A New Lifestyle: The Beginning

*I started this blog on October 28, 2009.


When I first began my sabbatical, God told me that I needed to get my life in shape physically. I am overweight, out of shape, Type II Diabetic, high cholesterol…those are just the main physical problems I have. I’ve been on sabbatical for several months and have yet to do anything about changing my lifestyle. God has said “now is the time.”

I love everything about food. I love the colors, the textures and of course, the taste. I am an emotional eater. I eat when I’m happy, I eat when I’m sad, I eat when I’m angry. Name any emotion you can think of and I’m sure I eat because of said emotion.

I was talking with a friend the other day about eating and dieting. She said to me, “I don’t know how to celebrate without food. We always had food at any occasion when I was growing up. And I don’t know how to entertain without food.” I had to agree with her. Every birthday, every holiday, every major event and most minor events are celebrated with food in my family. Each family member is taken to the restaurant of their choice for their birthday. Holidays are all about baking, cooking, eating and entertaining.

God has said, “Now is the time.” I stepped on the scales this morning and faced the ugly truth. And it was very ugly. I weigh more now than I’ve ever weighed in my life, including when I was pregnant with my second child and gained 30 pounds.

Joining:
October 29: I joined Weight Watchers tonight. I decided that I would have to be accountable to someone every week to be successful in losing weight. Also, spending money to do this is an incentive. When I weighed in at the meeting, it was the same weight as it was at home. At least I know my scales are right.

First Week:
…was an absolute disaster! I ate everything I could get my hands on! I was in total rebellion! “Why do I have to do this?” “I don’t want to do this!” “Look at her – she’s overweight, happy and no health problems.” I thought of every excuse possible and justified every bite that went into my mouth. It was not a good week.

Second Week:
When I weighed in Thursday night, I told the meeting leader and receptionist that I was probably the first person in history to gain weight in their first week of belonging to WW. The meeting leader laughed and said, “Oh no. We have a member who is now a meeting leader. She gained every week for the first five weeks of her membership.” OK, so now I don’t feel quite as bad!! As it turns out, my weight remained the same as the previous week.

The other good thing about this night was that Kim, my daughter, joined. It is much easier to do this with a partner.

Third Week:
Woo-Hoo! Weighed in at WW 2.6 pounds lighter! OK – so maybe with God’s help I can do this!
One thing that has been incredibly helpful is a daily devotion called “I Must Decrease” by Janice Hanna Thompson. I’m not sure this book is still in print, but if it is –buy it! The same friend I mentioned earlier found a copy for me and it has been instrumental in getting me started and keeping me on track.

I promise I won’t bore you every week with an update on my progress. But this is an important part of what God is doing in my life right now, so periodic updates will be posted.