The First Step to Fitness Success

 My Before and After

I know someone else needs to hear this. I'm praying as I'm typing that it will help you and you won't give up on your health and fitness goals.

It's hard for me to be vulnerable and share my before photo. To be honest, I don't have many old photos because I threw them away. I was horrified by pictures back then. 

This picture on the left is me before God. I was only 25. I had never worked out consistently, didn't know how to eat healthy, and I was miserable in my skin.

All I knew was dieting. That's what the world taught me. My weight went up and down and so did my worth.

But God! He met me in my pain and He helped me, so as your sister in Christ,  I'm going to share the first step that I took that changed everything. I made you a helpful guide that lays out the steps. Download it here. 

My Before. Without God in my fitness:

• I was taught dieting was how you get healthy
• I relied on willpower and self-confidence
• My weight went up and down and so did my worth

 

My After! With God in my fitness:

• I  have a healthy relaitonship with food and my body
• I rely on Jesus and the Holy Spirit
• My worth and identity are in Him, not numbers 

Biblical Foundation For Goal Setting

“Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.” (Habakkuk 2:2 NKJV)

“Unless the Lord builds the house the builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1

Prefer Videos? Watch the Live Taping on YouTube Below.

Setting fitness goals can be exciting until they never make their way into our daily plan and become a reality. No more! 

With this free step-by-step guide and godly determination, you will be on track to reaching your goals.

Today, I will teach you a step-by-step process for setting your goals with God as the centerpiece.

Before you think “I don’t want to set goals”, listen to these scriptures and this statistic. You are 42% more likely to reach your goal if it’s written down and 70% more likely if it's written down and shared with a friend.

Because we don’t want to do anything apart from God, we will be setting F.A.I.T.H. goals These are my take on SMART goals, but they have a key difference that enables us far beyond our ability.

Many of us have never been taught to set goals with God, seeking His will first and in faith. 

Tap Into God’s Power For Your Goals

Trading our limited willpower for God’s limitless power is how we stay motivated, and supported, and get back on when we fall off track.

Let me explain.

Picture your life. Think of the issues you have dealt with that kept you on the sidelines and denied you health and happiness—depression, anxiety, fear, self-loathing. How long did you stay there? Are you still there?

Can you imagine if this issue was gone and your life was on the other side of it? That’s what I want for you… that’s what God wants for you.

This is one of my favorite stories from the Bible: “When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”... Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.” John 5:6, 8–9

This man had been lying next to a healing pool for thirty-eight years. Yet, even with the answer so close to him, he never got in the water. Perhaps he couldn’t walk, but surely he could have moved a little at a time or asked someone for help. Picture us in our day-to-day choices, are we sitting so close to the answer but not acting in faith?

Think about it: Jesus asked him if he wanted to get well, He saw the man’s condition and let him know that he had to make the choice.

Just like the man by the healing pool, you have the option to get well. The only catch is that you too must get up and move. Jesus told him, “Get Up!”

I have an important question for you, is getting up in faith all that’s holding you back?

Now I promised earlier that I made you a freebie so head to Fit Gods Way and download the free guide it has a template you can follow along with and fill out your faith goals. Download it at Fit Gods Way!

‌‌F.A.I.T.H. Goals

Let’s dive into and start setting F.A.I.T.H. Goals:

‌F - Faith-Filled and Specific

A - Accountable

I - Inspiring

T - Time-Based and Measurable

H - Healthy

‌F. Faith-Filled and Specific

Pray and ask God what His will is for you in your goals. It is not His will that we are unhealthy, out of shape, gluttonous, lazy, or insecure. Here are some examples of Faith-Filled and Specific Goals: Read the Bible every day, lose weight, lower blood pressure, start a small faith and fitness group, work out five days a week, or eat whole God-made foods instead of man-made processed foods. Have a prayer meeting with God about your goal, get excited about it, and ask Him to show you His specific plan for you in this area.

Accountable

The best accountability you will ever have is in the time you spend with God. Accountability is that daily push that gets you to your goal. Being accountable to ourselves is how we honor those self-made promises and glorify God. How will you stay accountable? Examples of accountability include – Morning prayer time with God, a trusted workout partner, an alarm that goes off on your phone when it’s time to read your Bible, a food journal or app to track your daily meals, snacks, and drinks, a Christian group of women like my private Facebook Group, Fit Sisters-in-Christ, or signing up for an event like running or walking for a cause or joining a challenge at your workout studio or gym.

Inspiring

God has a plan for you and nothing fuels your motivation like living for Him to carry it out. What dream has He given you that you’ve tucked away? Put pen to paper and write it down. Is it starting a new business, is it getting healthy to avoid diseases that run in your family, or is it to be a great role model for your kids? Inspiration comes from your “Why?” Why do you want to achieve this goal? How would your life be different? What doors of opportunity would open for you? Who’s lives would change if this goal was met? Collect scriptures and Christian songs to keep this motivation fresh.

Time-Based and Measurable

God wants us to live with intention and discipline. Having a date that you’re working toward helps keep you focused. Set a date of accomplishment for your goal and a method of tracking your success. If weight loss is your goal, do not use the scale as your only measure, buy a measuring tape, take pictures, or use a favorite pair of jeans. As your body remodels itself with your healthy eating and exercise these very important changes are not always evident on the scale. An important note here is that this is a grace-based health journey not a slave-to-numbers journey, so sprinkle these numbers with grace!

Healthy

God doesn’t want us to live with extremes, so make sure your goal is healthy, realistic, and achievable. It’s not fair of you to pressure yourself to try to lose 30 pounds in a month or run a marathon after a week of training, or know how to cook all your food in a healthy way after a week or two. Remember this is a process and the joy is found in the journey.

Too often our goals never become more than a thought, a wish written on a page of our journals or a sticky note on our desk, but F.A.I.T.H Goals make God the centerpiece of our fitness; they help us envision who He made us to be, they put the date on the calendar, and the Fit God’s Way System is how we take our F.A.I.T.H. goals and break them into the daily steps we need to achieve them.

Without creating a plan to bridge the gap between your wishes and your goals, you aren’t giving yourself a chance to make your dreams become a reality**.**

You have to have a faith-filled concrete plan around your goals or they’re just dreams and wishes.

Listen to these truths and inspiring quotes to fuel your motivation:

• A goal without a plan is just a wish. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• When we work, we work. When we pray. God works. – Hudson Taylor
• "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." –C.S. Lewis
• Don’t shine so others can see you. Shine so that through you others can see Him. CS Lewis
• "The great danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." –Michelangelo
• Never be afraid to trust and unknown future to a known God. Corrie Ten Boom

Think about it… what will happen if you don’t go all in with God and set F.A.I.T.H. Goals?

… But what if you do? Look at these scriptures to fuel your faith.

Faith Fuel

• Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. – Hebrews 11:1

• And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Matthew 21:22

• So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17

• In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; Eph 6:16

• For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Cor 5:7

• Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3

Let’s pray before you go sister:

Dear God,

My past attempts at getting healthy have been apart from You and they’ve never worked. I’ve struggled alone and it has felt impossible, but what has been impossible for me is possible with You (Luke 18:27). Your Word says that “if I trust in You and acknowledge You in all my ways, You will direct my path” (Proverbs 3:5–6). Father, I’m laying down my old ways and seeking You first in my fitness (Matthew 6:33). Guide me in the Holy Spirit and give me the steps. I’ve gone through things that have hurt me so badly that I have felt like I can’t or don’t deserve to succeed, but Your Word says that “because I love You, You will rescue me” (Psalm 91:14). Father, please save me from the lies the enemy wants me to believe. Your Word says that You will do a new thing (Isaiah 43:18). Help me take each step with You, starting today, so I can be the godly healthy, and whole woman You made me to be.

In Jesus’s name, amen.

Start today by setting your F.A.I.T.H. Goals! God can do a new thing in you and your fitness, friend! Don’t forget to download your freebie that has the F.A.I.T.H. Goals template and so much more, at www.fitgodsway.com!  

Remember, you are Strong. Confident. His.