59 hours…

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This morning after dropping off my kids at school, I turned the radio station to listen to my favorite morning talk show. They were discussing dieting and shared a recent statistic: The average person who starts a diet will last for an AVERAGE OF 59 HOURS.

That means if you start off on Monday morning with the intention of “BEING ON A DIET”, by Wednesday supper, most of you will have quit.

59 hours.

At first I was surprised, then I stopped and thought about it and remembered all the times I had tried to DIET. I used to constantly start a DIET on Monday morning and have fallen way off the wagon by mid-week. This in turn led to me splurging on way more junk that I would have normally until the next Monday when the cycle would start again.

Friends, I can’t TELL you how many times this happened to me.

Until eventually, I realized that a DIET was not the answer.

I started making small changes- changes that were sustainable over the course of a lifetime. Things like dropping my sweet tea and adding water, swapping out bad carbs like  pastas and rice and adding in good carbs from fruits and veggies, and making sure that I was doing LESS cardio and MORE weight lifting.

The bottom line was that I made a choice to change my LIFESTYLE to something that I could sustain. I decided to focus on the GOOD things that I COULD have, and stop thinking about the ones that I CHOSE not to have.

And it’s not always easy. Some days I don’t feel like it. Some days I still make the wrong choices. But since it’s not a diet, I get RIGHT BACK ON TRACK with the very next time I eat instead of binging and eating everything in sight until the next MONDAY DIET begins. 

Maybe that’s where you are right now. Maybe you’re desperately trying to lose weight but you’re tired, you’re frustrated and you are DONE with starting over every Monday.

I invite you to start a new journey.

Stop thinking about your pursuit of the perfect body, of a smaller pant size or of rock hard abs.

Start determining to HONOR THE BODY you have and to HONOR GOD through the way that you are going to steward your health. 

You CAN do it, but it will be: through His strength and in His time.

Commit today to ONE healthy change that you know is needed and then pursue it. Get good at it. Maintain it for several weeks. Once it has become easier, and you are consistently doing it, then add in your next habit.

ONE STEP AT A TIME.

Not sure where to start? You know what I’m going to suggest, right?

WATER.

I know, I KNOW! You don’t like the way it tastes.

It gets easier. Eventually you will not only like it, you’ll crave it. I once was where you are. I can speak with certainty because I’ve been walked this road, too.

I’ll try to post again by Monday and give you some good ideas for getting in more water.

For now, give yourself some grace. Start preparing yourself mentally that you are QUITTING DIETS forever and that you’re ready to do this thing in a way that can be maintained.

Praying for you and cheering you on!

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Comments

  1. THANK YOU!!!! I must comment to tell you that I feel this was written just for me and it came at the right time!!! This is me, to a tee!! I loved how you said"You CAN do it, but it will be: through His strength and in His time." I agree. Just thank you for sharing this, I've been blessed!!

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