faith & weight loss

I  wanted to take a minute and explain why I believe that faith and weight loss are intimately connected.

Take a minute and read through Matthew 19:16-26.

In this particular story, Jesus tells the young man that he must give up all his worldly possessions in order to follow Christ. For some people, worldly possessions are easy to give up. But you still have to die to yourself in order to rise in Christ. So if you're one of those people who doesn't care about worldly possessions anyways how do you take up your cross?

Nothing in life is truly one-size-fits-all. The same goes for our relationship with Christ which is why if you were the young man Jesus would say something different to you than He did to the young man in the Gospel.

For me, worldly possessions would be replaced with my relationship with food.

We all know that food is necessary for survival. We also know that food is meant to be enjoyed. I'm not seeking to destroy all enjoyment of food. I'm striving for a healthier relationship with it.

For years, food has been my god. I turned to food for comfort, stability, happiness and basically everything I needed. As a result my waistline grew and I withdrew from my faith. I felt heavy all the time. Not just physically heavy--emotionally and spiritually heavy. I was so caught up in my guilt and my weight that I thought only about food and how much I disliked my weight.

Gluttony often gets dismissed as a deadly sin. We always think of lust, greed, anger, & envy when we think of deadly sins. Rarely do we think sloth or gluttony. But I would argue that both are just as relevant today. Gluttony conjures up images of Romans lounging on mats being fanned with palm leaves while enjoying an overly large spread of food. But gluttony is more than that. There's no fancy food required to be a glutton. Gluttony is simply placing food above God. You don't even have to be overweight to be a glutton. Gluttony occurs when you turn to food for comfort, think about food constantly, or when food becomes a source of guilt and shame.

Throughout this process I'm focused on something much larger than vanity. I'm trying to conquer my relationship with food. I want to enjoy food without it controlling my life. I don't want food to be my comforter and my savior anymore. I want to finally be free from the overwhelming focus on my waistline and the guilt that follows almost every meal.

I know that was super heavy and dense but I felt that it was important to explain why faith plays a role in this blog about weight loss. I promise that there will be meal photos coming soon and hopefully outfit photos (if I can find time to take them)!