The Top 3 Weight Loss Influences

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Here is a true story: I gained 100 pounds after high school.

I didn’t just wake up one morning with an extra 100 pounds on me.

It happened slowly.

I once did the math. It took me 20 years to gain 100 pounds.

That works out to just 5 pounds a year!

When people start a weight loss program, they typically focus on just a diet or exercise.

But our lives are so much more than that.

Permanent weight loss occurs within the context of our lives, which can be unpredictable at times.

The reason people can fail with weight loss is that they try to confine weight loss to a temporary project.

But consider this: Your weight gain wasn’t a temporary project, was it?

Rather, it occurred over a period of time while you were living your normal life!

That goes to show you the power of time. I call time “the great multiplier.”

  • Small disciplines practiced every day bring success
  • Small errors in judgment practiced every day bring failure

So it is critical that you pay attention to the following 3 influences every day to ensure that you set yourself up for weight loss success consistently.

1.What is in you.

I think this is the biggest factor in your weight loss success because it speaks to your mindset towards change.

Consider two people who are working on their weight loss goal.

  • Person #1 embraces the effort of changing their eating and exercise habits to improve their health.
  • Person #2 resents the effort of changing their eating and exercise habits, viewing this as a punishment and a burden.

Which person do you think will be more likely to continue the habits necessary to maintain a healthy weight?

Let’s look at another scenario. These same two people mess up with their program on a certain day.

  • Person #1 views the event as a learning experience, valuable information they can use to adjust and move forward.
  • Person #2 views the event as a failure, a reflection of their personal worth. Since they don’t want to keep feeling bad about themselves, they want to quit the whole thing.

Which person do you think will be more likely to continue the habits necessary to maintain a healthy weight?

Proverbs 23:7 speaks to the principle that as a person thinks, so they are.

The more positively you approach the daily effort to change, the more likely it is that you will receive a positive result.

2. Who is around you.

The Bible warns about the power of wrong influences around you:

Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits (1 Corinthians 15:33).”

Evaluate the people closest to you. Are they people focused on living a healthy lifestyle or do they pay little attention to their own health habits?

While you certainly wouldn’t brand them as “evil,” you do need to be aware of their power to influence you.

Check out this shocking video clip that shows you how even subtle influences can change your behavior:

Now you might see this video and say, “Oh Kim, those are just children. Of course, it would be easy to influence them.”

However, I don’t believe that we ever outgrow the desire to fit in with others. We all long for approval and acceptance.

It’s easier to go along with the crowd. Plus, many people fear rejection if they don’t go along.

When you have negative influences around you on your weight loss journey, just be aware that it may require some adjustments in your existing relationships or the addition of new people into your circle so that you can add the positive influences you are lacking.

For example, you may have someone in your household who is tempting you with junk food constantly.

You may have to ask them to keep it out of your sight when they buy it to avoid tempting you. Having that conversation may feel uncomfortable so you have to prepare yourself for that.

If you need to add positive health influences, it could be as easy as walking for exercise in the mall and seeing other people doing the same thing or joining an online group of people focused on health and weight loss.

The bottom line is: Do not underestimate the power of influence in your weight loss success and adjust your life to take that into account.

3. What is around you.

I was looking for some images to use on this website and was shocked to see a pattern at the photo repository I use: I saw many images in which the people practicing gluttony looked blissfully happy.

At the same time, I saw pictures of people eating healthy foods looking miserable, deprived.

What message does that send?

It’s a small example of how society makes what is bad appear good and what is good appear bad. Images are subtle, but they make such a difference.

You too need to pay attention to the images around you. Do you have images that encourage you to succeed and stay on track?

For example, I have pictures of active, fit people in my exercise area that inspire me on my health journey. I have an inspirational image as my computer wallpaper.

I set up my environment to make it easier to eat healthily. I have exercise videos of various lengths so that I can fit a workout in at my convenience, whether I have 1 hour to exercise or 10 minutes.

I want to ensure that my environment helps me to maintain a healthy lifestyle so that maintaining my weight is almost automatic.

In summary, permanent weight loss does not happen in isolation.

  • Success is intentional.
  • Failure is accidental.

Evaluate what is in you, who is around you, and what is around you to determine which influence you may need to adjust so you are moving in a more positive direction!

Kimberly Taylor

Author of the Take Back Your Temple program

P.S. Are you struggling with the challenges of emotional eating? Many people with eating issues know what to do but have a hard time doing it. That is where you need a community that supports each other!

In the Take Back Your Temple program, you will get all the support you need to overcome the Spiritual and emotional battles of weight loss, connected in our Overcomers community.

Click here to confirm the Take Back Your Temple program is right for you.

About the author 

Kimberly Taylor

Kimberly Taylor is a certified Christian life coach and has a heart to help others struggling with emotional eating and weight loss. Once 240 pounds and a size 22, she can testify of God’s goodness and healing power to overcome. She lost 85 pounds as a result of implementing techniques to overcome emotional eating and binge eating disorder.

Kim is the author of "The Take Back Your Temple Program," which teaches Christians how to take control of their weight God's way and the books "The Weight Loss Scriptures" and "The Weight Loss Prayers."

Kim has been featured in Prevention Magazine, Charisma Magazine and on CBN’s 'The 700 Club' television program.

    • Hi Ramona, Thank you for asking! he Tense, Breathe, Jello Shake Exercise is pretty simple:

      Ask your class to:

      1. Stand up.
      2. Tense every part of their bodies (including their faces) for 3 seconds, (count 1-thousand-1, 2-thousand-2, and 3-thousand-3)
      3. Shake their entire bodies out to release tension, as if they are made of Jello.

  • This is so insightful! Thank you for this info! I am giving thought to the influencers and influences around me. I do have to say that during this time of isolation, I have been alone most of my day and not wanting to eat all day long like many of my friends who have family around. When my husband comes home, I do notice that I want to eat, and that is what I need to look deeper into.

    • I am glad this has given you food for thought, Anita. Our influencers are subtle, but powerful. So it is best to examine them to ensure they are leading us in the direction we want to go!

  • My biggest challenge, after losing 100 pounds, is that I am hungry a lot and so I want to eat every 2-3 hours and if I do this I am afraid of gaining some of my weight back. Oh God please heal me that is causing this. Thank you.

  • Dear Kimberly,
    I just finished youversions devotion you wrote ‘healing your negative thoughts “. By accident
    I found your website at the bottom when I tried to share what you wrote with my sister who is so discouraged.
    Thank you so much for all you’ve done to share your successes! God bless you.
    I weigh 306 lbs and have tried so many times to loose the weight and have obviously failed
    But I haven’t given up. I’m going to try your methods and focus on Jesus!
    See you lighter! Kandy

  • Do you believe in weighing and measuring your food? What are your thoughts on OA? The accountability is wonderful but Christ and the Word is not central, as you know but there are many mature Christians there?

  • Follow the Fear! Wow, I never thought about that. Fear has been such a stronghold in my life for as long as I can remember. I guess there are more layers of onion to peel off so that the me God created can show through. “Do not be weary in well doing, for in due season you shall reap a reward if you faint not”.

  • Thank you for this post Ms Kimberly.

    I am a 22 year old South African girl and found your page at the beginning of the year. I am seeing now that though ,yes, I wanted to change I became of the same mind set as person number 2 on both examples. It’s hard to admit but after reading your reply to Kimberly regarding the boogie man and exposing the fear I am encouraged to stand on the truth of the word of Christ and the light he brings to every situation.

    1 John 1: 5
    This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

    I knew this because I heard it not because I did it or understood it.

    Being freed from the illusions I’ve had, perhaps just because of my youth, I’m coming to understand that this Christian life is intentional and success in it must be planned. And that accepting Christ doesn’t mean my part is over, but that I am now given the knowledge and power of the way out (1 Corinthians 10:13).

    Thank you for your posts, thank you for your truth and thank you for our commitment to honesty.

  • Hi Kim
    You really make me think about small things in life and thank you for that. It is where the impact is big and the devil likes it if we ignore these areas of our lives.

  • This is powerful! I have never thought about my weight loss journey from this perspective. But how do you handle the SITUATION if you , yourself, are the one buying the junk FOOD & you yourself are the one slf-sabotaging your own success?

    • Kimberly – my response is “follow the fear.” Do you know how a child might be scared to enter a dark room because they believe a “Boogie Man” lives in the closet or under the bed and is going to get them? The only way to dispel that child’s fear is to expose those dark places to the light so they can see that the “Boogie Man” was only in their imagination, not real.

      So, what do you fear will happen if you didn’t buy junk food and bought something healthier instead? That fear is like your “Boogie Man!”

      There’s only one way to know the truth…confront it. There is an old saying, “You cannot conquer what you will not confront.” Don’t buy the junk food and replace it with healthier choices. See what fears come up. If you expose the fear, then you can take steps to address it as a grown-up.

      I’d love to hear what you find out from this experiment. If you aren’t willing to do this, then what arguments are going on in your mind to convince you not to do it?

      • Great inspiration.. Thank you so much. I am a member but I cannot sign in. Won’t take my password change. Can you help me please?
        Thank you.

        • Hi Jody – I will reset your password and send you the instructions to login via email. God bless you!

  • Your articles are a blessing, Kim. Thank you for the time you invest in helping us stay the course and press on, in our Father’s strength!

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