Every day in the month of April, I will post an encouraging scripture on my website that I hope will instruct and inspire you on your weight loss journey.

Today’s focus scripture is taken from Genesis 1:29:

And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this scripture series as much as I have enjoyed writing it! For the last scripture, I am led to start at the beginning with one of God’s first instructions to man – telling him what he was to eat!

This scripture came to me from a lecture I attended last night given by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, the author of the books Eat to Live and Eat for Health.

In his talk, Dr. Fuhrman gave some startling facts: By age 45, 99% of Americans have atherosclerosis – which means that fatty plaques have collected on the walls of their arteries, causing poor circulation. It is at the root of heart disease, strokes and other diseases.

But he said that the nutrients in green vegetables over time cause these fatty plaques to become more “slippery” and eventually they slide off and the body breaks them down clearing the artery.

As the doctor was saying “Science has shown…” I could not help but think about Ezekiel 47:12 in which the prophet said, “Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for medicine.”

Science is just confirming what God already said in his word over 2,000 years ago!

It makes sense that these fruits and vegetables should be the baseline of our diets since we are merely following the recommended fuel that our bodies’ designer said was best!

But the problem according to him is that most Americans are addicted to the processed, man-made foods. Because these foods provide no nutrition, the average person is literally starving for nutrients even though they may be obese.

I know that was true of me; When I weighed 240 pounds, I lived off fast, junk, and processed foods. I would feel good immediately after eating them, but then came the crash—I would feel drugged, lethargic, sleepy, irritable, anxious, and depressed. To feel good again, I was compelled to overeat the same kinds of foods.

It so sad that so many people live in and accept poor health. They think it is normal to live the first part of their lives with low energy, irritability and emotional upsets. They think it is normal to live the last half in gradual physical decline, their bodies breaking down, sick, in pain, mentally confused, and finally dying in a hospital hooked up to machines.

It is not supposed to be this way. We can be mentally sharp, strong, and vital practically all the way up to death.

God’s will is that we stay healthy. And the best prescription for that is the nutrition prescription in Genesis 1:29. I recommend taking it as seriously as you would a prescription from your doctor.

Dr. Fuhrman’s recommendation was to eat 2 cups of green vegetables every day and eat 1 large green salad every day (go light on the dressing and ensure that it doesn’t contain High Fructose Corn syrup). He also recommended eating 3 fruits a day.

While this is not all you can eat, at least work your way up to making these your baseline foods, ensuring that you always get your “medicine” inside you daily, if nothing else.

Now, I know a lot of people who don’t want to eat healthy. They would like a loophole in which they can have a baseline diet of processed foods and still be strong, energetic, clear minded, and healthy.

But think about this: Suppose one day you decide that you don’t like the smell of gasoline and from now on, you are going to fill your car tank with rubbing alcohol. You decide that you like the smell of rubbing alcohol better. So you do it.

Here’s the 45 million dollar question: Do your actions change the fact that gasoline is the fuel your car was designed to run on? No. Is it likely that your car will be damaged by not using the right fuel? Absolutely.

Why take those chances with your body and health? It’s true that you you might be that 1% of Americans that don’t have atherosclerosis by age 45. But the odds are stacked way against you.

Here is a link to Dr. Fuhrman’s list of healthiest foods. Scroll down on the page and you’ll see the list:

http://www.eatrightamerica.com/nutritarian-lifestyle/Measuring-the-Nutrient-Density-of-your-Food

You don’t have to eat only from the top foods but at least it helps to make better decisions about what to eat.

I hope this information helps and that you live healthy and well!

Be blessed in health, healing, and wholeness,

Kimberly Taylor, C.W.C.
Certified Wellness Coach
Author of the ‘Take Back Your Temple’ ebook
http://www.takebackyourtemple.com/book

P.S. In the Take Back Your Temple ebook, I have several strategies for renewing your mind to health and weight loss. It is challenging to practice new habits and I provide the solutions for them to make it easier.

Click below to learn more:

http://www.takebackyourtemple.com/book

Every day in the month of April, I will post an encouraging scripture on my website that I hope will instruct and inspire you on your weight loss journey.

Today’s focus scripture is taken from Ecclesiastes 5:19:

As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God.

The word for today is to enjoy yourself! One of the fruits of the spirit is joy and one of the best reasons to rejoice is that you have been redeemed from sin and given new life in Jesus Christ.

God has given to every one of his children the gift of riches and wealth. This is not always financial abundance, but it does mean possessing things of great value. Good health is incredible wealth. I agree with the late author Issak Walton who said: “Look to your health; and if you have it, praise God, and value it next to a good conscience; for health is the second blessing that we mortals are capable of; a blessing that money cannot buy.”

And of course, the first blessing is that God claims us as his own!

Whatever steps you are taking to reach your ideal weight or improve your health, rejoice in them. Yes, it may be hard, but so what? If you have decided that you are going to do it, then why make it harder for yourself by complaining about it?

Better to re-direct that energy into getting the job done.

Praise God for giving you the wisdom to recognize the value of good health and to take steps to protect yours.

Seek out things today that you are grateful for. Be more present-minded – as the old saying goes, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, so rejoice in today – that is why they call it ‘the present.’”

Today, start opening up your present and rejoice in the steps you are taking to change your health and life for the better!

Be blessed in health, healing, and wholeness,

Kimberly Taylor, C.W.C.
Certified Wellness Coach
Author of the ‘Take Back Your Temple’ ebook
http://www.takebackyourtemple.com/book

Every day in the month of April, I will post an encouraging scripture on my website that I hope will instruct and inspire you on your weight loss journey.

Today’s focus scripture is taken from Isaiah 41:10:

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

I am always filled with confidence when I read the above scripture, especially the knowledge that God is upholding me. But today, I want to talk about the first part of the scripture, in which God says to “Fear not”. Fear is the number one reason that people do not obtain all God wants them to have.

I heard an awesome way to look at fear just the other day. Dax Moy, a personal trainer in the U.K., defined fear in this way: “Forever Expecting Awful Results”.

Consider the scenario in Numbers 13, in which God charged the Israelites to go into the Promised Land. Out of the 12 men appointed to spy out the land, 10 of them brought back a bad report. They said they couldn’t conquer the land because the giants in it were stronger than them.

They were expecting awful results to come about if they did what God told them to do.

However, Joshua and Caleb thought differently. They remembered that they had God on their side. And so they expected to be able to conquer the land. In Numbers 14, God commended Caleb for having a “different spirit” in him. He and Joshua were the only two men from the original spies to ultimately live to see the Promised Land.

Check what you are expecting today in your weight loss goals. Are you expecting the best (faith) or are you expecting awful results (fear)? What you are expecting determines which mindset you are living in.

And only the mindset of faith will get you the best results!

Be blessed in health, healing, and wholeness,

Kimberly Taylor, C.W.C.
Certified Wellness Coach
Author of the ‘Take Back Your Temple’ ebook
http://www.takebackyourtemple.com/book

Every day in the month of April, I will post an encouraging scripture on my website that I hope will instruct and inspire you on your weight loss journey.

Today’s focus scripture is taken from 2 Corinthians 2:14:

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

I love this scripture because it is assurance that no matter what challenges we face, as long as God is leading us, we are destined to win! It is critical to recognize when working on your Christian weight loss goals that you are working from a position of victory as long as you don’t quit.

So many people wait until they reach their goal to celebrate. However, it is important to write down and recognize the small victories you have along the way. This is a great encouragement.

Did you eat a serving of vegetables whereas you weren’t eating any before? That is a victory. Drank 4 glasses of water today when you drank 3 yesterday? That is a victory. Took a walk around the block today when you weren’t doing any exercise previously? That is a victory too!

In fact, in my Take Back Your Temple Healthy Habits Journal, which the small group program uses, I have a section for each day’s entry called “What I Did Well Today”. It is a place for you to acknowledge your small victories. Too often we focus on the mistakes we make and completely ignore the things we are doing right. And that is not right.

When you acknowledge what you are doing right, that gives you confidence and the good feelings you get will make you want to accumulate more small victories. And those small victories add up to big results!

Here is one more reason to celebrate small victories today – tomorrow is not promised to you. Sure, I believe in setting goals for the future, but I also recognize that whether I live to see that future is up to God. So I make the most of each day, enjoying the body that I have today while enjoying the steps I am taking to change it for the better.

Now if I do in fact get to the future to enjoy my results, then so much the better. But in the meantime, I focus on doing my best every day – celebrating the process.

If you do the same, you will not only enjoy the weight loss process more but you will appreciate your results more when you get them!

Be blessed in health, healing, and wholeness,

Kimberly Taylor, C.W.C.
Certified Wellness Coach
Author of the ‘Take Back Your Temple’ ebook
http://www.takebackyourtemple.com/book

Every day in the month of April, I will post an encouraging scripture on my website that I hope will instruct and inspire you on your weight loss journey.

Today’s focus scripture is taken from Galatians 5:16:

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Today’s scripture gives you the ultimate secret of overcoming any bad habit or addiction – walking in the Spirit. But I want to explain how something as simple as the foods you eat can interfere with walking in the Spirit.

The apostle Paul defines one of the lusts of the flesh as idolatry (Galatians 5:19-21). Did you know that food obsession is a form of idolatry? In Philippians 3:19, Paul spoke of people whose god was their belly. That described me once. I thought it was just an issue of self control, but I was wrong. I loved God but I did not realize that the way I was eating left me vulnerable to food obsession and thus, to food idolatry.

And I believe millions of people are in the same boat.

Many people like myself are sugar sensitive. When they eat it, it causes a specific reaction in their bodies similar to a drug. It can be sweets, crackers, or other white flour products – any food that raises the blood sugar quickly. It is part of their chemical make-up, the same as anyone who suffers from allergies.

Because the effect is drug-like, over time they require more and more sugar/white flour products to get the same effect. Eventually, they become so hooked on the pleasure the substance gives them, that their thoughts become preoccupied with it. Thus, a stronghold is set up in their minds and food idolatry is born.

If you are in this cycle, the first thing you need to do is take the issue to God in prayer, asking him to reveal to you those foods you are habitually eating that you are “allergic” to. That’s how I have to think about this issue in my own life because by thinking of it as an allergy, that lets me know how serious it is.

Ask God to show you natural foods that you can add to your diet that will help re-balance your body. Most of these will be in the fruit and vegetable category, wholesome foods that God made specifically for our bodies.

Next spend regular time in prayer, praise, worship, and study of God’s word. As you replace thoughts of food with thoughts of God, you will tear down that mental stronghold.

The obsessive thoughts must be replaced; you can’t just tell yourself not to think about food. That’s about as effective as telling yourself not to think about a pink elephant! Try it now and see what pops into your head!

As you replace thoughts of food with thoughts of God, you will become stronger and able to make wiser choices daily. And as you make wise choices and operate in self control, then you will reach your Christian weight loss goals faster than ever before!

Be blessed in health, healing, and wholeness,

Kimberly Taylor, C.W.C.
Certified Wellness Coach
Author of the ‘Take Back Your Temple’ ebook
http://www.takebackyourtemple.com/book

Every day in the month of April, I will post an encouraging scripture on my website that I hope will instruct and inspire you on your weight loss journey.

Today’s focus scripture is taken from Isaiah 43:10:

“You are My witnesses,” says the LORD,
“And My servant whom I have chosen,
That you may know and believe Me,
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,

Nor shall there be after Me.

In today’s focus scripture, God gave the Israelites two identities. He said that they were his witnesses and they were his chosen servants. As Christians today, we are also called to be witnesses but instead of servants, we are now called God’s sons and daughters through our faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:6).

But I want to focus on what it means to be a witness because knowing this can help you greatly during tough times, including those related to your Christian weight loss goals.

As God’s witness, that means that you are qualified to testify of him to others about your personal experience with him. This is not “book learning”. It means that you have had an up close encounter with him and you have seen his power demonstrated in your own life. Nobody can argue with that because it is your personal testimony.

But how can you be a witness to something that you haven’t seen?

Think about being a witness in a courtroom trial. If you try to testify of what somebody else said, what somebody else saw, or your own theories then that is not admissible evidence. That court will call it hearsay. You know this from Judge Judy!

The court will only admit as evidence that what you personally observed, heard, or experienced.

To make you his witness, God has to make the pages of the bible come alive for you. As he guides you through the trials you face, you come to know his character of love, faithfulness, and longsuffering. You come to know him personally as Savior, provider, and healer.

So it is through involving God in your daily life that you come to know and delight in him. You come to rely on him to help you through life. You can’t imagine living any other way and as a result, when you speak to others about God and his son Jesus, the truth and authenticity of your witness will be very persuasive.

See your weight loss goals as an opportunity to involve God in the smallest details of your life. And when you lose weight and people ask how you did it, you can tell them about God’s faithfulness in helping you get there.

Nobody seeks out hardships in life, but if they do come then invite God in and watch him work. He will show himself strong on your behalf and you can’t help but witness to others about what he has done for you!

Be blessed in health, healing, and wholeness,

Kimberly Taylor, C.W.C.
Certified Wellness Coach
Author of the ‘Take Back Your Temple’ ebook
http://www.takebackyourtemple.com/book

Every day in the month of April, I will post an encouraging scripture on my website that I hope will instruct and inspire you on your weight loss journey.

Today’s focus scripture is taken from Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Have you ever thought about what you think about most of the time? When I had a weight problem, I can tell you what I thought about most of the time: food!

I once saw a program called “I eat 33,000 Calories a Day” that featured severely obese people and one quote a lady said in that program stuck with me.  She said, “Food is the first thing I think about in the morning; it’s the last thing I think about before I go to bed.”

There was a time when I could identify with that statement, but not anymore. Because God has taken his rightful place in my thoughts – first – then food no longer controls my thinking like it once did.

The bible says that we should first seek to think about those things that are true. As Christians, our final authority for what is true is the word of God.  So if we are thinking something that is contrary to the word then we are called to renew our minds by replacing that thought with what is true.

For example, if you are thinking about retaliating against a person who has hurt you, then you recall and meditate on what the word of God says about the situation: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

Or if you are thinking giving in to a habitual temptation then you replace that thought with wisdom from God which says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

How about if you are feeling led to give up a certain food that causes negative effects in your body, but you are thinking that you can’t live without it? You can meditate on a scripture such as Romans 14:17 which says, “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

I challenge you today to consider the thoughts you have most often on a daily basis. Are they true, noble, just, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy? If not, then seek God’s wisdom to help you renew your mind to those thoughts that glorify him.

I guarantee that you will experience more inner peace, which will be evident in your outward circumstances!

Be blessed in health, healing, and wholeness,

Kimberly Taylor, C.W.C.
Certified Wellness Coach
Author of the ‘Take Back Your Temple’ ebook
http://www.takebackyourtemple.com/book

Every day in the month of April, I will post an encouraging scripture on my website that I hope will instruct and inspire you on your weight loss journey.

Today’s focus scripture is taken from Hebrews 6: 11-12:

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

This scripture gives you awesome wisdom on what is needed to obtain the promises of God: faith and patience. You need both to sustain yourself long enough for the promise to come into your life. Otherwise, you will abort it.

A couple of weeks ago, I heard a pastor define faith as expecting the best from God. I think you can only expect the best from God when you know his character and when you know his word.

In one of my favorite scriptures, the bible says of God’s character (Numbers 23:19):

“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

With this in mind, then you can expect the best from God when he says:

For I will restore health to you

And heal you of your wounds,’ says the LORD (Jeremiah 30:17)

To strengthen your faith, you must create and keep a picture in your mind of what health looks like to you.  I actually recommend writing that vision down and reviewing it regularly. I had a woman write me once to say that she had read my website and material, yet still wasn’t healed from her food addiction.

The Holy Spirit led me to ask her if she could see her life without the food addiction as part of it. She never responded back to me.  I suspected that she could not even picture her life without it. And if she couldn’t see herself putting away the addiction, then she would never be free of it.

There is a reason why God told Abraham that he would number his descendants as greater than the stars of heaven and the sand as the seashore. He gave Abraham a visualization to hold on to of the promise, one that would encourage and comfort him during the waiting.

Because Abraham knew that God would not lie to him, when he pictured the number of his descendants as the stars and sand, then his heart would be filled with joy because he knew that it was good as done. And the joy of the Lord is strength!

The second requirement to inheriting God’s promises is patience, which is simply the ability to wait and watch. It sounds so easy, but we all know that it is not!

When God promises us something good, we want it right now! I once thought of it as like little children on a road trip to Disney World asking their parents constantly, “Are we there yet?”

But as they mature, they learn to trust their parents.  Even though sometimes they might get tired of waiting during the drive or get bored with the scenery, they don’t start doubting that their parents are taking them to Disney World.

To pass the time, they might imagine what they are going to do once they get to Disney World (a sign of faith that they believe they will get there) or they might encourage themselves by watching for milestones that they are headed in the right direction.

Regarding your Christian weight loss goals, be just as diligent and determined that you will inherit the promises that God has for you. With faith and patience working in you, they are yours!

Be blessed in health, healing, and wholeness,

Kimberly Taylor, C.W.C.
Certified Wellness Coach
Author of the ‘Take Back Your Temple’ ebook
http://www.takebackyourtemple.com/book

Every day in the month of April, I will post an encouraging scripture on my website that I hope will instruct and inspire you on your weight loss journey.

Today’s focus scripture is taken from Proverbs 25:27:

It is not good to eat much honey;
So to seek one’s own glory is not glory.

I’ve written about sugar addiction on this website a lot simply because it was the biggest physical factor in my weight gain. After many years of writing down what I eat and paying attention to how certain foods make me feel, I have keen knowledge now of what foods benefit my whole body and which don’t.

I have to admit that I love the taste of sweet things. And in fact, I am not alone because scientists say that we are genetically inclined to prefer the taste of sweet foods. That was one way our ancestors could tell the difference between foods they could eat freely and poisonous foods (usually bitter) that would kill them!

But a critical shift has happened in our food supply over the last fifty years and obesity has exploded (pardon the pun) over the last decades. The primary cause is our new reliance on foods in bags, boxes, and cans. Most of these man-altered foods have a secret ingredient added to them: yes, you guessed it – sugar!

If you eat a lot of processed foods, fast foods, and junk foods, you are probably eating more sugar than you realize. And if you drink a lot of fruit juice and eat a lot of white flour products (bread, pastas, and others), then these break down quickly into sugar as well.

I don’t believe that sugar the way that God made it is bad in small amounts – after all, God described the Promised Land as a land of milk and honey! However, I do believe it is not good to eat a diet heavy in sugars as man has altered them. The body simply does not recognize them as real food.

For example, high fructose corn syrup is a recent concoction in which man has boosted the fructose content of regular corn syrup, itself a processed food. Fructose is fine when it is contained within a fiber matrix the way God designed it in whole fruit, but take it out of that environment and the body processes it as a poison.

For more information about that, watch this video – it’s a bit long but worth it:

Sugar – the Bitter Truth

In addition, white sugar is bleached to make it white when it is refined from sugar cane. Again man has taken sugar cane, a food that God made and turned it into another product entirely that plays havoc with the body’s natural hormonal balance.

High sugar intake interferes with Leptin, which a natural hormone that tells you when you have had enough to eat.  A high fructose diet has been shown to contribute to overeating and obesity.

I have observed that when I eat a lot of sugar, not only does it make me crave more sugar, but it makes me want to eat more of everything else. So it is not a case of will-power; my body has a very specific reaction to sugar almost like an allergy. That is the way I view it now. I may take a few bites of something sweet, but more than that and I start feeling brain fogged and hungrier.

I recognize the feeling very well, and because I don’t want to live that way anymore, then I  avoid the foods that trigger it. Visit the following website and see if you recognize the signs of sugar sensitivity in yourself:

http://www.radiantrecovery.com/

So be wise – recognize the foods that your body doesn’t like. By that I mean your whole body.  Even if your tongue likes it, but the rest of your body doesn’t, then consider your tongue outvoted!

Don’t allow your tongue to become the little dictator that is controlling and ruining your life. Instead make it your friend in that you seek foods that taste good, but also benefits every organ and cell in your body!

That means making foods the way God made them the cornerstone of your diet. That means fruit, vegetables, lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats. And you can enjoy honey – but as the bible advises, don’t eat much of it.

Be blessed in health, healing, and wholeness,

Kimberly Taylor, C.W.C.
Certified Wellness Coach
Author of the ‘Take Back Your Temple’ ebook
http://www.takebackyourtemple.com/book

Every day in the month of April, I will post an encouraging scripture on my website that I hope will instruct and inspire you on your weight loss journey.

Today’s focus scripture is taken from Psalm 141: 3-4:

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice wicked works
With men who work iniquity;
And do not let me eat of their delicacies.

When I first read this scripture, I chuckled because I thought that this could be a dieter’s prayer! Not “dieter” in terms of deprivation, but one who wants to be discerning about what passes through the doors of her lips.

I am not sure whether David was speaking about being discerning concerning the things entering his mouth through the foods he ate or about things exiting his mouth through the words he said. The scripture could apply to both, but I’m inclined to think he was speaking more about the things exiting his mouth.

In Matthew 15:11, Jesus said to the Pharisees who were offended because his disciples did not wash their hands before they ate bread, “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

Jesus was saying that what you eat does not make you dirty or unclean spiritually, but that which comes out of your mouth. What you speak reveals what is going on in your heart. As the scripture says, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).

While being discerning about the words you speak is priority, I believe you must set a guard regarding the foods you eat as well. Now it is true that the foods you eat do not make you spiritually dirty or unclean, but they do affect you physically.

For example, if there are certain foods that you eat that sap you of energy, then you have to decide if you need to guard against them entering your mouth. If you fail to set a guard, then you are choosing to allow them to rob you of energy, which leads to living a low energy life.

I wrote about the importance of handling little things yesterday and this is certainly a case of little things (food choices) having a big impact over time.

So if you are having trouble with un-beneficial foods entering your mouth or un-beneficial  words exiting your mouth, then know that through today’s scripture you can ask God for empowerment to handle both!

Be blessed in health, healing, and wholeness,

Kimberly Taylor, C.W.C.
Certified Wellness Coach
Author of the ‘Take Back Your Temple’ ebook
http://www.takebackyourtemple.com/book