I have been up and down the same 60 pounds for years. I can’t say that I ever believed that I would find a way to eat the foods I like without gaining weight, and I have never really believed that I would find a way to lose weight and keep it off for any period of time. This lack of belief comes from my history. I have belonged to the “popular” weight loss club more times than I can count. I have done high protein low carb, low fat high carb, 5 day juice fasts, and 5 day miracle plans. I have been an exercise bulimic and have followed a Biblical plan that just led me to more legalism and condemnation.
I woke up one day and found myself back at the weight I had set as my “I will not go above this weight” weight. Once I hit this high mark, and of course because I felt so uncomfortable at this weight, I always stopped myself from gaining more weight by going on yet another diet. Dieting always worked to take off the weight, but I lost weight in the past to get small enough to go back to eating the way I always had. Sadly, because I didn’t have a change of heart, the weight would come back on and the vicious cycle would start all over again. But, this time, I couldn’t stand the thought of another diet. My heart could not take it again! I had been dieting on and off since I was 9 years old!! I said, “No more!! God surely has something else for me.” I did a search on Pinterest for Biblical Weight Loss. I have tried programs like this in the past, but didn’t have any lasting weight loss. But, I was desperate for something new that I hadn’t done before. That search led me to a Facebook group doing a study of Taste for Truth by Barb Raveling. I had high hopes!! I journaled, learned to renew my mind and scripture prayed, but I didn’t have any luck setting boundaries around my food that gave me any freedom and I did not let go of any weight. Because of all the dieting had done, I still wanted rules. I couldn’t get any boundaries set that weren’t legalistic.
As our time through this study was coming to an end, a gal in that group shared that she had joined a Hunger Within Facebook group. She helped me to get into the group by sharing who I needed to friend. The group had just started, and I was in.
I was introduced to the boundaries of 0 to 5 and my life has changed forever!! I was introduced to other gals that were experiencing victory and so I prayed that I would never go back to the way I was before!! My eyes were opened to a way of eating that allowed me the freedom of choice I was looking for. There are no longer any good or bad foods for me. I can eat what I am craving, within my boundaries, and with thanksgiving. I eat within 0 to 5 most of the time. When I eat beyond 5, or when I eat when I am not at 0, I no longer condemn myself. I have found the freedom to not beat myself up as I did in the past while dieting and then cheating. I repent, and then wait till the next time to eat. God heard my cry for help and saw that I was finally ready to surrender my food, my weight and all of my life to Him. I believe He led me to Hunger Within and He is leading me in every step of this journey. He helped me find boundaries around food that I can follow for the rest of my life. He has filled my heart with so much gratitude!! He has healed me from being constantly obsessed about my weight and food. I don’t think about what I should weigh, how much I should or shouldn’t eat, what types of food I should eat and what types I should never eat. I eat what I want within 0 to 5 with God’s grace and strength. I look at what He has done in my life as a miracle.
I have released enough pounds of pain to be down one size. Don’t ask me how much weight I have released in pounds, because God has also given me the peace to not need to know what I weigh, but to grasp my progress by how my clothes fit.
Other blessings of being a part of this Facebook class are that I have been given the opportunity to write blog posts about my struggles and victories and have had the fabulous joy of being on the class webinars. God gave me a heart a long time ago that wants to teach women what joy and peace is found in Christ Jesus and that no matter the circumstances, we as daughters of the King, can have abundant life through surrendering to His leading and direction. I am so grateful for being a part of this class and the ability to share my heart and my journey.
Along with the miracle of being down a size and heading down another, God has also worked in my heart and mind to release most of the frustration and anger I have been carrying around for the past several years. When I quit stuffing these feelings down with food, I was finally open to hearing His voice. He and I worked to get at the bottom of the reasons of those negative feelings, and He led me to healing in these areas of my heart and life. He even gave me the strength to apologize to my family members for the anger I felt and for being critical. God helped me see my part of our issues using the tools I have learned in Hunger Within. If I was still overeating and binging, this miracle would never have happened. If I was still obsessing about what I weigh, how to lose weight, what to eat, if I should eat, my heart would never have been open to God’s voice and I would not be living the life of victory that I am right now. With God’s leading and strength, I am committed to the Hunger Within boundaries of 0 to 5. I have finally found how to drop weight and keep it off without ever having to diet again!!
How about you? What is the one big thing that is keeping you from joining me on this journey of miracles and freedom? Are you ready to surrender and believe that God can and will change your heart?
Wow. I could have written this pretty much word-for-word – the part about your journey through dietland….and how grateful you feel to have found this help. I’m a new newbie and have only had a few days of TW but am so grateful I teared up when I read your post. So thankful. I’ve known for about 30 years this was God’s way for me, but wasn’t ready to embrace him, his way, his streams (yes, I’m loving that first memory verse) until now. About 2 months ago, I prayed for God to send help so I could live this way, then boom, a couple of week ago I got an email introducing me to TW. Wow, only God. 🙂 Thanks for your blog!!
Thank you so much for sharing! This is very encouraging to me. I can completely relate to the diet ups and downs (mostly all downs) and even doing other Godly “diets” and ways of eating that have not brought freedom and left me feeling even more hopeless. God is amazingly faithful if we commit and submit to Him. I’ve enjoyed your blog posts and hearing about your journey.