Biblical Weight Loss

           On February 14, 2023 I weighed 387 pounds with a BMI of 56.  My doctors said I was morbidly obese and needed to make some drastic changes to my diet.  At the time i was more than ten years into my weight loss journey, and getting nowhere. I yo-yoed up and down the scale, usually losing five or ten pounds at a time and then gain it all back, plus some extra.

As a consequence of weighing so much I had trouble breathing, pain in my joints, and lives with back pain as I often pulled muscles when bending over. And while I am being transparent, I will add that I had no small amount of difficulty performing basic hygiene habits.  When I was out in public I played the role of the jolly fat guy, and when people asked me how I was getting along I would tell them I was just fat, dumb, and happy. The truth, however, was that I was miserable, and hated myself for being so big. 

The irony in all of this is that while I was living in morbid obesity, I was a Christ-follower with what I thought was a strong faith in God. The truth was that I was living in unbridled gluttony. What  I did not know at the time, though, was that I was also living with emotional pain and using food as a way to medicate it. The more I hurt, the more I ate.  

One day I picked up my Bible and read Romans 12:1-2. As I did I began to feel the Holy Spirit speaking to me and telling me that it was time to submit my body to Jesus and become a living sacrifice. He also emphasized the need to renew my mind and the way I viewed food and the role it played in my life. As I studied these verses I become convicted that I was living in gluttony, and had made food my master. Food had become not only a source of comfort, it was also an idol.

 
The more I read the Bible the more I felt the leading of the Holy Spirit to make a drastic lifestyle change. I prayed about what that change should be and came to the conclusion that I needed to put myself in a place where I could not eat the 1500 calorie meals that I normally ate. Upon the advice of my cardiologist I consulted a bariatric specialist and after a lengthy evaluation was deemed a viable candidate for bariatric surgery. 

On February 14, 2023 I began a two week liver reduction diet in preparation for my surgery. On March 1, 2023, weighing 360 pounds, I had what is called a duodenal switch (BPD/DS). Over the course of the next sixteen months I lost 210 pounds. Despite such a drastic weight loss, I will tell you that doing so was one of the most difficult things I have ever done in my life. 

Throughout my weight loss journey I have learned many lessons, all of which come straight from the Bible. Many people are surprised to hear that the Bible speaks about weight loss. However, there is no subject related to mankind that is not covered in some way by the Word of God. Among the many verses that support this claim, two stand out.

Hebrews 4:12 tells us, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (ESV). In the same vein of thought 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (ESV). 

The Bible has the power and ability to address the issue of weight loss like no other text. In light of this, I have written a book about my weight loss journey and the principles of the Bible that guided me along the way. If you struggle with a weight issue, and have not started your journey to weight loss, I encourage you to begin that journey right now. If you have started your journey, but gotten off the path, let me encourage you to get back on the road to life and health and abundant living. 

While my book is not yet available for purchase, I will share with you some of the principles I have learned so that you and I can work together as we travel down the road to freedom in Christ. To connect with me and receive these lessons and additional insights fill out the contact form and I will send them to you. Together we can find victory in the name of Jesus.