Staying Consistent in Your Weight Loss Journey When Motivation Fades

 Galatians 6:9 (NLT): “So let’s not grow weary from doing good, for at the right time, we will reap a harvest if we don’t give up.” How amazing is that?! What an incredible reminder of God’s faithfulness. 

I’d like you to meditate on these thoughts:

1️⃣ Motivation is a feeling — it comes and goes. Consistency is a choice. And discipline is a fruit of the spirit.

2️⃣ God calls us to faithfulness, not perfection or strive and try. 

3️⃣ Small daily choices lead to big, lasting change over time.

Here are a few habits to incorporate today:

• Create a simple routine (e.g., morning walk, daily water goal). Keep it simple to start, don’t choose them all, choose 1-3 that make sense for you today.

• Anchor habits to something you already do (e.g., pray while stretching). If you’re going for a walk, listen to a bible study or worship music or pray. If you’re already making time for coffee and a morning social scroll, get your bible out instead. 

• Focus on “minimums” — what’s the smallest healthy action you can do even on hard days? Remember, there’s no more all or nothing here. 

Lord, give me strength to stay consistent even when I don’t feel like it. Help me to remember your fruit and the word You’ve given me to stay encouraged. Thank you for always guiding me, Help me to walk in obedience and trust your timing and your plan for my health. I love you, Amen

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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

Are you struggling to stay motivated in your weight loss journey today?

Listen, it's summer.

Barbecues abound.

I swear it's bathing suit season, but like sometimes you just can't pass up on a cone, right?

Wait, maybe that's just me.

How do we stay consistent when our motivation fades?

How do we stay consistent when the wedding has passed or summer is over?

Stay tuned.

I'd like to share with you a few tips that will help you today stay the course.

These are things that I do often.

So hang on tight.

Here we go.

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.

There have been countless times where I've lost motivation or the drive to eat healthy.

After our failed adoption, the struggle to even want to eat at all was there.

And to be honest, that's rare for me.

Normally, I'm an emotional eater.

I was headed straight for self-pity.

I was reminded of my friend and former pastor that told me that self-pity is sin.

He asked me what God would say.

And that reminder helps me still today when the desire to make fleshy choices abound, which is daily.

Let's be real.

Every day, I ask the Lord to help me eat and move according to my goals.

The goals that I've set with him, of course.

And he does.

I just don't always listen.

So my dad was here last week.

And my little brother, we had our final adoption hearing.

And we just like, like I swear my grandma's love language, like if food was like, feeding people was a love language, it would be hers.

I'm convinced that she has the gift of hospitality.

But it's always like revolving around food, whether we're celebrating, whether we're mourning, like it's always revolved around food.

My dad was just here for Father's Day and my birthday in June.

And I had to do a three-day detox after he left.

And so this last week was no different.

Like I think I ate ice cream probably like seven times in the eight days that he was here, six days he was here.

So listen, being prayerful, leaning in to the Holy Spirit in these times, sometimes it's to abstain from things, but sometimes in other ways, for me especially, it's to just give in to the celebration.

Like I can still have treats.

I don't have to be gluttonous, but I can still have treats.

I know I share this verse often, but it so applies to our Biblical Weight Loss Journey.

You know the one I'm going to share, Galatians 6.9.

So let us not grow weary from doing good, for at the right time we will reap a harvest if we don't give up.

How amazing is that?

What an incredible reminder of God's faithfulness and provision.

I've told you this a thousand times.

I honestly don't believe in motivation.

I believe in Holy Spirit discipline, and I think, or at least I hope you do too.

It's why you're here.

It's your faithfulness and obedience that matter far more than your feelings.

Because like, let's face it, we know how feelings can mess with our heads and tell us lies that don't align with the Word of God.

Motivation doesn't exist, but we read in Galatians about the fruit of the Spirit.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Self-control is the fruit of the Spirit.

If the Lord lives in you, the Holy Spirit dwells in you, you have the fruit of self-control.

So I'd like you to meditate on a couple of thoughts.

The first one, motivation is a feeling.

It comes and goes.

But consistency is a choice.

And that discipline, that self-control is a fruit of the Spirit.

The next thought, that calls us to faithfulness, not perfection or strive and try.

Sometimes walking out faithfulness means forgetting your meal plan.

It means forgetting counting every calorie.

It means forgetting starvation and gluttony.

He calls us to faithfulness and walking in obedience to his voice and the conviction that lives in us when the Holy Spirit is in us.

And the last thought, it's small, seemingly small daily choices that lead to big lasting change over time.

Consistency is a choice.

It's when you eat a donut that you didn't plan for, that somebody brought in to work, and you say, oh, screw it, I'm just going to start tomorrow, or oh, screw it, why do I even bother?

I'm never going to make better choices.

Sometimes it's just doing the next right thing.

It's making the next right choice in the next decision.

And honestly, speaking of like calories and all that kind of thing, a donut is far better for you than a muffin.

But we treat a muffin like a breakfast choice.

The average donut is 250 calories.

The average muffin is 450 calories.

So if you want to treat with a donut on occasion, do it.

Just work it into your macro plan.

That's the point of macros.

That's why we build that into your nutrition and fitness step in the Biblical Weight Loss Framework.

Because we're not removing food groups.

We're not living in a mindset of removing things that we enjoy.

Don't eat a donut every day.

But if you want to treat yourself with a donut, so where I live in Indiana, about 35 or so minutes from us is Risenroll.

If you ever heard of Amish Crack Donuts, it originated in the area that I live.

These are legit the best donuts that you will ever eat in your life.

And so when my dad and my brother and my brother's girlfriend were here last week, we were on our way to swim class with our baby.

And we had to stop at Risenroll for an Amish Crack Donut so that Gretchen could try one.

She'd never had an Amish Crack Donut.

And I just don't really feel like if you're alive that you should miss out on the opportunity for an Amish Crack Donut.

We went in, we got a half a dozen donuts, we sat in the car and I ate that donut.

And I just sat there in that moment like thank you Lord for every bite.

Thank you Lord that my body metabolizes this and that my body is going to use it to your glory.

There was no shame or condemnation in that.

And it's those seemingly small daily choices that lead to lasting change over time.

And like I said, we're not eating donuts every day, but we're also not shaming ourselves if we decide that sometime we want to treat with a donut.

So I want to give you a couple practical steps that you can use today to stay consistent when your motivation fades.

The first one is create a simple routine.

Maybe it's a morning walk.

Maybe it's setting a daily water goal.

I want you to consider a prayer in reading your Bible routine if you don't have that.

That should be the first step.

Maybe choose one meal routine.

Maybe you're going to have one healthy meal a day for the next three weeks.

Maybe it's a morning walk for the next three weeks.

Or maybe a bedtime routine.

Or a step goal.

Keep it simple.

Don't pick all of them.

Choose one, maybe two that makes sense for you today in the season of life that you're in.

And start there.

Create that simple routine that you can do over the next three to four weeks.

Get it down.

Let it become a part of your life and then move on to the next thing.

We've talked about the anchor habits before.

Anchor habits to something you already do.

If you found yourself in a really good routine of waking up and praying and reading your Bible, maybe you want to stretch while you're praying.

We just talked about this, right?

Like if you're going for a walk, maybe listen to a Bible study or some worship music, or use that time to pray.

Leave your headphones at home and just be in the Lord while you're out going on a walk.

If you're already making time for coffee in a morning scroll, get your Bible out instead.

Put your phone on the counter, go sit in a quiet place on your couch or another room, maybe outside, and just be with the Lord.

Make your Bible.

Be in the Word.

The third thing I want you to try is focus on minimums.

What's the smallest healthy action that you can do even on the hard days?

When I was in outside sales for the last 20 plus years, the kiss method has always been my favorite.

Keep it simple, silly.

Don't overdo it.

Pick one thing.

Do it well for at least 21 days.

And then add another habit.

We are not living in the all-or-nothing mindset here anymore.

It doesn't work.

It's going to lead you to burnout because life happens.

Literally, everyday life happens.

Yesterday, it took me probably 3 hours to get a 30-minute workout done because the baby is teething, she's really fussy right now, she's really snotty.

And that's just how it happened.

But I didn't give up.

I stayed my workout on pause.

I was there when she needed me.

And when the time allowed, I was able to finish that workout.

It wasn't my best workout, but it was intentional movement.

There's no all or nothing.

Do the next right thing.

And then the last step, Lord, give me strength.

Give me what I need.

Lord, give me what I need in this moment.

Maybe it's rest.

Maybe it's stillness.

Maybe you're overtraining your body.

Maybe you're counting every calorie, and you need to let that go.

Lean in to the Holy Spirit and let Him guide you.

Holy Father, give me the strength to stay consistent even when I don't feel like it.

Help me to remember your fruit and the word you've given me to stay encouraged.

Thank you for always guiding me.

Help me to walk in obedience and trust your timing and your plan for my health.

Forgive me for leaning on to my feelings, Father.

Let me walk in Holy Spirit obedience, focusing on listening to your voice regardless of the outcome.

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.