If weight loss is your desired area of change, it has everything to do with your spiritual health. Why? The devil uses the areas that you struggle in to tempt you. Do you remember the story of “Eve and the apple”? Eve was tempted to disobey God. Each time you give in to the temptation to eat something unhealthy, you negate your efforts to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

Assess your eating habits

1. Do you eat only when you are hungry?
2. Do you reach for food when you are upset, happy or bored?
3. Do you finish a bag of chips without even realizing how it happened?
4. Do you eat large quantities of food at each meal?
5. Does your diet consist primarily of processed carbohydrates?
6. Are you constantly eating?
7. Do you think about food all the time?
8. Do you have periods when you eat well followed by periods of eating excessively?

Wondering if you will ever gain control?

You started off wanting to lose ten pounds, perhaps after the birth of a child you gained weight; or you are getting ready for a special occasion and you have an outfit you want to wear but need to lose a few pounds. You may not have noticed the weight creeping up until one day you caught a side view in a mirror, and you realized that you need to lose weight. You have struggled with weight for what seems like most of your life; or you are new to being overweight and you are frustrated that it is so hard to get back to a healthy weight.

LEARN TO revise your eating habits

1. You will regain control with God’s help; however, you also need to revise your eating habits.
2. Create a new regimen that you can live with for the rest of your life. Does that mean you won’t occasionally make a poor choice and eat something unhealthy?
3. Learn to appreciate those unhealthy snacks, without wanting them to be a daily part of your life. The benefits of healthier eating and the positive changes that happen in your body and mind as a result of this new lifestyle will keep you focused and motivated.

Make 3 small changes: S.M.A.R.T. GOALS for big results

1. Replace one unhealthy snack with a fruit (every day this week).
2. Have at least one serving of vegetables daily for one week.
3. Walk 10 minutes daily for one week.

Setting small and measurable goals that are attainable and relevant to your desired change, positively reinforces the healthier habit each time you achieve those goals (repetition is one of the three principles of habit formation). Also, you increase your success when you consistently perform the healthier habit.