Stephen Arterburn - Lose It For Life Workbook

LOSE IT
for
LIFE

WORKBOOK

LOSE IT
for
LIFE
WORKBOOK

Stephen Arterburn, M. Ed.

2004 by Stephen Arterburn

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc. books may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Material in the workbook is based on the book Lose It for Life by Stephen Arterburn and Linda Mintle, 2004 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Additional material and questions written by Len Woods.

Published in association with Alive Communications, 7680 Goddard St., Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations used in this book are from The Holy Bible, New International Version NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked (THE MESSAGE) are taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible, copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) are taken from are taken from THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE. Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Produced with the assistance of The Livingstone Corporation (www.LivingstoneCorp.com). Project staff include David Veerman, Len Woods, Mary Horner Collins and Kirk Luttrell.

Cover Design: Brand Navigation, LLC (Bill Chiaravalle, Mark Mickel), www.brandnavigation.com
Cover Image: Steve Gardner, PixelWorks
Interior design by The Livingstone Corporation: Mark Wainwright and Kirk Luttrell

ISBN 10: 1-59145-275-9
ISBN 13: 978-1-59145-275-1

Printed in the United States of America
07 08 09 10 11 RRD 11 10 9 8 7

Contents

If you have read or are reading the book Lose It for Life by Steve Arterburn and Linda Mintle, you know that it is much more than a diet or a short-term fitness program. Lose It For Life (LIFL) is intended to be a way of life. Thats why they say its the Total SolutionSpiritual, Emotional, Physicalfor Permanent Weight Loss. It isnt about eating strange, tasteless foods or purchasing expensive exercise equipment. And the bottom-line goal isnt merely to look better.

No, LIFL, is a holistic approach to healthaimed not only at your physical fitness but also your emotional, relational, mental, and spiritual well-being. Practically, speaking, LIFL is nothing less than an opportunity for long-term life change and permanent weight loss. Its about total transformation from the inside out.

Long before you stand on your bath scales shocked at the high numbers staring up at you, long before that new pair of pants suddenly wont fit, you need to understand that there are other, deeper issues swirling in your heart. The LIFL approach takes an unflinching and often fascinating look at these factors. Here is a summons to look honestly at how we interact with food and why. What is going on inside you when you make four trips to the refrigerator inside of fifteen minutes? Is food what you really need? Is your stomach really hungry? Or maybe is the true problem an empty or wounded heart? Are we at the mercy of such deeply ingrained habits? Can people truly change?

This Lose It for Life Workbook has been designed as a companion to the book, Lose It for Life. The two are designed to work together. The book offers you the information and tools you will need to understand whats lacking in your current approach to eating and how to begin the process of restoring balance in that area of your life. The Workbook gives you a tool for completing a wide variety of exercises and activities that are crucial to the process. Its an 11-week (5 days per week) program to help you reclaim the power to control your life in the area of food. To prepare for each week, you will be asked to read the appropriate chapter in the book. Then you should use the Workbook to help you wrestle with the issues raised in the book.

While not required for you to complete the program, the LIFL family of products has additional resources that you might find helpful, including an interactive Journal Planner and a Day by Day Devotional. There is also a teen version of the book Lose It for Life. Check out the ad in the back of this Workbook.

The Workbook has been developed to urge you to reflect more deeply. It will prod you to examine your thoughts and habits. It will ask you to remember past eventsboth pleasurable and painful. Mostly, it will push you to take all the facts and wise principles presented in the LIFL book and put them into practice. The Workbook is your private place to scribble notes, to jot questions, to record feelings and thoughts. The only rule? Be honest. Pretending never got anybody anywhere. Only the truth can set us free.

At times this Workbook will likely tick you off. You may feel like hurling it across the room. Please understand our goal isnt to elicit sharp anger or sadness. Rather, through pointed questions and practical exercises, we simply want to lead you to a deeper, richer understanding of why you do what you do; show you how you can shed bad habits for good and how, with the help of God and others, you can develop a whole new approach to life, to eating, to living healthy and free.

So read thoughtfully. Answer honestly. Work through the Workbook diligently. Pursue God desperately. Pursue connection with others relentlessly. And, lastly, expect realistically.

Do these things faithfully, and over the long haul, you will succeed. A healthier soul will lead to a healthier mindset. That will lead to healthier habits. That in turn, will result in a healthier body. Food will lose its powerful hold on you. You will shed unwanted pounds. Can you really do it? Absolutely! God has promised to help, and you have what it takes. Faith in a good and powerful God, together with personal commitment, is an unbeatable combination.

A final warning: If your goal is simply to drop 50 pounds as fast as possible, to get skinny so youll look better in a bathing suit, LIFL is probably not what youre looking for. But if, at long last, you want to go beneath the surfaceif youre finally ready to identify and grapple with all the underlying, unad-dressed thoughts and feelings that have been driving your unhealthy eating and exercise habitsthen were ready to begin.

Buckle up. Lets get started. Lets begin to lose it for life.