A while back, my mom gave me a book that she had purchased called, "Never Say Diet" by Chantel Hobbs. Let me tell you, it's amazing!
The author, Chantel Hobbs, was a 300+ lb woman and a mother of 4 who got absolutely tired of being obese and living the life she was leading. At that point, she cried out to God. After that night she turned her life around with God's help. Now, years later, she has lost 200+ lbs and she's a spinner instructor at her gym.
In this book, she tells about her personal struggle with weight and all the feelings that come with it. She also gives practical advice on how to change. While she does stress eating right and exercising, she goes beyond that and talks about how to change the way you think. If you don't change the way you think about things, you're never going to change for good. In order to tackle our problem we must first deal with the source of the problem, which in this case is your brain.
Anyways, there were several things that she said in the book that really stuck out and made me think. I decided that I would share them:
When pouring her heart out to God the night she decided to change, God told her this:
You are not being the best you can be.
Wow. How true is that? When you're overweight, or not even healthy, you're not living as God intended you to live. Being overweight has affected me in every area of my life, and mostly not for the better. Living this way is a mediocre existance or even a miserable one. God intended us to live a wonderful, joyful existance.
When you're overweight, people never see you for yourself, because they've already marked you as different.
Most of the moments in my day are thoughts of worrying what people think of me. This is extremely overwhelming for me, and it drives me crazy. Knowing the above statement is true in most cases actually put my mind at ease. If I already know what people are thinking, then I don't have to worry about it. God knows who I am underneath the fat, and that alone is what matters.
Start thinking like the person I want to be and not the person I have allowed myself to become.
In order for me to change myself, I can't keep thinking like the fat version of myself. I have to think like the healthy, fit person that I want to be. This means no excuses or feeling self-conscious. This means I now have to learn to love working out and even love how I feel when I go and work out. I have so much to work on in this area, but I'm not going to let that hold me back.
Once you've chosen this path, you're on it for good. There is no good excuse to get off course.
If you're ready to change, get ready to tell yourself the truth.
Making excuses is lying to yourself. Also, not telling yourself the painful truth will hold you back.
If you cheat, you're going to stay fat another day.
This has come to my mind when I'm tempted. I don't want to be fat, and I don't want to feel the feelings that come with being fat one more day than I already have to.
The pain of regret is far worse than the pain of discipline.
Nothing worthwhile is easy.
Amen to that! We can apply this in every area we struggle with. My regret is that I have lost so much time. I could have been living a life of joy, a life with more wonderful memories than I have. Living a healthy life is not easy, but I know it's worthwhile.
We always make time for things we love.
This one hit me the hardest. Do I make time for God? Not as much as I should. Can I really say that I love Him when I don't make time for Him? As I continue on this journey, I'm learning to replace my love of food and laziness for a love of God.
This book has so much wisdom to offer, and it's a pretty good read. So, with that being said, if you ever run across it, pick it up!
*~Courtney~*
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