By Jade Whitehurst
It is a new year, resolutions are in full swing, and I am here to remind you that your fitness and nutrition goals are not about a “try harder and do better” mentality. Yes, it takes your action and discipline, but most importantly, it takes your surrender.
Surrender whatever it is that you keep running back to that sabotages your goals. This is the heart work I challenge you with this year, especially if you set the same goal every year only to find yourself right back where you do not want to be.
I remember being so proud seeing the number 102 pop up as I stepped on the scale – a religious, daily check-in I had after restricting myself to 700 calories a day. I was a 21-year-old college girl chasing “thin” instead of healthy and believing Satan’s lies of inferiority. Starvation eventually led me to binge eating once a week because “I earned it.” It was a vicious cycle, but it was the catalyst that eventually brought me to this very moment of writing to you.
As you can see, I have been on both sides of the fence when it comes to abusing food. Whether it was restriction or indulgence, Satan has used food to whisper his lies into my heart. But God left the 99 to rescue me and to remind me of His sweet truth: food is not our enemy, but a good and gracious gift to us!
Today, I am so thankful that God pulled back the curtain on the lies I was believing about food and my body. What the enemy meant for evil, God is turning for good! He has opened doors for me to share a healthier, more godly approach to food and fitness goals. We do not have to fear food, be controlled by it, or forgo the value and importance that food and fitness play in our lives.
It’s hard to discern good from bad with all the diet fads out there. However, we serve a God who knows our genetic makeup better than any scientist, doctor, or diet expert. He provided just the right kinds of foods to His people thousands of years ago.
The original sin involved diet. This is not a new struggle for us. Adam and Eve ate the “forbidden fruit” that they wanted instead of enjoying the abundance of other fruits and veggies around them that God allowed! Similarly, we have all rebelled against God and sought things that are not good for us, including foods that were never meant to be consumed. For me, I craved being thin, so much so that I withheld foods and labeled them all bad. However, this only left me deficient, malnourished, and frail.
Wherever you swing on the food pendulum, from starvation to indulgence, how can you surrender and approach food with a godly heart?
We must first put food in its rightful place and know that food is a gift from God. It nourishes us down to a cellular level, and this is no coincidence. Therefore, when we approach food, let us be mindful that it is an act of honor and worship to God.
When we put food in its rightful place and we see it as a lens into the heart of God’s design, our hearts are moved to rejoice, give thanks, and honor God with the food He has blessed us with. Keeping this in your heart and mind while you meal plan, grocery shop, and eat will help set your heart’s intentions and bring you more joy to surrender the strongholds that food may have on you.
My prayer is that you find freedom in Christ to enjoy what is good in His sight – not to feel restricted, defeated, or controlled by food or by a number on the scale. May we learn from Adam and Eve that God can be trusted as we adopt habits that glorify Him.
Praise be to God for loving us so!
Jade Whitehurst is a wife, mom, and fitness coach. You can follow her on Instagram @jadewhitehurst_thefaithfitmom.