Wednesday, October 27, 2010

A New and Different Start & A New Blog Feature

First, I would like to apologize for not posting very often in the last few months. Life—what I have to do—has gotten in the way of what I want to do. In the midst of life, God and I have been wrestling (thankfully, my hip joint is still in its socket) over several issues. Perhaps I’ll write on some of the issues later, but the issue I am dealing with today is my weight and my health.

God has been gently talking to me about my health and how it is adversely affected by my weight. My doctor has been talking to me about the same thing. She speaks much more bluntly than God.

But I’ve finally realized that the reason I never feel truly great, I never have much energy, I never…you get the picture…is because of my weight. I’ve known for years that weight affects one’s physical health. I’m living proof. I have high cholesterol. I have Type II Diabetes. Both of these are a direct result of poor eating choices and poor habits. I have told myself all sorts of things trying to “motivate” myself into dieting. Nothing has worked. Until now.

The kicker came last week when I had squeezed myself into my favorite pair of jeans and a one piece top that looks like two. You know the kind – it is a shirt with another shirt that wraps around the front and ties. I walked past a mirror and got a side-view. It was awful. I looked like I was ready to give birth to a 15 pound baby. After that, I made myself get on the scale and realized I weigh more than I’ve ever weighed in my life – even when I was pregnant.

So I began to think and to pray about how to obtain a new lifestyle and keep it. I realized it must be God-centered. I cannot do this alone. But I also know myself well enough to know that I need accountability. LOTS of accountability. This is where the new blog feature comes in.

I want to hold myself accountable to all of you. AND more important, I want to invite any and all of you to join me on this journey. You will not have to share how much you weigh (you don’t see my weight anywhere on this blog, do you?) and you will not have to share your goal weight. I do ask that you share the amount of weight you want to lose and how you plan to lose it. Every Wednesday, everyone will comment on how much weight they lost – or gained – and anything that affected their progress that week. You know what I’m saying – your car broke down, requiring hundreds of dollars in repairs so you stopped and picked up a quart of Ben and Jerry’s. By the time you got home, it was gone. Those types of events. And the good stuff – someone noticed you’re losing weight and they complimented you on your progress.

Between Wednesdays, I will be posting Scriptures, encouraging comments, as well as the occasional book review and give-away. And yes, I will post when I hit the ice cream aisle or the chocolate – anything chocolate.

Obviously, blogs are not private – if it was, it wouldn’t be a blog. Still, I want you to feel free to express yourself openly and honestly. No one will judge you or condemn you. We are all in this together.

Next Wednesday, November 3, will be our first post. This is when you will write how much you want to lose and the method you plan to use, Weight Watchers, ediets.com, or perhaps your own method of portion control, or low fat, etc. It doesn’t matter to me what plan you use; your plan may motivate someone else to try the same method.

And remember, this will be Christ-centered. Because we won’t be successful in losing or keeping the weight off if we are not centered on Him. Selah.

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