I couldn’t think of a better way to end our {31.3 Jump} than with a real life story. If you are new to “Shed & Share Wednesdays” be sure to check out our other stories! Meet Zinnada H!

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{The Basics}

Name: Zinnada H.

Age: 35

Profession: Homemaker

How long have you been on this weight loss journey? It’s been 1 year!! I started around this time last year! Woo-hoo!

Weight Loss/Inches Lost: 45 lbs / 4 dress sizes

Blog/Facebook Page: Blog: www.growinghodges.blogspot.com and I can be found on facebook as Zinnada Hodges

{Your Story}

What was your “low point”?

It was when I finally confessed my sin of idolatry to food to the Lord. The Lord began to put His finger on the issue with me in 2008 after I had my first son when I started a bible study called “The Lord’s Table”. When I realized that I had made foods such as sweets (cakes, candy bars, sodas, and ice cream) as an idol, I thought I had repented from desiring to eat them and I lost some of my weight. But, once I got pregnant again, with our last son in 2010. I gained all the weight back and was 180 pounds wearing a size 14-16.

I was greatly discouraged about my weight. Especially since I remember being a size 4 when I got married and I was very athletic in high school and college. I hated the fact that I just let myself gain so much weight. I tried doing the bible study again, but my heart was not in it. I was trying to “cheat” my way through it in order to get the reward of weight loss. So, I continued to go after foods and continued to gain weight. Weight wasn’t the only thing that I was gaining, I was becoming more and more discouraged about my appearance.

Then the Lord lead me to a women’s bible study at my church. The study helped me to deal with the bondage that I was in. That’s when it became clear that I was held prisoner to food addiction and that it was time for me to break free from its hold on me through the power of God’s Spirit and His word!!

How did you get started?

When the new year began, the Lord made it clear that it was time for me to walk away from my old eating habits and to began learning to walk in new ones. He used a dieting devotional to help me to start. In the devotional, I wasn’t to eat anything white (no sugar, flour, or potatoes) and no corn. When I saw that, I knew God was meaning business because every one of those things were the foods that I craved. The devotional also challenged me not to eat anything after 7 pm. Night snacking was the worst habit I had formed. After having a hard time with the kids, ice cream and candy bars were my “drug” to take to sooth away all of the stresses of the day.

As I began doing that for 2 months, it helped me get on the path of healthy eating. I was blessed with a set of exercise DVD’s that I used every morning. As I continued eating better and exercising, I started seeing the weight fall off of me every month and now a year later I’m 135 pounds wearing a size 8! Praise God!

{Help Us!}

What are your top 3 favorite resources that helped you along the way?

1. Leslie Sansone’s “Walk At Home” exercise DVD series
2. Beth Moore’s “Breaking Free” bible study
3. “Fit For My King” Dieting Devotional by Sheri Rose Shepherd

What one piece of advice would you give to someone who is sitting on the sidelines and waiting?

Trust the Lord that you can lose the weight. His grace is so sufficient!! He can give you the strength through His Spirit to say no to those habits and can help you to develop new ones. You’ve got to trust in His power and His word. He will offer a way of escape.

What one piece of advice would you give to someone who is in the process but is feeling discouraged?

Continue to trust the Lord for the desire to loose the weight. Remember, “If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask the Lord…” Seek His face as to what else you may need to do to loose the weight. I remember when I stopped seeing the scale go down and I started to feel discouraged and wanted to give up. By God’s grace, He helped me to “take my thoughts captive”. I had to fight the temptation to give in to the lie that “It’s not working.” “Just give up!” When you think about it, it’s truly the enemy trying to discourage us and keep us on that path of unhealthy eating. So, continue to fight the flesh, trust the Lord, and keep pressing constantly “casting your cares on Him” to get you to the desired weight you’d like to be.
Also seek the Lord as to why you’ve gained the weight. Have you been eating turning to food instead of Him? Are you lazy and need to learn how to come out of it? Why do you really want to loose the weight? Is it to look good for others? Search your heart on the matter.

Think of a plan. If you can’t keep certain foods out of the house due to others liking them, ask them to not eat the food in front of you or to hold you accountable of not eating them (and listen to them when they see you eating them!) I had to do that. Also think of healthy foods that you do like to eat. Just because carrot chips are healthy for you. If you think they’re nasty, don’t try to eat them. Only eat the good foods that you like. But, also began to try different foods as you continue to grow in your new eating habits.

Lastly, remember to “die daily” to your old self. Your old eating habits were build in you and now you’ve got to learn to walk in your new way of eating. By God’s grace, He helped me to see that since I’ve repented and have given my eating to him, I had to be reminded of that daily. I still fall short, but when I do, I continue to seek and ask Him to keep me from those foods that turn me away from finding comfort in Him. I also had to realize that I couldn’t eat certain foods anymore due to my addiction to them. By God’s grace, I haven’t had certain candy bars in a year and I don’t drink any sodas. When I eat  ice cream, I choose a flavor that I don’t really care for (vanilla) and I get a child’s size cup.

Once you lose the weight, give God the glory! It was Him who helped you so let others know it. Once you tell it, be diligent to keep it off. That’s been my biggest thing. I didn’t want to profess and tell others that it was the Lord who helped me to loose it only for others to see me gain it back! So, as a witness of what God can do, I strive daily to maintain my weight.

If you are a parent, how have you balanced everything?

Being a mother to 5 kids aging from 8 to 2 years old, I arise early in the morning to exercise. I also run around outside with my kids instead of sitting and watching them play and we love it!

Anything else you would like to share?

It’s a blessing to have a supportive husband. My sweetheart never took his eyes off of my body. He loved and desired it always!! His encouragement helped me to desire to give him a better and healthier me. Now, I’m even more happier to have the energy to serve him in many ways. Plus, it’s great to have the energy to serve the rest of my family. To God be the glory for what He has done!!

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Thank you for sharing your story, Zinnada. What encouragement for all of us!

Do you have a Shed Story that you want to share? We want to hear it! Please contact me below or clare@peak313.com to be a part of the series! Stay tuned because I have many more women with more inspiring stories to come!