The Kingdom Attitude That Kills the Urge to Quit Your Diet
Have you ever started something with great enthusiasm—only to get discouraged along the way and just quit?
This one attitude adjustment kills quitting once and for all so that you can finally obtain the results you want.
This is going to save you a lot of time and frustration!
Attitude adjustments come from simply learning to ask yourself the right questions at the right time.
I had to do that just the other day. I was about to do one of my hardest workouts. The urge to skip the workout was strong.
Now it wasn’t a recovery day, which is a good reason to take a day off. Those are days in which you don’t feel well physically and need to take the day off to recover.
No, I was just feeling lazy.
But I gave myself a reality check with this one question:
“Do you really want to start this all over again or just continue what you’ve already started?”
My mind flashed back to 14 years ago.
Back then, I weighed over 200 pounds and could barely walk to the mailbox. I remember having shortness of breath and feeling as if my muscles were filled with concrete.
I remember the effort it took to get to this point. I feel good, healthy and strong today because of all the workouts I did from that point until now.
Because I continued.
So it was no contest. I did my workout.
Haven’t you found that it’s easier to continue something rather than have to start all over again?
The biggest energy you expend is moving from doing nothing to doing something. Even if you can only do a little bit, be faithful to do your bit. Eventually, you will get stronger and can do more.
Even if you stumble in your efforts, that is no excuse to quit.
Proverbs 24:16 says: “For a just man falls seven times and rises up again.”
An old Japanese definition of success complements this scripture:
“Fall down seven times, get up eight.″
As long as you get up one more time than you fall down, you are successful. That is the essence of the continue mindset.
Here are some tips to follow if you even think about quitting:
Check Your Thoughts
If you are feeling discouraged and want to quit, check out your thoughts. You are probably mentally telling yourself that it is too hard, what you are doing is not working, or else it won’t make any difference.
With negative thinking, you always want to ask yourself another good question:
“Where are these thoughts leading me?”
If your thoughts are leading you where you want to go, then keep that thought pattern. But if they are not, take those thoughts captive and replace them with thoughts that take you to your desired destination.
Philippians 4:8 says: “Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think on these things.”
Take Heed Daily
To help yourself continue on your path rather than quitting, keep this Scripture in mind every day:
“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).
Taking heed is just another way of saying “pay attention.” This is wise advice in your faith and in your weight-loss plan. You must meet each day on its own terms. Each day has its own challenges to meet and problems to solve. That’s what makes the Christian life exciting!
Create systems to keep yourself on track and help yourself remember why it is important to you to live healthy and fit:
- Write your vision of how you want to live as a healthy and fit person. Review your vision in the morning and use it to encourage yourself. The choices you make that day will move you closer or further away.
- Keep healthy foods close to you.
- Keep the foods that tempt you to binge and make you feel bad far away from you.
- Use an app or notebook to write down your food intake and the exercise you did to stay aware of the daily choices you are making.
- If you make a mistake, don’t let the experience go to waste; write down what you learned and what you plan to do differently if that situation occurs again.
Remember that you are living your life, not living a diet.
Your eating and exercise plan should serve you so that you can live a fruitful life in Christ—every day.
If you replace a quitting mindset with a “continue” mindset, then you can be confident that you will reap if you don’t give up! {eoa}
Once 240 pounds and a size 22, Kimberly Taylor can testify of God’s healing power to end binge eating. She is an author and the creator of the Christian weight-loss website takebackyourtemple.com. Visit today for inspirational health and weight-loss tips.
For the original article, visit takebackyourtemple.com.
