Hey Friends –
I had the most AMAZING weekend in Texas/New Mexico!
I can’t wait to tell you all about it. God is so faithful!
But for today, in honor of “Fat Talk Free Week“, I wanted to take a moment and share some thoughts on living “Fat Talk Free“.
In case you’re wondering, “What is Fat Talk?”, take just a few minutes and watch this awesome video….
On a personal note, as many of you know, my weight has been a life long issue for me.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve felt not thin enough. Or pretty enough. I believed the lie no one would ever find me beautiful. (Recap here)
My self talk was filled to the brim with “Fat Talk”.
My weight struggle came to an all-time high when I was pregnant with my eldest son Jake. I was alone. Soon-to-be a single mom.
I ate my stress, pain, fear, and shame – and anything else someone would feed me!
Here is a picture of me on July 15, 1994 ~ the day Jake was born.
By Jake’s 2nd birthday, I lost all the weight, and more. See pic below…
Even at the weight I was above, I still felt not thin enough. Or pretty enough. Or that I could ever be beautiful.
Thankfully, soon after Jake’s 2nd birthday, I met Jesus (woo hoo!) ~ and my life has not been the same since!!
In His great mercy, Jesus has not only given me a new life, but a NEW MIND!! And over the past 15 years, I’ve been very intentional about filling my mind with the TRUTH of who GOD says that I am!
And even though I no longer wear a size 4 (picture below is from last weekend) ~
Love the Tex Mex food in New Mexico
I now walk in Truth and freedom and joy….
…although it definitely takes a daily (sometimes hourly) renewing of my mind.
The world, the media, the enemy wants us to believe that we are not enough just the way that we are.
My dear friends, this is a lie from the pit of hell.
I love what author Kelly Minter shares in her book “No other gods”,
“Satan will tell us what’s true, but he never tells us the TRUTH”.
Remembering that simple statement has been HUGE for me!!
- Yes, it is true, I am not a size 4 (or an 8 anymore).
- Yes, it is true, my body has given birth to 4 children.
- Yes, it is true, I do not look like the women on the magazines.
Yes, those things are true.
But the TRUTH is that we are beautiful and accepted by God….just the way that we are!!
- The TRUTH is that God delights in us!
- The TRUTH is that we can live secure, significant, set apart in Christ!
- The TRUTH is that we are dearly loved by the Lord God Almighty!
“Satan will tell us what’s true, but he never tells us the TRUTH”.
My greatest desire is to be a voice of TRUTH in my own life, and the lives of every single person I come in contact with (my friends, family, neighborhood, community, on-line, and more!).
I will not allow the comments of others to make me have “crazy head”.
I will not return to an eating disorder or drug addiction to lose weight.
And I will not allow my words to others feed into the lies we receive from the media and the world, about where TRUE BEAUTY and WORTH comes from ~ so help me God!!
That’s why I’m declaring my life to be a Fat Talk Free Zone! I am so grateful for the Body Image 3D Program. I love what they are doing to teach women to pursue health, well-being, and true beauty!
Sorry, Satan, you may try your sly and subtle tricks with me ~ BUT NO MORE! I will live and stand and walk in TRUTH!
And the TRUTH is that our God does not talk “Fat Talk” to His dearly loved children, does He?!
This week (October 21st – 25th 2013) is the official “Fat Talk Free” week, but I’m declaring my life to be Fat Talk Free Forever!!
Anyone with me??
Please head over to the Reflections site and join me in signing the Fat Talk Free promise which reads…
“Today I promise to eliminate Fat Talk from conversations with my friends, my family and myself.
Starting now, I will strive for a healthy ideal, which I know looks different for every woman, and focuses on health, not weight or size.
I will celebrate the things about myself and the women in my life that have nothing to do with how we look. I decide to end Fat Talk NOW!”
Let’s practice living Fat Talk Free!
Please share something you love about your body!
Fill in the blank. I love my ______________. I’ll even go first!
I’d love to hear from you!
My beautiful friend, let’s celebrate who you are this week and let’s END FAT TALK!
Have a joy-full, Truth-filled, amazing day!!
Cindy, I love this. The weight-related self hate has been a recent thing for me, and this really convicted me. Thank you for sharing and being beautiful you!
Heather, I pray that you are experiencing victory in this area today! Thank you for sharing how you are really doing! You are beautiful! 🙂
I’ll get us started on speaking kindly to ourselves.
I love my __red hair!___________. How about you?
I am with you! Nobody should ever call themselves fat. I have never been in a position to say that about myself but i have been around alot of women that only see that about themselves. I encourage everybody to be healthy not skinny but healthy. On the other side of the coin, ladies when you see a person like me thats skinny, try to not brand them right away by saying “you have nothing to worry about, you are so skinny” in a way you are branding them just like people brand you when they call you overweight. Those words are hurtful too. Its painful that everyone always sees you as te skinny girl when theres more to a person than their body weight. When someone tells me u have nothing to worry about you are skinny it feels like my efforts on eating healthy and working out were not taken into account. Just like everyone else i have a busy schedule and i et very tempted to eat a whole box of ding dongs and twinkies but i just like everyone else have to practice self control and portion control. Hope this helped others too. Blessigs
I love my ___everything___.