Monday, February 18, 2013

Weight loss tool: Prayer

Almost everyone, in the U.S. at least, has lost or tried to lose weight at one point or another. For some, there's a lot to lose. For others, less. For some, it is the result of a one-time epiphany or revelation. For others, it is the same 10-20 pounds over and over (raising my hand here, I've lost the same 10-25 pounds three times so far).

Regardless of how much or how often, it is not an easy thing to do. It's not easy to lose 10 pounds or 100 pounds. One is a longer term challenge and requires more persistence and work, of course, but neither one is easy by any means.

I've done Weight Watchers, eDiets, Spark People and Larry North's weight loss book. I practically lived on Healthy Choice meals one time. All of those thing work, sure. But I think a lot of times we forget one powerful tool that we have for every situation in life: prayer.

This occurred to me last year. I often talk to God and pray when I take a bath at night. It's quiet, I'm relaxing, and it is a good time to work through problems I have. Whether with Brady, my family, school issues, health, marriage, whatever.

I prayed about losing weight. And I got back, Don't drink any beer during the week. I didn't have much to begin, usually 1 a night. But I heeded that and now only have it on the weekends. Believe me, that one thing helped. And that's healthier in and of itself anyway. I think He wanted me to rely on Him at the end of a long day, not a beer :)

After that, I started praying about weight loss every time it was a concern. Right now, I'm thinking about praying before every meal. Why not? Grace is important, and I don't do that near enough as I should, but what about praying for God to help you see the right path is it relates to your health and your weight, to give you strength and guidance to make good choices, to be with you as you make decisions on how to fuel your body.

The food we eat affects our bodies and our minds both. I believe God wants us to do our best in this area and so can offer help. Just as we might pray to avoid some other temptation or harmful behavior, I think it can be applied to eating as well. I do think treats are okay, but maybe God can help me keep them in moderation.

Not only that, I believe we can pray about *anything*. I don't think there are any boundaries or limitations from God about what we can pray about. Anything that is hurting us, scaring us, worrying us, causing us problems, making us feel bad, about ourselves, about others, situations we are confused by.

So... starting today, if I remember, ha ha, I am going to say a prayer before I eat:

Dear Lord, please help me to make good and healthy choices, help me to see Your path for my body and give me the strength to resist temptation of things that are not good for me.

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