Beth's Story

I began Grace and Strength like so many people did. I watched a friend who was part of the program and I saw her weight seeming to melt away. At first when I talked about it with her I thought "that sounds too hard!" But as I watched her continue to shrink and her confidence grow I started thinking "maybe." As my weight reached an all time high and it felt hard to leave the house because of feeling uncomfortable in my own skin I realized that it was also hard to be overweight. So why not try?

I have tried lots of other diets and have attempted the "try-harder" approaches to losing weight and have failed and failed. The result was always self loathing and a feeling of helplessness. It made me scared to even set myself up for another failure. I'm so happy to report I have lost 60+ pounds on this journey and have lost 28 inches during my time with Grace and Strength. It hasn't always been forward progress on the scales which helped me continue to identify areas in my life that needed changes. Every week Coach Monica would continue to pour truths into my heart during bible study and my house became filled with note cards and reminders from the Word to help embed those truths even deeper.

In the past I had gotten in the habit of turning to food for a quick easy distraction or pick-me-up. I didn't realize how numb to emotions and what limited coping skills, aside from turning to food, I had until I removed that as an option. Wow, did God have a lot of work to do in my heart! My driving reason to start this journey was to become a better version of myself for God's use and glory. Now that I've reached my goal I realize I feel much more alive! God has re-awakened my passion to really feel connected to Him, and how I crave that daily! I used to always feel like food was a place where I would choose the path of least resistance. Whatever was quick and easy was the way I'd go. The problem with the path of least resistance is that you don't end up at any destination you would plan to choose. That is not what I want in my life. Through this journey I have found that it is ok to choose the harder path and through God's strength I can. Negative emotions won't kill me and ultimately as I pour my heart out to God they won't last forever. Food is not my comforter; God is!

~Beth

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* Individual results may vary.