By the time I was a junior in high school, I weighed almost 300 lbs, had an addiction to food was prediabetic, and had VERY low self-esteem.
I tried to lose weight countless times. But every diet I did just didn’t work. I would do “ok” for a couple of weeks but eventually would fall back because all I cared about was looking good.
I would do “ok” during the week but then once the weekend came, all bets were off. I would eat horribly and feel so guilty that I would try and make an extreme change that would never last.
It felt like an endless cycle. Not to mention the health industry is SO confusing. Everything I would read would say different things. The more research I did the more confused I got.
Until I eventually got sick of it all. Sick of feeling horrible about myself, sick of being made fun of, sick of having heartburn every night. I started to make the changes… but for the wrong reasons.
I basically will-powered myself healthy. Normally that doesn’t work for long. But as I started getting results God started doing something on the inside of me that changed everything.
As my relationship with Jesus grew I started to see that my physical health could just be a reflection of what God was doing on the inside of me.
Because as my mind was being renewed every day my actions started to flow out of my new ways of thinking, instead of just forcing myself to do actions that didn’t align with how I was thinking.
I started to see that my health wasn’t about how I look primarily, it’s about how I can serve others. It’s about stewarding the only body God gives me in this life.
Where at first my progress was motivated out of fear and guilt, now it was motivated out of a desire to serve God and others. Now I didn’t have trouble with my sugar cravings. I didn’t have trouble sustaining my progress because my mind was in the right place. Real transformation comes by the renewing of the mind.
I had increased energy. I no longer had regular heartburn. I no longer was addicted to food.
Once people saw that was actually maintaining my progress this time they started asking for help. So over the past 7 years, my team and I have aimed to bring revival to people’s health so they can fully have the ability to serve God and others.
Be encouraged today God wants to bring revival to YOUR health so you can do everything he has called you to do. It’s never too late. You can use your health as a vehicle to get to what God has for you in this life. Invite Him into the process and see how He changes everything.
Ashton Tate is the founder of Glory to Glory Fitness in Nashville, TN. They help busy, productive leaders have more energy to meet the demands of leadership, so they can do everything God has called them to in every area of life.
