Lysa TerKeurst, the president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and a New York Times best-selling author, has openly shared her struggles with food and weight, offering a relatable and inspiring perspective on the journey towards holistic well-being. Her experience, detailed in her books like "Made to Crave" and "I'll Start Again Monday," emphasizes that true transformation extends beyond mere physical changes, encompassing spiritual and mental recalibration.
The Initial Struggle: Food as a False God
TerKeurst candidly admits that for years, she was "overweight physically but underweight spiritually." She realized that her unhealthy cravings were a symptom of a deeper spiritual malnutrition, with food becoming a substitute for God. She didn't pray about her struggles or apply biblical insights. She just wallowed in her lack of self-control. This realization stemmed from recognizing that she turned to food in times of stress, sadness, and even happiness, effectively making it her "god." She understood that God never intended for us to want anything more than we want Him.
TerKeurst, now 41, struggled for a long time with her food choices and her weight. She says it’s not the how to, it was always the want to. She says she never really wanted to make the changes that would give her the weight loss results, because she wasn’t sure the changes were worth the sacrifice. After the birth of her first child, TerKeurst says she weighted 194 pounds. “I have always been able to get to my goal weight of about 142 - 145 pounds,” she says. “But I could never keep it there.” She hid her weight well and never really looked like she weighed a lot. However, finally around her 40th birthday, she decided to make some changes. She visited a nutritionist who labeled her “obese.” Emotionally, TerKeurst was abusing herself, calling herself names and feeling badly after making bad food choices.
Recognizing the Spiritual Battleground
TerKeurst highlights the spiritual dimension of food struggles, noting that "an unhealthy relationship with food can be the lure [Satan] uses to draw us away from God." She draws a parallel to the first sin in Genesis, where Eve's focus shifted to the object of her obsession. She says that Eve was focused on the object of her obession. “She saw that the food was good, pleasing to the eye and desireable. Eve craved what she focused on.” The whispers of hopelessness and the feeling of being trapped in a cycle of deprivation and guilt are identified as tactics of spiritual warfare.
My poor food choices were wreaking havoc on my body. But that wasn’t all. My desperate struggle, hopelessness and uncontrollable food cravings were waging war against my soul. These were some of the whispers hissed in my ear: You’ll never be free from this battle. You will always bounce from feeling deprived when you’re dieting to feeling guilty when you’re splurging. When Satan holds up food in front of us and says these things, we must see that an unhealthy relationship with food can be the lure he uses to draw us away from God. Satan may also use alcohol, inappropriate friendships, overspending or any other means to lead us into a place where we feel self-control isn’t possible.
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The Turning Point: Seeking God's Help
The key to TerKeurst's transformation was connecting her physical struggle with spiritual insight. She began to see that God cared about her body and that her desire to please Him in her food battle could help her grow closer to Him. This involved a conscious decision to rely on the Lord for guidance, comfort, and satisfaction, rather than turning to food.
He leads me. He restores me. He guides me. He is with me. He comforts me. He fills me. He satisfies me. Do I rely on the Lord in these ways, or do I rely on food in these ways? Do I honestly turn to God or turn to food? Do I seek to be comforted, filled and satisfied with God in the depths of my soul, or do I seek food? Being ruled by anything other than God is something He takes quite seriously. And so should we.
Practical Steps and Spiritual Disciplines
TerKeurst emphasizes the importance of integrating spiritual disciplines into the journey towards health. These include:
- Bible Reading: Starting and finishing the day with Bible reading to stay grounded in God's word.
- Spiritual Gut Check: Listening to that spiritual “gut check” when you’re about to eat something.
- Making Healthy Choices: Choosing the healthy option. Stop before you’re overly full. Stay on a slower eating pace while enjoying conversation with others.
- Accountability: Finding a food buddy for support and prayer.
One day TerKeurst realized that she needed to break her addiction to sugar. “This wasn’t about the scale or what size clothing I wore,” she says. “This was about the battle that raged in my heart. I thought about and arranged my life too much around food.” It became her life and that she craved food more than she craved God. “Food was what I turned to in times of stress, sadness and even in times of happiness.” God never intended for us to want anything more than we want Him. She says losing the weight and keeping it off is the hardest thing she’s ever done. She started eating healthier and exercising. She found a food buddy. “It’s crucial to have the accountability of a friend who is on the same eating plan,” she says. They committed to praying for each other as well as hold each other accountable.
"I'll Start Again Monday": Breaking the Cycle
TerKeurst's book, "I'll Start Again Monday," addresses the common cycle of starting over every Monday after a weekend of unhealthy eating. The book challenges readers to break free from this pattern by:
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- Replacing bad cravings with better alternatives.
- Using food as an emotional outlet or a coping mechanism.
- Learning to have mastery over our bodies.
In I’ll Start Again Monday, TerKeurst begins with the premise that cravings are not inherently bad-but that we crave what our body is used to. Developing a healthy eating plan is about overcoming bad cravings, but more importantly about replacing them with a better alternative. And this doesn’t necessarily tie itself to weight loss. It’s more about the way food can be used as an emotional outlet or a coping mechanism. It’s not that God demands you be thin or that God doesn’t want you to eat a donut. But Scripture is clear that we should learn to have mastery over our bodies. For TerKeurst, developing healthy eating habits led to lasting spiritual satisfaction.
More Than Just Weight Loss: A Soulful Recalibration
TerKeurst emphasizes that "getting healthy isn’t just about losing weight." It's about recalibrating our souls so that we want to change - spiritually, physically, and mentally. This involves:
- Addressing problems like stress eating and overindulgence.
- Being comfortable with your body regardless of your size.
- Tying your thoughts into appropriate Scripture references.
TerKeurst reminds us that getting healthy isn’t just about losing weight. “It’s about recalibrating our souls so that we want to change - spiritually, physically, and mentally and the battle really is in all three areas.
The Power of Surrender and Obedience
TerKeurst encourages readers to submit themselves to God, recognizing that this leads to a greater ability to resist temptations. She emphasizes that being ruled by anything other than God is a serious matter and that true fulfillment comes from distancing ourselves from things that hinder our relationship with Him.
James 4:7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. When we submit ourselves to God, we find ourselves with a greater ability to resist the biggest temptations in our lives. This week, when you find yourself being controlled or consumed by anything other than God, what would it look like if you surrendered it to Him immediately?
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“Being ruled by anything other than God is something God takes quite seriously. And so should I. I don’t want to live as an enemy to the cross of Christ.