Less to More: My Weight Journey
- 20 minutes ago
- 4 min read
How many diets have you been on?
Five? Ten? Twenty?
I'm probably in the latter category, although I've long since lost count. Like many people, I was always searching for the silver bullet that would help me lose the weight and keep it off.
I finally realized I had it backward.
Every time I started a new diet, my focus was on losing weight. That seems logical, but it trained my brain to chase the rewards of seeing the scale go down and watching my clothes fit better. Then the weight loss slowed. The excitement faded. Before long, my brain went looking for another reward.
Food.
Not just any food, but the foods I found hardest to resist, especially those made with flour and sugar. I would gain the weight back, feel discouraged, and eventually start searching for the next plan.
Every diet worked.
Until it didn't.
People often say we need to stop thinking in terms of dieting and start thinking in terms of a lifestyle. I completely agree. The problem is that most diets don't teach you how to make that shift. They focus on getting you to the "after" picture as quickly as possible.
We love before-and-after photos.
We don't get nearly as excited about the ordinary choices that make lasting change possible.
This past spring, I started another eating program.
I'm not going to pretend my motives were perfect. I wanted to lose the twenty pounds I had gained over the previous year, and I wanted to lose it quickly.
At first, the weight came off just as it always had. Then it slowed. Then it slowed even more.
But something else was happening.
For the first time, my focus wasn't centered on eating less. It was centered on eating differently.
My meals were surprisingly large. Vegetables often filled an entire dinner plate. One evening we hosted a barbecue for our life group, and I had almost twice as much food on my plate as everyone else. I remember feeling a little embarrassed. Since many of them knew I was following an eating plan, I wondered if they thought I had completely abandoned it.
In reality, I was eating exactly what the program called for.
The biggest difference wasn't how much I ate.
It was what I no longer ate.
The program eliminated flour, sugar, and alcohol.
At first, that felt nearly impossible. Those foods are everywhere.
But something unexpected happened.
Instead of spending all my energy thinking about losing weight, I had to begin changing my relationship with food.
I started where I usually tried to finish.
Instead of waiting until maintenance to develop new habits, I was building them from the very beginning. My attention slowly shifted away from the scale and toward learning how to nourish my body and quiet my mind.
I'll be honest, If I could eat anything I wanted without consequences, I probably never would have changed.
Today, I see my weight gain differently. It became the invitation that led me to something much deeper than a smaller clothing size.
The before-and-after picture may have caught your attention, but it isn't the greatest gift I've received.
The greatest gift has been peace.
For years, food occupied far too much space in my mind. I was always thinking about what I could eat, what I shouldn't eat, what I had already eaten, or what I hoped to eat next.
That constant food chatter became exhausting.
For me, eliminating flour and sugar quieted much of that mental noise. Within a few weeks, I noticed a peace I hadn't experienced in years.
I've also learned something important about myself.
For my brain, none is easier than some.
That may not be true for everyone, but it has been life-changing for me.
The good news is that I'm not here to sell you a program.
I do want to recommend a few resources that helped me better understand food addiction, why some of us struggle so deeply with certain foods, and why willpower alone often isn't enough.
If you've spent years losing the same pounds over and over again, maybe they'll encourage you too.
So where does Less to More fit into all of this?
Less food noise.
More peace.
Less obsession with the scale.
More freedom.
Less dependence on foods that keep me stuck.
More self-control.
Less striving.
More surrender.
Less trying to fix myself.
More trusting God to change me from the inside out.
That's really what this journey has become.
It isn't just about losing weight.
It's about finding freedom.
I can't promise I've arrived. I still take this journey one day at a time. Will I make mistakes? Absolutely. Will I have days when I don't make the best choices? Of course.
The difference is that I no longer believe one bad day has to become one bad month.
I give myself grace, ask God for help, reach out for support when I need it, and simply begin again.
Maybe that's where you are today.
If so, I hope you'll keep going.
I don't have all the answers, and I certainly don't claim to have everything figured out. I'm simply sharing what God has been teaching me along the way.
Below are a few resources that have encouraged me. My prayer is that you, too, will discover that sometimes less really does lead to more.
Less striving.
Less food noise.
Less shame. And so much more peace.
Bright Line Eating Book
Rezoom
Maintain
Susan’s weekly Vlog
