The good Lord is carrying me through! I have tried this before, all my intentions good, but I have never been able to succeed before. This time is different! God put on my heart that I needed to get healthy, not necessarily loose weight, but just get healthy. I will never forget the day, I was at a health fair sponsored by my work and they were telling me I was healthy and God said to me that it is not about the number on the scale or my BMI so much as how I feel. I took a good look at myself and at how I had been feeling and I realized that I hadn't felt good in a while. I suffer with daily pain from back issues (ruptured disks, degenerative disk disease and nerve damage that is progressive), but even aside from the daily pain, I had no energy and every day was becoming more and more of a struggle. I went to the dr. and asked him about loosing the weight/inches and he told me that because of my hysterectomy and my back issues that there was not really much I could do to loose weight but that I was not really overweight so it was ok. I said that the weight I carry around my middle wasn't healthy and he told me that I should seek to get liposuction and a tummy tuck and see if I could get my insurance to cover it because it would be good for my back problems. I was defeated when I left his office that day and then I went to my church that Sunday and I heard a message about all things being possible through God who gives me strength. It was then that I again heard God tell me that I could get healthy. It was not about a number on a scale but about becoming the best me I can be! It resonated with me and it was then that I decided that I could do this. I plugged in the numbers I got at the health fare, asked for a fit bit for my birthday and dove right in!

God gives me strength when I am weak. All things are possible through him. He can use all things for the good of those who believe! This time I was doing it for God first and foremost, for me second, and for my family because I want to be around for a long time for them! At first I was really undercover with what I was doing because in the past I had tried this and I felt pushed and pressured by those around me that love me. I know they were trying to help but really I just always felt like a failure because there was always something I wasn't doing right or something else I needed to do too. This time I wanted it to be for God first and for me second and for those I love third. This time has been very different. God has put on my spirit the gentle nudging I need to get up and get active. My cravings are different this time. I am getting support from my family but it is gentle support; slight changes in what my Mom cooks when we eat over, gentle compliments from my husband and my kids telling me they are proud of me. My kids sometimes go on my walk/runs with me, they pick up the slack when I go work out, and they are eating healthier too. God is so good!!! None of this would be possible without him!!! I will keep my focus on the Lord and he will make all things possible because I believe!!! Thank you God for helping me to become the woman you have created me to be! To you be all the glory, forever and ever!