One of the biggest determinants of our health is our weight. Being overweight can lead to dozens of complications such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or certain types of cancer. As a medical professional in training, I have found that no one cares about the health implications of obesity, but rather their personal body image. We live in a society today that is the equivalent of a philosophical Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The public tries to push a message of body positivity but use weight as means to bring someone down or show their superiority.
Since this a Christian blog, I will try to discuss how God intends us to view our bodies and try to introduce some practical ways that we can better our health. For anyone reading this that doesn't know me or hasn't known me for long, I have gone through a body transformation that most people dream of and have probably seen similar feats on TV. During my senior year of high school, I peaked at around 350 pounds. I was definitely obese, but I struggled a lot with depression, eating disorders, cardiovascular complications and was pre-diabetic. When my first year of college rolled around, I knew that this would be the perfect time to make a change and I researched as many things about nutrition and fitness as I could. Within one year, I had lost nearly 100 pounds and my life had completely changed. Fast forward another 4 years and I have now lost around 150 pounds and I am living a life that I am fully content with. I say all this so that if you are reading this and you don't know if you can trust me, know that I have been in your shoes.
Before I get into the practical ways to lose weight, I will present you with the truth that will transform your life. Regardless of how much weight you need to lose or how many people you are trying to impress, know that God will still love you even if you fail. When I went through this transformation, I become so obsessed with the numbers and the man in the mirror that I had actually made it an idol in my life. Being a young Christian, I thought that God only applied to certain parts of your life and the rest was for you to figure out. Wilson Jamison, the RUF intern at the time and one of my dearest spiritual mentors, told me, "Whether the scale says 350 or 150, God still loves you enough that He sent His son to die for you, so that you can rest and have peace." Though he may not remember that conversation among the thousands of other life-shaping conversations we had, I still keep that truth close to my heart today. I advise everyone to remind themselves daily of that, no matter what is going on in your life. Regardless of how much weight you lose or gain, God loves you no less. If you so happen to fail at weight loss, rest easy knowing that you are secure if you are in Christ.
Weight loss is actually a very simple process: eat less calories than you burn. It really is this simple, but changing our habits make weight loss seem more complicated than it actually is. As for specific diets or workout plans, none of them are really superior. As long as you choose one you can stick to for the rest of your life, then it's fine. Here are the good habits that you can start right now that will start you on your path
Since this a Christian blog, I will try to discuss how God intends us to view our bodies and try to introduce some practical ways that we can better our health. For anyone reading this that doesn't know me or hasn't known me for long, I have gone through a body transformation that most people dream of and have probably seen similar feats on TV. During my senior year of high school, I peaked at around 350 pounds. I was definitely obese, but I struggled a lot with depression, eating disorders, cardiovascular complications and was pre-diabetic. When my first year of college rolled around, I knew that this would be the perfect time to make a change and I researched as many things about nutrition and fitness as I could. Within one year, I had lost nearly 100 pounds and my life had completely changed. Fast forward another 4 years and I have now lost around 150 pounds and I am living a life that I am fully content with. I say all this so that if you are reading this and you don't know if you can trust me, know that I have been in your shoes.
Before I get into the practical ways to lose weight, I will present you with the truth that will transform your life. Regardless of how much weight you need to lose or how many people you are trying to impress, know that God will still love you even if you fail. When I went through this transformation, I become so obsessed with the numbers and the man in the mirror that I had actually made it an idol in my life. Being a young Christian, I thought that God only applied to certain parts of your life and the rest was for you to figure out. Wilson Jamison, the RUF intern at the time and one of my dearest spiritual mentors, told me, "Whether the scale says 350 or 150, God still loves you enough that He sent His son to die for you, so that you can rest and have peace." Though he may not remember that conversation among the thousands of other life-shaping conversations we had, I still keep that truth close to my heart today. I advise everyone to remind themselves daily of that, no matter what is going on in your life. Regardless of how much weight you lose or gain, God loves you no less. If you so happen to fail at weight loss, rest easy knowing that you are secure if you are in Christ.
Weight loss is actually a very simple process: eat less calories than you burn. It really is this simple, but changing our habits make weight loss seem more complicated than it actually is. As for specific diets or workout plans, none of them are really superior. As long as you choose one you can stick to for the rest of your life, then it's fine. Here are the good habits that you can start right now that will start you on your path
- Calculate how many calories per day you would need to maintain your goal weight. Just Google "calorie calculator" and input your goal weight and activity level. This gives you an idea of what your daily intake should be.
- Track your calories for a few days. My favorite way to do this is with the app MyFitnessPal. This app allows you to make a diary each day of your calorie intake and can scan barcodes to upload your nutrition fast.
- Once you get an idea of how many calories you eat per day, decrease that amount by 500 calories per week until you reach the daily calorie amount you found in the calculator.
- AVOID SUGAR. All carbs you consume should be from natural sources like rice, grain, pasta, etc. If you must have sugar, limit yourself to a sugary snack 1-2 times per week.
- Try to balance your nutrition. Aim for 50% of your calories from carbs, 30% from fat and 20% from protein. This is automatically tracked in MyFitnessPal.
- Join a gym. Most gyms memberships are less than a TV subscription and are actually more fun than watching The Notebook for the 138th time on Lifetime Network. Aim to go to the gym at least 4 days a week for 30-60 minutes at a time.
- Try to incorporate weight training and cardio. Cardiovascular exercise (treadmill, bike, etc) is not the only way to burn calories. Weight training can be fun and you don't have to use heavy weights. It also burns calories, but increases your basal metabolic rate, or how many calories your body naturally burns during the day. This means that your calorie deficit will be even higher on days you don't go to the gym and you can lose fat a lot faster.
Now that I have thrown out the basics, there a 3 things that I think are important to any successful weight loss journey. You will need motivation, accountability and resilience. If you want to really transform your life and body, you have to treat this as a permanent lifestyle change, not a phase. These three things will make wellness a part of your life.
The need for motivation is pretty obvious. It doesn't matter what you choose, as long as it is something that will drive you to push on during your worst days. For me, I've had to change my motivation several times in the last 5 years. My original motivation was to impress my high school crush (who turned me down quite harshly, I may add), but I found a new motivator after that didn't get me going anymore. Each time you find that your person or object doesn't get you wanting to exercise through the pain, fatigue and roadblocks, change your motivator.
Accountability is maybe the most looked over aspects to wellness in general. Without someone or something to hold you accountable, you will find excuses to not follow through and you will fail. You don't even have to find a gym partner, just find someone to ask you if you went and offer encouragement to press on. I know from experience that if you try on your own, you will eventually burn yourself out and go back to your old habits because they were easier. For me, I have a lot of people I have asked to hold me accountable and that's how I've stuck with it for 5 years.
The last component to sustained weight loss is resilience. Even with strong motivations and accountability, you will slip up. There will be days where you don't want to go to the gym because of subfreezing temperatures or you crave a Cook Out milkshake so bad you drive there at 1 AM (don't judge). Resilience is realizing that one bad decision cannot overcome the one hundred positive decisions you have made before. If you have a sugary relapse, then get in the gym the next day and you may find that you are a little more motivated than you were before.
I know that this topic is a little different than the things I have covered on this blog before, but I know that God wants us to be content with our lives. For some people, they need to reach a certain goal before they can be happy, but as long as they prioritize God in their lives and bring their concerns before him in prayer, he will bless their efforts. I feel that given my background and journey with struggles in this area, God would want me to share my story in a way that glorifies His name. Whether you lose 1 pound or 170 pounds, praise God and give thanks because even if you don't look like you should be on Baywatch, you are alive and secure in Christ. I thank him daily for the interventions he made in my life beyond just my health. If you do the same, then you will please at least One.
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