Is anyone here religious?

I was raised a Scientologist. Let me just preface this with that. And I also want to mention that I don't mean to keep posting these depressing posts; I know this is not an eating disorder forum but I think we all suffer from 'disordered eating,' and I think that's what my problem has become, not necessarily an ED. So that's my preface.

That being said, I am really trying to solve my issues when it comes to my drive for weight loss and my general dissapointment with myself (see my last post about terrible body image...). I think what it comes down to is a lack of a relationship with God; I think that may be the hole I have that I'm trying to fill. It's just so hard; I mean I can conceptualize salvation but I can't actually FEEL it. I'm spinning in a black abyss of calories and food and weight, and none of that actually MATTERS in the long run, and I think if I stopped caring about all of that, my 'problems' would actually be solved! I'm just so afraid to let go.

I know nothing about Christianity;  I just know I'm drawn to it for whatever reason, much to my own dismay. (and I think my father would rather have me come out to him as being gay than as being a Christian...seriously).

Has anyone's faith helped them with their food and weight issues?

After I re-found God (I am Christian, Catholic to be exact) everything, and I mean everything, has fallen into place... there is a previous thread of all Christian Dieters, which you can read here if you want to, however I must warn you it is a pretty long thread lol)

Good luck building your relationship with God, I can guarentee you if you truly do form a bond with God life is good. :)

Take care

I know my God would help me with my weightloss issues if I just let him! I've been so fixated that I've let my relationship with God slide. I'm not totally distant though, still go to church and bible study weekly...its almost as if I think that if were happier with my weight, skinnier then I could serve God more fully without worrying about my self-image. I know its warped...your view I think is more accurate, mine's a bit backwards! I do certainly believe that turning to God would certainly help me to let go of this weight issue thing so I wanna encourage you to really find Him. You've encouraged me...I know God can help me I just haven't approached Him about it!...Maybe I think its rather shallow to have been fixated for 6 years on weight!

We need to learn that God really doesn't care what we look like but he also knows the desires of our hearts. Those desires however need to be healthy ones. I think alwaysfreetobeme is right, if you build with God, it allows him to build in your life.

I'm very excited about your being interested in Christianity. Please add me if you want...would love to chat! ...Oh..I'm a christian...my family is Jehovah's witness so  I kinda know what struggles you may be facing with the whole similar but totally different religion type of thing!

Personally I believe that we find God inside of us,  and certainly not in any specific religion, that we have to know that we are a child of God and that we are loved, each and every one of us.

I was raised Catholic,  there are many things there that I do not agree with, but also know that they mostly are the thinking of men (humans) and not the basics of God. 

Faith is found inside of us, whatever that may be.  A vast majority of  parents want their kids to be like them, especially when it comes to beliefs and values.  Took till I was 27 to realize that only I was responsible for my soul, not my parents.  From then on I seem to have acquired a closeness with myself on my path to learning about God. 

I do not know how old you are, and I hope that on your way to finding what is right for you, you will find inner peace.  You will know when you are going in the right direction.  Just open your heart and listen to the silence, the message will come.

I am spiritual but not religious.

Hi shakti!  I was raised Christian, but when I was in high school, I bought a book called "So What's The Difference?"  by Fritz Ridenour.  It explains the difference between all the religions and long story short, not only did I learn a lot about other beliefs, I also found that it confirmed my relationship with God and my own beliefs as a Christian.

That being said, I think that a relationship with God has definately helped me with my weight.  Not necessarily weight loss, but a healthy lifestyle.  I know God wants me to be healthy but also doesn't care what anyone looks like, and that helps me to focus on eating right and exercising, which in the long run will bring weight down anyway.

~hipsdontlie~

I wanted to post in your journal but you don't have any entries. I am a United Methodist Minister, so of course I have a tremendous relationship with God. I can't imagine trying to live without one.

As for affecting my healthy lifestyle, the only reason I'm working on it is for God. It affects my witness. And I've noticed that it seems a lot of folks here, even or especially when they are making progress in getting healthy, still go through a lot of depression or loss of hope. They can't understand why they are down because a lot of times they write about such feelings and the scale has been kind to them that morning.

There are a lot of psychological issues that go with our eating habits. Sometimes people address the eating but don't realize they have to address the psychological factors as well. That's a big part of these periods of depression in the midst of the high. At least I think so.

But I also think it is due to a lack of a relationship with God and striving for a healthy lifestyle for a higher purpose outside ourselves. IDK. It just seems to me I don't go through those periods of depression because it's not about me.
I so recognize the emptiness you are feeling inside. And I know that undeniable attraction your talking about. I feel in my heart it is your Heavenly Father who loves you beckoning to you to "come home". God wants you to get to know God and to have a relationship with God.

That's just my .02. If you wanna talk anymore, stop by my journal or send me and email. My address is in my profile.

And I highly recommend trying out a church. Ask your friends or coworkers where a friendly church is in town and try there.

I'm glad you asked! I'm a Christian, and let me tell you just a few basic things about what I believe.

I believe in a loving and caring Heavenly Father who is always there to listen to me, and help me with whatever I need. My desire has to be righeous and I have no doubt that he will give it to me when the time comes.

Currently I cannot imagine not having Him there in my life.

Good luck on your journey, and if you need a shoulder to lean on, please let me know.

i just think that if you're feeling drawn to christianity (praise God!) that there must be a reason for it! God is calling you!! I hope you find what you're looking for

I'm not religious... don't believe in God BUT... I like to study religions. I even took a psychology of religion class my last semester of college (we discussed why some people need religion and others don't, and how you progress through life religiously-how kids see religion through the time you die). I have the religions I'm most drawn to are Islam and Buddhism. Despite the things in the press and the way our government portrays Muslims, I think it's the most honest religion (not to mention the Qur'an hasn't changed 8213489734 times).

I know this has been said before, but if you feel like Christianity is of interest to you (which is obviously is if you are asking for advice ;)) then it is definitely worth a shot.

I can't tell you if finding your personal relationship with Christ will help you on your path to a healthier body, or to weight loss, but I can tell you this about myself... God has opened my heart in so many areas, and has blessed me with His presence on a daily basis, I feel more positive, freer, and more alive than I could ever imagine.  These emotions have all paved the way for me to live in a more health conscious way.

I pray that you find what you are looking for.

I grew up Babtist but I'm pretty much a Gnostic Christian, my beliefs have changed and evolved throughout my entire life.  I think it's okay to have moments of doubt, I've had them too.  It's really about what you feel comforatable with, not what your parents want you to believe.  I say exploring other ideas and beliefs is healthy and I don't see it as turning your back on you religion at all.  From what I've heard Scientologists are supposed to be open to all religions, right?  Or at least that's what I read from their website.

I felt that weight loss was a spiritual quest for me, and something that I needed to do to strengthen myself and my soul.  And yes that helped, but there were other motivations as well, like getting a good job and looking good in my wedding dress :)  In the end I think it should be about what you want.

When I started here my goal was to lose weight.  Then I realized that their were "other" things in my life that were missing or out of balance that were contributing to my weight issues. One of those being my connection with "God/Spirituality/Inner Truth/The Light" whatever you want to call it.  It doesn't matter what religeon you belong to it is about being spirtual. (Sorry everyone if this sounds flakey).  I added a link to a very interesting page about spirituality (Slappy originally turned me on to this site----thank you Slappy). It changed my way of thinking.  Do I think being connected to the higher being would benefit your weight loss.....YES! By the way I am Catholic...I forgot to mention that. 

http://1stholistic.com/Prayer/hol_prayer_spir ituality-confusing-or-what.htm    

I agree with tgarrison - and I too am an ordained minister. Long before I was called to ministry...I was in my mid twenties and desperately longing for something that wasn't in my life at the time.. it took me several years to pinpoint that it was God stirring me to return to my faith. When I began to act upon this stirring - I went to a church or two and found each of them to not "fill the spot." But I kept going until the day that I was so warmly welcomed that it felt as if Jesus Himself were extending the "welcome home."

Once I steadily attended this little presbyterian church full of grey haired folk, I found myself filled with hope and love.

Did it help my weight loss - must confess I gained weight steadily after that, but it's not because of religion (unless perhaps I found myself so comfortable in my skin, that I forgot to be in control of my eating for health's sake.)

But I'm also now on track, with God's help. Prayer and meditation helps to put my focus not on my hunger/cravings, but on God and God's children in the world.

God stirs - expecting us to act. Yes, spirituality is important, but I truly believe God created us to be in community. And attending a place of worship is one way to meet people who are traveling the path of spirituality together - supporting each other on this life journey.. I recommend listening to the "Inner Voice" and act accordingly.

Sorry to hear that your father will not approve! This has happened since Jesus first came to us. Belief in Jesus Christ can estrange us from our family and friends if they do not understand the love that is offered in faith. But a community of believers will become like family to you when you are in the right place... God will guide you there, just start looking.

Shalom

I am an American Muslim. I was born into a Christian family and raised so. Through out my life I struggled so to encompass Christianity but found that, even in my own family's example, it did not quite sit right with me. At the age of 40 I found Islam, and I finally found myself. God has proven to me his existance through the Quran (scientifically i might add), through prayer, through life tests and through inner peace. This is not to say that I am not without constant testing from Satan, but for once in my life I feel that if I let go and let God, judgement day will reward me.

Now, has my relationship with God helped me in this lifestyle change? Yes, because God created our bodies, one of millions of awsome creations, and I feel in order to thank him, I must take care of it to the best of my ability. Does this mean losing weight? No, it means feeding it healthy food and exercising for stregnth and health. Its my way of thanking God for all that he has given me, sight, smell, taste, hearing, voice, the ability to walk, run, and feel among other things.

Look around you. How many disabled individuals are there? How many people are overcome by drugs, illnesses and loss? I say THANK YOU GOD, FOR ALL THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME, and I do this by taking care of my body.

Just one peice of advice, all the books are Gods books.

LET GO, LET GOD. God loves those who seek him.

Yes I am a Christian and I do believe prayer helps balance our lives.  I beleive Christ does not want us to do anything to the extreme and I feel overeating is a sin, which I do almost daily.  Your message made me realize I have not included God in my diet plans and maybe that is the biggest part of the problem.  So, I thank you for the reminder that I need to include the Lord more in my life.  Sometimes, at least I do, stray away and then wonder why my life goes haywire.

If you have a friend that will visit different churches with you, that would be a start.  There is a wonderful national bible study and they have a website...."bible study fellowship."  It is very intense and requires studying the word, and any person of any religion or no religious affliation may attend.  

http://www.bsfinternational.org/  

They are everywhere.  You will meet some of the most sincerest spiritual people there. 

I wish you the best.

I'm a Christian and Christ gives me that underlying peace that is so reassuring!! He's so a part of my life that it's hard to explain how my faith in Jesus has helps me with my food and weight issues... but now you've given me something to think and pray about so I'll get back to you!

I'm a christian too!  

Actually, I never grew up in church.  I use to classify myself as an Athiest.  I was quite against christianity and religion, but 4 years ago, I converted within a day.   It was a pretty powerful experiance, and from then on out I've always know that there is a god and that he put himself on the line for us.   Anyone can feel free to ask me about my conversion at any time.

Anyways though, God has helped me through a lot of the pain of not feeling good about myself, and feeling fat.  I have to remind myself everyday that he made me, and fat or thin, I am still so precious and beautiful to him.  I've had lots of support too within my christian community at church.  I think that is one of the greatest gifts of being a christian, the fellowship and community. 

I want to lose weight for many reasons, and I think that its going to help me serve God better.  We need to keep our bodies healthy so we can be on the fly to whatever our calling might be.  It's definitely motivating.  Prayer helps a lot too. I really believe that people, this site, has been put into my life from prayer.  I use to pray everyday that I would lose weight, but I had to put some effort into it first, God supported me the whole way once I did.

I wish you luck on your journey to find faith and of weightloss.

I am a youth minister at my church and have really enjoyed reading this discussion.  I look at your name alwayzfreetobeme and with Christ you are always free to be who you are!!  He loves you just the way he created you!!  So many times we focus on how to please those in the world like our parents, co- workers, significant others etc... that it causes us to become overwhelmed and it may cause us to over eat or not live a healthy life style.  All God desires is that we would accept his son Jesus that he gave for us to take every heavy burden from us.  Through prayer we are able to tell him how we feel and lean on him when the world is leaning on us.  The word God tells us to present our bodies a living sacrafice holy and acceptable unto God which is our reasonable service in the 8th chapter of Romans.  We that belong to God need to be available for him to encourage others.  At my weakest time, I need the Lord, in my best time, I need the Lord.  Weight loss is easier knowing that God is on my side.  Everyday I present my body as a sacrafice to him.  I am now careful what I put in in and how much I put in it because when I meet others I want them to first meet the spirit within not how big I am.  I will be praying that God will continue to show you the way that he has for you and bless you in your decission to take care and love the body that he has given you.

um....I'm Jewish, but I haven't needed to lose weight, so I guess I can't say it's helped me, as I didn't need help.

Good luck with your weight loss, though!

I'm pentlecostle C.O.G.I.C.
I pray and read the bible daily and I totally depend on God each and every day.  I need him to help me through this weight battle and I must say even though I've only been dieting a month, God has truly blessed me with will power.