Made to Crave - Review

Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food

By: Lysa TerKeurst

Published: January 22nd 2011 by Zondervan (first published December 15th 2010)

218 pages

Source: Personal Library

( Goodreads | Amazon )

Goodreads description--According to bestselling author Lysa TerKeurst, craving isn't a bad thing, but we must realize God created us to crave so we'd ultimately desire more of Him in our lives. Many of us have misplaced that craving, overindulging in physical pleasures instead of lasting spiritual satisfaction. For a woman struggling with unhealthy eating habits, Made to Crave will equip her to:

* Break the 'I'll start again Monday cycle' and start feeling good about herself today

* Stop beating herself up over the numbers on the scale and make peace with the body you've been given

* Discover how weight loss struggles aren't a curse but, rather, a blessing in the making

* Replace justifications that lead to diet failure with empowering go-to scripts that lead to victory

* Eat healthy without feeling deprived

* Reach a healthy weight goal while growing closer to God through the process

Made to Crave session titles include: Session 1: From Deprivation to Empowerment Session 2: From Desperation to Determination Session 3: From Guilt to Peace Session 4: From Triggers to Truth Session 5: From Permissible to Beneficial Session 6: From Consumed to Courageous Bonus Session: Moving the Mountain The Made to Crave DVD is designed for use with the Made to Crave Participant's Guide.

Wow, just wow. This book is something special. Just know that this review will not do this book justice.

When I read self-help books (I categorize anything that makes me work on myself to grow and become a better me as self-help), I’m always faced with whether or not I’m going to put the things I read and learn about into practice in my life. And I’ve found that working on myself is not easy. I’ve been on this earth for 26 years and I’ve developed quite a lot of habits in that time. Habits as we all know can be extremely difficult to break. And while I’ve been on a journey to a healthier me that has had highs and lows since 2007, I’ve made progress, lost weight, gotten to a place where all of my numbers (blood sugar, cholesterol, iron, etc) looked great, then gained the weight back plus some, then started the process all over again. I’m not to my goal yet, but this process is never quick, and it’s never easy. And food habits that have been developing for several years have been the major cause of me not reaching reaching my goal.

But this book, Made to Crave, was a real eye opener for me. In all of the years of my journey, I’ve never handed this problem over to God. I’ve prayed about it (some), but I’ve never taken it to the level that Lysa TerKeurst takes it to in this book. Many people avoid anything to do with religion and God these days, but she points out that studies show that willpower alone is not enough to win this battle. And some people will read this book and feel like she’s taken this idea of handing our addictions to food over to God too far. But for me, that’s just not possible.

When I first started Made to Crave, I was in a place where my “want to” had taken a leave of absence. After 10 months of exercising at least 5 days a week consistently and seeing little to no results, I found myself in a place where I just didn’t want to try anymore. But my problem with this journey has always been food. I’ve always been willing to work out as much as necessary, but I want to eat whatever I want. Most experts that I’ve read (Chalene Johnson, Jillian Michaels, etc) will tell you than 80% of weight loss comes from healthy food choices and 20% comes from exercise. Despite intellectually knowing this fact, I still pursue the foods that I crave and hope to work them all off with exercise.

But as I said before, Lysa TerKeurst takes this food thing to a whole new level—a spiritual level. She gave me hope that my “want to” can be fixed again, but I’ll need some help on my journey. This is one of those books that has so much in it that I know I’m going to have to give it a re-read—possibly several re-reads. I cannot even begin to express to you how much this book has changed my thinking on food and the way I approach food.

If you struggle with healthy food choices and you need help on your journey to a healthier you, I highly recommend this read to you. Be forewarned, this book focuses on your spiritual relationship with God as a means to conquering your food addictions. This is a spiritually journey just as much as, if not more than, a physical one. Lysa TerKeurst brought a whole new way of thinking to light for me that I will never be able to forget. Now that I know how much my relationship with food reflects my relationship with my Abba Father, I can’t continue to live life ignorant of this. Made to Crave is not going to be the book for everyone, but it’s definitely one for me.

5 stars for Made to Crave. Have you read Made to Crave? If so, what did you think? Let me know!