Voices: A great weight loss program for $35

I am about to make millions of dollars with the weight loss program I have discovered.

Move over, Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound. Stand down, Weightwatchers, Jenny Craig, and Noom. Throw out the Mediterranean diet, the cabbage diet, and the DASH diet.

What I am about to share with you will put my name on the Walk of Fame.

My boyhood weight

I have always struggled with my weight. When I was in elementary school in the old Alamo building in Glen Rose, I acquired a nickname: Tiggy Piggy.

I was the heaviest kid in class. I ate four sandwiches per sitting for snacks. I ate several helpings at every meal. I bought powdered donuts in between. I drank soda after soda. I was always famished. I wore husky jeans from Montgomery Wards department store.

It wasn’t until I hit the summer before my ninth-grade year that I began to shed the pounds. I started running three miles every morning and three miles every night.

To motivate me and make me look good while I ran, my parents bought me a red jogging suit with white pin stripes. I looked like the red flash on Farm Road 200 in our farming community called Rainbow.

I wore that warm-up suit every morning and every evening. I assume we washed it in between, but I don’t remember.

So, is this the weight loss program you’re talking about, Johnny? Nope. Just giving you some history.

My adult weight

I worked out every day, so I could play quarterback on our football team. I continued through college, then to semi-professional football. I had every reason to stay trim and fit. Then, my football days ran out.

Tiggy Piggy began to reemerge. When I saw the double chin return, I started jogging again. The weight dropped accordingly, but I still loved to eat.

The weight fluctuated over time. Every time it got up, I hit the streets, but one day, I noticed my hips began to hurt.

I went to the doctor. He said, “Johnny, if you don’t stop jogging, we are going to have to replace your hips in a few years.”

Well, that stopped my jogging. My weight ballooned. So, I began to ride my bike. Even as I type this, I ride 20 miles per day.

So, is this the weight loss program you’re talking about, Johnny? Nope. Just bringing you up to date.

The secret to weight

“Quit wasting my time, Johnny. Tell me, what is this great weight loss program for $35?”

Are you ready for it? This is magical, what I am about to share with you. You won’t believe it. The thing is so very easy. I even recommend it to my friends, and they have seen the results.

Now, mind you, you won’t lose all the weight in a matter of weeks. But for the one-time cost of about $35, you can be on your way to health and the weight you desire.

“OK, man, give it to me!”

Buy a bathroom scale at Walmart for about $35. You can get one for more, but I have never found a need for a more expensive one.

With that scale, weigh every morning when you get up. Then, weigh each night before you go to bed. Do this every day. That’s it. That’s all it takes.

“Are you serious?”

Yep.

When you weigh every day, morning and night, you are mindful of your weight. You want to see it go down. So, you eat less. You measure what you eat. You work out, or you walk more, and you say “no” to the snacks during the day.

I know this sounds silly, but try it. I promise it works.

A biblical lesson

There’s a biblical lesson here.

If we read God’s word each morning, if we take an inventory of how good God is and what he desires in us, we will find our behavior changes each day.

The weight of sin will be reduced. The health of holiness will start to appear.

Imagine with me your car without a speedometer. There are speed limits, but without knowing your speed, you will soon lose your license because of all the traffic citations.

You can’t drive by how fast you feel you are driving. You need to know what you are doing and measure that against what is required.

Read the Bible and pray daily. You will see how you are doing, and you will see what is required. Before you know it, you will even start to see God working with you to reach goals for your life. I promise.

Johnny Teague is the senior pastor of Church at the Cross in West Houston and the author of several books, including his newest The Lost Diary of Mary Magdalene. His website is johnnyteague.com. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the author.