Working It Out

You would think that by this point in my life that I would have won my battle with weight.  By the third grade it was clear that I was going to be the chubby kid.  We didn't even have a McDonalds in my hometown back then, and my Mom did all of the cooking.  We didn't have video games, and we only got 1 channel without snow.  No, not snow on the ground, but the white fuzzy lines that appeared on the TV when the reception wasn't good!  Remember those days?!  Anyway, my point is that we, my sisters and myself, spent most of our days outside running through the woods and playing in the creek.  I shouldn't have been overweight, but I was.  By the time that I entered high school I had started playing basketball, my Mom got us a Jane Kennedy workout record---no videos yet either, and we went on some crazy diet my uncle gave us.  I did lose weight and, while I never could get away with eating everything that the other kids ate, I did manage to control my weight.  I controlled it, that is, until my early thirties when I had my second child and returned to a high stress job working 45-60 hours a week.  My husband and I both worked, and we ate out at least 3 times a week.  I found Curves just before I gave up the job and not long after I quit work the pounds began to melt.  I was very close to a healthy weight for the first time in years.  Then life happened and financial stress took it's toll on me as I turned 40 last year.  I packed on 20 pounds in a few months!  There is something crazy going on with me and my hormones!  I'll have to write about that another day!  When I began to make my way out of the pit that I had fallen into, I was angry at myself and very frustrated that I had to now re-lose the weight that I had already lost once.  I was miserable, but God and my friends didn't leave me there long!  I have been working out on a regular basis since January, and the scale hasn't been moving!  2 weeks ago I was down 2 pounds, and I saw the light at the end of the tunnel!  Unfortunately for me though, managing my weight is something that I will have to work at for the rest of my life.  I am tracking my food intake and exercise daily, and I think that I will probably do this in some form as long as I am alive.  I have shared before with friends that my problem with food is the cross that I have to carry.  We all have one.  For some people it's alcohol or drugs, and for some people it's a physical pain or disability that they have to overcome.  Even the great disciple, Paul, had a thorn in his side.  As a matter of fact, when I think about all of the battles that I could be fighting, my own battle somehow doesn't seem too tough.  Some days I'm great, and some days, like today, I give in to a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger and a small frosty!  The good news is that I don't have to carry my cross alone!  I do have great friends who work out with me and are fighting this battle along beside of me, and I have my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who has promised that no burden is too heavy for him to bear.  I don't think that I will win this battle until I see Jesus on the other side, but I'm good with that!  In the meantime, I'm gonna keep on working it out!  I hope you will too!