You're Fighting the Wrong Battle in Your Weight Loss Journey

“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world.” Ephesians 6:12 

When identity is secure in Christ: We seek Him and not sugar. We rely on Him to heal instead of using excuses to stay stuck. When we root our identity in the gospel of Jesus Christ, shame loses its grip. And God’s direction for our life becomes our focus and joy. Victory is not found in stricter rules — it’s found in standing firm in truth; God’s truth and it’s His truth that sets us free.

Ephesians 6:10-12, “ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” 

Lord, I’ve been fighting the wrong battle, I repent. Father thank You that my identity is in You and not the things of this world. Help me to forget myself Jesus, forgive me for vanity and striving and lack of self-control and discipline. Help me to arm myself with your armor, the full armor of God that I have at my disposal.  Help me stop fighting myself. Show me where shame has disguised itself as discipline. Root me in truth, not condemnation Father and lead me to live and eat and move and serve as your perfect gospel calls me to. Lead me Jesus, I love You so much. 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

The Real Battle

Ooh, man, let me go and be real with you today, my friend. You are fighting the wrong battle when it comes to your weight loss. You think the battle is food, cravings, the scale, your body, but those are not the real enemies.

The real battle has always been about who we're listening to. The enemy attacks our identity and fills our heads with lies, fear, and doubt. And today, we're gonna talk about how to recognize the schemes and replace them with God's truth.

So stay tuned. 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.

So grab your pre-workout and let's chat. Don't forget to join the Biblical Weight Loss Framework at herweightlossmindset.com/framework. We are done with diets.

We are done with losing and gaining the same 20 pounds every couple of years. We are done with all of that. We are learning to give God our journey.

That's not to say it's going to be perfect.

That's going to say that He is going to provide us with the tools that we need in order to see lasting change and to release weight for good because when we partner with the Holy Spirit in our weight loss journey, He can do the work in us that He

needs us to do, which begins with healing, which begins with forgiveness, which begins with recognizing traumas and triggers and social situations and all of the things that keep us stuck, the mindsets that keep us stuck believing the lie that we'll

never lose the weight. I've lost 100 pounds. Listen, I know the lie. You're not alone here. Join the Biblical Weight Loss Framework and let's finally take a stand against the true lies that are keeping you stuck.

And then let's dig into today.

Unmasking the Enemy

So Ephesians 6 12 says, for we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world. Okay, here's the truth. Food is not your enemy.

Your body is not your enemy and the scale is not your enemy. The enemy is anything that convinces you that you're unworthy, broken, or failing. The enemy sometimes comes from evil.

Sometimes it comes from unresolved trauma or someone in your life who's convinced you that you're not enough. And sometimes the enemy is ourselves and thinking that our way is the best way. I mean, God gave us taste buds.

So that tells us food is not the enemy. God created us in His image, which tells us our body is not the enemy. And the scale is a tool.

So maybe you need to take a break from it or commit to once a week weigh-ins instead of every day. We weigh ourselves against the qualifications of the world. And we know that this world is not our home.

Praise the Lord.

So for those of us who struggle with weight loss or have struggled with weight loss, food became the battlefield when we felt the explosion of taste buds or the endorphin rush from a sugar high, relying on our flesh instead of praying to the Lord for

strength to endure the struggles that we were facing. Food became comfort for us. For some of us, food is where emotions service. Maybe like when you feel overwhelmed or alone or unseen.

When you're exhausted, food can offer temporary relief. The lie that it's going to comfort us or fill us or oh, that dinner was so delicious, I just need like a little sweet treat to finish it off.

That's not always bad unless it becomes a habit or an idol in our life. God gave us taste buds so we can enjoy food. He gave us the gift of celebration, which food goes often hand in hand.

But he also gave us the Holy Spirit so we can seek his will and his strength. I mean, the Lord knew that for many of us, food would be a weakness. But again, he doesn't allow temptation more than we can bear.

And he gives us a way out so we can endure it. But we have to take our struggle to him instead of the pantry. The struggle, right?

Like I've talked about the physical pull that I went through with Ritz Crackers, and I had to do a fast with Ritz Crackers. Like it was, it felt so stupid in my mind.

But when the Lord broke that chain in my life, it was such an incredible proof of how he wants to provide for us in this way. The enemy is going to constantly and consistently exploit shame by turning coping into condemnation.

So instead of asking yourself, why did I eat that? We ask, what's wrong with me? We ask all of these things, like, why can't I lose the weight?

Instead of saying, Lord, search my heart. Help me to see why I'm making these choices that don't honor you, choices that I don't even want to make.

Identity in Christ

We do not fail just because we make poor choices. God loves us and he sees us. He knows the struggle.

He knows the battle. He sees the emotional turmoil that you go through when you commit to eating healthy and then you break off of your healthy pattern and you feel shame, you feel condemnation. That's not what he wants.

He wants to wrap his loving arms around you and say, hey, listen, I'm here. Let's try again in the next choice. Let's do the next right thing.

Let's ask ourselves, where does my identity come from? Does it come from God? Does it come from your weight or excuses?

Does it come from family history or your past? We have to re-examine our identity and where it lies so we can modify our behavior in a biblical way. Behavior is going to flow from belief.

If you believe you're out of control, that you can't be trusted in your failing God, your behavior is going to reflect fear. But when our identity is secure in Christ, we seek Him and not sugar.

And even if we feel the pull to sugar, we can say, Lord, give me what I need. We rely on Him to heal us instead of using our excuses to stay stuck. When we root our identity in the gospel of Jesus Christ, shame loses its grip.

The enemy loses his grip. And God's direction for our life becomes our focus and our joy. We can find joy in weight loss.

We should. Because victory is not found in stricter rules and legalism. It's found in standing firm in truth, God's truth.

And it's only his truth that is truly going to set us free from the shame, conviction, and sugar pull that we feel.

Armor of God

Ephesians 6 10 10 through 12 says, Finally, be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. We can take a stand beloved.

We have the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the gospel of peace, and the shield of faith. He gives us the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

This is about standing firm in God's truth, the truth of the Bible. Truth over lies, peace over panic, and faith over fear. You have everything you need, my friend, to lose weight and fight your battle, if you arm yourself with the word of God.

We have to learn to discern the lies, claim the truth, and walk in the freedom that God promises us when we trust in Him as our Lord and Savior. But you have to pick which battle you're going to choose to fight today. The enemy is real.

Now listen, God is omnipresent, he's omniscient, he is in all things, in at all places, at all times. The devil is not, he's a fallen angel who thought he wanted to be like God, who thought he could be like God, and yeah.

He's got evil cohorts literally floating all around the world. Like we can see that in the way that the world is going right now. The world feels heavy.

There's heavy things going on in our government. There's heavy things going on in our education system. There's heavy things going on with hungry people, and sexually exploited people, and Christians who are being murdered all over the world.

There are heavy, heavy things, and it's really easy to want to eat our feelings. But we go back to the old meme that we see on Facebook. Jesus knew he had one day to live, and he washed feet.

He washed Judas' feet, knowing that Judas was going to betray him in the next moment. And then he hung on the cross, and he took the sins of the world, and we read in scripture that we have the same power within us that rose Jesus from the grave.

So why do we not walk in that power, tell the enemy to go to hell, and trust that God is going to go fight our battles for us? We have the spiritual fruit that we need. We have the full armor of God that we need.

Lay Down Excuses

It's time to lay down your excuses, get off the couch, prep a healthy meal, and tell the enemy to bugger off. We have to take responsibility. It's no longer about making excuses.

It's about leaning into the fruit of the spirit. It's about leaning into the armor of God.

It's about leaning in and saying, Lord, I am laying this down at the cross every day, and I'm not picking it up, and I repent for constantly and consistently making poor choices. I'm tired of being tired. I'm tired of not having energy.

I'm tired of wasting time scrolling social media, buying into the crap of the world. I am ready to release weight, physical, spiritual, emotional, trauma, all of it. I'm done.

And until you get to that point where you are so sick of staying stuck, you are going to constantly repeat the same battle over and over and over. Do you really want to live that way? I don't.

I get so sick of my excuses and it's my own fault. And it's when the Lord reaches down and says, Hey, my grace is sufficient. My power is made perfect in your weakness.

Food is your weakness. So give it to me and let it go. Stop shaming yourself for wanting to have a treat.

Plug it in your macro plan, bless and release it, and move on to the next thing. Go call somebody that needs encouragement. Send a text to somebody who's going through a rough time.

Stop focusing on yourself all the time. We are a self-focused generation of lazy people who are not committed to serving others, and it shows. And we deserve better, and the people that God has called us to help deserve better.

You deserve better. So stop waking up and touching your phone first thing. Wake up, spend time with the Lord, open your Bible, not an app, not a devotional.

Open your Bible and seek the truth of the Lord. You want encouragement every single day? Start in Proverbs 1, the beginning of every month, and read a proverb every single day.

And then journal what inspired you from that proverb, what you're grateful for, and then how you're going to move towards your goals every day.

Prayer for Freedom

Lord, I've been fighting the wrong battle, and I'm sorry. I repent again, Jesus. Father, thank you that my identity is in you and not the things of this world.

Help me to forget myself, Jesus. Forgive me for vanity and striving and lack of self-control and disobedience and discipline. Help me to arm myself with your armor, Jesus.

The full armor of God that I have at my disposal. Help me to stop fighting myself and fighting you and show me where shame has disguised itself as discipline.

Root me in truth, Father, not condemnation, and lead me to live and eat and move and serve as your perfect gospel calls me to. I want to make disciples who make disciples, because that's really my only call in life, Lord. Lead me.

Show me. I'm here. I am open.

I am available. I love you so much, Father, and it's in your holy name I pray. 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. Amen. Thank you for joining us and we will be bringing you back here for another episode.