From Fatness to Fitness

I have always been a relatively thin person, yet over the past few years, I let the stress of life plump me up until before I knew it, I was actually overweight - a word I thought would never describe me. In 2011, I heard a friend mention starting The Daniel Plan, a Biblical plan for healthy living.  I had never heard of such, so being the Googler that I am, I checked it out.  I was hooked. On December 31, 2011, I made the hasty decision to give up soft drinks for all of 2012.  Seeing as I had never kept a New Year's Resolution before, I thought this would be a tall order, yet I embarked on the journey anyway.  I decided to take a slightly different approach - I would make it a week-by-week resolution.  It seemed way more manageable than a whole year.  I messed up in March and drank a Sprite and continued drinking those until August when I threw in the towel on all soft drinks.

In addition to cutting out soft drinks, I tried to cut out most sugary foods, and I added Zumba to my life - thanks to my Sweet Santa Claus who brought it to me for Christmas.  Making these minute changes in my daily life made major changes on the scale.  Before I knew it, I had lost 28 pounds.  I felt better than ever.

YET, life got in the way and I gained somewhere between 15 and 20 pounds back (I cannot be sure because I couldn't find my original scale).

Either way, this year I decided to embark on a healthy living quest again.  I did not make any true New Year's resolutions this year, except to be an overall better person.  When I thought about that though, I asked myself - What does it mean to be a better person? I decided that meant that I needed to be healthier, make better choices regarding food and exercise, entrust my whole life to the Lord, and love people more.  I realized all these choices were related.  If I gave my life fully for the Lord, I would want to treat myself and others with more respect.  So with that, I embarked on another journey to health.

I began counting my calories - diligently - and began keeping track of my exercise.
In 2013, I have lost about 15 pounds (would have probably been more but I am gaining muscle) and have started exercising faithfully.  I took my first walk on March 1 and have only missed a few days since that time.  I signed up for a 5K for next Saturday in Baton Rouge. I eat better. And I encourage others to join me in my journey.

I believe from now on I will be dedicating my blog to my journey to living a better, healthier life because I belong to the Lord! I hope you will join me on my journey!!