I'm a loser…

For me, the magic number was 294. Actually, since I had a shiny new digital scale, it was 294.3…pounds. I was in the neighborhood of three hundred pounds and it wasn’t a neighborhood I wanted to live in. That meant it was time to go on a diet…again. But I wanted it to be different from previous diets; I wanted to accomplish more than losing some pounds. Although I had done lots of diets, I’d never tried adding a spiritual aspect to losing weight. See, people always say, “You have to want to lose the weight for yourself.” The problem is that virtually everything I’ve ever done has been for myself. I wanted to do it for someone else.
Now, I don’t think God is the sort who would see me offering myself to Him as a living sacrifice and say, “Gee, do you have anything smaller?” I know He loves me regardless of my size. But I had an idea.
I’ve been a creative person all my life. For me, imagination makes life worth living, keeps me excited. I’ve written dozens of songs and a novel. I’ve drawn and painted and done endless graphic design projects. I’ve sung and played and acted and directed and edited. And now the idea beckoned: what if I was the art project? What if I took the time and effort to make myself into something nice for my father—my heavenly father?
So began my regimen. Installing a treadmill in our spare bedroom meant that I wouldn’t have to go to a gym to exercise. I roll out of bed at 5:25 each morning and do 30 minutes of brisk walking while listening to music. I’m in the shower by 6:00. I stop sweating by about 10:30. I’m watching every calorie. And when I feel a hunger pang or I’m tempted to eat something I shouldn’t, I stop and think, “Can I withstand this tiny bit of discomfort for someone who has given me so much?”
And it is working. So far I’m down 34 pounds; that's only one extra chin for me, but I’m excited...not just about losing weight, but about finding a new thing to give over to God. If you’ve got a habit that you just can’t seem to break, you might want to try changing your motivation. You may discover that in God’s illogical algebra—where the last get to be first and the meek get to inherit the earth—apparently losing can make you a winner.