Back Away From What She's Selling

It's not the funny drink or the silly pills that will help you lose weight

I’m going to say something out loud that just might lose me quite a lot of friends and followers:

If you’re trying to lose weight or get healthier, you don’t need what she’s selling.

I’m not going to name “her” because you already know her. Chances are, you know several of “her.” She pops up in your social media feed, or waves hi at church. She’s your neighbor or the friendly mom at co-op. Maybe she’s the mother of one of your child’s friends, or just someone you met on the playground. Regardless, she’s got a big smile, she’s dropping pounds, her hair is great, she's always busy, and she’s always got just a minute to chat about how good life is, or how hard, or how she managed to bring herself back from a low energy precipice to show up today.

It was all the funky-colored drink in her special, branded tumbler. It was all the shockingly-hued supplement in pill form. It was all the collagen, the olive oil, the biotin, the organic, toxin-free, non-GMO proprietary blend of…

Before you join the exodus, I throw out a small point for your consideration. Unlike “her,” I have nothing to gain by sharing a moment with you. I’m not selling anything here. I’m not against women working, I’m not anti-capitalism, and when it comes to encouraging folks to find ways to live the lives God created them for, I’m all in. But you don’t need a supplement to do that.

Nine months ago, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. It wasn’t shocking; my family history gave me spoiler alerts from the time I was old enough to understand why some of my aunts and uncles convened in the kitchen for an insulin after-party post reunion meal. I had been motivated to lose weight several years ago, but gained all it back along with a little extra for good measure after the birth of my last baby at 46. I knew I was courting disaster, but court it good and well I did. I celebrated my 50th birthday with a high protein/restricted carb diet and a starter pack of pharmaceuticals designed to do for my blood glucose levels what my body no longer could.

It was the wake-up call I needed. After wrestling with the horrific memories of my mother’s death at 67 due to sepsis from final stage liver cirrhosis (caused by poorly managed diabetes), I got to work. I have lost right around 60 lbs. so far.

Now, before I move forward, I want to acknowledge that diabetes medications can improve your chance of losing weight. Improved gluten sensitivity, reduced appetite, and (ahem) constant urgent trips to the toilet are all a boon for those seeking to shed fat. My chances of dropping weight are higher than the odds faced by someone not aided by meds. I asked my doctor about this when I was diagnosed, and she said, “A prescription can help, sure. But nothing we put in your body will do the work for you.”

Listen to that again:

Nothing you put in your body can do the work for you. This is the point.

Your friend sipping her Joyful Juice and popping her Lovely Lozenge (both trademarked, of course) is actually no different than me, at best. She may be boosting something her body actually needed. But if she keeps eating the way she always has, and stays firmly rooted in the lifestyle she’s kept for years, not a single thing will change. The weight will stay. Her energy level will continue to stagnate. Her body will do what God designed it to do: be prepared by its daily training to do exactly what it’s called on to do most often.

Look, hawking MLM supplements actually does something wonderful for the enterprising women who take on the job. It stirs up hope in them. It gives them a reason to get moving, to invest in what’s going on around them. It brings them acquaintances to share with, and it gives them purpose. And when you find that, you’re going to alter the trajectory of your life. All of those things—hope, fellowship, industry, purpose— are what God designed us to do. Women up and active, fully engaged in whatever calling God has for them, are less likely to find themselves battling the doldrums. They might still have soft bodies or be sedentary, but they’re not generally unhappy about it in the larger sense of how they experience the world.

So, what’s the component that helps shed the pounds? If it’s not some combination of chemicals (naturally occuring or man-made) that causes the weight to drop, how does a woman actually see the numbers on the scale go down? If my doctor’s pharmaceutical rep or your pastor’s wife’s upline don’t have the market cornered, what will help?

You already know the answer, but I’ll repeat it all here. For free, even.

1. Cut down your portions. Counting calories gets a bad rap, but y’all, it takes a calorie deficit to tell your body to start chipping away at excess weight. You know this. I know this. And yet, when confronted with a meal that tastes good, we can’t muster up the will power to say no to more. I say this as someone who has struggled her whole life with an out-sized love of good food. If you want to weigh less, you need to eat less.

2. Quit eating junk. You don’t need Whole30 or Carnivore or Keto or whatever’s hot right now. Just ditch the crap and eat actual food. Not going to lie, this one can be tough some days because chances are your definition of “real food” is more warped than you realize until you actually start questioning everything you put into your mouth. A 2 cup bowl of pasta is more often than not junk. Why? Because when you pause and ask yourself what fuel your body needs is actually contained therein when you’re not getting ready to run a marathon, you have to admit that what you really need is an 8 ounce steak and some steamed broccoli.

3. Get off your butt. Yeah, I said it. If you want to lose weight, you have to move. Have to. It’s not optional. Like I said earlier, God’s design for our bodies is that they rise to the occasion through training. You don’t have to lift weights or run a 5K three times a week, but if you want your body to be different, you have to send it the message by disrupting the routine that allows it to maintain its current form. Nothing you drink or add to your diet can replace this.

Buying a supplement you see constantly being name dropped on social media can’t do those things for you. Keep your money. Back away from the thought that maybe, just maybe, this is The Thing that will finally help you feel better. You already know what will do that. You don’t need what she’s selling.

What you need, if anything, is a new question, and it’s this: “Lord, can I accomplish the purpose for which I was created here on earth as I am physically today?” If you seek God and find, like I did, that the answer is no, then you have work to do. You need to pray for strength and perseverance and fortitude, and you need to apply those three principles. You need to give yourself lots of grace. And you need to seek wisdom from Jesus, not man. Jesus isn’t selling happy pills, friends. He’s offering the free gift of eternal life. He’s inviting you to share your talents with others. This isn’t transactional. It won’t make your life better, per se. (As a matter of fact, it may make it harder!) But it will give you purpose, and that purpose is one that will for sure give you a reason to live every single day He has given you to its fullest.

I want to leave this discussion by pointing you to an article I wrote a few months back on a related topic. See, I firmly believe that not everyone was meant to look like the ideal we hold out. The idea of losing weight, being trimmer, looking cute in your clothes… it’s not our ultimate goal. Maybe you’re one of the people who needs to hear that today. Maybe you need to be weighing that instead of weighing your earthly form. I’m tucking that article here for you to visit if you think those are words you need to wrestle with today.

Be healthy, friends. I do want that for you. Be realistic about how you get that way. Don’t fall for gimmicks or place your hope in things that will never measure up to expectations. More than anything, be grounded in the Truth. God’s ways are shockingly simply. They’re not proprietary, not hidden by a secret formula, not available on a pre-summer deal. But they are urgent. Your mortal body won’t be around forever, but your soul will. Deciding where you want to spend that forever and how you can tell others about the choice in front of them doesn’t make for great graphics or catchy captions, but Jesus is the only influencer whose team I’m interested in joining.

In Christ,

Heather