The Truth About my Health and Fitness Journey...

When I was in middle school, I remember thinking I was "fat" because most of the cool girls my age were still wearing a girl's size 14 or 16 jeans and I was wearing a size 1 or 3. I weighed all of 104 pounds back then at 12 years old. Oh, how I wish I could tell my 12 year old self that it didn't matter what I weighed as long as I was healthy and eating right. The fear of weighing "too much" would follow me into adulthood when, as an 8 month pregnant woman with a 2 year old, all I could think was, "As long as I don't gain weight so that I weigh over 150 pounds, I'll be okay." The truth was, that I would have had just a 12 pound weight gain for that pregnancy, and that was not healthy for me or my baby. I had struggled with my overall perception of how I looked if I weighed a certain amount until I crossed a mental line and ended up thinking, "I don't care what I weigh," and I gained more weight, not even post-pregnancy weight!

About three years ago, I began working with a wonderful personal trainer! He knew I could do more, but didn't push me to the point of feeling defeated, just challenged, which I really needed to build my confidence. Unfortunately, the cost of a personal trainer caught up with me, and I had to leave my good friend. Soon after, though, another friend began posting videos of her workouts and this awesome shake she drank once a day. Well, I loved watching her working out, and she was very motivating to me (I've known her for over 20 years!), so I joined her team. I lost about 20 pounds and felt the best I had felt in years! She was my workout buddy, support, coach, and friend. But then, she quit the business, and I never felt more alone. She is still there for me, but as a great friend and encouragement. My motivation, however, waned. The weight crept back up, and my poor food choices and habits soon returned. It wasn't that I didn't want to eat more healthier, it was that the emotional eating that I had succumbed to years before was never dealt with, so I fell back into my old habits. What you keep in front of you, what you talk about, what you're focused on, that is what you will eventually lead yourself into--good or bad!

But I made the choice to start back on the health and fitness journey I had begun with my sweet friend. I'm choosing life, a healthier life, and I'm choosing to not make poor food choices. Just as I'm choosing this healthier lifestyle, we must also choose life in Jesus.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the weight of yourself, your relationships, your health, your life, I encourage you to read the Word and find Scriptures that support a healthy lifestyle. Just as I said on Monday, we are the ones who are in control of what we decide to do. No one can make the choice for you just as no one can workout for you or eat healthy for you and then you see the weight loss. Our decisions need actions to be successful!


What will you choose to breathe life into? I'd love for you to share!

~Lyn
Come for the journey, stay for the friendship!