Don't You Want me Thin?

Have you ever tried to lose weight? I’m sure most of us at one time or another has tried to drop a few pounds. I have LOTS of experience with that famous, “last ten pounds”. It has been my biggest enemy and a distant memory (right now, we’re communicating amicably!).

Over the years I have tried to help people lose weight. Usually it is more than 10 pounds. When a person has more than 30 pounds to lose, and they’ve been trying to lose it for a long time, I am looking for a saboteur! Usually this saboteur is someone very close to my weight loss patient; a spouse, parent, sibling, best friend, etc. Many times these people are shadow-saboteurs. They are sneaky and sly!

Do you have any weight loss saboteurs in your life? Are you a saboteur? Common phrases used by these saboteurs are:

“You? Stick to a diet? Good one!”

“Here honey, I bought this 7 layer chocolate cake on sale!”

“Just start your diet Monday, let’s celebrate this weekend!”

“I spent all day fixing this lasagna for you! What do you mean you’re not hungry?”

If you’ve heard any of these, chances are you were looking into the face of a weight loss saboteur. Another way these sneaky saboteurs’s work is to over eat in front of you, bring your favorite comfort foods around you, invite you out to your favorite place, and many other tricks. Sometimes you want to look at them and ask,

“Don’t you want me thin?”

Can I tell you that many times they DON’T want you to lose weight? I wish I could say it is because of great intentions but many times it’s not. Jealousy, fear (of change), selfishness…those are all common reasons that drive the saboteurs forward. You cannot change what they feel, but you can make them aware of the influence they are having in your quest for health.

There are 3 quick steps I recommend:

Communicate: Let your saboteur know how their actions/words make you feel.

Ask for it: Ask for support. Even if it’s your 100^th try in this quest, ask for support!

Prayer Strength: The Bible tells us that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Lean on the strength of prayer. You may not be able to change the words, or expressions of doubt you see from across the other side of the table, but you can change how you respond. Draw strength from your biggest supporter, JESUS! Any time our goal is to build up and repair the temple He gave us, He will be at our side every step of the way!

Sabotage is a nasty word and an even nastier action. Make sure the saboteur isn’t the person looking back at you every morning!