Sometimes our weight loss motivation is derailed.not by tempting high-fat, high sugar foods but by our thoughts! Havent we all been there? Youve exercised until your exerciser explodes; you eat high fiber crunchy vegetables and keep your calorie counts under 1800 calories a day; you shun the foods you so enjoy and yet, when you step on the scale, you have only lost 0 pounds. O pounds? Oh, no, wait, Ive actually gained weight! How can this be?

Thats when the negative self-talk beginsIve never been able to lose weight; Ill never be able to lose weight; its over; Im done; Im a loser.where are the brownies??

Ive talked this talk before; you could say Im an expert! But my health is at stake this time. Whether I lose weight or not, high fat and high sugar treats could mean more than just a few extra poundsit could mean having to go on insulin or high blood pressure medication or it could mean having a stroke and being disabled the rest of my life.

I dont want to live that way. I just want to be healthy. So when the negative self-talk pops up again, I say to myself, Yes, I can lose weight. Yes, I can eat right. Yes, I do like salads and I dont like cookies, cake or candy. If I keep repeating to myself that I can do it, someday I will look back and see that I did it!

There is a spiritual principle at work here, by the way. Its called calling those things that be not as thought they are principle. To make a long story short (see Romans 4 in the Bible if you want to do further reading on this), a famous person called Abram wanted to be a father. But he had no sons and no prospects since his wife was old and so was he. But God had promised him a son and he knew that God didnt lie. Still, it was tough to believe. God helped him out by re-naming him Abraham, which meant Father of Many Nations. For years, everytime he said his own name, he was declaring to himself that he was the Father of many nations. Lo and behold, Sarah, his wife, gave birth to a son named Isaac. And from there, nations were conceived.

Abraham is no different than you or I. He spoke what he wanted; he got what he wanted. We can speak positive things over our lives as well. Losing weight might seem like an insignificant thing compared to Abrahams desire but in Gods eyes, we are all the same. He is faithful to do what is in His will for those He loves. And certainly, it is in His will for us to be healthy. But we have to do our part, which is to act responsibly and to believe and not allow negative self-talk to rule our lives.