Some have asked about my story. Here is my story!! I was small and petite all through growing up and throughout college. I got married out of
College. I was 23 in 2004 and I was
happily married, finishing my last year of school. I packed on some weight - only about 15-20
lbs that year. I don't know if it was
because of the Birth Control that I was on or that I was now out on my own, not
as active as I was in college.
In 2006 - I realized I had started to gain weight - I was probably about 30-40
lbs lbs heavier than I should have been.
I couldn't fit into clothes so I needed to get new ones. Then I decided I had enough - I got busy
working out! I lost all but 15 lbs. We had moved prior to this and then moved
again after I had lost the weight that I had lost. It took a lot of work. After the last move - I got busy with work
and life and I forgot to exercise. So I
packed on the pounds once again. Then in
2007 I got pregnant with our first child due to be born in mid 2008. I don't need to tell you that I gained a
whole lot of weight during this pregnancy.
This pregnancy was very hard and difficult for my body and I ended up with
Pre-eclampsia 5 weeks before my due date.
For those of you who do not know what pre-eclampsia is - it is pregnancy
induced high blood pressure. By the end
of the pregnancy I was well over 100 lbs heavier than when I got married! I lost about half of the weight afterward the
pregnancy. I still didn't fit any time
in for exercise and right eating. I
loved to eat, I was stressed - I would eat, food was my comfort. There wasn't much self control. I decided I needed to watch what I ate
several times but it never really resulted in much. Having two babies 18 months apart is a lot of
work but adding in unemployment and the inability to make the end of the month
green and not red was very stressing on me.
In Early 2009 we found out that we were expecting our second child. We were thrilled and excited about this. As was true to fashion though - I gained
quite a bit of weight with this pregnancy but not as much as I had with my
first. I made it to 38 weeks with this
pregnancy and went in for another c-section as I was again showing signs of
pre-eclampsia. My protein counts were
up, my blood pressure was up, I had out of control gestational diabetes (with
both pregnancies) that I managed fairly well with diet and meds up until the
end of the pregnancy. Once the pregnancy
was over I found myself not wanting to workout but knowing that I needed
to. I attempted to try P90X but it was
too long and I was still breastfeeding my little one and I was afraid I would
loose my milk supply. So I took it
easy. Again, I found my solace in
food. I would eat my favorites, chow
down on snacks, I over ate. I was
stressed. My hormones were really
crazy.
We went along for
about 2 years and I again decided I needed to loose some weight. I lost about 15-20 lbs and was well on my way
to success. Then we found out we were
expecting #3. Another surprise for us
but we were thrilled. I continued to
workout but I made sure I didn't over do it because I didn't want to harm my
little one. This pregnancy ended
shortly in a miscarriage. A Physical
check up about a week later showed that I had higher than normal cholesterol,
my blood pressure was out of control - not too high but still high enough to be
concerned. I knew with the medical
history that I already had that I was headed down the road to serious heart
problems and health issues if I didn't drastically change my lifestyle. Knowing this and doing something about it -
that is a different story.
I went a year and a half not doing anything about my health. I finally got to the point that I had about
outgrown all my clothes and the next size up - was 20 and I didn't have the
extra money to go out and buy new clothes.
I was also very concerned about heart disease with my history - the
likeliness of me having a heart attack now in my 30's - is quite a big
possibility and the only thing to change that is to change my lifestyle.
In December 2012 - I contacted a friend of mine, Danielle, and told her I
wanted to join one of her Challenge Groups.
I desperately needed to loose weight.
The Challenge group started at the beginning of January - so I had one
month before I could officially start the group. I wasn't going to wait so I jumped in and
started working out. I noticed a few changes
but I hadn't really changed my diet.
In January 2013 - I realized that I needed to drastically change not just my
workout routine (to become more active) but I also needed to drastically change
my diet as well. I was consuming way too
much food, way too much processed foods, way too much white carbs, way too many
of all the things my body didn't need, couldn't handle. I had chronic heartburn - it was really
bad!! Then I had enough. I switched to mostly vegetables, low carb but
good carbs (not no carbs!) and I cut out 90% of all my wheat, rice, processed
foods, etc. out of my diet. This has
made such a big difference. I went
through one round of Power 90 and I've lost over 20" in my entire body and
about 15 lbs. I have also been heartburn
free since January.
What I have learned through all of this is that as a Christian, my body is the
Temple of the Holy Spirit, and it is a sin for me to be overweight and to
overeat. If I can control how I eat,
what I eat, and work to loose the weight
than that is what I need to do. So many
times our testimony's as Christian's are lacking because we can't
overcome. I want to be the example of
Christ that I need to be. That means
that as long as I can help it - I don't need to be over weight. That means that I will strive to eat as
healthy as I can and occasionally have a treat but it can't be all the time. How much more effective can we be when we are
living right?! Most Christian's don't
stop to think about how their health (the part that they can control) can
impact their testimony for better or for worse.
People don't want to hear what we have to say because we are
lacking. While some sins have different
degree's of punishment - all sin is sin - whether it is over eating, anger,
pride, lust, or being over weight.
I want to leave this world knowing that it was my time to go - not that I could
have stayed longer had I engaged in a more healthy lifestyle. We limit our effectiveness when we give in to
the idea that our bodies are just too far gone, we are just too over weight to
do anything about it. Sure there are
things we need to overcome and conquer - pregnancy, age, genetics. All I know is that I've realized that
maintaining a healthy diet, working out regularly, and doing your part and
leaving the rest with Almighty God is the most important thing you can do.
I still have much to do! I have two
beautiful children that the Lord has entrusted me with and I want to raise them
for His honor and His glory. I have a
wonderful husband that I need to be a help mate to. I can't do that if I am 6 feet under!! So I am going to strive to be the best
example that I can be - I can't do that apart from God. He is my strength. He will help me get through these
challenges. I want my life to be
pleasing to Him. I want to leave this
world - having impacted my Children for Christ.
What is holding you back from fully serving the Lord? We can't be effective unless we give our
effectiveness over to God. We need to
give our lives to Him, to surrender our lives fully to Him. Let Him examine your life and let Him change
your life today!! I constantly give
things to Him! I fail so often but He
picks me up and helps me along the way.
He can and He will do it for you too!!
Here are my goals:
1. I want to be more like Christ
2. I want to be a good testimony of Christ
3. I want to be a good wife and helpmeet to my husband
4. I want to be a good mother, sister, daughter, friend
5. I want to loose 60 lbs
