Lysa TerKeurst - Ill Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits With Lasting Spiritual Satisfaction

Forgiving What You Cant Forget

Forgiving What You Cant Forget DVD and Study Guide

The Forgiveness Journal

Seeing Beautiful Again (devotional)

Its Not Supposed to Be This Way

Its Not Supposed to Be This Way DVD and Study Guide

Embraced (devotional)

Uninvited

Uninvited DVD and Study Guide

The Best Yes

The Best Yes DVD and Study Guide

Unglued

Unglued DVD and Participants Guide

Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl

Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study

Girl DVD and Participants Guide

Made to Crave

Made to Crave DVD and Participants Guide

What Happens When Women Say Yes to God

Childrens

It Will Be Okay

Win or Lose, I Love You!

Ill Start Again Monday

2022 Lysa TerKeurst

Abridged from Made to Crave, 9780310293262, 2010.

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ISBN 978-0-7852-3250-6 (eBook)

ISBN 978-0-7852-3248-3 (HC)

Epub Edition October 2021 9780785232506

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021945798

Printed in the United States of America

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To the girl with a weary heart who feels so

very alone in this struggle that seems like it

will never end... Let me be the friend who

comes alongside you to say: you are seen. You

are loved. You are prayed for. Jesus is with

you, and so am I. We can do this. So, lets

link arms and face this journey together.

A typical book on healthy lifestyle choices should contain lots of talk on vegetables, calories, colon cleanses, and phrases like you must and you should.

I have a problem with all that talk. Its not the how to Im missing. Its the want to... really wanting to make lasting changes and deciding that the results of those changes are worth the sacrifice.

In light of this admission, I think its only appropriate to be honest with you about a few things right up front.

1. I am emotionally allergic to typical books on healthy eating.
2. Not once in my life have I ever craved a carrot stick.
3. I am not overly excited about giving up two of the greatest delights of my taste budsCheez-Its and box-mix brownies. In fact, Ive asked God if it would be such a terribly difficult thing to swap the molecular structure of Cheez-Its for carrot sticks. Theyre both already orange. And, really, how hard could that be for someone whos turned water into wine?
4. I wasnt sure I had any business writing a book like this. Im a simple Jesus girl on a journey to finding deeper motivation than just a number on my scale for getting and staying healthy.

   Im not writing this book to beat your taste buds into submission or because Ive discovered the magic diet to get you skinny by tomorrow. Im writing this book because Ive struggled way too long with my food choices and my weight. Because Ive said, Ill start again Monday a thousand timesonly to disappoint myself by breakfast. And word on the street says most of my girlfriends fight this draining, dissatisfying cycle day in and day out as well. Which brings me to the fifth thing you should know about me:

5. I started this journey weighing 167 pounds. To some, this is a horrifyingly high number. To others, 167 is a dream weight. In my case, the number itself was not the issue. The issue was how I felt mentally, spiritually, and physically. It was time to be honest with myself.

I think we all get to a place in our lives when we have to give a brutally honest answer to the question, How am I doing? Its not really a conversation we have with a friend or family member. Its one of those middle-of-the-night contemplations when theres no glossing over the realities staring us in the face.

I knew certain things about myself needed to change, but it was easier to make excuses than it was to tackle them head-on. Rationalizations are so appealing. See if you relate to any of these:

Im good in every other area.

I make so many sacrifices already.

I need treats as a comfort in this season of life; Ill deal with my issues later.

The Bible doesnt specifically say this is wrong.

If I really wanted to make a change, I could; I just dont want to right now.

Oh, for heavens sake, everyone has issues. So what if this is mine?

But excuses got me nowhere fast, especially when it came to healthy eating.

A whole lifetime could be spent giving in to excuses, feeling guilty, resolving to do better, mentally beating myself up for not sticking to my resolve, and then resigning myself to the fact that things cant change.

And I dont want to spend a lifetime in this cycle.

I suspect you dont either.

The book you hold in your hands could be the missing companion youve needed with every healthy eating plan you tried and cried over. I believe it will help you find your want to.

In addition to helping you find the desire to conquer your unhealthy eating habits, it also holds the key to something very significant for most of us women: spiritual malnutrition. We feel overweight physically but underweight spiritually. Tying these two things together is the first step on one of the most significant journeys youll ever take with God.