Start Now

Start now. I went to a liver specialist and as we sat talking about my fatty liver, I told her I would start my dieting regime in January.  She looked at me and with all seriousness said let me give you a quote from Arnold Schwarzenegger, "Start Now". Well I had to pause in my ramblings about rice and sugar decrease for 2019. 

It was as if a light bulb went off in my head. Why not start now? Why wait on the calendar to roll over to a new year before beginning a new life style. So that very day I left the office and tried my best to make good choices.

For the most part, it worked until I got tired and hungry.  I discovered that my failure to plan was a plan to fail.  Sigh...tomorrow is another day to start now.

Lord please help me to do right in the now of my life. Father in truth I have been unwilling to start now but the question is why wait? I don't want to wait anymore Lord. Help me and others like me Lord who are afflicted by procrastination. We need yourhelp today in Jesus name. Amen.

I'm Still In The Race

I may not have been updating this blog post but I am still in the race.  What race you asked?  Why the race for life.  Oh, I am still running towards the prize to find the better me that God intended.  I went on the scale last night and saw that there was a plus and not a minus to my weight.  Never the less I am not deterred. 

I am still in the gym, pounding the treadmill runway, lifting the weights and praying through every step.  I feel like God is using this to carve out something more than a better body for me.  He is pulling on self control and discipline that often times I let slip into the back seat of my life. 

I know that this race is not for the swift but for those that will endure to the end.  I know that this will take sweat and maybe a few tears.  However, I will not give up or give in to the temptation to quit.  I am still in the race y'all and that is something to praise God about today!

Ecclesiastes 9:11a

New International Version
"I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong..."

Prayer:

Lord, you know me and my tendency to quit on things, myself in particular.  However I thank you that I don't have to be the fastest runner in this race, I just need to finish it.  So Lord, with you as my coach I am assured of a good finish.  Thanks God for helping me along the way in Jesus' name, Amen.

Lifestyle versus a Task

I was talking to a friend about the journey of weight loss.    He said in my mid-sentence rant, "You and I go over this so often".  He then said it needs to be more than a task to be done. It needs to be a lifestyle.  I see so many people in the gym and for them it appears that this is more than a check from the To-do List.  This is a lifestyle that they are living out.  I see the result of their effort. They get better and better in their body and strength.  This of course has not been my story. 

I have had it as a task to be completed - a task to endure - a task that I collect the seconds and minutes eagerly awaiting the end of my pre-set goal.  I have often found no joy in it - no sense of happiness.  It was more often just a drudgery that I battled with doing daily. 

You can clearly see that I will not get anywhere with such a mindset.  I will not gain much if I am not invested completely.  So what needs to change?  My attitude.  My Mind.  My life.

Paul talks about renewing the mind so as not to conform to this world in Romans 12.  I believe this is a good place for me to start.  Whatever changes I want to see in myself must begin in the mind.  Battles are won and lost in this place no one sees.  So seems like a great starting place for a lifestyle change.

Romans 12:2
English Standard Version
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Father, I know that I need to be transformed in my mind for any changes to come about in my life.  I know that my attitude towards losing weight has been rather poor. I have been lazy and unwilling to put in the effort required. Please God help me to be renewed in my mind so that I will win when tested.  I believe that the fight is about self discipline. It is more than pounds on a scale. The victory in this area of my life is a win in other areas.  It is a win in me. Help me please to be renew daily this mind of mine in Jesus' name, Amen.

Do What Is Right & You Will Be Accepted

So God has gifted me with another day and I take pleasure in His gift.  Last week I was doing my best to resist the temptation of McDonald's fries.  Unbelievably, I could smell it from several kilometers away from the restaurant.  I had barely glimpsed the golden arch ahead of me.  Yet my sense of smell had no problems telling me that breakfast was still being served.  I am glad to say that I resisted and drove on to work.

Do not celebrate with me just yet.  I fear I fell into the trap of an office social where even my boss was in on the peer pressure to eat with the gang.  Yes, samosas and tortilla chips with an abundance of pastries to choose from. Sigh. My goose was cooked and eaten.


It is hard to feel good about yourself when you know you didn't do what was right.  The guilt just about threatens to kill you if you let it.  I didn't do my best.  I succeeded in one test only to fail an hour later when tested again.

My sister had an epiphany - A GOD moment.  He said to her, if you do what is right then you won't feel bad about yourself.  Simple isn't it?  It reminds me of the story of Cain and Abel.  Now this was not about weight but I think it applies just the same.  Cain and Abel brought offerings to God, but Cain's was not looked at with favor from God.  Genesis 4 records this conversation as such,

⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

Friends, it's easy to sit and bemoan our existence and circumstances.  I could say the devil made me do it.  I could blame my co-workers.  I could even blame my sweet tooth and say I was made like that.  The truth is that I have to take responsibility for my own actions.  If I did what I knew was to be done then I would feel better about myself and I wouldn't be fighting a battle with weight.  Sin is always crouching...but I can rule over it!

Father, thank you for truth today.  I needed this simple reminder to overcome the temptations that are certain to come daily.  Please continue to help me in this journey to wholeness.  In Jesus' name, amen.

BATTLES ARE WON AND LOST

One week ago today I restarted my journey of seeking a healthier lifestyle.  I am happy to say that I have not thrown in the towel.  I continue to trod ahead. It literally is a fight to do this daily.  I find that so many reasons of why I shouldn’t are presented and often times they win me over. 

 

As I contemplate the past week, I concluded that I have won and lost many battles lying on my bed. My alarm goes off and the fight begins.  Now I don’t even have to open my eyes and most times I don’t even utter a sound.  On that bed my mind begins the push back against the clocks military command. Get Up! Get Out! Work Out!  My mind with its best coaxing voice begins her offensive strategy.  Sleep a little longer she whispers.  Stay today and go tomorrow.   It really is too cold today.  It’s raining.  You don’t really have enough time.  Hit snooze – again.

 

I must admit, that mind of mine is good. She knows me really well – I would say inside and out.  She challenges me to stay when what I really need to do is go.  So the battle goes on and only one of us will win.  Today, I am standing in a place of victory – rolling out bed and resisting the temptation to stay snuggled up in the warmth on my only day off for a while.  I won this fight and tomorrow there will be another. 

 

Indeed, battles are won and lost lying right there in bed.  However, today I am reminded that I don’t have to take on the posture of defeat.  I am, after all, more than a conqueror!

 

Romans 8:37

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  

 

Heavenly Father, thank you for the reminder that through Christ I am not defeated. I’m so thankful Lord that regardless of the battles I fight, I am not alone.  Lord for every win I have gained I know that the source of strength was You. I hear you countering the arguments that come to bring about my defeat in this area of my life.  I hear your words of encouragement filtering through the no and saying yes you can to me.  Father, thank you for being the commander of my life.  I will not fail if I obey your commands.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Restarting - Again

I am not discouraged.  I am not giving up.  I am moving ahead with this plan to get this flesh under submission to the Spirit of God.  I am standing firm and refusing to budge  - I will lose this weight. I will get healthy.
 

Now you may read this and wonder what am I on about.  I mean it is not world peace or the cure for cancer that I am speaking about.  You know what, you would be right.  It isn't that at all.  However, for me and maybe that one other person, this is HUGE!

The struggle is real for us and so we have to become a little militant in our declarations in order to move to the next day and gain the victory over our lives.  It is life or death for surely you have heard of the many complications that result from being obese? 

Breathe.  I had to exhale just now to recapture my focus and release my own anxieties.  I will not give up.  This is more for me than for  you.  However, I invite you to journey with me.  Maybe we could compare notes one day.  Maybe you will discover just as I have that you can do all things - eat less, exercise more - through Christ who strengthens you.  So today, I am at day umpteen, and I am declaring to myself and to whomever will read that I am Restarting - Again.


Philippians 4:13 New King James Version (NKJV)
¹³ I can do all things through ^[a]Christ who strengthens me.


Father I thank you for the many do-overs you have given to me.  I thank you that in spite of me veering off course you never leave me.  I begin again this journey with YOU.  I believe that success is simply me submitting. You care about me and so I know that you want me to live and not die.  Father, help me to make life choices as I am committing myself again to the project of Dieting for Life. In Jesus' name, Amen.