Sharing my journey has been something had helped in the past. Accountability does more to push me than just about anything else out there. I am not worried about punishment, but I feel like I will let those people holding me accountable down if I do not do what I say I will do.

Writing out my daily journey is helping me feel more accountable to the task at hand. I may be all alone in who actually reads the journey, but knowing that I have to put the words up on the website each day keeps me moving forward.

Finding a Path Forward

Breakfast – things were better this morning. Breakfast was not fancy but it was calm and satisfying and that counts for a LOT!

Lunch – hubby and I worked in the kitchen together and it made the whole meal that much better. He is NOT the cook, but does a great job assisting and cleaning. Sitting down as a family helps me enjoy the meal so much that I do not even focus on the food.

Dinner – no family tonight and that makes it tough for me not to snack. It helps to use smaller plates.

Food had been my priority for many, many, many years! I am learning that by making others more important than food I can walk away when I am satisfied and avoid eating when I am not even hungry.

Are you taking steps to begin retraining your brain to a better way of thinking and living?

Ten years ago, I found the path to doing nothing for weight loss. I gave up diet drinks. I took up drinking whole milk. I even went to eating and using real butter. Thirty pounds fell off my body in just 12 weeks, and I did nothing.

I gained back all of that lost weight with two miscarriages and a third child.

These last couple of years have been focused on getting in shape to lose the weight once again. Cardio, resistance training and combination efforts have all be part of the experiment. I put in hours and weeks and saw only minor differences. It has been a frustrating trial.

In one of my most desperate moments, I found my journal from that first weight loss journey. It reminded me that it was not my actions that made the difference. It was my focus that got me back to a place my body needed (and deserved to be).

I am back on that path once again, and this time I am doing nothing.

Would you like to know how you can do nothing and still lose the weight?

I will confess that I have not consistently followed through with the specifics of this list. What I did do was to review my actions and start asking “is this the best use of my time?”

• Not watching television is tough for me at this moment in time. I am an AVID follower of the Olympics – have been for many years. There is no sport to obscure for me to enjoy (and that does mean that I am a curling fan). I gave up working my schedule around the programs. I have set the DVR to record them all and I am watching as my schedule permits.

• I have also set aside three times a day to study the word. One of the studies is a devotional, the other is a Beth Moore and the third is one about discipline. Actually, they all have a lot to do with being disciplined, self-controlled and consistent. It seems that comes up quite a bit in the Bible.

• The final thing that I have been trying to do is “one more thing.” Just before I stop for a break or before calling it a night, I try to do one more project that will only take a few minutes (but not more than about 15).

The results of the changes in my life have been surprising. I have lost six pounds in two weeks. More work is coming in and I have the ability to complete the work. And my home is running better than ever.

The key to my success is not my own efforts. It comes from choosing to draw closer to God. It is my personal relationship with Him that drives every aspect of my life. The more I know Him then the more I can understand about where I am to go and to be in order to rest under His wings.

Where has your focus been? Remember it is the thing that you focus on the most that you worship and will become!

It was not always like that. There was a time in my life – a short few years – where I grasped the truth. I ate when I was hungry, I did not life on the scales and I could still fit into my pants. It would be easy to blame my current weight struggles on pregnancy but the simple truth is that I chose to listen to man instead of God. How many of my struggles in life have been caused by that one simple issue?

My weight is not the problem. It is my heart. Any time my heart is not fully devoted to God I end up stumbling over mistakes that I already know to avoid.

What is the answer to weight issues?

The first thing I have to do is realize that there is no easy answer to my weight loss or to any issue that might come up in my life. I could take weight loss pills or follow a diet plan that regulates food but none of those will deal with my heart and eventually that weight loss or eating issue will rear its head once again. I have to face the food straight on and I have to reach out to God every moment of every day if I want to put weight under my thumb.

The second thing I have to do is confess my sin of overeating and of putting other things (food) before God because that is the reason that my weight is where it is. I have to then reach out to those around me. This seems almost funny. You can NOT hide the sin of over eating from anyone because the weight shows, particularly on a five foot frame. But I still try and the only person I am fooling is self. I need to find a group that will support me specifically on my Christian weight loss journey – instead of a weight loss plan that will teach me to control the calories, food or exercise.

The third thing that everyone has to understand is that a walk closer to God is a personal journey even when that walk is about weight. We may be able to share some hints and tips, but we can not share the same path. Every person is drawn along a different way – that is why it is narrow because there is only room for one. A personal relationship with God is just that – personal. There was only one burning bush, only one talking donkey and only one road to Damascus and there can be only one weight loss journey for me.

I am still not sure how I will make all of this come together, but I know that I am eager to try. There are others around me struggling to choose the path that God for their weight and their health has over the ways of man. Helping others lose the weight and deal with eating issues helps me because it keeps me God focused and God centered. With God with me then who can be against me?

Pregnancy brought the weight struggles back with a vengeance. The diets came back as well and I spent a small fortune on exercise videos. It was only after I discovered a Christian weight loss program that I managed a breakthrough in my weight situation.

It was another pregnancy that again brought back the weight loss struggles. The Christian weight loss plan that I used previously was no longer available. My struggle was going to be personal.

6 Tips to Simple Tips for Weight Loss

1. Avoid the television. Skip eating in front of the television and take a few moments to sit down at the table and enjoy the meal.

2. Enjoy each bite of food. Take the time to savor each bite by chewing the bite completely and drinking a sip in between to clean the palate. Pick out the best bites of the meal as well so that you can enjoy the best on the plate.

3. Get some support. Accountability can not be over emphasized when you are taking on any new endeavor. The best way to manage this support is to get a group together once a week.

4. Make a plan to move. The only way to lose weight is a similar process to balancing a budget (only the exact opposite). You have to burn more calories than you bring in each day. Getting up and moving each day – even for a few minutes – will help that process.

5. Follow the scripture. There are more diet plans in the scripture than you might imagine. Daniel ate fresh fruits and vegetables. Paul ate the meals dedicated to other gods. John ate honey and locusts (now is that not the ONE diet you know you want to try). In the end the key to the different Christian diet plans is to be in a personal relationship with God and allowing HIM to guide you to the how, the when and the what to eat.

6. Defeat sin. The Christian weight loss process is not about eating special foods, controlling the calories or even following a specific weight loss plan. The ultimate key to permanent Christian weight loss is to defeat the sin of gluttony.

Christian weight loss is possible without the aid of traditional diets. My lifetime struggles with weight loss were defeated over 2000 years ago. It is time that I dropped the chains that I have already been freed from and lived a life that has been promised to me.

Consistency follows me in many aspects of my life. The ability to do IT every day come rain or shine goes beyond anything I could imagine – at least for the first few weeks (or days). Results soon cry out to be heard and when there are no results my consistency fads into the shadows.

Why do it if there is nothing to be gained?

There is something to be gained – even if the scales do not go down and the clothes size does not change.

Things Gained Without Weight Loss

1. I gain good eating habits for myself and for my children. Eating at the table is time with the family and my children learn to eat just enough without feeling the need to over do it.

2. I gain better health. Getting moving increases my health which means I will be better capable of playing with my children and doing things in general (like just mopping the house or walking up the steps at church and being able to hold a conversation at the top).

3. I gain family time. Playing with the family and eating with the family means a better relationship with the family.

Weight loss has to be more than a number on the scale if it is going to be permanent and life changing. I can hang on to my consistency when I realize that I gain more from my actions than just losing.

I want to be healthy again, and I know that eating less is the way to go. But even the size of my dinner plates (which were wedding gifts) is fighting against me in my effort to eat less.

Recently I found a book that is opening my eyes and guiding my path. Kiss Dieting Goodbye by Elliott Young is pulling together the biblical ideal and the health principles into one sound practice. One of the best things that I pulled from the book focused on portion control

Tips for Portion Control to Aid Weight Loss

1. Don’t wait until you are starving to eat. It gives you the sense that you have to make up for lost meals.

2. Measure out your portions. Most human beings only need a food serving that is equal to their flattened fist. That’s not a lot of food, folks.

3. Keep in mind that you can always get more. Here in the United States, there is no lack of food. Don’t feel like you have to “store away” a favorite food because there might never be anymore available to you.

4. Don’t eat from the container. Putting food on a plate or in a bowl will give you an idea of how much you are eating. It will also give you a stopping point.

5. You can only eat just one. Sometimes just the taste is what you crave. You don’t have to eat the whole candy bar or all the M&M’s or the full bag of chips. Satisfy your craving and save the rest for later.

6. Share your meal. Especially when eating out. Most restaurants offer more than enough for two. This will not only help your portion control, but it will help your budget.

7. Can’t split the meal? Then ask for a “To Go” box with the meal. Put half the food away before you even get started.

8. DON’T SKIP MEALS. Keep your energy up and your metabolism running by eating at least three times per day.

9. Avoid the TV. You can’t truly enjoy something that you aren’t focused on. Remember how much better that last meal out tasted? It’s good because you are focused on the experience. Make every meal an experience so that you can savor the food.

10. Use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate. It makes the portions look and feel more filling.

Eating less food doesn’t mean I have to deprive myself, it just means I have to control the portions that I lay out. By doing a little planning, taking a little extra time, and making my meals and experience and not just a necessity, I can make portion control a natural way of life.

It’s not as bad as it sounds. I’ll be doing the hard work; they’ll just be riding around and singing. Think of it as a very slow hay ride – minus the hay. This new regimen will have two focus points. It will get me past the hump of the day (about 4 pm when I start to wear down), and it will give me and my children some fun time.

Every day, I will take by big garden wagon (which I’m pretty sure weighs a ton) and load my kids in it (which definitely makes it weigh a ton). Then I will haul that wagon and kids around the yard (I measured and it and it is one half of a mile) two times. Eventually, I will work my way up to a mile. Then after the long haul, and before I collapse from exhaustion, I’ll spend some time with them on the playground – kicking the ball, swinging, or just throwing the Frisbee.

The secret to my weight loss with be movement. Instead of calling it a day and spending the evening propped on the couch, I’ll bring in the twilight of the day with some old fashioned fun. A huge added bonus is that the kids will go to sleep much easier than before – as will mommy.

Not working out is not an option. I have found that if I don’t get up and prepare for the workout, then my “gym” comes to me and asks if its time to go for a ride. How do you say no to those sweet little faces? Guilt makes me get up and get going when motivation has long taken the day off. Before long, I’m having more fun than the kids are having and the weight is running for the hills.

I knew I wanted to get moving again, and I thought I would break down and join a gym. Instead of spending money and taking time away from my family, I’m getting creative. The long haul is not only great cardio, but its strength training as well.

Weight loss is about burning more calories than you take into your body. I’m not counting calories, but I know that by eating only when I’m hunger, stopping before I’m full, and running with my children until we are all ready to collapse will not only make me healthier, but it will make me a better mom to boot.

After the birth of my second child I tried everything I could think of to lose weight. I bought (and actually did) a small library of exercise videos. I cut my fat and calories. Nothing happened. Then I found a Christian Weight Loss Program that helped me view food in a whole new light. I quit dieting and quit weighing and the weight seemed to pour off.

My last pregnancy brought the weight back in spades! Now it’s a fight between doing what I know to do and doing what I’m going to do – which seems to be a recurring theme through out much of my life.

My issue is not with calories or fat grams. My issue is with the heart. It has idolized food over all other things. It would treasure the times alone with food (when the family would be somewhere else and I could eat the meal with no one to disturb it). I didn’t want to share food with any one for any reason. My heart was selfish for food.

I have started retraining my heart to love what is right and to put that above the food. Breaking the habit of selfishness that I have created has caused some painful moments. It can be tough admitting that I am wrong. I choose to make moments to share with others, by making meal time a time together, so that the people become more important than the food.

Like any bad habit that is formed over many years, breaking the food habit is not easy and has not occurred over night. Every morning I am declaring out loud (and with enthusiasm) that the weight is gone and the habit broken. The words are being followed up with action.

With a positive attitude, the right mind set, and action, you can have, be or do what ever you desire!