Have you ever heard someone say, what you believe is what you will eventually become!? This may seem like a far-out claim, but I can speak from experience that there is great truth in these words! In fact, a big part of my freedom from disordered eating and chronic dieting came when I started to believe I could achieve a healthy relationship with my body and food. I have now been completely free from a negative self-image, dieting, and have maintained my desired weight for over ten years. I have even had a baby in that time frame, and in due time came back to my "happy weight" without diets or any other extreme efforts. If you too are looking for freedom in these areas, I can assure you that lasting change really all does start when we begin to believe we can do it!

I remember there was a time that I felt like I could never look or feel the way I wanted in my own skin. I had tried every method that you can think of; and some of them did work for a time, but then I would gain the weight back and would be on to trying another disordered way of losing weight. It wasn’t until I began to renew my mind with God’s Word that I experienced true freedom and lasting victory.

I began my journey to find lasting health when I was about 22 years old after years of disordered eating, diet rollercoasters, and an unhealthy relationship with my body and food. I began my search by going to the Word of God, knowing that it was my key to freedom. In my search for truth, God revealed so much to me about how what we say, think, and believe about ourselves ultimately comes to pass in our lives. One of them being Proverbs 23:7, which says, “For as a man thinks in his heart, so shall he be.”

As I continued to study the Bible on this subject, God revealed many scriptures to me about who He created me to be and how I should take care of my body. I wrote these scriptures down and began to speak them out loud and meditate on them daily. When the world would send me images, messages, and ideas about what I should look like or how I should eat or exercise, I replaced them with the truth that God had shown me in His Word. I spent time journaling these truths every day (which I have since published in my devotional book); And I would write down the promises God gave me and post them everywhere I could see them, (around my house, car, etc) so I could be reminded of them on a daily basis.

Little did I know that by doing this, I was on the path to “no longer conforming to the patterns of this world, and I was being transformed by the renewing of my mind” (Romans 12:2) And that is exactly what happened; I was transformed! At first, I didn’t feel different, but I knew that I had to feed myself the truth consistently over the course of time in order to reprogram my mind.

The change that was occurring was happening on the inside of me, so it wasn’t necessarily visible on the outside; However, it didn’t take long before I began to see myself as free on the inside, and the change began to show on outside as well! The best part is, because it was God's Word that transformed me from the inside out, I was able to reach and maintain my goals without any restrictive eating, excessive exercising, fad diets, or any other weight loss fad that this world has to offer. I can say with assurance that once I started to view things from God's point of view, I was able to come to a place of balance and freedom with food and my body almost effortlessly.

The great news is, this works in every area of life that you need freedom or restoration! As you begin to understand how God sees you, you begin a transformation that starts on the inside and works it's way out! God will help you believe that you can lose weight, reach a healthy weight, break free from chronic dieting or disordered eating; And He will also guide you to the tools to get there. As you begin to believe you can be free, your actions will naturally follow the path of freedom He points you to, and as you take steps of obedience, He will empower you to succeed!

I think of God’s word as a seed, (1Peter 1:23). When we go to the Lord and ask Him to show us how to be free from a situation, He will lead us to the ‘seed’ (or specific scriptures) that we need to plant in our heart, which is the soil, (Mark 4:1-8). It may not look like anything is happening at first, much like a seed that is planted underground; But as we water the seed by continually meditating on the truth, God takes care of the rest! Before you know it the harvest for what we are believing for springs up and we become just as we are believing in our heart!

I pray that this encourages you to will begin your journey to freedom, which begins by changing the way you see yourself. Go to God and ask Him to give you a true revelation of what a unique, beautiful and powerful woman you really are. As He reveals these truths to you, write them down and begin to meditate on them. When the enemy or the world speaks words that are contrary to these truths, speak the word of God just as Jesus did when He was being tempted.

As you plant God's word in the soil of your heart, and continually meditate on it day and night, it will grow and change the way that you see yourself. When you begin to believe that you can achieve the abundant health and life that God has for you (John 10:10), it will only be a matter of time before it becomes a lasting reality for you as well!

I will leave you with this scripture based prayer that has helped me on the journey of renewing my mind! xo Katie

Father, please help me to see myself as you see me. Your word says that you give me the desires of my heart as I delight myself in you. I desire to feel good about myself, so I can be confident and be a vessel of your blessing here on earth. I thank you that you are helping me to reach and maintain a healthy weight, and glorify you in caring for my body.

I thank you that you are teaching me to listen to my body, and to exercise self control. Help me to find an exercise that I can enjoy, and help me to do it in a healthy consistent way. Help me to enjoy healthy foods, and to eat the right portions at the right time of day.

Father, I submit myself to you, and resist the devil in every way. I resist wrong foods, and wrong ways of thinking in Jesus name. I am kept in perfect peace in all situations, because I choose to keep my mind on you. Lord, thank you for loving me and empowering me to succeed at reaching my goal weight! I believe that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength! In Jesus’ Name, Amen!