AS YOU MAY REMEMBER, 3 ½ YEARS AGO I STARTED A WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY AND LOST 40 POUNDS. IT WAS A LONG AND HARD PROCESS: ONE I SWORE I WOULD NEVER DO AGAIN BECAUSE I WOULD NEVER GAIN MY WEIGHT BACK. OVER THE YEARS SINCE I LOST THE WEIGHT, I HAVE NOT BEEN AS EMPATHETIC FOR PEOPLE WHO LOST WEIGHT AND GAINED IT BACK AS I SHOULD HAVE BEEN. I SWORE IT WOULD NOT HAPPEN TO ME! THE JOURNEY WAS TOO LONG AND TOO HARD TO REPEAT. I MADE SURE THAT I STAYED ON TRACK AND MADE THE HEALTHIEST CHOICES WHEN EATING OUT, I GAVE UP SODA, I EXERCISED WEEKLY, I DID 90% OF MY GROCERY SHOPPING AT THE WHOLE FOOD STORE, AND I ATE HEALTHY FOOD FIXED IN A HEALTHY WAY. I WORKED TOWARD A WEIGHT GOAL I WANTED TO ACHIEVE BY MY 50TH BIRTHDAY. THE LAST TIME I WEIGHED, I WAS FIVE POUNDS FROM THAT GOAL. I KNEW AFTER I QUIT WORKING, IT WOULD NOT BE HARD FOR ME TO LOOSE THE FIVE POUNDS BECAUSE I WOULDN’T BE SITTING ON MY BACKSIDE ALL DAY LONG!
WELL, WHEN MY BIRTHDAY CAME ALONG, I KNEW I DID NOT MAKE MY GOAL: NOT BECAUSE I WEIGHED BUT BECAUSE MY JEANS WERE TOO TIGHT AND MY MUFFIN WAS TOO BIG! I GAVE AWAY ALL OF MY ‘FAT CLOTHES’ SO IF I OUTGROW MY CURRENT JEANS, I WILL BE NAKED. NOT REACHING THAT GOAL WAS VERY DIFFICULT ON ME. IF I HADN’T HAD SO MUCH GOING ON AT THAT TIME, I WOULD HAVE HAD ME ONE BIG, LONG CRYING FIT! SO, I JUST TOLD MYSELF THAT I WOULD GET THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS AND THEN TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS AND GET THOSE EXTRA POUNDS BACK OFF. BECAUSE I SET MY START DATE SIX WEEKS OUT, I CHILLED DURING THE HOLIDAY’S. I ATE THINGS I KNEW BETTER THAN TO EAT AND I ATE THEM MORE OFTEN THAN I KNEW I SHOULD! LAST WEEK, MY FAMILY DECIDED TO BEGIN A WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY TOGETHER AND WE STARTED A BIGGEST LOSER CONTEST, STARTING JANUARY 1ST. I WAS
ECSTATIC THAT MY FAMILY WAS GOING TO BE DOING THIS WITH ME; ESPECIALLY MY HUSBAND. IT HAS SEEMED LIKE A LONELY PROCESS TO ME AT TIMES AND NOW I WILL HAVE THOSE I LOVE MOST WALKING ALONG WITH ME! HOWEVER, SINCE I HAVE MANAGED SEVERAL WEIGHT CONTEST BEFORE, I KNEW THERE WAS GOING TO BE ONE THING THAT HAD TO OCCUR THAT I HAD BEEN AVOIDING. I WAS GOING TO HAVE TO WEIGH! AS A HEALTH COACH AND A WELLNESS MANAGER, I KNOW THAT WEIGHING IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF WEIGHT LOSS. HOWEVER, I WAS GOING TO START WEIGHING AS SOON AS MY JEANS WERE LOOSE AGAIN! SATURDAY, I GOT ON THE SCALE AND MY NUMBER WAS TWENTY POUNDS UP FROM THE LAST TIME I WEIGHED! OH, DID I MENTION THAT WAS OVER A YEAR AGO SINCE I WEIGHED!
SO HERE I AM, IN A SPOT I SWORE I WOULD NEVER BE IN. AS MUCH AS I HATE THE REALITY OF MY POSITION, I AM SO HAPPY THAT I WOKE UP BEFORE I HAD GAINED IT ALL BACK. HOWEVER, I AM SO ASHAMED THAT I AM HERE. I TEACH AND COACH PEOPLE TO BE HEALTHY AND YET, I DID NOT PRACTICE THE THINGS I TEACH OTHERS! OF COURSE THE MAIN THING I ASK MYSELF IS, “HOW DID I GET HERE? I DO SO MANY THINGS RIGHT!” IF YOU REMEMBER, FOURTEEN MONTHS AGO, I GOT AN ALLERGIC REACTION FROM SOME VIRGINIA CREEPER AND FOR SEVEN WEEKS, I COULD NOT EXERCISE. AT THAT POINT, MY EXERCISE REGIMENT GOT MESSED UP AND IT NEVER RETURNED. I EXERCISED EVERY WEEK BUT NOT EVERY DAY. I KNOW THAT YOU ONLY HAVE A 10% CHANCE OF KEEPING YOUR WEIGHT OFF IF YOU DO NOT EXERCISE REGULARLY. THEN I EVALUATED THE OTHER PRINCIPLES OF WEIGHT LOSS: DRINKING WATER DAILY, EATING FIVE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES DAILY, WEIGHING EVERY WEEK, JOURNALING YOUR DAILY INTAKE OF FOOD, MINIMIZING YOUR CARBS AND SUGARS, COUNTING YOUR CALORIES DAILY, GETTING BACK ON TRACK THE NEXT MEAL AFTER A SPLURGE, AND AVOIDING MINDLESS EATING. I HAD NOT STAYED DISCIPLINED IN THESE AREAS. I HAD BEEN SO BUSY PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK FOR THE THINGS I WAS DOING RIGHT, I REFUSED TO LOOK AT THE THINGS I WAS DOING WRONG; UNTIL REALITY ONCE AGAIN SLAPPED ME UPSIDE THE HEAD (OR ON THE SCALE!).
THESE SAME PRINCIPLES APPLY TO OUR SPIRITUAL WALK. AS CHRISTIANS, WE CAN GET PRETTY COCKY WONDERING HOW OTHERS DO THIS AND THAT! WE PROCLAIM THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS WE WOULD NEVER DO. WE KNOW THE BASIC PRINCIPLES TO WALKING THE CHRISTIN LIFE. HOWEVER, SOMETIMES WE GET SO BUSY PATTING OURSELVES ON OUR BACKS FOR THE THINGS WE ARE DOING RIGHT THAT WE DO NOT ACCESS THE THINGS WE ARE DOING WRONG. WE DO NOT LET THE HOLY SPIRIT CONVICT US; WE AVOID GETTING ON THE SCALE. THEN ONE DAY SOMETHING HAPPENS AND REALITY HITS. THE FIRST THING WE SAY IS, “HOW DID I GET MYSELF HERE!”
WALKING WITH JESUS IS AN EVERYDAY WHOLEHEARTED COMMITMENT. WE CAN NOT PLAY GAMES WITH OURSELVES AND LIVE THE ABUNDANT LIFE! WE CAN NOT GO TO CHURCH EVERY WEEK AND DO OUR GOOD DEEDS AND FORGET THE DAY TO DAY DISCIPLINES!
HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE YOU HAVE BEEN ON THE SPIRITUAL SCALE?
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."
LUKE 9:23
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