Simple Facts

Why does it seem to take us so long to comprehend the simple facts and make the changes needed to help us?  The simple fact I am talking about is the one that says if we want to be healthier we most likely need to move more and eat less, not really hard to understand but for me it took forever.  Seems that by the time I was finally ready to grab a hold of this simple fact and realize how true it was my body was in such bad shape that it was not longer a simple thing to do, it seemed my body fought against me as it was hard to move and so often I just felt tired and bad.  I did however finally get a hold of this fact and start to do what I could.  I walked when I could as far as I could, I continued to play volleyball and work and to do all the house work and yard work I could.  Now to some people they would think that is not a lot, but trust me when you are 450 pounds and have severe swelling in your legs and other health complications, just walking from your car to the door is a lot.  However as I learned if I would do the little I could each day and then try to add to it little by little, it was amazing how soon I could do more.  Nine months ago to walk a few blocks was a struggle especially with out many breaks, to walk for 15 minutes without stopping was hard and to walk with anyone was difficult as I walked so slow, stairs were to be avoided at all costs and simple things like mowing the yard and shoveling snow presented a challenge.  Now I can walk 1.5 to 2 miles without stopping, walk for an hour with no breaks, keep pace with friends and family as we walk together, I take the stairs as often as i can and shoveling snow has been no trouble and I am looking forward to yard work this summer.  Now I realize that my progress has been on the fast track because of having bariatric surgery, but some progress was made even before the surgery.  It is not easy and it is a discipline we have to make ourselves do but it can be done.  If you are unhappy with the way your health is and it seems to be caused or hindered from being overweight then may I challenge you to begin to do whatever you can and have to so as to change that.  I realize not everyone can afford or have the surgery to lose weight but we all can do little things.  If you can walk for 5 minutes then do it every day for a few weeks then try to bump it up to 10 minutes and so on till you get to where walking is no problem.  If you are like I use to be and like to eat two sandwiches or a whole pizza or maybe four tacos, then cut down to one sandwich, half a pizza or two tacos and keep cutting little by little until you are eating healthier amounts.  If you like mostly sweets and carbs try to cut back on them and add some fruit and veggies.   We can all do something little by little.  I truly believe you will find if you do a little more each day and eat a little less, set goals for yourself, push yourself and surround yourself with a great support system, you will find you can begin to reverse the tidal wave of poor health that may be overtaking you.  Perhaps some of you will find yourself in the place I did where you have to take more drastic action (such as surgery) to get things started, then I suggest you start finding out what you can do to make it happen because your health and your life are worth it.  Don't do it for anyone else but you, yes it will benefit others but the main thing is to improve your life.  If you find you don't have family or friends to be a support system, then please feel free to contact me and I will be a support person for you as I know how awesome it is to get your life back and be able to do the simple things in life that so many people take for granted and so many obese people can not do.  I will never condemn you or put you down as I know all too well how hard of a struggle it is and how depressing it can be but I would like to encourage and inspire anyone I can to try to make the necessary changes to take your life back.  If you put your mind to it, do what you can, lean on those who will support you, ignore those who don't care or understand and trust in God I believe you can do anything.

Every Mountain Has A Valley On The Other Side

Things have been going so good lately for me that when I hit a bump in the road this past week I found myself complaining to God that things had been good and I did not like this feeling again of depression and being overwhelmed.  Well as I was walking that day letting God know what I thought about all this junk going on, He gave me a good message and I thought maybe some others could use it too, so let me share it.

Let me start off by saying that last January and February I was so overwhelmed with depression and feelings of failure that I thought I would drown in it all.  God told me that at that point I was so low there were only two choices, going up out of the pit or drowning in it, so with the help He gave me and through the journey He took me on I climbed out of that pit and have been on a uphill climb since.  Things have been great, seeing improvements, feeling better, feeling the burden lift.  You could say life was pretty grand so that is why I was frustrated now.  As God showed me I had been in the valley and with His help climbed up the next mountain and was on the mountain top for awhile but once you get to the other side of the mountain there is always another valley, so my choices were to stay on top of the mountain and not grow anymore or to go through the next valley with Him and trust that He would grow me and show me something good out of it.  Wow, what a truth that was.  At that point I realized a very important thing, since I had recommitted my whole life back to God last March and asked him to lead me and said that I would follow, the one thing I know for sure is that no matter what valley I have to face or roadblock life throws me or bump in the road I may hit God will be there with me walking each step of the way and helping me along and in fact at times when it gets too hard for me, He picks me up and carries me.  Valleys are not so bad if we don't walk through them alone, I hope you take God along with you as you face your valleys.