The Religious Nerd

It isn’t easy being a fat guy.  People make fun of you, think you are lazy, and have disgust for your appearance.  It’s painful to have to buy pants that could be used as a parachute if you ever have to jump out of a plane.  Exercising is much more difficult when you’re fat. There is a lot of weight the feet have to hold up, and a lot more wear and tear on the bones, joints, muscles, and ligaments.  Fat people often have emotional problems as well. It doesn’t feel “good” to be fat.  It isn’t fun to go to the beach with friends who take their shirts off while you insist on keeping yours on because you are self conscious.

Just to be clear, I am not a skinny guy who is trying to pick on fat people.  I am a fat person who is writing from personal experience.  I have battled with weight since I was a kid. There have been times when I was underweight, the ideal weight, overweight, and medically obese.  I have fluctuated back and forth, and a variety of factors have affected my weight fluctuation.  I have been known as a person who was fit, a person who was thin, a person who was muscular, and a person who is fat.  Genetics plays a partial role in my situation, however, I recognize behavior (decision making) to be the main component behind my weight battle.

Thankfully, I married a woman who has been a great inspiration for me regarding being healthy.  She has been with me throughout many of my weight fluctuations, and has loved me regardless of whether I’m a fatso or a skinny hipster.  In 2013, many of her healthy eating habits and passion for exercise has rubbed off on me. I’ve lost 30 pounds in 2013, and have set some rather reasonable goals for further weight loss before years end. I attribute much of my weight loss success to my wife. After thinking about how I managed to pull this off, I discovered that many of the strategies used for weight loss can be used by anyone to grow in godliness.  So whether you’re a fatso like me who is looking for ideas of how you can lose some weight, or you just want to move to that next step in your walk with the Lord, the following 5 points may prove beneficial to you.

1) Ditch the gimmicks. There are so many weight loss gimmicks out there just waiting for you to buy them.  Magical powders that make your appetite disappear.  Ridiculous devices that you strap on your waste that melt the love handles away.  5,000 different diets plans with more than 50,000 corresponding books, manuals, DVD’s, pamphlets, and infomercials begging you to buy them.  More effort is placed into the marketing of these products than is placed into the design and functionality of them.

The same can be said about a lot of religious “teachers”.  They have all of the answers, and if you will only send them some money and buy their book you will be fixed too.  It won’t even require much (or any) effort on your part.  Generally speaking, anything that is too good to be true usually isn’t.  This statement is true for both weight loss and spiritual growth.

2) Don’t be surprised when you don’t lose weight the first day, week, or month.  People who are destined for progress are people who are fully committed to a cause.  Focus on the long term results and don’t allow yourself to get discouraged when the results aren’t noticeable at first.  I recommend you set a 3 month goal to lose a reasonable amount of weight.  50 pounds in 3 months is not a reasonable goal.  5-10 pounds in 3 months is a very reasonable goal.  The body fluctuates 5-10 pounds on a daily (weekly) basis anyway, so 3 months of tracking your weight will give you an accurate idea whether or not you have actually lost any weight.

While some things should change immediately when you become a Christian, other things take time to change.  There will be times where you feel sad, alone, angry, scared, and anxious. There will be times when you feel hopelessly lost in your sin.  There will be times when you question your faith and just want to give up.  Hang in there for the long term, set reasonable goals, and work diligently at achieving them.  If your struggle is with lust, don’t set the goal that you will never look at another man or woman again with lust. That probably isn’t a reasonable goal.  Instead, set a short term goal such as limiting the amount of time you spend on the internet, moving your electronics into a public place at your house, and finding something else to preoccupy your time when you find yourself slipping.

“Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled” Romans 5:4

3) Proper nutrition is a fundamental element of your success.  That means you need to drink plenty of water, eat plenty of vegetables, and do all of those other things your Dr. says you should do.  You can’t expect to maintain your diet of donuts, ice-cream, caramel frapaccinos, pizza, burgers, soda, pasta, white bread, chips, beer, etc, and somehow lose weight and keep it off. My weakness is carbs.  I love cookies, bread, cakes, pastries, etc. These things are high in carbs, high in fats, and high in calories (all of which in high quantity are bad for you).  I don’t recommend you plan on quitting eating all of these things. That plan is destined for failure.  I suggest you cut back on these things gradually.  There probably isn’t a doctor in the world who would tell you that it’s a bad idea for you to cut out that soda you drink every day, that donut you have for breakfast, or that McDonald’s you had for lunch.

Just like your body needs you to cut out the junk food, your soul needs to be fed with proper nutrition too!  You can’t fill your ears with garbage music and expect God to make you holier.  You can’t pollute yourself with pornography and drug addiction and expect everything to be OK at the end with no hard work on your part.  Real change takes hard work, and thankfully as a Christian you have the Holy Spirit empowering you to grow in holiness on a daily basis.  You have to decide you want to better your circumstance.  You are not trapped, despite what everyone else tells you.  You can do it!

“For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16 NLT

4) Exercise your body and your mind.  Exercise is not some mindless activity for me.  I use the time to think, pray, and focus on things going on in my life.  As busy as many peoples schedules are, I wouldn’t be surprised if most people don’t find any time during their day to pray, or slow down and think about the important things going on in their life. You can exercise and pray, exercise and think, and exercise and focus.  Use exercise in a way that is beneficial both to your body and your soul.  Use it as a time to reflect on heavy topics such as God.  Use it to think about how you can be a better dad.  Use it as a time to slow down and let the stress dissipate.  Let me tell you, it really works.  Combining exercise with prayer and thinking has proved very beneficial to me and I think it will be the same for you.

5) Lose sin while you are losing weight.  I’m not trying to point the finger at fat people, but some of the generalizations made about them (us) are true.  Many fat people are lazy, lack self control, and don’t really have any intent to better their circumstance.  Just to be clear, these things aren’t true about all fat people.  There are many fat people who work hard, have excellent self control, and a genuine desire to be healthy physically.   Laziness, a lack of self control, and giving up are all heart problems and a bad heart will eventually lead to death.  Not only am I talking about your physical heart, but also who you are as a person, your character, your essence, your heart.  Losing weight and losing sin are extremely beneficial to your well being, and are both pleasing to God and to those who have to deal with you on a daily basis.  Just as I attribute much of my weight loss success to my wife, I attribute my growth in holiness to the Holy Spirit.

“for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:13.

Get fit so you can extend your life – grow in Godliness so you don’t waste your life.