FREEDOM—Eat and Exercise to Win
Do you not know that in a race, all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
1 Corinthians 9:24–25, niv
Something amazing happens inside a woman when she wins victory over her weight and related health issues, and becomes the best version of herself. And that’s true for a man as well. When godly Daniel refused to eat the delicacies of the king’s table and committed to eat only God’s whole-food diet (Genesis 1:29), God blessed him with extra favor, extra wisdom, and extra strength.
Now, I want to tell you that I’ve spent most of my life searching for a food and exercise plan that I could actually follow and maintain. I feel as if I’m in a neverending war with my weight. Every day I fight against my obsession for the foods that make me tired and overweight. My deep desire is to be fit for my King and healthy enough to complete God’s call on my life. Most people look at me and think I’m a commander in chief in this diet war, but I want to confess to you now that my weight is a daily struggle and constant battle for me.
I am a former food addict, and my idea of cutting calories is to stop licking the plate! I’ve been sixty pounds overweight—and I’ve won the crown of Mrs. United States of America. I have been the fat girl in high school who never had a prom date—and I have appeared on the cover of a fitness magazine. But no matter what season I’m in regarding my health and weight, a secret fear lurks inside of me, and that is my fear that I may never really win this battle of mind over body. I want the same things any woman wants, to win this diet war once and for all and to be free from having food control me.
I’ve been speaking at women’s conferences for more than ten years, on a wide range of topics. When I speak on the topic of health and weight loss, the audience is full of women who long for help and healing in this area. As a matter of fact, 90 percent of all prayer requests in most churches are for physical healing. You see, there is much more to our weight loss than our appearance. When we are overweight we are much more prone to diseases and health problems, which can cut our call on earth short.
We are royalty and we are called to honor our King with our bodies. This does not mean we need to become “Barbies with Bibles.” I will never be as thin as I was as Mrs. USA. I am over forty and I had a baby late in life and to be honest with you, I’m not willing to work out two hours a day to perfect my body. However, I am willing to practice self-control and to get in twenty minutes a day of exercise to clear my mind and maintain my health. I know the battle to lose weight and be healthy is very real, but I believe it can be won!
Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.
Matthew 6:21, nlt
Our bodies are temples of God’s Holy Spirit, and it is time for us to learn to treasure those temples. The Spirit of the living God has chosen our bodies as His dwelling place. He desires that we, the King’s princesses, would honor Him with our bodies.
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple
and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16, niv
If we were to be brutally honest with ourselves, we would probably have to admit that most of our efforts to lose weight have been motivated by a desire to glorify ourselves. Rarely, if ever, do we look at a weight-loss plan and think of our Lord and King and the royal call He has on our lives. If you think about it, most of us will do whatever it takes to attract a man or look good at a reunion or wedding. We will also lose weight to win people’s approval and get their attention. But why can’t we approach our diets primarily as a way of honoring the One who created our bodies? The truth is, we are more effective in our witness to the world when we feel healthy and are in control of our diets.
Before I became a Christian, I lost sixty pounds in order to compete for a worldly crown. All I ever thought about was me, and the scale dictated my day. I was willing to go without any food I craved and to spend countless hours exercising so I could look my best. I spent five intense years training, and I was totally committed to getting what I wanted more than anything…a national crown awarded by man. When I finally won that crown, most would think “mission accomplished.” However, as I look back on those years, I realize the reason I could never stay fit for life: My heart was selfish, my goals were all about me, and I was striving after those goals in my own strength, which is not a lot of strength in the face of life’s temptations. The only thing I learned from that time in my life was to be self-absorbed, and I got pretty good at it.
Now maybe you have never wanted to win a beauty crown, but I know that every one of us wants to feel special, loved, and approved of. Most of us fight an ongoing battle in our minds about our image. We wish our bodies would look a certain way, we’d like to maintain a certain weight, and none of us likes ourselves when we are controlled by our cravings. In order to win this war with our weight, we need to set our minds on our royal call, not our cravings. Our diets need to be about our desire to honor our King, not about denying ourselves certain foods.
Queen Esther offers us a good example. Her desire to become queen was not about gaining a position in life; it was about her mission to save her people. Esther’s crown was never about riches or glory. Her earthly crown had eternal value much greater than she could have ever imagined. If you belong to the Lord, you also have a mission. If you belong to the Lord, your King says in His Word for you to honor Him with your body as a spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1). He will give you all that you need to be your best—not for your glory, but for His.
God loves us no matter what we eat or how much we weigh. But He knows that we struggle with loving ourselves when we let food make us feel out of control; He knows we struggle with loving ourselves when we are unhealthy and out of control. So right now imagine Him in the room with you. He has wrapped His loving arms around you, He’s looking deep into your eyes, and He’s saying something like this:
His Princess Love Letter
My princess,
Your body is so special to Me. I carefully created every part of you. You truly are fearfully and wonderfully made. I made you in My image, and I love you. I don’t want you to waste another day worrying about what you don’t look like or how much you weigh. Come to Me in the morning and let Me be your mirror. Let Me design your diet; let Me be the strength you need to become your healthiest. You don’t have to do this alone; I am here to give you all you need to be free and at peace with yourself.
Love, your King, your Identity
Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and
that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
3 John 1:2, esv
His Princess Diet Plan for Victory
1. Pray... Every morning confess your weakness to God and ask Him to give you the spirit of self-control. The first step toward a new beginning is confession. God is faithful to cleanse us when we go to Him in confession. Let me lead you in this prayer.
His Princess Prayer
Dear Jesus,
I want to confess my sin to You. Forgive me for not honoring You with my body. I too easily forget that my body is Your dwelling place. I ask You now to search my heart and show me the ways I am defiling Your temple. Change my heart and my motives. I confess I cannot win this war with my weight in my own power. I need You to be my source of strength and to give me wisdom about what to eat. Please give me the fruit of self-control and help me to honor You with my body and crave the foods you designed for me to eat.
In Your name I pray, amen.
Stop for a moment and reflect on what you just prayed. Write down what the Lord revealed to you about yourself. Maybe He wants you to clean out all the junk food in your kitchen. Maybe your failure to forgive is holding you hostage to food for comfort. Don’t move on until you write down what God has shown you.
2. Ask…someone to hold you accountable to a healthy diet and exercise program. Better yet, ask if that person would join you.
3. Fast… Consider making your diet a fast for your King. For thirty days, fast from any white flour, white sugar, or artificial sweeteners.
4. Remove… Do not set yourself up to fail. Take control of your kitchen and remove any and all foods that will tempt you to break your thirty-day fast.
5. Prepare for battle… If you will prepare your meals in advance (e.g., cut up raw salad veggies and put them in individual baggies with paper towels to absorb moisture), you will have a much better chance of winning over temptation. If you want more helpful ideas, visit my website, www.hisprincess.com.
6. Purpose…to honor your body as the temple of the Holy Spirit; God will give you the power to prevail. Commit your diet to the Lord, just as Daniel did, then write down your purpose for fasting and display it in a place where you can see it every day.
No food tastes as good as being healthy feels!
God desires for you to be free! When you gain victory over your weight and health, you will find much more than just a great appearance. You will experience a whole new energy to complete the call God has on your life.
Check Out Fit for My King: Sheri Rose shares how she broke free from food addiction and chronic fatigue, lost over 60 lbs, and has kept it off for more than 20 years.