Why You Should Fast To Lose "Weight."
Updated: Mar 4, 2021
She looks down at her belly and grabs her gut, squeezing the life out of it. “ Uhhhh! What happened? I hate my fat stomach… so gross. “ her internal groans are evident on her face , reflected by the mirror she detests. She squeezes into her pants and hates the hug they give her waste. “I wish I could wear my yoga pants… “ her brow is furrowed and sadness reflected in her eyes.
Her day is plagued with the food she wants to eat and won’t allow herself until she caves at 9 PM , after dinner and her children are in bed. An insatiable sweet tooth beckons her back to the kitchen only to invite her to beat herself up in the mirror the next morning yet again.
Her self image denies her confidence in the bedroom and she rolls away from her husband . Her connection with the man she adores is held captive by her inability to love her body and give it to him with abandon. His God given desire to embrace the women he treasures is rejected and withheld creating tension in their marriage .
“If I could lose weight I would have so much energy, have so much confidence and wear what I want. I’d be happier.” She thinks to herself as she rejects his honest compliments on the body that gave him the name “father.”
As long as the enemy can hold you to the poor reflection seen in the mirror you will be looking down at yourself rather than out at the world and reject the goodness and love surrounding you. He builds walls around compliments , self acceptance and happiness that are offered to you daily with the lie ,
“You don’t deserve it. You are not good enough to believe you are beautiful, confident and lovely until you look different."
He wants you to HATE your body , HATE the vessel of your spirit.
The enemy keeps you distracted from serving God’s Kingdom by consuming your energy and attention through the lies that he whispers to the poor self reflection your receiving in the mirror ..
You may wonder where this self reflection came from . It is a combination of our experiences , the political, cultural and religious doctrines we’ve been exposed to , what we were told as children and how we have been shown to give and receive love and kindness towards others .
The beautiful truth about God, is that your transformation begins with the renewing of your mind.
Ro 12:2
Once you accept His salvation He rewrites those old stories and replaces them with the truth that says, you are worthy of being loved and that you are fearfully and wonderfully made .
I’ve learned that it’s difficult for a mother to “rest.” She is always going until most likely she burns out. She fears idleness evident by the build up of laundry, dust, dirt and a bare refrigerator.
God is so gracious and loving to mothers as He reminds us that to “Rest” is not merely couch time, a good book, and bubble bath (although those are lovely and necessary to experience ). Rest also means to “Pause” or “Fast.”
When mothers step back to put a pause on the hurried , self imposed expectations of getting “it all done” which leads to “burn out, “ and choose to “fast” from the negative self talk, they discover the spirit led truth about the image in the mirror.
God gave your spirit a body to move about this world, speak to other souls, and teach His truths through your unique gifts and talents. Your height, weight , skin color, and stature are apart of His design. When we are fixated on a diet, a certain way of eating, militant exercise or treatments to look a certain way because we think it will change the way we feel about ourselves, that belief is a distortion of the truth and planted by the father of lies. You will never feel satisfied with yourself apart from serving with the spirit for Christ Jesus. Food is meant to sustain your vessel and God wants you to enjoy the beautiful colors of food, it’s richness, the playfulness of flavors He created, it’s ability to bring people together in fellowship , and it’s seductive aromas.
The most important step towards experiencing your healthiest body (and mind) is to “fast.”
Fast from the things that are not serving you and that are robbing you of energy, starving your relationships and perpetuating the negative self talk. Take a step back and create space for change.
Before trying fill this space with eating “healthier”, efforts to “Lose weight,” or “ eat for energy.. “ Identify the opportunities you already have , every day,
to make life giving nourishing choices. Whether it’s to take the stairs rather than the elevator, whether its using time to go for a walk, use the elliptical that’s now a clothes hanger, choose water over caffeine, speak patiently rather than hastily, say yes to love rather than roll over. .
Next, take time to fast, or “pause” rather, and reflect on the stories that you are telling yourself every day about yourself whether in the mirror or through the distraction of comparison or when you say “not right now,” or “I don’t have time,” to one of the life giving choices you’ve identified.
You may just discover that it’s not flesh and fat that you desire to lose but the weighty burden of carrying the negative, false image and old stories of yourself .
Most importantly you must surrender these to Christ and be open to the joy , pleasure and self acceptance you can experience NOW through His image of you.
Once you see yourself as Christ does , a vessel of His love, you will be drawn towards making healthy decisions on behalf of the body God gave you.
That’s the beginning of a journey of feeling utterly UNSTOPPABLE.
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