorder setbacks.
​
No matter what form the opposition to your weight loss or freedom from eating disorders takes, your days of being overweight, starving yourself, and bingeing and purging will end. Your season of living an unhealthy lifestyle is finite. When it is over, you will hardly be able to believe your eyes, and you will have to repeat it over and over again so that your ears will believe what you have heard. God will not only restore the years the locusts have eaten away through eating disorders and obesity (Joel 2:25), but He also promises in 1 Corinthians 2:9 that His blessings for your obedience will exceed your expectations. Specifically, God’s Word says, “Eyes haven’t seen, ears haven’t heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man the things God has in store for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
 
If you are ready for God to show you the healthy and fit version of yourself, purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com. In the books, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God. Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ. Follow us daily on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Tune in to our syndicated radio show on iTunes, Spotify, the DFW Den Radio Station, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends.  Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

It is difficult to believe you can attain a healthy weight when the mirror shows your unhealthy, overweight physique every day. Likewise, you might think it is impossible to stop bingeing and purging or starving yourself to death.  Notwithstanding,  ​very often, overweight people and those entangled with eating disorders have a vision in their minds of the healthy and fit version of themselves. That vision is born of a desire to reach and maintain their full potential physically as well as mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. This desire for the abundant life in every aspect of your existence is given by God although we do not always recognize it as a gift from Him. Nevertheless, Proverbs 29:18 teaches us that without a vision the people perish.
 
We see the fulfillment of this Biblical truth all around us every day as one-by-one a multitude of husbands, daughters, friends, neighbors, and co-workers lose their lives as a result of an obesity related disease or eating disorder. However, failing to eat right and exercise are not the worst things you can do. On the contrary, the absolute worst thing you can do is lose sight of the vision of the healthy and fit version of yourself! When you stop believing it is possible to lose weight and keep it off for the rest of your life or to finally be free of an eating disorder that has plagued you for years, you basically condemn yourself to die in the same way that a person is convicted and given the death penalty.
 
Hope is necessary to overcome obstacles in your life. Those who lose hope miss opportunities, do not notice the way or ways of escape God provides, and fail to recognize blessings meant to improve their circumstances. God gives you the vision of the best version of yourself to keep hope burning brightly within you and to spark a passionate desire to succeed.  Do not let your fuel run out before you arrive at your destination! Ask God to not only keep the vision of the healthy and fit version of yourself constantly before you, but also to empower you to finally attain the victory of leaving the Wilderness of Obesity and Eating Disorders and dwell forevermore in the Promised Land of Healthy and Fit for Life!
 
If you want God to make your health and fitness vision become your reality through Christ, purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com. In the books, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God.  Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.  Follow us daily on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Tune in to our syndicated radio show on iTunes, Spotify, the DFW Den Radio Station, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends.  Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

One of the first things successful people tell you about weight loss and overcoming eating disorders is that it is not easy. I wish I could tell you that losing weight and overcoming eating disorders will be a breeze once you start to obey God's command to eat and drink for His glory (1 Corinthians 10:31), but I cannot lie to you. It will not be a cakewalk, so to speak. However, I can tell you that it will be easier. Before you aligned yourself to God's will, you were in the battle alone fighting with ineffective, carnal weapons. Now you are a Christian warrior wearing and wielding the full armor of God on the battlefield, but that is not the only thing that makes it easier.
 
It is easier because Jesus removed the yoke of bondage to gluttony and making idols of food and your stomach when you repented of those sins. It is the same with eating disorders when you stop giving in to your triggers and honor God with your body by eating and drinking for His glory. The weight of those sins was heavier than the excess weight you have been carrying physically and the mental and emotional baggage that left you in deep despair. Consequently, the removal of those sins leaves you feeling lighter even though you may not have lost a pound. Both your body and your spirit are relieved and happy to be set free!
 
Another reason why it is easier is that you now realize you were looking for comfort and love in the wrong places. Many people eat in response to the negative circumstances which occur in their lives, and chances are you were one of those individuals. However, now that you have renounced the false gods of food, beverages, and your stomach, you have come to receive true comfort from the God who Comforts all who believe in Jesus Christ. Experience proves that the Holy Spirit's comfort is incomparable to anything else on earth, including food and beverages. As a result, you can testify that the joy of the Lord truly is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10).
 
Most importantly, it is easier to lose weight and be free of eating disorders through Christ because the void that was usually left when you attempted to diet on your own is no longer an empty bottomless pit demanding to be filled with whatever your weak will craves. Likewise, the pull of the triggers dragging you backwards toward eating disorders lessens over time. This occurs because the Holy Spirit now resides in and completely fills the once empty space your dysfunctional eating habits used to occupy. He brings with Him wisdom to see obesity and eating disorders from a spiritual perspective, discernment of enemy attacks designed to make you return to your former, unhealthy habits, and power to not only stand firm against the opposition but to also defeat the enemy by resisting the temptations you used to so easily succumb to.
 
If you want God to make your health and fitness journey easier through Christ so you can finally obtain permanent and sustained victory over obesity and eating disorders, purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com. In the books, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God.  Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.  Follow us daily on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Tune in to our syndicated radio show on iTunes, Spotify, the DFW Den Radio Station, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends.  Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

The world loves to preach that fear is a great motivator. As Christians, we know that fear is also an evil spirit. When it comes to health and fitness, fear is often the root of the problem.  As crazy as it may seem, for many people, fear is the primary deterrent to starting a health and fitness plan. It presents itself in many forms, but the most prominent and most effective types of fear in regard to health and fitness are the fear of failure and the fear of success. While it may be understandable that people are afraid to fail, especially when they have a history of failing on diets or treatment plans for eating disorders in the past, being afraid to succeed directly contradicts common sense and reason. After all, isn't achieving a healthy weight and living a healthy lifestyle what you want?
 
If you are truly honest with yourself, you will admit the answer to that question is, "No." That is why you are afraid to succeed. For example, successfully losing weight and keeping it off means saying goodbye to cheeseburgers, fries, Philly cheesesteaks, funnel cakes, macaroni and cheese, and chocolate cake, to name a few. It means eating kale, Brussels sprouts, eggplant, baked fish, grilled pork, rotisserie chicken, fruit, and drinking lots and lots of and water for the rest of your life. It is a complete overhaul of your current existence. It is change. And most people do not like change. Change is particularly difficult when you like things exactly the way they are.
 
For instance, hiking up a mountain may not be your idea of fun, neither is using a treadmill or enrolling in a Zumba class. Moreover, your taste buds might actually recoil at the mere mention of cauliflower, beets, or star fruit. Yet you are well aware that the end result of your current lifestyle is an early, and often long, torturous death. That should be even more frightening than the idea of changing for the better. So why is it that the vast majority of people continue on the road of obesity and eating disorders? That has a lot to do with the fear of failure.
 
The fear of failure says you will not succeed before you even begin. After you manage to work up the courage to start, fear insists that you will not last much longer, so you may as well quit now. When you achieve health and fitness milestones, fear switches gears and says you are just going to gain it all back or insists that you will start to binge and purge again. Once your fitness goals are attained, fear still insists that the clock is ticking on when you will slide backwards into your old habits. For many people, this constant barrage of attacks is enough to make them give up before beginning, acquiesce to defeat shortly after starting, or slip one unhealthy meal at a time back into old habits they were conquering or had successfully conquered.
 
Do not let fear defeat you again! The lifestyle you are desperately holding on to is not worth comparing to the glory which will be revealed in you if you do not quit (Romans 8:18). Furthermore, God promises to give you victory over your enemies, including the evil spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). "Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).  You are going to get to the Promised Land of Healthy and Fit for Life. Although fear may be one of the giants dwelling in the land, it is already defeated in the Name of Jesus if you will "be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them, for the Lord your God goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6).
 
If you are ready to face and overcome your health and fitness fears through Christ and finally obtain permanent and sustained victory over obesity and eating disorders, purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com.  In the books, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God.  Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.  Follow us daily on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Tune in to our syndicated radio show on Spotify, iTunes, the DFW Den Radio Station, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends.  Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!