Skip to content
LuvemBooks
LuvemBooks

Who it's for. Who should skip it. What to read next.

Lysa TerKeurst

About This Author
Reviewed

Read Time

8 min read

Age & reading levelAdult
Reader rating
4.7 · 3,694 Amazon ratings
reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
$8.65 on AmazonAudiobook
Curated & edited by

LuvemBooks Editorial

How we create our reviews →
Share This Review
Front cover of I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits

Our review

I'll Start Again Monday

I'll Start Again Monday by Lysa TerKeurst Review: Faith-Driven Guide to Breaking Eating Cycles

by Lysa TerKeurst

I'll Start Again Monday is a revised and condensed edition of Lysa TerKeurst's bestseller Made to Crave, reframing the struggle with unhealthy eating habits as a spiritual issue rather than a dietary one — best suited to Christian readers seeking motivation and accountability rooted in faith.

$8.65 on Amazon
Back cover displayed on spiral notebook with pen, showing synopsis and author information.Image from the Amazon listing for I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits by Lysa TerKeurstOpen book spread on marble surface with candle and cloth, showing interior text pages.Tap to enlarge
Adult

LuvemBooks Verdict

Best for

Christian women who feel emotionally exhausted by the perpetual restart cycle of conventional dieting and are looking for spiritually grounded motivation to make lasting lifestyle changes alongside a practical health plan they already follow.

Worth it if

The reader approaches food and body struggles through a Christian faith lens and wants a condensed, empathetic companion resource — rooted in TerKeurst's personal experience — that addresses the emotional and spiritual roots of unhealthy eating rather than prescribing a diet.

Skip if

Secular readers, those who prefer evidence-based behavioral or nutritional guidance, or anyone who has already worked deeply through the original Made to Crave should look elsewhere — the book's entire motivational architecture rests on a theological premise, and the condensed format offers limited new material for returning readers.

Retailer and ministry store listings consistently frame the book as a spiritually motivated companion resource rather than a diet plan, with Christianbook.com describing it as "the necessary resource to use alongside whatever healthy lifestyle plan you choose" to help readers find their "want to" for lasting change. The p31bookstore.com and cschristian.com listings both highlight TerKeurst's personal struggle with the lose-regain cycle as central to the book's empathetic appeal.

Sources: Christianbook.com, p31bookstore.com, cschristian.com
4.7from 3,694 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score

Preview the book

Front cover of I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits
Back cover displayed on spiral notebook with pen, showing synopsis and author information.
Image from the Amazon listing for I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits by Lysa TerKeurst
Open book spread on marble surface with candle and cloth, showing interior text pages.
Front cover featuring title text, author name, and illustrated figures against a dark starry background.
+1

Ask LuvemBooks

Was this helpful?

I'll Start Again Monday is a revised, condensed edition of Lysa TerKeurst's bestseller Made to Crave, reframing the struggle with unhealthy eating habits as a spiritual problem — arguing that human beings are designed to crave God, and that perpetual dietary restarts often signal a misplaced spiritual longing. The book's entire motivational framework is theological, making it a strong fit for Christian readers who find conventional diet culture emotionally hollow, but a poor match for secular readers or those seeking evidence-based nutritional guidance. It functions as motivational infrastructure to complement an existing health plan, not as a standalone dietary program.
Is it worth reading?
For Christian readers who have found conventional diet culture emotionally hollow and who are exhausted by the perpetual restart cycle, I'll Start Again Monday offers a genuinely empathetic and spiritually grounded perspective — one rooted in TerKeurst's own personal experience with losing and regaining weight. The book holds a 4.5 out of 5 stars on Christianbook.com, reflecting strong resonance within its target audience. However, readers who are secular, prefer evidence-based behavioral or nutritional guidance, or already own and have deeply engaged with Made to Crave should weigh carefully whether this condensed edition offers enough new value for them.
Similar books
Readers drawn to I'll Start Again Monday may also appreciate Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst, which similarly applies TerKeurst's faith-centered perspective to emotional struggles. The Daniel Plan by Rick Warren offers another faith-based approach to health and lifestyle change with a Christian framework. For those interested in the emotional and relational dimensions of food without a religious lens, Brain over Binge by Kathryn Hansen and The Emotionally Healthy Woman by Geri Scazzero provide complementary perspectives on breaking cycles rooted in inner life.
Who should read this?
I'll Start Again Monday is written directly for Christian readers — particularly women — who struggle with the lose-regain cycle and find that conventional diet culture addresses only the behavioral surface of a deeper emotional and spiritual problem. It is especially well-suited to readers who already have a practical health plan in place and are looking for spiritually grounded motivational infrastructure to sustain it. Readers who are secular, prefer empirically driven behavioral approaches, or are already deeply familiar with Made to Crave are not the intended audience and are likely to find the book's theological framework a poor fit.
About Lysa TerKeurst
Lysa TerKeurst is an American speaker and author of Christian non-fiction.
How does this compare to It's Not Supposed to Be This Way?
Both I'll Start Again Monday and It's Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lysa TerKeurst operate within the same Christian living and women's inspirational space, drawing on TerKeurst's personal experience to offer faith-grounded comfort and motivation. The key difference is focus: I'll Start Again Monday addresses the specific cycle of unhealthy eating and the spiritual roots of craving, while It's Not Supposed to Be This Way deals more broadly with disappointment and finding strength when life doesn't go as expected. Readers who connect with TerKeurst's voice and approach in one are likely to find the other rewarding as well.
Is it a good book club pick?
I'll Start Again Monday is a strong pick for a Christian women's book club or small group, particularly one focused on faith, wellness, or personal growth. Its themes of spiritual motivation, accountability, and breaking the restart cycle generate meaningful discussion, and its design as a companion resource — rather than a prescriptive program — takes pressure off participants to follow a specific regimen together. It is less suited to a general or secular book club, where the theological framework may not resonate across the group.
Summarize this book

Summarize this book

I'll Start Again Monday is a revised and condensed edition of Lysa TerKeurst's earlier bestseller Made to Crave, published by Thomas Nelson. The book's central argument is that unhealthy eating habits represent a misplacement of a deeper spiritual longing — that human beings are designed to crave God, and that lasting change requires addressing emotional and spiritual roots rather than behavioral ones alone. Rather than prescribing meal plans or calorie counts, it is designed to function as a companion resource alongside whatever healthy lifestyle plan a reader already follows, helping readers find what TerKeurst calls their 'want to' — an internally motivated, spiritually grounded drive that conventional diet culture fails to supply.
I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits by Lysa TerKeurst

I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits by Lysa TerKeurst

4.7

/ 5

I'll Start Again Monday is a revised and condensed edition of Lysa TerKeurst's bestseller Made to Crave, reframing the struggle with unhealthy eating habits as a spiritual issue rather than a dietary one — best suited to Christian readers seeking motivation and accountability rooted in faith.

View on LuvemBooks →

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

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

4.7

/ 5

Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst is a Christian living book published by Thomas Nelson that reframes food struggles as a spiritual issue, arguing that human cravings are designed to be satisfied by God rather than by food. Rather than offering a diet plan, it addresses the emotional and spiritual "want to" that TerKeurst contends conventional health advice misses. For readers seeking faith-based motivation rather than nutritional instruction, it fills a distinct niche.

View on LuvemBooks →

Follow up

Does it work as a standalone program?
How is it different from Made to Crave?
What does the book help readers do, specifically?

Synthesized from verified book data & published reviews · How we review

Ask LuvemBooks

What would you like to know about I'll Start Again Monday?

Answers come from our editorial notes on this book. If we haven't covered something, we'll say so.

Readers often ask

Our Review

We review the evidence: published critics, reader verdicts and BookTube reviews, gathered and weighed with AI assistance and edited by LuvemBooks, rather than one reader's first-hand take.

This revised and condensed edition of a New York Times bestselling author's earlier work is, at its core, a faith-based self-help book — not a diet plan.

What the Book Is and What It Argues

Back cover displayed on spiral notebook with pen, showing synopsis and author information.
Back cover displayed on spiral notebook with pen, showing synopsis and author information.
I'll Start Again Monday is a revised and condensed edition of Lysa TerKeurst's earlier work Made to Crave, published by Thomas Nelson. TerKeurst, the president and chief visionary officer of Proverbs 31 Ministries and the author of seven New York Times bestsellers, draws on her own personal struggle with the cycle of losing and regaining weight to present a spiritually grounded argument: that human beings are designed to crave God, and that unhealthy eating habits frequently represent a misplacement of that deeper spiritual longing onto physical pleasures.
The book's premise is that lasting change requires addressing the emotional and spiritual roots of the problem, not merely the behavioral ones. As the publisher describes it, this is explicitly "not a 'how-to' book" and "not the latest and greatest dieting plan."

The Book's Central Framework and Design

Rather than prescribing meal plans or calorie counts, the book is designed to function as a companion resource alongside whatever healthy lifestyle plan a reader already follows. Its stated goals include helping readers break the cycle of perpetual restarts, replace rationalizations with wisdom, make peace with their bodies, reach healthy goals, and grow closer to God in the process.
The structure is oriented toward helping readers find what TerKeurst calls their "want to" — the internal, spiritually motivated drive that she argues conventional diet culture fails to supply. The book is written to be used in tandem with practical health resources, not as a standalone nutrition guide.
Open book spread on marble surface with candle and cloth, showing interior text pages.
Open book spread on marble surface with candle and cloth, showing interior text pages.

Significance and Its Relationship to *Made to Crave*

Readers who encountered TerKeurst's original Made to Crave will find this edition revised and condensed — a distilled version designed to make the core message more accessible and focused. The original book established TerKeurst's reputation as a voice at the intersection of Christian faith and everyday struggle, and this edition carries that legacy forward in a tighter format.
That TerKeurst is a seven-time New York Times bestselling author is a meaningful signal of her reach within the Christian living and women's inspirational space. The book's existence as a condensed edition means longtime readers of Made to Crave are reading a re-engagement with familiar material, while new readers are receiving TerKeurst's thinking in its most refined form.

Genuine Strengths

The book's most clearly documented strength is its emotional resonance with its target audience. On Christianbook.com, the book holds a 4.5 out of 5 stars across reviews, with readers responding to TerKeurst's willingness to speak from personal experience and to acknowledge the psychological exhaustion of the perpetual restart cycle.
The publisher's framing — that TerKeurst "understands the struggle" — reflects a tone that, according to the book's positioning, prioritizes empathy and spiritual companionship over prescription. The book is also explicitly designed to pair with other resources, which lowers the stakes for readers who worry about abandoning yet another standalone program; it is positioned as motivational infrastructure, not a total system.

Who This Book Is For — and Who It May Frustrate

The book's spiritual framework is its defining characteristic, and that same quality determines who it will and will not serve. Readers who approach food and body challenges through a Christian faith lens, and who find conventional diet culture emotionally hollow, are the audience TerKeurst is directly addressing.
Readers who are secular, who prefer evidence-based behavioral or nutritional guidance, or who are uncomfortable with a devotional register will find the book's approach a poor fit — not because the advice is unsound, but because the entire motivational architecture rests on a theological premise about the nature of human craving. Similarly, readers who own and have engaged deeply with the original Made to Crave should weigh whether a condensed re-edition offers enough new material to justify a second purchase.
The book makes no claim to replace a health plan; readers expecting practical dietary instruction will need to look elsewhere.

Sources & Further Reading

The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.

  1. Cited in this review
  2. 1
    I'll Start Again Monday – P31 Bookstore

    p31bookstore.com

  3. 2
    I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits with Lasting Spiritual Satisfaction: Lysa TerKeurst: 9780785232483 - Christianbook

    christianbook.com

  4. Further reading
  5. 3
    Lysa TerKeurst — author profile

    Lysa TerKeurst, LuvemBooks

  6. 4
    I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits with Lasting Spiritual Satisfaction | Barnes & Noble®

    barnesandnoble.com

  7. 5
    cschristian.com

    cschristian.com

Age & Reading Level

Recommended age

Adult

Browse all adult books

Skip if you're looking for evidence-based nutritional or behavioral guidance rather than a faith-centered motivational framework.

From our readers

Reader reviews

Be one of the first readers to answer.

Read it? Was it right for you?

Books like I'll Start Again Monday

Curated picks for readers who enjoyed I'll Start Again Monday, with our reasoning for each match.

More by Lysa TerKeurst

In our catalogue

It's Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered

Lysa TerKeurst

Lysa TerKeurst's It's Not Supposed to Be This Way is a Christian nonfiction book published by Thomas Nelson in November 2018 that draws on TerKeurst's own experiences of her husband's infidelity and her battle with breas

In our catalogue

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

Lysa TerKeurst

Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst is a Christian living book published by Thomas Nelson that reframes food struggles as a spiritual issue, arguing that human cravings are designed to be satisfied by God rather than by food

On Amazon

Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely

Lysa TerKeurst

Same author, different struggle — TerKeurst applies her faith-first framework to rejection and belonging, not food, giving readers a broader view of her spiritual self-help range.

If you liked I'll Start Again Monday

On Amazon · reviewing soon

The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life

Rick Warren, Daniel Amen, Mark Hyman

Faith-based wellness plan by a pastor and two physicians — bridges Christian motivation and practical health science for readers who want both spiritual and clinical grounding.

On Amazon

Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life

Marjorie J. Thompson

Classic Protestant guide to spiritual disciplines — deepens the 'hunger for God' theology at the heart of TerKeurst's argument for readers who want more doctrinal substance.

On Amazon

Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living

Shauna Niequist

Christian author dismantles a different self-destructive cycle — overcommitment — using the same confessional, grace-forward voice that TerKeurst readers respond to.

Not your thing?

On Amazon

Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach

Evelyn Tribole, Elyse Resch

If the theological frame felt exclusionary, this evidence-based alternative addresses the same restart cycle from a psychology-and-physiology angle — no faith prerequisite required.