Your Need to Control is Stalling Your Weight Loss

Control often sounds like:

• “I just need stricter rules.” I’m not eating sugar this month.
• “I’ll feel better once I get back in control.” I am giving up carbs today.
• “I can’t trust myself around food.” I’m going to…XYZ. Fill in your control blank.

Proverbs 3:5-8, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”

Control says, “I have to manage this myself.” Trust says, “I don’t have to do this alone, God wants to guide me.” Control usually shows up after fear.

Fear of:

• Weight gain
• Losing progress
• Being judged
• Feeling out of control

So we respond with:

• Food rules
• Restriction
• Compensation
• “Good” and “bad” days

So how do we release the need to control?

Ask yourself:

• Where did I learn that control equals safety? What area am I trying to control? Does this come from unresolved trauma? Past experience? Comparison? What am I afraid would happen if I loosened my grip? What does God keep asking me to do that I keep putting off?

Holy Father, I release the belief that control is wisdom. I repent Lord. Heal this desire to force and allow.  Teach me how to trust You with my body and my choices, Lord. Thank You for giving me what I need to walk in full obedience to Your voice inside me. Lead me Jesus, I am laying it all down at Your Holy feet. Thank You for loving me enough to care about this area of my life. 
 Help me listen and obey and remind me always that You are all I need. I love You Lord. Amen.

Are you sick of trying diet after diet and NOT losing weight?

Hey there friend, I'm Lindy Schlabach, Christian Fitness & Nutrition Coach. I gained 100 pounds in my late twenties and struggled for years to get it off. Seven years ago, I found a basic system that worked and has helped me lose 90 of those pounds. I’ve been working with women in online fitness and nutrition ever since to break chains of diet culture, embrace their bodies and fueling instead of dieting.

In this podcast, I'll teach you how to:

• • Lose Weight in a Way that honors God without obsessing about the scale
  • Meal Plan and Prep for Your Family
  • Follow a MACRO based plan that allows you to eat the foods you love.
  • Recognize and pray through triggers keeping you stuck.
  • I’ll help you Plan your week and schedule your self-care time.
  • Cultivate a spirit of self-discipline in your workouts you actually enjoy.
  
  It's time to give God your health journey and watch Him make you new, from the inside, OUT.

Join The Biblical Weight Loss Framework: https://www.herweightlossmindset.com/framework

Join my FREE Community: https://bit.ly/JoinTheChristianWeightLossCommunity

Join my Insiders List with weekly tips for weight loss for Christian women: http://herweightlossmindset.com/herweightlossmindsetinsiders

Transcript

Personal Health Struggles

I struggle so much in this area. And I just, if you're here and you're listening, I just really hope you'll reach out, connect with me on social media, shoot me an email, info at herweightlossmindset.com, and tell me that I'm not alone.

Like my hormones have been out of whack for months. I have not only felt aches in my bones and struggled with sleep, I've gained weight, I'm constipated. No matter what I do, like nothing seems to be functioning right.

And with the work that I do helping women like you, the enemy has been placing doubt and lies and fear in my head about my ability to help others. And it's so key to seek the Lord and take those thoughts captive and give them to God.

Like it's been a constant struggle, and I feel so distracted by it at times. Like yesterday morning, I woke up, and instantly my thought was about what I ate the day before. And it angers me, like, Lord, please take this.

I don't want to be distracted by this. Like sometimes I have to stop and sit with my hands open and just say, Lord, I need you to take this or put something here that's not constant condemnation.

And that's not always easy with a 15-month-old at home, right? Or whatever season of life you're fighting yourself in.

But sometimes we need to learn to sit in it, recognize it, name it, and then give it up to God instead of just trying to push it off again. Control often disguises itself as wisdom.

But when it takes away from what God wants to do in us and through us, we have to not only seek the Holy Spirit, listen to the Holy Spirit. We have to walk in obedience and relinquish control. That is really only a lie?

Anyway. Are you sick of trying diet after diet and not losing weight? Are you tired of doubting your ability to actually lose weight in a healthy way?

Do you wish you could find a laid out for you plan that will help you stay accountable to your goals? Hey, friend, I'm Lindy Schlabach, Christian Fitness & Nutrition Coach. I gained 100 pounds in my late 20s and struggled for years to get it off.

Nine years ago, I found a system that works and has helped me lose over 90 of those pounds. I've worked with women in online fitness and nutrition ever since.

In this podcast, I'll teach you how to reframe your thoughts about weight loss and your ability to achieve lasting results and lose weight in a way that honors God without obsessing about the scale and meal plan and prep for your family.

So grab your pre-workout and let's chat.

Biblical Framework Introduction

So as I was working with a client this week, I just really felt like God was telling me to share with her how the biblical weight loss framework was created. And I felt like the Lord really gave me the name of the program pretty easily.

But I knew that if I really wanted to connect with him and make this something that was going to truly affect change in the lives of the women that go through this, like I needed to fast.

And so the biblical weight loss framework was created through a three day fast. And the Lord, like he literally gave me every single aspect of this program from beginning to end.

And, you know, anywhere from the beginning in the intro to the triggers and the time block and the, I mean, literally everything from macros and nutrition to the workouts, you know, to ending it in the call to make disciples.

And so if you have thought about joining the biblical weight loss framework, I need you to understand that this isn't just things that I threw down on a piece of paper.

Like these are holy spirit led steps that are going to take you into some pretty tough places.

As I was working with my client the last couple of weeks, last week she kind of had a revelation that, you know, yes, if I don't heal from resentment and unforgiveness and slander, you know, I'm not going to be a healthy whole person.

And that's the entire point of this 90 day program. So if you're tired of trying diet after diet, like join the framework. This isn't going to be anything like you think it is.

This is going to be the Lord doing a complete and total work in you as I guide you through the process. So if you're ready to take the leap, go to herweightlossmindset.com/framework.

That's herweightlossmindset.com/framework, where you can find the link to join us in the show notes below.

Control Versus Trust

So let's get into this. Control is making things worse in your Biblical weight loss journey. Control often sounds like, I just need stricter rules.

I am not eating sugar today. Or I'll feel better once I get back in control. I am giving up carbs this week.

Or maybe it sounds like, I can't trust myself around food. I'm going to, you know, XYZ, fill in your control blank. And for many Christian women, control feels holy.

It feels responsible and mature, but here's the hard truth, my friends. Control does not produce peace. It produces backlash, and it is not bringing us closer to God.

In fact, it's pushing us farther away because he cannot do the work in us that he desires to do. Proverbs chapter three, verses five through eight says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and shun evil.

This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. So often we read Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, and we leave out 7 and 8. And 7 and 8 are crucial.

Crucial. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and shun evil.

Listen, when I talk to you about eating macros in the Biblical Weight Loss Framework, and I tell you that you have to eat 200 grams of protein every day, and 80 grams of fat, and 300 grams of carbs, because like that's what your formula breaks down

to, like you have to trust me. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

You are underfed. Your body is starving. Even if you're eating a ton of food, you're not eating the right amount of food in the right balance.

The Control Cycle

Control says, I have to manage this myself. But trust in the Lord says, I don't have to do this alone. God wants to guide me.

And control usually shows up after fear. Fear of weight gain, fear of losing progress, fear of being judged or feeling out of control. So what do we respond with?

Food rules, legalism, restriction, compensation, good days and bad days. But anytime the body hears any of these triggers, she feels a threat. Restriction increases obsession.

Rules disconnect you from what your body actually needs. Fear, it silences fullness. And eventually the body is going to rebel.

Not because she's broken, but she's protecting herself. This is why these endless cycles of diet defeat continue to repeat in your life. Control leads to deprivation, which leads to binging, which leads to shame, which leads to tighter control.

I don't know about you. I've read Galatians 5, 22, and 23 many times, and shame is not mentioned as a fruit of this spirit. But what is?

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Yes, for others, but also for yourself. You cannot pour from an empty cup.

And there is a spiritual cost of control. Control teaches you to distrust yourself, which it seems like it would be the opposite, but it's not. Control, trying to control your weight loss is a distraction tactic from the enemy.

God wants to partner with you. It's in his good design from the beginning. He doesn't want to dominate you.

He wants you to listen and obey. And if we're going to steward our choices, if we're going to steward our body well, it requires listening. And listening requires surrender.

Surrendering to what the Holy Spirit is going to lead you to, and then you having the strength and courage of conviction to walk in it. Control replaces discernment with fear. When we operate out of a place of control, there's no longer discernment.

We can't hear from God because we're living in fear, which leads to that weight gain, losing progress, being judged, and feeling out of control. Fear will never lead you to freedom in your weight loss.

Freedom only comes from peace, which comes not just from listening to the Holy Spirit, but obeying the Holy Spirit. Knowledge is not power. Applied knowledge is power.

How many diets, books have you read? How many posts have you read online and you do it for a week and you lose weight and then you get tired or you feel like you fail, so you give up because you think, I'll never do this again. Why would I try again?

I'll never lose this weight. That is a lie from the enemy. That is you trying to control every situation.

Releasing Control

So how do we release the need to control? Pray that Psalm 139, 23 and 24 verse. Ask yourself, as you journal this week, where did I learn that control equals safety?

What area am I trying to control? And does this come from unresolved trauma? Maybe past experience, past dieting, comparison.

What am I afraid of if I actually loosen my grip and let God lead? What does he want to do in my life that I am making excuses for? What does God keep asking me to do that I keep putting off?

We hold so tightly to control because it feels safe. It's something we can manage, but that is a lie straight from a pit of hell, and it's keeping God from being able to heal you once and for all.

So as I mentioned, like I've gained some weight the past couple of months, but I just keep going back. Every morning he keeps reminding me, just do the next right thing. Just trust me.

Keep eating in your macro plan. Keep loving your body. Keep doing your workouts, not to shame yourself for eating, but because it's a celebration of what I created your body to do.

What do you really want? Ask yourself right now, what do you really want? Do you really want to stay stuck in a constant cycle of defeat, gaining weight, losing weight, gaining weight, losing weight, and frustrated?

Or do you want to live in obedience to the Lord?

Freedom from control only begins when trust is rebuilt, and that only comes when we not only allow the Lord to direct our choices, but trust that when we surrender, He is going to give us the ability to take control of that temptation.

No temptation that we have is more than we can bear. He is going to give us a way out. But then we have to have the courage of conviction to walk away.

I fail at this every day in one aspect or the other. You are not alone here. But we repent and we try again because His mercies begin new each day.

Praise the Lord for that. Can I get an amen? Holy Father, I release the belief that control is wisdom.

I am laying it down. I repent, Jesus, heal his desire to force and fill it with the desire to allow you to take control. Teach me how to trust you with my body and my choices, Lord.

Thank you for giving me what I need to walk in full obedience to the voice inside of me, your voice inside of me. Lead me, Jesus. I am laying it down at your holy feet.

Thank you for loving me enough to care about this area of my life. Father, help me listen and obey and remind me that you always are the only thing I actually need. I love you so much, Lord.

Amen. Hey, sis, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If so, would you take 30 seconds and share it with a friend?

Also, please leave a quick review for the show on Apple Podcasts. It lights me up to know this podcast is helping you. Okay, it's time to go make a protein shake and get my sweat on.

No more standing in the kitchen waiting for motivation to appear. I will meet you back here for another episode. God bless.