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Thoughts on Weight Loss

This is the information about dieting, weighing in, and hunger that I handed out at the beginning of our summer study several years ago.

Weighing Yourself and the Scale

  • The choice of whether or not to weigh yourself when you begin is entirely up to you. Remember, though, that the number on the scale is not an indicator of your obedience. You can be obedient one week and not show a loss or even have a gain–you know and God knows that you’ve been obedient–the scale does not. Do not let it affect your walk or further obedience.
  • If you know the number on the scale can affect your mood, your obedience, and ultimately your walk with God, then prayerfully consider if and when you will weigh yourself.
  • Try not to weigh every day. Our weight fluctuates so much during the course of a week (even over a month’s time) that it is not a true reflection of total weight loss or gain to weigh yourself every day. Even weighing once a week can be affected by your monthly cycle, how much water you drank or even how much exercise you did. Weighing once a month gives a truer picture of your overall weight loss. The best choice would be to prayerfully consider what God would have you do. Seeing the number on the scale go down is motivating; however, it is not our focus. Our focus is on obedience to the Lord and deepening our relationship with Him.

What About Fat Grams, Portion Control, Counting Calories, Exercise and All That Stuff?

  • None of these things is going to lead to our victory over sin. Following the world’s way does not lead to righteousness. (See Col. 2:20-23Open Link in New Window) We cannot make the food behave and we are not trying to make the food obedient to us. We can only make ourselves behave. Food is not evil in and of itself. We need to be in obedience to the Lord. What is His will concerning our overindulgence with food?
  • However, if you are feeling led by the Lord to give up something (for me it was my daily intake of Dr. Pepper) or to begin exercising or learning more about healthier eating, by all means you are free to do so. (2 Cor. 3:17Open Link in New Window) If doing these things can bring Him glory, so be it! (Matt 5:16Open Link in New Window)

Waiting for Hunger:

  • Wait for hunger (see “True Hunger” below) before eating your next meal. Because we have ignored and overridden our hunger signals for so long, it may be more than a day before true hunger reaches you. You may have a small portion of something during mealtimes with your family while waiting for hunger, but it would be best to just sit and sip something to drink while continuing to wait. Focus on the fellowship! If you feel a little bit shaky or are worried, you many have a small portion of something to eat (see Matthew 6:25-34Open Link in New Window). Do not eat a full meal or you will have stopped the process of becoming completely emptied. Don’t worry; most of us have enough “fuel” stored on our bodies to go several days or more without food! :o) Enjoy the emptying process and focus fully on God during this time.

True Hunger:

  • True hunger comes on a totally empty stomach, one that is growling, with a slight burning sensation. It may have been years since we’ve had that feeling. It’s going to take a while to find it again. It’s going to take practice to remember to look for it before reaching for food. Do not become discouraged if you forget or mess up!
  • We have for so long, stuffed down our feelings with food, constantly having a partially full or completely full stomach all day long. It feels foreign to have an empty stomach or to wait for a completely empty stomach before eating. It’s scary. We have to feel the feelings that we have been stuffing down. Not fun! Learn to like the empty feeling. I actually much prefer to go to bed with an empty stomach than with a full (or even partially full) stomach.
  • If it’s been less than 3 hours since you last ate, chances are your stomach is not empty and calling for more food. What should you do when you feel like eating but you know that your stomach is not calling for food? Turn to God in His Word and/or in prayer!

Appetite Vs. Hunger:

  • What about those times when you feel you “need” food but your body is not calling for it? One is a physical hunger; the other is spiritual hunger. Spiritual hunger is the time that we need to fill up on the Lord. I usually feel worse when I’m done indulging my flesh in food instead of going to God. Mentally I feel guilt and condemnation, and physically I am uncomfortable and sluggish.
  • Ask yourself, where is your focus? Is food really going to comfort you? Probably not! God wants to be our comfort, our portion (Ps. 73:26Open Link in New Window, Lam 3:24Open Link in New Window). It’s nice to come to Bible study on Wednesday and church on Sunday and be fed from the Word, but that is not enough to sustain us. Just as food’s nourishment leaves our bodies (gets used up), so does our spiritual nourishment. We need to keep being refreshed by God’s word. Someone at church once shared that the Word is to be our diet and prayer our exercise. I like that.

Satisfied Vs. Full: (See word study on “satisfaction/satisfied”)

  • When to stop eating. Stop when you are satisfied–not full. Satisfied is before full. It is when you notice the empty feeling leaving and food losing it’s height of flavor for you. This could be after only several bites.
  • Remember that your body will burn up what you eat at each meal first before any of your “excess” can be burned. You will be eating smaller portions than you are used to. Your plate will be not as full as you used to serve it. Your portions will decrease by one half to two thirds. Focus on eating the choicest portions and your favorite foods from your plate so you will not feel deprived if you are not able to finish the food (or feel like you need to keep eating to “get the best parts”). If the meal is something you enjoy and you feel as though you “want” to eat more because it is so good, save yourself a portion for later. Save what you cannot finish from your plate for later if you’ve taken too much and don’t want to throw it away.
  • If you eat beyond satisfied to full, it’s okay! Just restart by refocusing and waiting until true hunger before eating again. The more times you are able to stop at satisfied, though, the quicker your body can burn away the excess pounds.

This Is Totally Grace-Based!