I'll Start Again Monday by Lysa TerKeurst Review: A Faith-Driven Take on Lasting Habit Change

A faith-based guide to breaking cycles of unhealthy eating, this book argues that lasting change requires spiritual grounding, not just better meal plans.

Published by Thomas Nelson in January 2022, I'll Start Again Monday is a revised and condensed edition of Lysa TerKeurst's earlier title Made to Crave. The book is neither a diet program nor a nutrition manual; it is a faith-centered guide designed to help readers identify the deeper spiritual and emotional roots of unhealthy eating habits. TerKeurst, a New York Times bestselling author, draws on her own personal struggle with food and body image to build the book's central argument: that human beings are created to crave, and that misdirecting that craving toward food rather than toward God is at the heart of the cycle so many find themselves trapped in. The aim is to help readers make peace with their bodies, replace rationalization with wisdom, reach healthy goals, and grow closer to God in the process.

The diet and wellness shelf is crowded, but books that approach food struggles through an explicitly Christian framework occupy a narrower lane. TerKeurst does not compete with calorie-counting guides or macro-tracking plans; instead, she addresses what she frames as the spiritual vacuum that conventional healthy eating plans leave unfilled. The book's title itself — borrowed from the familiar Monday-reset mentality that keeps many people perpetually starting over — signals its intent to name and disrupt a specific psychological pattern. As a condensed rework of Made to Crave, it distills that earlier, longer work into a more accessible format while preserving the core theological argument, making it a distinct entry point for readers who haven't engaged with the original.

The book's primary strength, as reflected in reader reception reported at Christianbook.com, is its ability to function on two levels simultaneously: as a practical guide to breaking the start-again cycle and as a devotional experience. One reader at that outlet described using it as a daily devotional and found it "truly a spiritual journey." TerKeurst's approach — grounding the motivation for change in faith rather than aesthetics or willpower — is designed to address why so many people lose weight and then regain it. By reframing food cravings as misplaced spiritual hunger, the book offers readers a framework that conventional wellness titles do not provide. The writing draws from TerKeurst's own experience, lending the material a personal dimension that the publisher and multiple retail sources highlight as central to the book's appeal.

Readers who do not share or engage with the book's Christian faith framework will find its core premise inaccessible. The argument that cravings should be redirected toward God is inseparable from the book's structure and recommendations; it is not a secular wellness guide with optional spiritual commentary layered on top. Additionally, because this is a condensed revision of Made to Crave rather than a wholly original work, readers already familiar with that title may find limited new material here. The book is explicitly not a meal plan, a nutritional guide, or a fitness program — readers seeking concrete dietary prescriptions or clinical guidance on disordered eating will need to look elsewhere.

I'll Start Again Monday is designed for readers who identify as Christian and who have found that conventional healthy eating approaches leave them feeling defeated — the publisher's framing at multiple retail outlets names this audience directly. It is particularly suited to those who experience the Monday-reset cycle not just as a behavioral habit but as a source of spiritual discouragement. Because the condensed format distills TerKeurst's earlier, longer work, it also serves as a lower-commitment entry point into her writing for readers new to her perspective. Those seeking accountability grounded in faith, or a devotional-style companion to a broader lifestyle effort, represent its most natural readership.