Monday, June 16, 2014

This IS the day... continues

Wow!  I just noticed that I forgot to blog last week...  so, I am going to leave this as last weeks blog.  This is what I shared with the ladies at the Annual Women's Connection Conference.  There were 3 of us that shared on our healthier lifestyle changes.  I'll be doing my regular checking in tomorrow ...  but for now..

Saturday, June 14, 2014
Good afternoon!

Becky has asked me to share a little about my journey of becoming physically healthier, so I will do my best to make it brief, and understandable.

I have struggled with weight issues all of my adult life.  Losing, gaining, gaining more, losing.  I accepted that as who I was, and the way it was always going to be.  It was in the genes.

Since attending the Eastern Region General Conference in October of 2013, and hearing the word “intentional” over and over again…  I have been more “intentional” on seeking the Lord, building relationships, and loving the lost…  at least this is what I thought I was doing…  I felt I was doing ALL I needed to be a better person, and definitely seeking the Lord was going to make me healthier, spiritually at least.

I don’t know exactly what happened or when it happened, but it was sometime in the first of this year that I felt that I had hit a wall, and was falling apart.  I ached, didn’t feel well, was tired all the time, could do nothing without pain.  I had had it!  I prayed, and cried out to the Lord…  “Why am I in so much pain, please take it away…”  What was happening to me?  I was stressed, and couldn’t seem to get out of my own way.

I had a doctors appointment the end of February, and received the news that my A1C was back up to an unacceptable number, and they were going to prescribe a stronger medication.  There was NO WAY that I was going to let that happen.  I was more determined than ever that I had to do something, hmmm…. But what?  I believe this was God getting my attention…  Not the way I had hoped…   but in a way that I needed.  I needed to do something…  He wasn’t going to just take it away for me, my choices hadn’t always been good choices for me to be healthy…  and now I had to make a choice.

So, this was how I was going to do it.  No, not a diet.  Ugh !!  I really despise that word.  I had been eating everything and anything in quantities that were way out of proportion., and heaven forbid if we had leftovers.  I LOVE FOOD!!!  I was not going to eliminate anything, just cut back.  The measuring cups came out, the scales were dusted off and on the counter…  and a plan to exercise needed to be in place.  The eating part was easy, the exercise with the pain?  Not so easy.  I didn’t need to go and buy anything for the exercise part either…  I had a built in stair stepper at work, yep, two flights of stairs, and the weights were in the food pantry, cases of food that could be picked up and put down, and 1 pound cans of vegetables could be used as hand weights…  there are walls for wall sits, and wall push ups.  I had all the needed items, and needed to put them to good use.  AND  I needed to be held accountable.  Always seems to be a bit easier for me when I have others checking in on me.  So, a weekly blog titled “This IS the Day” started on March 4th.

Since that March 4th date, with portioning my food and exercising I have become healthier physically.  I have lot 22 ½ pounds, I have gone down two whole sizes in my jeans, the pain I had experienced in my knees has become minimal, I can sit behind the steering wheel of my van without my belly touching it, when I stand up and look down I can actually see my feet, when I hold my grandsons I have a lap for them, and at my last blood draw my A1C has gone from an 8.4 to a 7.0.   And I AM NOT DONE YET!!!

The good news?  Because I have become healthier physically, I have a better attitude, my spiritual health is better, and because that is true, it is easier for me to be intentional seeking, loving, and serving. 

You see, Genesis 1 tells us that everything God made was good.  That includes our bodies!  Your body is a gift from God.

In Psalm 139, we see that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made”.

And in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 we see that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit through which we honor God.

So, in light of all of this, these were questions that I had to ask myself…
What priority did I give to exercise?  (quite honestly, none!)
What thought had I been giving to my diet and weight?  (again, none)
Was I valuing and caring for the one body I had been given?  (well, I guess not!)


But, I am NOW!!!  And so, “This IS the day”…  continues.





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