How to stay motivated when temptation is all around

This was our meeting topic last Tuesday the 6th.
The number one question most of us ask when dieting is how do I stay motivated? This is probably the hardest obstacle to overcome when trying to lose weight and be healthy. I personally struggle with this on a daily basis. It is not easy to stay motivated especially when it seems like every single day we are attacked at all angles with temptation. From the fast food commercials that cause us to drool or to the chocolate that just somehow manages to find it's way into our shopping carts. Temptation is not something new that people struggle with. Temptation has been with us since the beginning of time; it is what started the entire fall of man. Think of the irony that the first sin happened when a woman gave in to the temptation to eat. Even Jesus was tempted in the desert with bread! When faced with so many things that can turn us away from our goals it's no wonder that many of us are hard pressed to stay motivated. Just finding the time and energy to do what we need to do to get healthy is a chore in itself. We may even find ourselves in a stuck in a rut whiny "But I don't wanna" attitude. In these times you have to step back and refocus on the greater picture. We have to remind ourselves daily of why it is that we are on this journey. We have to believe that we are worth putting the effort into. We have to believe that God has given us this life for a reason and not just to sit idly by and let it go to waste. Constantly ask yourself do you want that food or do you want to be healthy? There is a slogan that says "don't trade what you want now for what you want most." There is no amount of food in this world worth your own physical well being. Caving into your desires and temptations does nothing but serve your flesh. Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. You are not helping yourself by caving into temptation, you are only working further to destroy what God has built up. In Matthew 25 it says: Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. We have to be on guard and prayed up. Temptation is all around seeking to destroy our will power and motivation. We need to pray that we don't fall into temptation. One of the first things we need to do is to give the battle over to the Lord. God is not so busy that He cannot help you with your food struggles and temptations. Just pray daily, pray before you eat, pray when you feel tempted. We are to pray without ceasing, this includes praying about your food habits. The second thing we need to do to help ourselves stay motivated and free from temptation is to set your self up in a no fail environment. If the food is not there you will not eat it. Put tempting foods out of reach and out of sight and do not buy things you know you will be tempted to overeat. When all else fails and you still feel unmotivated to do anything at all do it anyway! There will be days where you don’t even feel like getting out of bed let alone practicing healthy habits. It takes work to be healthy and no one ever said that it would be an easy task. Often I've found myself not wanting to do anything at all but when I do it anyway I feel so good I just want to keep going. Sometimes all it takes is to step out in faith and hand it over to God. It is not torture to eat and live healthy. Torture comes in when we continue doing the same bad habits and beat ourselves up mentally for it even though we know how to change! We did not get this way overnight and we cannot expect change to happen overnight. Healthy habits take time, and resisting temptation takes the power of prayer.