After losing 100 pounds and keeping it off for 20 years, here are the five lessons that actually mattered: don’t eat in secret, don’t skimp on breakfast, don’t wait for Monday, don’t feed Soul Hunger with snacks, and don’t go at it alone.
5 Vital Lessons for Lasting Weight Loss
After losing 100 pounds and maintaining it for the last 20 years, here are five important lessons I’ve learned. While it’s important to know what to do, it’s also important to know what not to do, so avoid these mistakes and you’ll be on your way to lasting success.
1. Don’t eat in secret.
Eat in the light. Guilt drives secret eating, and secret eating keeps you stuck.
Instead of hiding it (like grazing on quick-grab bites behind the pantry door), put your food on a plate. Sit down at the table in front of God and everyone.
Sit. Breathe. Pray. Eat. This is a concept we teach inside The Holy Weigh, which we call “Grace Your Plate.”
2. Don’t skimp on breakfast.
Coffee is not breakfast. Undereating creates what I call “Primitive Hunger,” which is a strong, almost uncontrollable physical drive for food. This is part of your body’s anti-starving defense mechanism, and it’s a GOOD thing God built into how you were created.
Struggling with night-time snacking? The 8:00 PM kitchen raid started with the skipped breakfast.
Examples of a balanced breakfast: Eat eggs, toast, and fruit. Or Greek yogurt, berries, and nuts. Boring and repeatable wins.
3. Don’t wait for Monday.
We all fall off the wagon and get off track sometimes. Instead of thinking it won’t happen, plan for it.
Get back on track at the next meal, not the next week. One meal off plan is one meal. Waiting for Monday turns it into four days, a dozen meals, and goodness knows how many more snacks.
4. Don’t feed Soul Hunger with snacks.
Soul Hunger is the hunger food can’t cure. It’s emotional eating, but it’s something deeper, too. Soul Hunger is a deep loneliness. It’s the feelings like you aren’t good enough, and the fatigue of trying to be everything to everyone all the time.
No amount of ice cream will fix lonely, tired, or stressed. Instead, use the 3Ps: 1. Pause, 2. Pray, 3. Plan.
Psalm 107:3 says, “For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” (ESV)
Only God can fill the Soul Hunger we all have inside of us.
5. Don’t go at it alone.
Unhealthy eating happens in isolation. Healing happens in community. Learn more about The Holy Weigh, where you will be surrounded by Soul Full Sisters who understand the journey.
If you don’t know what to do next with your eating, start with what to stop. Pick one from this list and practice it this week. Go with Grace.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Weight Loss
Secret eating is driven by guilt, and guilt keeps you stuck in the cycle. Putting your food on a plate and eating at the table, in the light, breaks that pattern. We teach this inside The Holy Weigh as “Grace Your Plate.”
No. Undereating in the morning creates “Primitive Hunger,” a strong physical drive for food that’s part of your body’s built-in anti-starving defense. Most night-time snacking traces back to a skipped breakfast, not a lack of willpower.
Getting off track happens to all of us. High-calorie food is abundant in today’s culture, and genetically engineered to make us desire more of it. The key is to have a plan to get back on track fast, so one off track meal doesn’t turn into 100 off-track meals.
Soul Hunger is a term used by Sara Borgstede from The Holy Weigh, a Christian weight loss program for women. It refers to the hunger inside all of us that only God can fill. It involves emotional eating and also the deeper loneliness all of us experience. We sometimes try to use food to fill this void, but it never works.
Feeling Stuck? Take This Free 3-Minute Weight Loss Sabotage Quiz
Most women who struggle with their weight are dealing with something deeper. Take this quiz to find out what’s really triggering you:
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