Finding Joy in Your Weight Loss Journey: Celebrating Every Victory with Faith

Nehemiah 8:10 (NLT) says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” This verse reminds us that the true source of strength is God’s joy — not the numbers on the scale.

Here are 3 things you can do to help you focus on finding the joy in your weight loss journey.

-Start a “victory journal” to write down every healthy choice or progress, no matter how small you feel they are. Our feelings rarely align with God’s truth, so lean on Him when you don’t feel you have anything to add.

-Share your wins with a trusted friend, mentor, or faith community who will encourage you. Accountability is key! This is why I’ve created the Biblical Weight Loss Framework; to help you work on your personal journey with the Holy Spirit leading.

-Listen to worship music or memorize Scripture to uplift your heart during tough days. Find a verse that speaks to you and read it, write it, recite it daily.  

Lord, thank you that your joy is my strength. Help me celebrate every victory on my weight loss journey, trusting that you are working in me. Fill me with your joy so I can keep moving forward with hope and faith. 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

Good morning, beloved.

Welcome back to the show.

So today, we are talking about finding joy in your weight loss journey and celebrating every victory, big or small, through faith in God.

I know, I know, weight loss isn't always easy, but God's joy is our strength.

And I want to encourage you to hold onto that as you keep going, in the good, in the bad, and everything in between, because let's face it, finding joy in our weight loss journey is not always easy.

Today, we are going to chat about finding that joy though, in your weight loss journey.

So hang tight.

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, friends, 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.

We are taking a 90-day approach to weight loss, God's way, Holy Spirit direction, and learning to tune in to what it is that He has for your life.

Visit the show notes below and join us, herweightlossmindset.com/framework.

That's herweightlossmindset.com/framework.

If you are tired of trying diet after diet, if you are tired of counting every calorie and feeling shame and condemnation over every part of your weight loss journey and your body, join the framework.

Listen, I have lost over 90 pounds.

I know that this is hard.

It took me years because I did it all the wrong way.

You are not alone.

It is never too late to try again.

You've probably not used the Holy Spirit in your weight loss journey or you wouldn't be listening to this podcast.

So join us.

Join us, join us, join us.

It is never too late.

So there have been so many times where I hop on the scale, I've done all the things right, weeks of effort, and I'm like two pounds down on the scale.

I did all the things I should.

I almost felt myself going to that mode of discouragement, and that place of shame in my head.

But then I was like, you know what?

Maybe I should just try to choose joy and celebrate that I actually lost two pounds instead of gaining two pounds or like not even moving at all.

That seemingly small win reminded me that progress, no matter how slow we may feel it is, is what we're praising God for.

And to be honest, shifting that perspective in like that seemingly small way, it lifted my spirits and it helped me do the next right thing.

It helped me make the next right choice.

And the more and more I learn about weight loss, the more I study nutrition, especially for us ladies over 40, I know that one to two pounds is actually sustainable weight loss.

If you think about it, every single morning we wake up, our bodies physiologically are different.

They change each and every day according to what we ate, according to maybe your time of the month or your hormones or the workout that you did.

And learning that should help us give ourselves grace and learn to trust God even more.

Nehemiah 8 10 says, the joy of the Lord is your strength, right?

The joy of the Lord is your strength.

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit.

We read that in Galatians.

The joy of the Lord is your strength.

This verse reminds us that the true source of strength is God's joy, not the number on the scale.

The scale is never going to make you happy.

It's never going to be your friend, even if you see that one to two pound weight loss.

When we lean into His joy, we find the power that keeps us going even when the journey feels hard, which, let's face it, it's usually hard, right?

But when we let go and let God lead, He is our strength.

And it's His power through the Holy Spirit that changes us from the inside out.

We lay down our cross, we die to self, we allow Him to lead and guide our choices, and that is what leads to long lasting change.

And let me tell you what, you're going to make maybe two or three Holy Spirit led choices, and you're going to feel really good, and then your flesh is going to kick in, and you're going to make fleshy choices.

And guess what?

Welcome to life.

This is the story of my life every day at least once, multiple times probably.

That's okay.

We don't get discouraged.

Life happens.

Life will always happen.

But when we can take that, maybe decision that you made that you didn't want to, and we can repent from it, or maybe just see that it really wasn't that big of a deal, we can remove the shame, we can remove the condemnation, and we can just find the joy in the fact that God is going to lead us in the next choice.

We just have to walk in obedience.

So I want you to do these three things to help you focus on finding the joy in your weight loss journey and celebrate that victory.

I want you to start a Victory Journal and write down every healthy choice or progress no matter how small you may feel they are.

Because we know about feelings, right?

Like our feelings rarely align with God's truth.

So let's lean on him.

Let's seek his truth in our lives and say, okay Lord, this is how I'm feeling today, but I want to align my feelings with your truth.

Can you remove anything that is not of you and replace that feeling of peace and joy in me?

We're going to lean on him when you feel you don't have anything to add because he's going to show something to you that you did, that you might not even remember.

The next thing I want you to do is share your ones with a trusted friend, or a mentor, or a faith community is going to encourage you.

Cleanability is key, do not go this journey alone.

This is why I've been in Online Fitness & Nutrition for almost nine years.

This is why I created the Biblical Weight Loss Framework.

To create a community of people that will encourage you on your journey and to help you work on your personal journey with the Holy Spirit leading the way.

The last thing, I want you to listen to worship music or memorize a scripture to uplift your heart during the tough days.

Find a verse that speaks to you.

Read it out loud, write it down, and recite it daily.

Make it the prayer to the Lord.

Ask him what it is that he wants you to learn from this verse.

Galatians 6 and 9, I share it with you all the time.

Let us not grow weary in doing good.

For at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Maybe you've given up.

It's okay.

Today is a new day.

In the next choice, you get to do the next right thing.

So make the next best choice.

Say a prayer.

Get on your knees.

Lay down your food addiction.

Lay down your gluttony.

Lay down your eating disorder.

Lay it down.

It's never too late.

God sees you.

He loves you.

He wants to take this from you.

Heavenly Father, thank you that your joy is my strength.

Help me to celebrate every victory on my weight loss journey, trusting that you are working in me even when I don't see the results that I want to.

Fill me with your joy so that I can keep moving forward with hope and faith.

Thank you for this body.

Help me steward her well.

I love you, Father.

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.