A Prayer to Enjoy Foods to Help You Lose Weight

As much as you want to get to your goal weight, do you find it challenging to enjoy healthy foods that help with weight loss? I get it. Somehow chips and cookies are so much more appealing that chicken breasts and baby carrots. Join me today for a prayer to enjoy foods to help you lose weight.

 

What are Natural Weight Loss Foods?

While there is some debate in the medical community about types of diets, overall there are a number of foods most experts can agree are helpful for weight loss.

Here is a list of natural weight loss foods according to Healthline:

1. Eggs
2. Leafy greens
3. Salmon
4. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts
5. Lean beef and chicken
6. Boiled potatoes
7. Tuna
8. Beans and legumes
9. Soups
10. Avocado

These foods are whole, clean eating foods and are real and unprocessed. They are full of nutrition and many are packed with protein or healthy fat.

Make these foods a regular part of your diet.

Keep in mind that the way to weight loss is keeping calories under what you burn, so even healthy foods can be eaten in excess.

What if you don’t enjoy many healthy foods? Keep trying. Research shows that when you continue to try new foods, you will acquire a taste for them.

Still, some people are very sensitive to flavors and textures and may never love some healthy foods. That’s okay. Instead, focus on the foods you do enjoy that are good for your body.

 

Why Does Junk Food Taste So Good?

Is your diet full of junk food and fast food? A common barrier to healthy food choices is that many of us prefer junk food and choose it when it’s available.

I’ll be the first to admit that when I was 100 pounds heavier, while I ate healthy foods on a regular basis, my diet was also loaded with junk food and I binged on fast food and junk food, too. (Read more about how to overcome binge eating here and more about my previous unhealthy eating habits here and how I overcame them.)

The food industry is not in the business of helping you achieve optimal weight loss or health. The goal of the food industry is to sell. Many of our packaged foods today have been genetically engineered to be super-tasty with the addition of fat, sugar, and artificial flavors.

That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy these treats, but keep in mind that they taste better than God originally designed food to taste. Do your best to eat these foods as once-in-awhile treats instead of part of your daily diet.

 

How to Lose Weight and Still Eat the Foods You Love

One of the weight loss tips we hear often is “eat anything you want but practice moderation.” When I was 100 pounds heavier, I always thought that was a joke. If I could do that, I wouldn’t have weight issues in the first place.

Can you lose weight and still eat the foods you love?

The answer is yes…and no.

I absolutely recommend that you make treats a regular part of your diet in order to prevent binging. Don’t do anything to lose weight that you don’t plan to do forever, and I can tell you up straight that I plan to eat cake, cookies, and chips at some point in my life.

But I also have to be realistic. Cake, cookies, and chips have a high amount of calories packed into a small volume of food. While I enjoy these treats, I don’t eat them every day. I have a small amount of treat foods once every few days, and sometimes it’s honestly easier to not eat them regularly because it makes it all the more tempting to overeat them.

There’s no one right answer for everyone when it comes to treat foods, so you’ll need to experiment and learn your unique methods based on the body and mind God has given you. Think of weight loss as a life-long learning process.

Here are some strategies I have found helpful to eat foods you love but not overeat them.

• Don’t keep highly tempting foods in the house. Enjoy a piece of cake while out at a church event or with friends, but don’t bring a whole cake home.
• Buy individual servings or package foods into individual servings. Having one portion already packaged makes a world of difference. Even if you eat 2 or 3 servings, you’ll know how much you are eating. The extra cost of pre-packaged treats is worth it.
• Focus on real, whole foods for the majority of your diet. As mentioned above, processed foods are highly (overly) palatable which makes it hard to eat in reasonable amounts. These foods make your taste buds habituated to enjoying extra sugar or fat.
• Pre-track your treats. Plan ahead what you will eat for a treat and in what amounts.
• Save treats to eat later. So often we give in to food cravings because someone else is eating it or it looks or smells good. Instead, wrap up a treat food and plan to eat it the following day. That way, you will be eating it mindfully instead of giving in to a craving in the moment.

 

Prayer to Enjoy Healthy Foods for Weight Loss

Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.

Ecclesiastes 9:7

 

God, food tastes good! You have given us so many delicious foods to enjoy, but the truth is that I have abused this good gift. I eat junk foods that are not healthy for my body. I pray that you change my taste buds so that I want healthy foods. Help me choose fresh, whole foods every day. Give me a desire for foods that nourish the body you’ve given me. I long to serve You with a strong, healthy body, Lord. Amen.

 

7 Days of Weight Loss Prayers Challenge

Grow your faith this year as you lose weight.

Join the FREE 7 day Christian weight loss prayer challenge now. When you join, you’ll instantly receive this beautiful prayer journal, plus each day’s prayer comes right to your inbox.

With this prayer to enjoy foods to help you lose weight, you will grow in your desire for healthy, wholesome foods with God’s help. You’ll manage enjoying treats on special occasions while continuing with your weight loss goals.

Which healthy foods you enjoy? Share in the comments below.

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