Once again it seems everywhere you look someone is losing weight. Someone out there is getting what you really want, and you are tempted to pay any cost or do whatever he or she did to get there. Before you cash in on these their promises of change, be sure to ask yourself the following questions:

1) Is this desire a prompted by God or feeding my flesh? –You will know which one it is based on what you have been feeding your mind with lately. If you find you have been feeding your mind your Instagram feed more than feasting on what is real and true, it’s probably best you recalibrate your “eating” habits where God is your constant main course before you punch  your credit card numbers in on that sales page.

2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom” – freedom to do as you should not as you please.

2) Do I feel like a loser right now who needs to be punished, or a woman who is free to try new things as long as those new things don’t steal my freedom?

–Endeavors that start with a spirit of fear, shame, guilt or sadness rarely give up the driver’s seat of the flesh. Unless somewhere along your journey there is a holy intervention to give you back your identity, hope, power and peace as a child of a loving God, created for good works, you will likely be taking your body on an “exciting vacation of the flesh,” venturing out into new places only to return back to your home when it’s over, instead of moving your whole self further into the deeper places God wants to take you.

3.) Do I regularly give myself a check-up from the neck up?

–Hear me when I say that it grieves God’s heart to see us abusing any of His creation–especially our bodies–which is the way His love gets expressed on earth. It grieves His heart when we turn to anything other than Him to comfort our hurts or feed our pleasures. Whether we use a sleeve of Oreo cookies in the pantry or a 6-mile run to try and forget our pain, going to God to get the lie removed is the work that needs to happen if freedom is your ultimate goal. Before you focus on removing pain or fat, ask yourself: how actively are you removing lies that sneak in on you? This work can feel like a daily, non-stop, 24 hours a day/7 days a week/365 days a year appointment with the Holy Spirit, but eventually these exchanges grow into a loving friendship. He becomes your best friend. You don’t miss a day talking to Him, and He’s the person you love to call first when trouble hits. He’s always going to help. That’s His job!

Psalm 139:23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

4.) Am I placing hard and stringent expectations on myself, my body and how it looks? 

 –Get real with your expectations. We are living in a time that places body beauty and youth at the top of our culture’s most wanted list. What your body was like when you were 12 is not what it is suppose to be if you are 21. If you are 41, your body is not supposed to be what it was when you were 21. Yes, take care of your body. It is the best tool you have to live out a life of joy, peace and love! A few extra folds of skin that occur as you age are not a crime against humanity, friends. But be aware that the media will tell you otherwise. Older women, the younger women won’t know what freedom from worldly constraints looks like unless someone shows them. End the war of trying to find or preserve your younger self and embrace the woman of freedom and grace you already are. At every age be kind to your body and it will be kind to you. Don’t neglect it, don’t obsess over it, and get on with your abundant life. Life is about way more than the body.

2 Corinthians 4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

If you can answer all of those questions honestly and still feel called in your heart to say yes to that program, then by all means say yes. But always stay free.

Want to hear more on this topic? Take a listen to our most recent podcast titled “Four Things You Need To Know Before Starting That Next Diet”

His love.

Alisa