Are you struggling to quiet the desperation and stress that comes with dieting? Learn how to care for your spiritual needs and build worship into your weight loss in this episode of Phoenix Chronicles. For Jes and Martin, food represented an idol that was controlling their lives. You can reach your goals and find peace and stability by surrendering your weight loss journey to God.

The first step to caring for your spiritual needs is admitting to yourself that you need God – that you cannot do this on your own, and that you need His strength. Once you accept this, you can build a worship practice through consistency and lean on God’s guidance throughout your day.

For detailed show notes, navigate using the time stamps below:

[1:03] What are your spiritual needs, and how do they factor into your weight loss journey? When you diet consistently, you may reach a point of desperation and anxiety that causes you to break your diet. make food our idol, and turn to it instead of God. Not being able to turn to food for comfort is stressful.

[6:36] Jes explains that while other types of addictions can be removed completely from people’s lives like when former alcoholics stop drinking completely, food addicts cannot stop eating. We have to find a way to incorporate food in moderation.

[11:05] Jes’s desperation was at its worst in 2020. Before this point, she felt that she should not bring God into her weight loss because it was her problem that she needed to solve on her own. She continues to struggle with surrender.

[17:33] The consistency of worship is key. Learning to worship is a lot like learning to drive a car – it is difficult at first, requires consistency, and eventually becomes muscle memory.

[21:55] The first step to consistent worship is admitting that you need God. You have to be comfortable admitting that you cannot do this on your own, and that you need His help.

[25:10] Martin shares the Prayer of Jabez, which states that “Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory, let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain,’ and God granted his request.” Pray for your own blessings, and God will grant your request.

[30:42] If you do not know where to start with prayer, you can start conversationally. You can also start by reading prayers like Psalms 23. What matters is talking to God and surrendering to Him.

RESOURCES

Visit the Phoenix Chronicles Website: https://www.thephoenixchronicles.com/

Buy A Phoenix Chronicle by Martin Crowe: https://www.thephoenixchronicles.com/book

Weight loss doesn’t have to be a battle you fight alone – surrendering to God can allow you to change your mind and transform your body. On the Phoenix Chronicles Podcast, father and daughter Martin and Jes discuss their weight loss journeys, with Martin at the end of his and Jes at the beginning of hers.

Martin struggled with an addiction to food for years, eventually hitting a rock-bottom after developing a severe case of diabetes and having to stay in the hospital. He began to change his diet, but the process shifted significantly after he surrendered to God and did not have to rely on his willpower alone. Jes has had a more volatile journey, eventually realizing that food was an idol for her. She is letting go of her need to control food and surrendering to God in her weight loss journey. Learn Martin and Jes’s process and how you can apply it to your own journey.

For detailed show notes, navigate using the time stamps below:

[1:33] Welcome to the Phoenix Chronicles! In this episode, Martin shares how he was able to “worship into weight loss,” or build worship into his weight loss plan. Jes introduces herself and explains that while Martin has lost 450 pounds and is at the end of his journey, she is in the beginning of hers.

[2:45] People often ask Martin how he weighed 660 pounds. He was eating large quantities of food at a time and would frequently eat entire pizzas in one sitting. When he ordered food, he ordered to get the maximum quantity of food instead of thinking about what he might enjoy.

[7:05] Martin worked every day while he was 660 pounds, but he collapsed at the end of every week. He was very depressed and struggled to show up for his family.

[9:43] Martin always believed that he would eventually lose weight. Instead, he developed a severe case of diabetes. He knew that with his habits, he would not be able to take care of himself and would increase his chances of outcomes like blindness, amputation, and heart disease.

[12:20] Being overweight or obese is difficult, and martin wants to help people lose weight before they reach the rock bottom that he reached. Once he surrendered his journey to God, he was able to change his life.

[16:50] Jes recounts a moment where she realized she was overweight – she went to a doctor’s appointment and was told to go on a diet and developed an insecurity about her body. She remembers her house being centered around food, which influenced her relationship with food and her body.

[20:50] In 2020, Jes had an identity crisis and realized that she had made food an idol in her life. She knew that she would have to surrender her obsession with food to God, and doing so was terrifying.

[23:44] Right now, Jes is the most unhealthy that she has ever been. She knows that she is at the beginning of her journey, and she looks forward to sharing her progress.

[26:01] Martin and Jes have a practical approach to their worship into weight loss practice. He recommends blocking out fifteen to thirty minutes each day to pray for God’s guidance, blessings, and presence.

[27:50] The second step is to take in God’s word by reading the Bible. You will find yourself having revelations every day and applying God’s word to your life.

[28:54] Third, worship. Jes and Martin created worship playlists, which they turn on and spend time worshiping. Worshiping is not just about listening – the Bible says to “make a joyful noise,” so even if you aren’t happy with your voice, taking part in worship vocally is a key component.

[31:48] Finally, Martin makes a commitment to God every day about what he will do to lose weight. There’s no better diet buddy than God.

[36:55] Martin and Jes discuss scripture, specifically the verse “"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice.” (Romans 12:1-2). This scripture has been used for thousands of years to help people transform their lives. Jes thinks of it as surrendering her idol.

[39:20] Dieting is a type of sacrifice because you deny yourself food that you like. By making that sacrifice to transform your life, you can surrender to God and change your mind.

RESOURCES

Visit the Phoenix Chronicles Website: https://www.thephoenixchronicles.com/

Buy A Phoenix Chronicle by Martin Crowe: https://www.thephoenixchronicles.com/book

Phoenix Chronicles is a faith-based podcast that teaches listeners how to overcome their vices, such as gluttony and addiction. Cohosts Jess and Marty explain how weight loss and faith are compatible because both develop your sense of routine and self-discipline.

Through an approachable, conversational format, Marty and Jess take the listener through their weight loss journeys and help motivate them to take on their own. They debunk fad diets and alarming trends, give the listener actionable tips to improve their health, and ultimately help their audience build programs around worship.