I believe there is a grace we can receive to help us press on to our next breakthrough. Ask God to help you forget what is in the past and to reach forward to things ahead. Don’t dwell on any past mistakes. God’s mercies are new every day. As you reach for what is set before you, keep pressing on with your health and fitness goals and take hold of your next breakthrough!

How do you do that? Interval training.  It consists of short bursts of activity mixed into the aerobic activity you are doing.  If you normally go for a brisk walk every day, your interval workout would consist of brisk walking mixed with short bursts of jogging.  Your jogging workout would consist of increasing your speed for 1 to 2 minutes in the midst of your regular jogging.  Do this several times a week and your body will notice the change!

As we get caught up in the whirlwind of our hectic schedules, it’s easy to forget that we are to do all we do to the praise and glory of God. But as we keep our goals with God’s glory in mind, we stay connected to His supernatural power.

Examine where you might have “settled” in your daily routine. How can you determine to access more of God’s power in your eating and exercise habits? Be eternally minded and think of developing more self-control, faithfulness and endurance as you take your health and fitness goals to the next level. Most assuredly, as you get healthier, it brings God more glory.

Muscle is valuable for many reasons, including its ability to burn calories. In fact, 1 pound of muscle burns about 35 calories a day, whereas 1 pound of fat burns only 2 calories.

Studies tell us that between the ages of 20 and 30, without weight-resistant exercise, we begin to lose muscle. As we age, the rate at which we lose seems to increase slightly. As we lose muscle, our basal metabolic rate slows down, which means we are burning fewer calories. This change in metabolism generally means a gain in fat. Let’s say that between the ages of 30 and 40, we have lost 10 pounds of muscle and gained about 10 pounds of fat. That means that in 10 years, we would have a 20-pound body composition change and still weigh the same amount.

There is another interesting aspect to muscle. Muscle is denser and takes up much less space than fat. You could therefore maintain the same weight you are now and be 2 sizes smaller by gaining 10 pounds of muscle and losing 10 pounds of fat. Just think, by increasing your muscle, or your lean body mass by 10 pounds, you would increase your metabolic rate by about 350 calories a day. Just gaining 5 pounds of muscle would increase your calorie expenditure by 175 calories a day. That’s 63,875 calories or 18 pounds a year.

No wonder as we age it is so easy to gain fat simply by not exercising. Many people are frustrated by the fact that they eat just as they always have, but now they are gaining weight, not realizing that each year without resistance exercise, their metabolisms are slowing down. Exercise is the only way to reverse this effect of aging.

Many people, especially women, are afraid of getting “too muscley,” so they avoid strength-training exercises altogether. I know because I used to be one of those people, but that was before I discovered that muscle not only makes you feel better and look more toned, it also greatly increases your body’s ability to burn fat. After so many years of starvation dieting, my metabolism needed to be raised from the dead. It seemed as though it was impossible for me to lose weight and keep it off. Replacing lost muscle was crucial to reaching and maintaining my weight-loss goals.  I encourage you to take action now to gain muscle so that you can reach and maintain your weight-loss goals.

I have found that I get quicker and more lasting results with weight loss when I do these two things together – increase my exercise and decrease my calories.  Can you lose weight by only reducing calories?  Yes, but by adding or increasing your exercise, the muscle that is gained will help burn more calories, and you will lose weight faster.

Consider this:  just by adding a fast 15-20 minute walk (approximately 1 mile) to your routine, you can burn 100 extra calories per day. Do this, and nothing more every day for a year, and you will lose 10 pounds, assuming your food intake just stays the same.

Now if you also eliminate 100 calories from your diet each day (perhaps a soft drink, cream in your coffee or sweet treat), you could knock off another 10 more pounds that year. These two easy adjustments could make you 20 pounds lighter in one year, and if you choose to do add more exercise and reduce more calories each day, you will lose much more than that!

Remember, for lasting weight loss it is best to decrease calories and increase exercise.  By doing these two things, you can be on your way to reaching your health and fitness goals!

I was in such bondage to weight for so long and I hated it -I was miserable. But I got into God’s Word and I continued in it, and I found the truth and that truth made me free.

And He wants you to be free – He wants you to know the truth. Vine’s Dictionary defines truth as the reality lying at the basis of an appearance. I like that. The reality lying at the basis of an appearance. Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the reality lying at the basis of an appearance. The Word of God is truth. The Word is the reality lying at the basis of an appearance. How do things appear? How do things look? Suppose you have a lot of weight to lose and you have failed at diet after diet. It may look hopeless – but the truth is, you can do all things through Christ, through the Anointed One and His Anointing, who strengthens you.

You may think – there is no way I can get out there and walk and be faithful to it, but the truth is – Jesus is the way. Are you getting this? Knowing the truth will make free.  Knowing in your heart that the Word of God is true and acting on it, is what activates the power of God. When you get in the Word and you see that God is on your side, that you are praying according to His will and that He desires you to succeed, nothing can stop you from accomplishing your goals. Our confidence comes from knowing that our goals are in agreement with God’s. What He calls us to do He anoints us to do. The reality is, the truth is, that Jesus paid the price for your freedom – and hell itself can’t stand in the way of you walking in freedom from overeating today and everyday for the rest of your life – but, it takes faith, it takes commitment.  The more revelation knowledge you get, the more you’ll see that an active lifestyle and healthy eating are truly good.

Hebrews 5:13-14 (NKJV) 
For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.  But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

This scripture shows me that by practice, by habit, by doing what’s good again and again, you’ll begin to train your mind and your 5 physical senses to discern what’s good. This is how you change your desires. This is how you prove for yourself that God’s will for you is good and that it works.

Remember to work at your own fitness level and your own faith level. If you’re presently too overweight to start walking, simply pray the prayer I included in my last post (part 2) and do what you can and sow it to the Spirit. Remember  Galatians 6:7-9. “Be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not”.  

Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, as you sow this time of activity (any time of activity) to God’s Holy Spirit, and as you do it unto God to sow self control, faithfulness and endurance, you’ll reap whatever you sow. And the more you sow, the more you’ll reap.

Now, can you see the power in all this?  We take all the health benefits of exercising and we’ve added godliness.  When you do your work out, you’re praying and meditating on the Word of God.  What does that mean?  Besides strengthening your physical body, you are feeding your spirit, you’re renewing your mind, you’re exercising your faith, you’re presenting your body a living sacrifice, you’re sowing to the spirit, your developing the fruit of the Spirit, you’re worshiping and honoring God, you’re glorifying God in your body.  With all that, you are destined to be victorious!

1. Exercise increases your stamina and endurance.

2. Exercise reduces stress.

3. Exercise reduces your risk for heart disease and stroke.

 4. Exercise strengthens your immune system.

5. Exercise strengthens your bones and joints.

6. Exercise decreases your appetite.

7. Exercise will increase the number of calories you burn

8. Exercise will strengthen your heart and lungs so that they will work more efficiently.

9. Exercise decreases a woman’s risk for breast cancer.

10. Exercise decreases your blood pressure and blood cholesterol.

I believe we can all agree exercise is obviously good for us, and when we focus on all the benefits, that can help encourage us to get up and do it!  I’m telling you it is a blessing – it has great benefits to us. God designed our bodies so wonderfully, so magnificently that when we use them like we’re supposed to, they get stronger.

Now you take all those benefits of exercise and you add godliness.

Years ago, the Lord showed me how to pray His Word over my time of exercise.  I wrote the following prayer on a card and had it in front of my treadmill – and I prayed it every time I would exercise.   This prayer is so powerful because it is based on the truth of God’s Word.  The scriptures listed are all included in the prayer.

Father God,

I present my body to You as a living sacrifice.  I offer this time of exercise to You as a time of worship – to glorify You in my body.  I purpose in my heart to sow self control, endurance and faithfulness, and I believe I receive a hundred fold return.  I earnestly expect to become more and more like Jesus;  therefore, I press on toward that goal for the prize of my high calling.  I decree that with every step I take, I am increasing in health, strength and discipline.  Thank you for anointing me to succeed as I prove Your good and perfect will in my life.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

Romans 12:1

Galatians 6:7-9

Romans 8:29

I Corinthians 6:20

Galatians 5:22-23

Philippians 3:14

I John 2:27

2 Corinthians 9:7

Matthew 13:23

Romans 12:2

This prayer is intended to give you a starting point to build and exercise your faith. It will help you renew your mind to what the Word says about your body. Pray this prayer and mix your faith with it. As you look up the 10 scripture references that this prayer is based on, study them and read them out loud, your faith will grow. Ask God to reveal to you what you need to know. It’s important that you understand what God’s desire is just for you.

I want you to know how to use exercise to not only benefit the health of your body, but also to train and discipline your senses. As you use physical activity such as aerobic exercise, weight training or walking to exercise your faith and develop the fruit of the Spirit in your life, it will open the door for the anointing of God to help you. It will change exercise from something that may not seem all that valuable into a time of worship and fellowship with God.

As you learn to take physical exercise and turn it into an exercise of your faith, you release the power of God, the anointing of God, to help you work out. That’s what makes the difference. It’s the anointing of God that removes your burdens and destroys your yokes. It’s the anointing of God that will set you free and keep you free.

I’m not sharing this good news simply as a personal trainer, but as a witness of someone who God has supernaturally delivered from the bondage of overeating. It’s good news that Jesus is the Christ – the Anointed One. And as a member of the body of Christ – that same anointing is available to you today. It is God’s will for you to walk in His anointing in every area of your life. It is time for us as Christians to step into the anointing of God in the area of the health of our bodies.

There is an anointing available to help us eat right. There is an anointing available to help us exercise. There is an anointing available to help us live life the way God created us to live it. We are not exercising our bodies just to look good. We are exercising our bodies to be healthy and fulfill the call of God on our lives. We are presenting our bodies a living sacrifice. We are recognizing the fact that our bodies are not our own; they are bought with a price. We are temples of God’s Holy Spirit, and we are called to glorify God in our bodies. We are called to be a witness of God’s nature. We’re supposed to be walking in the fruit of the Spirit. Walking in love, walking in joy, walking in peace, endurance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, walking in self-control. Walking in that wonderful nature of God that was born into us when we were born again. It’s that nature of God that gives us the ability to walk in victory in every area of our lives. That’s why our spiritual development has to be our first priority.

Paul said in I Timothy 4:8, “For bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” We can see that while it is profitable to exercise our bodies,  it profits little, or doesn’t last long. But Paul says it’s more profitable to develop godliness, to exercise our faith.

Can you see why maturing in the nature of God and developing the fruit of the Spirit is so crucial to your victory? Physical exercise affects your body, but godliness affects your spirit, soul and body. It affects every area of your life. Now suppose I told you, “if you want to lose weight, all you have to do is burn more calories than you eat, eat healthy food and exercise for 30 minutes, 3 times a week.” What good would that do you? You probably already know that, and you having that knowledge alone is not the answer. It doesn’t free you from the bondage of overeating.

People are failing at losing weight and keeping it off because it takes the power of God, it takes training and disciplining our senses and developing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives to make permanent changes. You simply can’t get around the fact that it takes self-control to control what you eat and how much you eat, and it takes faithfulness and endurance to keep on eating right and to maintain a healthy lifestyle. It takes all of the fruit of the Spirit working together to live a victorious Christian life, including the area of our health and fitness.

Next time, I’ll share more about God’s anointing  to set you free.

2. Exercise reduces stress. Exercise activates your endorphins, causing a natural high and a sense of well-being.

3. Exercise reduces your risk for heart disease and stroke. Coronary heart disease is the leading killer in the United States, and nearly half of them are women.

 4. Exercise strengthens your immune system. It actually increases your resistance to stress and illness.

5. Exercise strengthens your bones and joints. This is a very important benefit for women because strong bones and joints decrease a woman’s chance for osteoporosis.

6. Exercise decreases your appetite. You won’t be as hungry because exercise acts as a natural appetite suppressant.

7. Exercise will increase the number of calories you burn. This increase will accelerate your weight loss and encourage weight control.

8. Exercise will strengthen your heart and lungs so that they will work more efficiently. Exercise literally strengthens your heart muscle, and a stronger heart will last longer.

9. Exercise decreases a woman’s risk for breast cancer. Studies have shown that women who engage in exercise at least three times a week have a lessened chance of developing breast cancer.

10. Exercise decreases your blood pressure and blood cholesterol. Exercise decreases your blood pressure and LDL, or bad cholesterol, while raising your HDL, or good cholesterol. A consistent aerobic workout, coupled with weight training and healthy eating, will get us to our goals.