"I need to punish myself with extreme diets when I gain weight."
How it sounds in your head: You're disgusting and undisciplined. You need to suffer to fix this. No carbs, brutal workouts, earn your way back. Punishment is what you deserve for letting yourself go.
"Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—'Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,' which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh."
-- Colossians 2:20-23Religious spirit - applying Old Covenant punishment mindset to body stewardship.
You feel guilty and ashamed when the scale goes up. Punishment feels like justice, like you're taking control and doing penance for your failure.
He wasted everything and came back expecting punishment and a probation period as a servant. Instead, the father RAN to him, threw a robe on him, put a ring on his finger, and threw an instant party - zero punishment, only celebration and restoration.
I REFUSE the lie that I must punish my body to be acceptable. IT IS WRITTEN that self-imposed regulations and harsh treatment of the body are of NO VALUE. I died with Christ from that system of punishment and earning. IT IS WRITTEN that there is NO condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. I steward my body from love, not fear. The BARAK blessing is on my health - I receive it as GIFT, not wages. I am the righteousness of God in Christ, regardless of the scale.
Your Father isn't waiting for you to punish yourself enough to earn His approval - He's running toward you RIGHT NOW with the best robe. He's not keeping you on probation, He's throwing you a party and declaring you WORTHY before you've lost a single pound.