A New Journey...A New Me

Life is a journey.  Life is an adventure.  Life is ________________.  You can probably fill in the blank with a number of clichés you've heard.  I've recently embarked on a new journey.  It's a spiritual journey.  It's a physical journey.  It's my spiritual journey to better physical health.  I've had a "weight problem" my whole life...literally my whole life! When I was an infant, my pediatrian took me off of formula and put me on skim milk because I was gaining too much weight.  Like so many of my fellow strugglers, I've tried all kinds of diets.  I've even tried calling the diet something else so I wouldn't feel like I was on a diet.  I found some success.  I would lose some weight but never enough.  Eventually I would go back to my old habits and would gain the weight back...and then some.  If you've ever struggled with this, you know what I'm talking about.

 Several months ago, I found a devotional and book that has forced me to look at my weight problem in an entirely different light.  It got me thinking about this area of my life. Back in January, a lovely friend from church told me how she had joined a Bible study, First Place 4 Health, geared toward weight loss and she lost over 50 pounds. She invited me to their orientation for the new semester to see if I might be interested. Although skeptical at first, I did go. And I liked it. I really liked the other ladies there and the leaders. I did some research online about the organization and found it be a solid biblical program. My first official class was February 21st.  I am beginning to realize that my weight problem isn't really a food problem.  It's not even a physiological problem. Sure, I may be genetically more predisposed to weight gain, but that's not the real issue for me.  My weight problem is a spiritual problem.  Now, before you close this page and think me crazy, I'd like you to hear me out.  As a Christian, I do believe that God cares about every aspect of our lives, even the food we eat.  Believe it or not, food is addressed in the Bible.  I'm hopeful that I will be truly successful this time around.  My reason?  I truly believe I'm getting at the heart of my lifelong struggle. So I've been at this for almost 17 weeks. I've lost 20 pounds so far and started to exercise. The biggest change I've seen in me though is my attitude about food. I'm starting to look at it differently. It's not the source of comfort it used to be. Oh, I still love food, but I'm choosing to love God more.  I have a LONG way to go but I know that through His strength, I will be victorious!

Blessings,
Teresa