It's Me Hope...and Here's My Story

As you all begin your journey tomorrow, I want to share my story with you.  

I'm sitting here with my beverage of choice: water with lime (or lemon, depending). As I reflect on my journey, it is amazing that water IS my beverage of choice. I can recall when Hawaiian Punch was my most cherished drink, and hot dogs and pop tarts were a large part of my diet.

Well, that was a long time ago. I am so grateful to God for helping me along my journey toward health. It has not been easy, but it has definitely been worth it.

I had been a gymnast for alot of my young life until I was 14. That was my exercise. After I had to quit due to an injury, I just didn't pick up any exercise.

So, fast forward to college life, with no exercise, and suddenly I had added the freshman 15 after one semester! But, because I got my tonsils and adenoids removed after that first semester, the weight came off very easily. That was my wake up call. My journey toward health began there.

I started walking for exercise.

And, that also started my fear of EVER gaining weight again.

My eating habits didn't change much at that point. Sound familiar? I just worked off the calories.

And, when we are young, that usually works well because we have the time to do the exercise and because of our metabolism at those young ages.

Over the years, I became so passionate about walking, that if I missed a day, I would be frustrated.

I would be afraid of gaining weight. I weighed myself daily.

Also, because of many food sensitivities, I was ruled by food--always trying to figure out what I could eat; worried about going out to eat because I wasn't sure there would be something I could have; eating too much of what I could have because it was there.

Combine those with the struggle of emotional eating and you have a mental mess...very unhealthy, mentally!

I soon came to realize that I was enslaved by my fear of gaining weight. If I ate a dessert, I HAD to go for a walk, maybe even an extra walk. It was almost a form of bulemia, in a sense. In my mind, I had to burn off those calories and fat or I'd be fat. It was a twisted view of health.

I'm thankful to say that God revealed this slavery to me many years ago, but I still struggled with it over and over, slowly getting progressively better in my mindset. But, I wasn't able to defeat my emotional eating and overeating with will power.

So, let's move on to this past year. I have learned A LOT! Through learning about healthy habits with Take Shape For Life, God revealed to me that I was not eating the right balance or portions of foods, which combined with emotional eating, triggered my unhealthy attitude toward exercise over the years.

I've now learned to eat the right foods, balanced, and in proper portions. I don't feel bloated. I have learned to stop and challenge my emotions that tempt me to eat unhealthy foods so I can choose to continue moving toward health and freedom.

I'm so thrilled to say that I have experienced a mind shift toward exercise. I now find joy in exercising because it's helping to get me stronger, to improve my stamina, and helping with stress relief. These are all necessary in my life so that I can now thoroughly enjoy and engage in life with my husband and children and do ordinary household tasks with ease.

I've also struggled for many many years with fibromyalgia. But, praise the Lord, through some detox with my chiropractor and now improving my strength and habits of health, I am able to say that I hardly have symptoms anymore. AMAZING! I can say, with great exuberance, that I feel better now than I did in my 30's.

Long ago, my father would tell anyone who asked him how he was that he was like a bearcat, which is someone with vim, vigor, and vitality! I AM a bearcat!