A book, a treadmill, and a prayer.

Want to lose weight? Your source of self-control may be closer than you think. I love junk food! I'm not talking casual fondness for a fistful of corn chips or a mouthful of powered donuts. I mean full-blown, passionate love for things deep fried, heavily crusted, and smothered with cheese, all washed down with ice cold soda, followed by a jumbo scoop of vanilla ice cream with hot fudge drizzled on top. Get the picture?

This was my dilemma as I left my doctor's office frustrated over file extra 30 pounds my love for junk food had packed onto my body. I knew I'd gained some weight since my last check up, but when my doctor poked a finger at my belly and said tactfully, "You're getting a bit chunky and could stand to lose a few pounds," I got the picture.

Over the years I'd tried everything from liquid diets, low carbohydrate plans, to menus made up entirely of selected fruit and vegetables. With each new attempt came the hope that my will power would last long enough for me to drop a few pounds before my junk-food craving kicked in. Unfortunately, each new success was quickly followed by the same old failure.

As the only guest at my pity party that afternoon, I decided to have a serious talk with God. My past failures had caused me to bypass the subject of weight loss with Him, but being poked in the belly by a concerned physician was no fun. It was time to get honest.

"I need to lose weight, God, and I can't." I prayed. "I have no will power, so I'm pretty sure I'll fail. But, I do believe in You. And I believe that if You help me, then maybe I have a chance."

God heard my request and used a good book, a sturdy treadmill, and humble prayer to show me the way.

Praise God and Skip the Rice Cakes

To begin the journey, I searched my bookshelf hoping to find a helpful resource that would point the way to a healthier lifestyle; one I could handle and one--I hoped--didn't consist of merely eating "crunchy air" or those ubiquitous rice cakes that seemed to be the fate of serious dieters.

What I found was Neva Coyle's and Marie Chapian's book Free to Be Thin. I'd discovered it a few months prior to my honest talk with God in a used bookstore, wedged between hundreds of other forgotten volumes.

The five-dollar paperback had all the appearance of being another "quick-fix" weight-loss program. Pulling the unexpected treasure off the shelf and blowing the dust from the top of the pages, I cracked it open. To my surprise, the very first sentence, which, thankfully, had nothing to do with rice cakes, struck a chord within me and set my healthy lifestyle change in motion. The authors had quoted Isaiah 43:18. "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past."

I was stunned. Without even realizing it, I had picked up a faith-based book geared toward teaching readers to live godly lives, not just by dieting, but by making healthy spiritual, mental, and physical choices.

The first step required that I forget the former things. Each time I'd tried and failed in the past to lose weight--to say no to junk food, to take better care of myself--the failure had been stored in memory. Now God was telling me to forget about my past failures and center on my future victories.

This meant narrowing nay focus to literally one meal at a time. I'd been used to eating whatever I wanted, and my extra 30 pounds proved it. The idea of laying aside past failures and working with God one meal at a time was a new concept, and I knew it would require a lot of prayer.

Through Free to Be Thin, I learned why we're so attracted to the wrong foods, how to be patient with ourselves, and how to create an active lifestyle. Each chapter contained a simple prayer of encouragement leading to a deeper commitment to better health. As my mental and spiritual awareness grew, I was ready for the next step--exercise.

A Moving Experience

I made a commitment to take a brisk 30-minute walk every day on my newly purchased treadmill. By the end of nay first walk, I learned that hearing about the benefits of exercise all these years didn't compare to actually experiencing it. It was amazing! Within 30 minutes a bucket of endorphins, those "happy chemicals in the brain," flooded my body. My whole attitude changed. I felt fabulous!

Yet, just like with my meals, I knew I needed God to help me stay committed to the wonderful benefit of exercise. I knew it would be easy to get busy with life and begin making excuses for why I couldn't stick with my program. Once again I focused my thoughts and prayers on one exercise session at a time.

With each meal needing prayer and each day of exercise needing prayer, I found myself talking to God more than ever before.

A few days into my commitment, I propped my paperback on a book holder and read while I walked. Not only did the time fly, I stumbled upon a life-changing truth.

Authors Coyle and Chapian unashamedly confronted the central cause for our lack of exercising self-control. "If you think you have no self-control in your life because of your overeating," they announced, "take a look at some areas in your life where you do exercise self-control. Do you: Get out of bed when the alarm clock goes off? Arrive to work on time? Answer the phone when it rings? Pay a bill? Take a shower? Make a decision about anything? If you can check yes to any of these, then you're loaded with self-control."

Wow! Not only did I have self-control, I was loaded with it! For years I'd given in to junk food, thinking I had none. Yet I couldn't deny the fact that I had answered yes to every, one of the questions in the book.

Finally, the lightbulb clicked on. It was clear that I suffered from what they called "selective self-control syndrome." I used it only when I wanted to. Apparently, I never really wanted to give up junk food--only the weight.

Fruit of the Spirit

Self-control is described in Galatians 5:22, 23 as one of the many fruits of the Holy Spirit. Every man, woman, and child who has asked Jesus to come into their heart also has the Holy Spirit dwelling inside. Whether we exercise self-control or not, we possess it.

It's been said that knowing is half the battle. If we know we possess the tools we need to succeed in making healthy choices, then the key is learning to use those tools. Exercising the spirit of self-control, as with any action, takes time to develop.

Surrounding myself with the right resources, being patient with myself while I developed them, and adding prayer to my daily regime helped me lose my 30 unwanted pounds and keep it off.

Do I still crave junk food? Absolutely. But meditating on God's Word has shown me that I do possess self-control. I exercise it little by little, one day at a time. Now, when I'm tempted to overeat or make an unhealthy choice, I hop onto my treadmill, open my favorite book, send a quick prayer heavenward, asking God to help me reject the "selective" part of my commitment. Junk food doesn't stand a chance when I dine daily on the satisfying fruit of God's amazing Spirit.

Monica Cane writes from Manteca, California.