Brenda’s transparency with her struggles and her commitment to both her family and her weight-releasing journey is why we’ve featured Brenda in this member spotlight. Let her journey inspire you to always keep striving toward your goals.
How many years have you struggled with your weight?
I’ve been overweight since I was a toddler. My mother, father, and younger sister never had a weight problem so I couldn’t understand why I was different.
What was your highest weight?
The highest that I ever saw on a scale was 215 pounds, and I’m 5’3″ tall.
Trying to lose weight has been a life-long thorn in my flesh. Diet after diet after diet; shelves full of books on diet and exercise—always hopeful that the next one was the one that would give me success. I wanted to give up so many times but I could hear God’s still small voice saying to me, “I’m not giving up on you so you can’t give up on yourself.”
What was the turning point in your journey?
The turning point in my journey was when God lead me to the WLGW 21-Day Challenge in September 2015 when searching for an e-book. Although I had lost weight following a national diet plan, I was slowly gaining it back. I had been praying for years for God to show me the key to making a real lifestyle change. As soon as I began the lessons in the Challenge, I knew this was His answer to my prayer.
How long have you been a member and what keeps you coming back?
After the Challenge, I continued by enrolling in the Breakthrough program that October, weighing in at 167 pounds. What an eye-opener the lessons were! God spoke to me and began working in me through every lesson. I had finally found what I’d been searching for.
My life verse had been Romans 12:1-2 for years but I wasn’t living it.
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you (MSG).”
How has your relationship with yourself, with food, and with Christ changed?
I want to honor God with my food choices now by eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and whole-grains in all forms at least 80% of the time (I’ve learned not to focus on, or to expect perfection). And, I look for ways to move more because I understand how important this is for my body, especially as I age. My focus is to take care of His temple. Losing weight is no longer a vanity issue.
What advice/tips/suggestions could you offer to your fellow sisters on this journey?
First, never give up! Remember that God will never give up on you!
Secondly, don’t look at anything you have done in your life to try to lose weight as a waste of time. It’s not! God is using every action you’ve taken in any form to take you to the place He knows you need to be. Look at all your efforts as puzzle pieces that God is using to create a beautiful piece of art. As you know, it’s a slow process putting a puzzle together, so be patient.
And thirdly, and the most important, is to focus on your relationship with the Father and Son by spending time daily in the Word and in prayer—even if it’s only for 10-15 minutes. You probably know by now that you can’t travel this journey alone. Allow God to use the changes in your life and your new lifestyle to drawn others to Himself. By doing this, everyone wins and He receives all the glory!
My goal is to have a healthy BMI. I’ve been maintaining 151-152 for a few months but I’m trying to be patient with this because I believe God has a lesson for me while in this place; and, when He feels I’ve learned whatever I need to learn, He’ll allow me to continue to my promised land of weighing 145 pounds.
To learn more about the Weight Loss, God’s Way Program or to become a member, visit www.weightlossgodsway.com.