Losing Weight, Dieting and the 400 Calorie Diet from a Christian Perspective
There’s been some recent internet buzz about a new diet called the 400 Calorie Diet. It’s being heralded by Prevention Magazine. The basic concept behind it is that you only eat four 400-calorie meals a day. Nothing more, nothing less.
The diet teaches you basic portion control and how to count calories, two skills that many people struggle with.
Whenever dieting comes up, I think about the diet that Daniel and his friends subsisted on when they were in captivity. They were offered the fine meats and wines of King Nebuchadnezzar, but instead chose to eat vegetables and water. They reasoned that if they were performing poorly in 10 day’s time, they’d switch to the King’s diet. Of course, at the end of the ten days they were healthier than everyone else there. You can read the whole story in Daniel 1.
What I find interesting about diets—400 Calorie and Daniel included—is how they usually just ask us to do one thing: pay attention to what we’re putting in our mouths. Most people, when they’re dieting, find themselves thinking about food on a much different level. It’s no longer, “What looks appetizing?”, but “What should I eat?”
After all, the sin of gluttony is primarily one of self-control. And a good way to have no control over your actions is to say yes to everything.
How does your faith affect how you eat?
(If you’re interested, Prevention also has a slideshow of what constitutes 400 calories.)
400 calories a day is dangerous,it puts the body into starvation mode and means we put on the extra food that we eat when we return to normal as fat.
Eat as many calories as one needs to maintain their target weight then eventually we will reach that weight. The weight went on slowly so it will also reduce slowly without and shock or stress to the body.
As we reduce we can seek the Lord with all our hearts and enjoy time with Him as we move through new things. This is what I did.
Caroline, to be fair, it’s four 400 calorie meals a day. However, I still don’t think 1600 calories is enough in a day.
I agree with you though that any weight loss that isn’t slow and steady is harmful to our bodies, and we miss the spiritual impact of a concerted effort to change our lifestyles.
It think the 4 400 calorie meals a day is fine if you are small. I am short and small boned. I have started drinking lots of water (a gallon a day)and no cokes and I have lost 7 pounds in 7 days. I could’nt drink nearly that much a first. I feel so much better that I have started walking for and hour a day. Before I did’nt feel like exercising. And I eat less because I am not as hungry!
I think this is a great jumping off point for anyone who has seriously struggled with weight issues. It doesn’t make you feel like you are starving because you eat 4 times per day. Anytime you eat smaller more frequent meals, you are guaranteed to lose weight. Your body is like a furnace. If you continually add fuel all day long, your furnace keeps burning at a steady rate. BUT if you dump all of the fuel in first thing in the morning or even late at night, eventually the fire burns out and it takes a great deal to get it going again.
1600 calories is a lot of food, if you are eating good for you food and not too much junk. A gallon of water is a lot to drink, please check with someone (doctor or someone in the medical field)to see how much you need.
Managing our bodies in a healthy way should be a concern of all followers of Christ. I Corinthians 6 teaches us that our bodies are joined to Jesus, temples of His Spirit, and God’s possession. We ought to therefore treat them with care and respect.
Diet and exercise primarily for cosmetic reasons are not bad but this misses the more important purpose that our bodies are to be God’s instrument of righteousness (Romans 6) and his living sacrifice (Romans 12). I only have one body with which to serve God and others. Keeping it healthy is a vital part of enabling it to perform that service to the best of my ability for as long as I can.
Slow and steady wins the race.
As a Christian, I would highly recommend a private bible study called the Lord’s Table, found at settingcaptivesfree.com. It has an entirely different and biblically based focus on the Lord, rather than on food.
This is a link to a site of a doctor who teaches nutrition. She is a believer.
http://dockopelson.synthasite.com/
I have struggled to lose weight for a long time now. Since I have made a CONSCIOUS CHOICE to get healthy, I have felt great. I CANNOT do it without the Lord’s help. I find that walking ‘from’ and back to my childrens’ school has benefitted me greatly, and I listen to worship music at the same time. (I leave my car at the school, and save petrol!)I’m literally taking small steps, but it is a daily thing. I dont want to be an overweight unhealthy Christian, I want to be an example of Godly living, which means being healthy. It’s a good testimony, even a way to share about God to others with similar issues.