You arenât new to the weight loss struggle.Â
Youâve tried countless diets and exercise routines. Youâve even been successful at shedding some pounds.Â
⌠but those long-lost pounds seem to keep finding their way back to you and you are just plain tired of this seemingly endless battle.Â
Friend, you can lose weight and keep it off by learning the top 20 things that no one tells you about how to truly be successful on your journey.Â
This is part one of a 20-part blog series that will give you a strong foundation of strategy you need to lose weight, keep it off, and start living the life you were born to live!Â
Some of what I share will be opposite of what all the diet gurus tell you, so read on with an open and prayerful mind and let God work on you from the inside out of your health and fitness journey!Â
What?Â
That has to be wrong! Right?Â
I mean, how could mistakes possibly be an important part of losing weight and ...
Are you tired of counting calories obsessively and not losing weight?Â
You arenât alone in this seemingly endless battle.Â
Decades have brought a consistent stream of diet fads that teach counting calories, measuring food, reading food labels, and living and breathing by trackers and apps are the only ways to slim down and love the body you are in.Â
These methods may work for some for a short period of time; however, usually lead to creating a pattern of yo-yo dieting and an unhealthy fixation with food being either your source of joy or your source of anxiety.Â
You can lose weight and keep it off without all of the tracking, measuring, and calorie counting when you learn to fully function within the amazing body God created for you.Â
Your body is an amazing creation.Â
Yes, your body!Â
God formed you in His image and breathed life into you. You carry the DNA of the mighty, living God. The body you are in rig...
Youâve tried every fad diet and crash diet in the books.Â
You desperately wish there was a way to lose your extra pounds and keep them off.Â
Well friend, you can be successful in losing weight and maintaining that weight loss by embracing three simple strategies on your weight loss journey.Â
This may seem too simple to be true, but there is a great deal of truth within this weight loss strategy.Â
One of the key reasons you find yourself struggling to lose weight and then maintaining the weight loss when youâve finally arrived at your goal is because you havenât found a strategy that is both enjoyable and effective.Â
Weight loss isnât often thought of as being enjoyable. Thatâs a mindset you can work toward changing, starting now.Â
When you have an eating plan and an exercise plan you find joy in, you are likely to ensure you work them into your lifestyle rather than just âpus...
You can break free from the ties food has over your life by reclaiming your God-given identity and shedding light on the truth influencing your emotions.Â
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Emotions are powerful, thatâs for sure.Â
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In the past, your emotions have been held responsible for lifting your mood or sending your mood crashing to the ground, all in one fell swoop. Theyâve also been responsible for having a direct impact on your eating habits, the types of foods you crave, and your reaction to situations around you.Â
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Although your emotions are powerful, they donât have the control many believe. With awareness and intention, your emotions can flourish into the tools God intended them to be.Â
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If you look around long enough you will find news articles and social media posts casting a dark shadow on emotions, as if they are something to be feared or avoided.Â
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The truth is just the opposite.Â
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You were fearfully and wonderfully...
You can learn how to tell the difference between physical cravings and hunger for God by learning how to tune into six powerful scriptures.Â
Itâs late at night.
Everyone else is in bed and you have finally found yourself with something truly rare in your world ⌠peace and quiet.Â
Ahhhh.Â
The time you have been waiting for all day long ⌠time for you.Â
What to do? What to do?Â
Scroll through Facebook?Â
Get into that book you havenât had time to read?Â
Catch up on your favorite show?Â
The possibilities are all so tantalizing.Â
In this moment of peace and quiet the kitchen and all that lies within the cabinets and fridge pop into your mind.Â
It would be so easy to grab a bag of chips and mindlessly snack while scrolling, reading, or watching tv.Â
⌠and those hunger pains would be satisfied.Â
But ⌠what if what you are feeling in that moment of peace and quiet isnât physical hunger?Â
What if that little pull you feel to get your belly satisfied is really the spiritual side o...
You have been on the battlefield with weight gain for years.Â
Youâve tried so many diets you feel doubtful that there is a diet out there that can actually help you lose weight AND keep it off.Â
The insecurities your weight causes overflows into every area of your life and seem to put a dark cloud over your self-worth.Â
You feel like you are at your witâs end and youâre just not sure what to do.Â
So, how can you get rid of those unwanted pounds and boost your health and confidence?Â
Itâs much easier than it sounds when you are partnered up with God.Â
Prayer is the most powerful resource you have to support every area of your physical and spiritual life. So, why is it that this foundational element of success is often overlooked when it comes to your personal weight loss and health journey?...
âIf you could just get down to a size 10 or 12 youâd be so drop-dead gorgeous weâd have to beat the guys off you with a baseball bat.âÂ
A friend shared this statement made to her when she was a young adult.
The person who said this to her was just repeating what she had been told. There had been a long history in this womanâs life of others telling her what the ideal woman should look like. She worked diligently in her own life to fit this expected mold and was naturally passing it along as âhelpfulâ advice to my friend.Â
My friend also shared her response to this âhelpfulâ advice.Â
âI sat there for a moment, not sure how to respond. Finally, I told her âif they donât want me now - I donât want them then,ââ she shared. âEven though I responded with a lot of confidence, inside I was wondering if she and everyone else thought I was too ugly to be wanted.âÂ
My friendâs story is a common one.Â
Unfortunately, itâs so common that millions of women around the globe struggle with mindse...
I have a confession âŚÂ
No, I havenât taken a trip down the Home Shopping Network lane, but I DO subscribe to a quirky and fun cleaning channel on YouTube called Clean Freak & Germaphobe.Â
So, hereâs my confession âŚÂ
While watching one of their episodes they were testing a little steam cleaner and showing how effective it was at cleaning hard-to-clean messes.. By the end of that video clip I had already added that little steam cleaner to my cart and hit the purchase button.Â
Iâm not usually an impulse shopper, but watching that little machine steam away some pretty yucky dirt and grime was pretty convincing.Â
Several days after my YouTube binging purchase had arrived, I steamed anything and everything in the house I could get to.Â
Mind you, I had just cleaned the house from top to bottom prior to the steamer arriving, so I really thought it wouldnât have a lot to do.Â
Boy, was I wrong.Â
I was completely in awe of how my baseboards, windows, and floors took on a new and shiny app...
I was in my late teens when I first heard the story of Mary and Martha.Â
The Bible says that Jesus was in the town of two sisters and made his way to be their house guest.
Martha welcomed Jesus into their home and immediately began to serve her guests and take care of things that needed to be done around the house.Â
Mary, instead of helping Martha with all of the duties, plopped down at the feet of Jesus and just started listening to him talk.Â
I imagine Martha to have been hurrying around diligently trying to make her guests comfortable, preparing a meal and ensuring that everyone had fresh water to drink.Â
As each minute passed by that Martha was bearing the full burden of host responsibilities, she became a little more bitter with every glance at her sister ⌠just sitting there ⌠doing nothing.
Eventually Martha had enough of her sisterâs perceived laziness and turned to Jesus in pure frustration.Â
âLord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her the...
Thatâs the answer I received from a classroom of teenage girls when I asked them what love meant to them.Â
I was astonished that anyone could associate love as pain.Â
I was even more puzzled by the fact that the entire group of young girls felt the same way.Â
I decided to ask the same question to a different set of girls ⌠just to find out if this was a common theme among young people.Â
The same answer resonated among these girls as well.Â
To say I was taken back is an understatement.Â
Although this realization pained me, it opened my eyes to how many girls, young ladies, and even women perceive love.Â
It also made me ask another question.Â
âWhy do so many believe love is pain?âÂ
I soon learned, during the numerous conversations I started having around the topic, that the problem actually begins with each individualâs interpretation of what love is.Â
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To the young girls and women, I was speaking with, love was pain.Â
Most had grown up in an environment wh...