Weight Loss Scripture Day 8: In Due Season

Day 8: Christian Weight Loss Scripture

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 6:9:

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

The most common question I get via email regarding Christian weight loss issues is this: “I’ve been eating healthy for (fill in number) weeks, but I’ve only lost (2 or 3) pounds. What is going on?

First of all, it is easy to lose heart if the scale is your only measurement of progress. After all, weighing yourself is the worst possible measurement of fat loss. And fat loss is what you want, right? Losing water or muscle weight will hurt you in the long run and that is what happens on the so-called “quick weight loss” diets.

Scale weight is a combination of the weight of your bones, muscles, organs, body water, skin, other elements, and fat. What you are really after is a change in body composition – shapely muscles and less fat.

A better indication of progress regarding your body composition is how your clothes fit. Has your clothing size decreased in that time period? If you are taking measurements (a better indication of changes in body shape), are they smaller than they were?

See, 5 pounds of fat takes up much more room than 5 pounds of muscle. Check out the image below:

The 5 pounds of fat is yellow on the left and the 5 pounds of muscle is red on the right. Now notice how the fat is lumpy, jiggly, and shapeless. In contrast, the muscle is smooth, compact, and shapely. Muscles are the hardworking laborers of your body. Skeletal muscles move your body around.

In contrast, fat is along for the ride. I always think of fat cells as freeloaders! Actually, they would help you survive in a famine but I don’t recall a widespread famine happening in America recently.

Now let’s say that you lost 5 pounds of fat, but gained 3 pounds of muscle. The scale would only say that you lost 2 pounds. But you got rid of fat the size of the image on the left. That is a lot of fat! The next time you go to the grocery store, pick up a pound of Crisco or butter to see how heavy even 1 pound of fat is. That’s less “freeloader” weight you have to carry around.

In addition, you should see how your body composition changed for the better, which would show up in the smaller clothes size or body measurement.

In the Take Back Your Temple small groups, participants are strongly encouraged to take measurements rather than weigh. We also encourage them to also pay attention to other signs of improvement such as:

Boosted energy	Increased confidence
Improved quality of sleep	Greater mental focus
Enhanced shape and muscle tone	Increased muscle strength
Improved flexibility	Better mood control
Added glow to your skin	Enhanced balance and coordination
Improved endurance	Increased sexual enjoyment
Reduced depression	Increased ability to handle stress
Improved circulation	Clearer skin
Freer breathing	Increased optimism about life
Improved joint discomfort	Amplified desire to tackle other life goals

All of these are signs that you are moving in the right direction! However, if you only use the scale, then you give it power to discourage you and make you want to quit. And quitting increases your odds to 100% that you won’t get the body and level of health you want.

If you stay on track, all the while using the above signs as milestones that you are moving in the right direction, then you can have confidence that you will reach your new size in due season.

Now, about due season. That is another thing that irks me about quick weight loss diets – they prey on the impatient. Jesus often used farming principles to teach spiritual principles. With the principle of sowing and reaping, there is a time to plant, a time to cultivate, and a time to sow. You don’t just plant one day and harvest the next.

And yet quick weight loss diets and get rich quick schemes would have you believe otherwise. Whenever I read a diet that touts that you can lose “30 pounds in 30 days” my automatic question is “30 pounds of what?” It is easy to manipulate the scale with water losses or gains. But that does nothing for improving your body shape or building your health.

If you lost it fast, you’ll gain it back faster! I speak from experience because I fell for those schemes for over 20 years. It was only when I focused on building my health and allowed my faith and patience to work together that I received permanent results.

I hope the above tips will help you “have heart” while working on your goals. Renew your mind with today’s scripture if you find yourself losing heart and in due season, you will reap if you don’t give up.

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