Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash
I hosted a podcast called Health Matters where I interviewed leading health experts. Cathy Morenzie is an award-winning personal trainer, author, blogger and presenter, and a leader in the health and wellness industry for nearly 30 years.
Her impact has influenced thousands of people over the years to help them lose weight and develop positive attitudes about their bodies and fitness.
Cathy identified the top 3 mistakes and gave women practical strategies to feel empowered and victorious.
1. Stinky thinking
“That means focusing on the right things to do to lose weight that we’ve been taught and everyone knows like exercise and eating right. But then there’s the whole mindset thing that we’re not looking at.
“We are not renewing our minds. We don’t pray. We don’t look at what we are really thinking. So our thoughts come in and can actually affect our progress, our weight loss results.
“So we want to do something, but our mind tells us we can’t do it. Or we talk negatively about ourselves. Or we have thoughts that we will never be good enough. And these thoughts actually hinder our results. Because if you think, you can be as careful as your thoughts. I would like to say that it is impossible to think right and achieve a healthy weight.
“And so until we renew our minds, until we learn how to think well of ourselves as God thinks of us, we shall continue to turn our wheels.”
What can Christian women do to overcome this error?
“We must renew our minds with the word of God. We need to take some time.
“First of all we have to be aware of it because we don’t even realize what we are thinking. We don’t even realize that we have these beliefs that we can’t do it. We don’t realize that we become the brunt of our own jokes. In conversations, we say things about ourselves that are simply not consistent with who God created us to be. So the first thing is to become aware of the negative thoughts you have about yourself.
“And then when you catch yourself doing that, say something from God’s Word to fight back. So you can say, “I’m a winner” when you see yourself saying, “I can’t do it.”
“Say, ‘I have the mind of Christ.’ Keep telling yourself that you have the mind of Christ. Use the scripture, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
“To combat ‘Bad’ Thinking, God’s Word will always trump the negative things you say about yourself.”
2. Surface scratching
“What I often tell women is that until you understand why you’re doing what you’re doing, you’re going to stay stuck.
“What women are doing is just scratching the surface. So they say, “Okay, I want to get healthy. I want to lose weight.’ But they only look at what’s quick, what’s easy — let me go on another diet. But they don’t delve into the root causes of why they are overweight, just because they can’t stop eating, just because they eat emotionally.
“There is a list of reasons that go much deeper than the simple, traditional, eat less exercise more. Many of us don’t go any further, we just stay and just skim the surface.”
What can Christian women do to overcome this error?
“To overcome ‘Surface Scratching’ it gets to the root. Have the courage.
“And it’s hard because the reason we stay on the surface is because when we go deeper it’s hard. We buried it for a reason, it’s painful. And so we cooperate with the Holy Spirit.
“There is a scripture that I like, ‘Search me, O God, know me, and know my troubled thoughts.’ Ask God to show you those things within you that you have hidden and that you don’t even know about. And they are really at the root of why you do what you do.
“So pray for wisdom about some of the limiting beliefs that are holding you back. And limiting beliefs are thoughts you have about yourself that direct your habits, that direct the things you do.
“Pray and seek wisdom by allowing the Holy Spirit to show you exactly what those things are that are holding you back from achieving your goals. And that means going deeper instead of just scratching the surface.”
3. Autopilot
“What autopilot means is that we do everything we do every day automatically.
“You wake up, grab something quickly to eat, and you don’t think about what you’re eating, you don’t take time to pray. And this is due to busy work. We just go and go and go.
“We don’t take the time to stop and observe what we’re doing. We don’t take the time to notice why we do it. We don’t take the time to prepare healthy food.
“Living on autopilot means we’re simply not in control of our food choices. And most of the time we are so overwhelmed with our daily lives that our health doesn’t even make it to our to-do list. And that leaves a feeling very uncontrollable and the exaggeration appears again.”
What can Christian women do to overcome this error?
“How do you get off autopilot? Well, some of the simple things we’ve taken for granted, like praying before you eat.
“Instead of saying ‘God bless this food’ ask for self-control before eating a meal. As you wake up in the morning, just leave your health to God. “Lord, direct my day. Help me make good choices. Help me find ways to be more active.” Include your health in your morning prayer.
“Even as you go through the day when you have that attitude of gratitude for your health and you realize, ‘Look at me, I can move. I can exercise. I have the freedom to eat food.’
“If you take those three together, ‘God be with me as I go through my day.’ I want my body to honor You. I want my health to glorify and honor you,” then it takes you out of that automatic, “Okay, I woke up, I showered, I have to go to work, I have to feed the kids.”
“You come out of that routine noticing, ‘Okay Lord, my health is important and so I’m turning it over to You.’ It really changes your perspective on your health because so often you don’t even think about it.
Bonus strategy
“And I just want to add one big thing and that is to breathe.
“A big inhale and exhale. And when you can do that and connect that breath with a little, “Holy Spirit be with me” or “Thank you, God.” So connect breathing throughout the day to just give you a break that day.
“And that can take you out of autopilot, but to just say, ‘OK, I’m going to stop and take a breath.’ And right there, you just straightened yourself out, you just got off the autopilot and reconnected to the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Since interviewing Cathy, I have incorporated these strategies into my own routine. I love the “breath pause”. And I especially like the idea of including your health in your morning prayer. It’s so easy to be creatures of habit and just go on autopilot and these are powerful strategies to use.
Although the podcast is no longer available, if you would like a copy of any of the full transcripts of the interview, please email me.
This was an excerpt from the Health Matters Podcast, believing that prayer and Bible study are to the spirit what exercise and healthy eating are to the body.
Blessings on your journey to health.
