New Year- Healthy Me!

Tomorrow is the first day of a New Year! It's funny how the last day of the year makes you reflect back on the last 12 months of your life.

This past year we moved 820 miles south to our dream home 5 miles off the Gulf of Mexico with much warmer temperatures year round. When we moved we decided that we would use the warmer temperatures to lead more active and healthy lifestyles. Unfortunately the deep south also brought along delicious dining options filled with fried Everything, southern home-style sides abound, delicious BBQ a few short miles from my house, and sweet tea galore. No amount of moderate fitness activity could counteract the amount of calories I was consuming in a day. Once the water temperatures fell below bathing suit weather I completely and totally let myself go. I could blame it on working over 40 hours a week, being a mom, health issues through the year....blah blah blah.....but there are no acceptable excuses, and nobody to blame but myself.

After having Allie on May 14, 2011 I began a yo-yo dieting phase that has been going on ever since. I would be motivated and eat super healthy and work out so hard for a month or so and drop 15 pounds, and then one good cheat meal, overly tiring day, stressful event, or discouraging hurdle and off the wagon I fell. I got so tired of "dieting" that 3 months ago I just completely gave up, I ate whatever whenever and sat on my behind and did very little activity as possible. I was embarrassed to look at myself in the mirror and avoided looking in the mirror as often as possible. Working from home has blessed me with the luxury of working in my favorite outfit: a pair of sweatpants and baggy t-shirt, but I had fallen into a slump. I dreaded going to church on Sunday because it meant I had to go out in public and not wear my baggy clothes that hid the far from fit frame that I once had.

About 3 weeks ago I was getting ready for church when I got out of the shower and looked in the mirror and literally got angry at myself for how I looked. Church was not where I wanted to go, I wanted to hide in the comforts of my house and sulk in my sorrows. But thank God for a loving and supportive husband and daughter who both told me I looked beautiful in my church outfit (even though I felt far from it). We went to church and I felt as though the message was directed right at me, I wrote down this quote that our pastor said which stuck out to me: "The Messiah came into our world not expecting perfection but accepting imperfection." The definition of imperfect is: characterized by defects or weakness. Did you get that? The son of God came into our world and accepted our imperfections. That hit me right in the gut...why was I so angry at myself and pointing out all of my imperfections? The entire afternoon I found myself praying and asking God for forgiveness for my negative thoughts and talk that filled my head about myself. That night I couldn't sleep, the house was quiet, and I was just laying in bed thinking about the message I had heard earlier in the day. I pulled up my Bible app and looked up scriptures on health, these three spoke to me:

• So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV
• She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. Proverbs 31:17 NIV
• Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (The scripture which lead me to create this blog in 2014)

 My mind was reeling....that morning I heard that God loved me despite my imperfections so I was starting to feel a little better about my current size/shape. These scriptures clearly showed me that yes he accepts my imperfections, but as a Christian I should chose to be healthy out of respect for myself and to honor God who blessed me with this body/temple. All of this together brought a clear realization of why I had failed so many times before in my quest to lose weight...exactly that, I focused on losing weight. I had prayed to God for help many times to lose weight, and that night I had prayed instead for answers. God answered me with a simple answer...it's not about dieting or losing weight, it's about being HEALTHY! My eating and exercise habits over the past 5 years were no where near healthy on a consistent basis. Why do I need to focus on being healthy? Because I have a 5 year old little girl who watches my every move...she asks for healthy snacks such as fruit and greek yogurt, while I am eating chips and junk food. That 5 year old girl needs a mom who is able to run and play without being out of breath or tired, a mom who sets the example of eating a well balanced healthy diet, a mom who spends more free time being active then sitting on the couch. I want her to remember being healthy and active as a family for many many years. I need to be healthy so I can watch her grow up into a Godly woman and have kids and grandkids of her own. I need to be healthy so that I can celebrate my 75th wedding anniversary with my wonderful husband 66 years from now. I need to be healthy so I can enjoy life and live it to the fullest!

Today my journey began, cleaning out all of the junk food in my house, pulling out the healthy recipe books, and starting my meal plans for the month...ditching the southern food theme and focusing on healthy and cleaner eating!