Take Back Your Temple: How to Win Your Weight Loss Battles for Good

Even though I’ve never met you, I think I know something about you. You are battle weary; you’ve tried countless diets, but have failed repeatedly. You want to be strong, healthy, and energetic, but the thought of going on another diet makes your heart sink. Deep down, you know there has to be a better way to achieve your birthright of vibrant health. You know what? You’re right. There is a better way.


But here’s the key: You will never find that better way if you don’t work on renewing your mind first.



Cultivating the same thoughts and patterns will only get you the same results. Do you want better results? Then commit to renewing your mind until the following five attitudes become your battle cry:



“I have had enough.”

Realize that an intolerable situation will exist in your life as long as you are willing to tolerate it. If you are obese and secretly think that the situation is not that bad, then that’s fine. Just realize that this attitude means that you will probably not lose weight long term. We human beings like to take the path of least resistance. Keeping things the way they are is as easy as it gets.


But, if you reach the point of saying to yourself (and meaning it) “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired” then you have taken the first step to turning your life around. Those in addiction recovery programs call this point “hitting bottom.” You have to make up your mind that you have had enough of living a destructive health lifestyle and you are willing to turn from it.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to succeed.”

The ‘whatever it takes’ attitude is necessary to achieving your goals…within reason. It should be limited to those actions that are safe for you to take. It should not include known destructive means of losing weight, such as starving yourself, purging, drugs, or excessive exercise.


Instead, it means taking the time to educate yourself on nutritional principles and fitness techniques so that you can act in harmony with your body. Then, you invest time in figuring out how you can customize what you have learned to fit your lifestyle. You might have to give up some T.V. time to do this, but isn’t your health of greater value to you than T.V?

“Failure is not an option.”

The reason I finally succeeded in losing weight and keeping it off that final time was making a decision that I would not quit. I created a mental picture of myself getting into a boxing ring with my bad habits and I saw myself slugging it out with them.



I vowed that no matter how many times they knocked me down (those times when I backslid), I would always make myself get up and try again. I did not waste time beating myself up. Instead, I was my biggest motivator and coach. I constantly gave myself “You can do it” messages. So it must be with you.



Be your biggest fan. And resolve to never give up.

“I can’t do this alone.”

Having good role models when you are attempting to lose weight is essential. Another reason I think I was successful with losing weight was that I humbled myself by going to a coworker who was in great shape and asking her to share with me what she was doing to stay that way.



Now I can’t say that I like sharing my weaknesses, but in this case I didn’t have to. Even though I never said anything to her about my food addiction, my body testified about it via my excess pounds. It was a relief to finally tell the truth to myself and admit that I needed help.



I created a checklist for myself in which I monitored my exercise and eating. I asked my coworker to look it over with me each Monday. It helped me to stay accountable for my actions. My advice to you on this is to get a partner to help you stay on track. However, it is critical that you choose the right one.



Never choose a partner who is in the same shape as you are (or worse). Choose someone who already has what you want. You want to be sure that this person is using rational, healthy means to stay in shape. Then, create a plan and ask them to review it with you regularly. Knowing that you have a shoulder to lean on if you ever need help can make a big difference in whether you endure to the end.



In addition, realize that you also need divine intervention. Ask God to give you strength to see your battle through to the end. He is faithful and will help you if you become weary. All you have to do is ask.

“I’m in this for the long haul.”

The final attitude is that you must be committed to practicing your new health habits until you achieve your goals, even though it might take longer than you expect. This is not the time for “I’m losing weight for my high school reunion” or “I want to fit into a bikini for the summer.” After all, what happens when those events have passed? You will likely revert to your old habits and end up in worse shape than you were before.



Instead, you want to be fit for life and that takes time. It takes determination and persistence. It takes both rigidity and flexibility; you must be rigid in that you stay committed to your ultimate goal and flexible because you are willing to adjust your new habits to better fit how you live.

I pray that you read these words and that they sink into your mind. Meditate on them. When they have become ingrained and your life begins to reflect your new attitudes, then you can be assured that you will win your weight loss battles and you will become all that God intended for you to be.

A Registered Nurse for many years, Kimberly Floyd battled obesity for much of her adult life. She was finally able to achieve her ideal weight and is currently writing a book that is designed to help others win their weight loss battles entitled ‘Take Back Your Temple’.

Kim has written articles for the Georgia Nurses Association publication and Nursing Spectrum Online. Now a technical writer, she has written training programs for corporate clients, including IBM, U.S. Bank, and Cingular.

Kim also teaches an online course called ‘Goodbye to Shy’. This course is distributed to over 500 colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, and Australia through Thomson Learning. An accomplished speaker and trainer, she delivers presentations on health-related topics to enthusiastic audiences.

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