“You need to reflect on what brought you here”! That’s what Jennifer, my nutritionist, said to me during my last visit. She was visibly disappointed in my lack of progress over the last several months. I started this journey with Jennifer in July 2016 and did well the first few months. I lost almost 20 pounds. I was feeling better than I’ve felt in a long time. I was cooking healthier meals and learning about how different foods impact my body. I even went to the gym a few times. I was making progress. Good progress. But, then something happened. A series of birthday parties, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas thrust me back into my normal routine of neglecting my health in the name of “too busy” and “not enough time”.
The truth is…I’m good at managing projects, competing tasks, and getting things done for other people
I’m not so good at taking care of my body
In early 2016, I started having problems with my right knee. It’s the same knee I had surgery on when I was in college. I’ve always had problems, but never like this. My knee started to give out on me. So, I went to my doctor and he sent me to the orthopedist. The orthopedist told me I needed a knee replacement, but I couldn’t get one because I was too young. He told me I needed to lose WEIGHT. He said my WEIGHT was putting too much pressure on my knee.
He said, “your knee can no longer carry the burden of your WEIGHT”
He gave me a knee brace, prescribed a few weeks of physical therapy, and walked out the room.
The truth is…I’ve been carrying around this WEIGHT for a long time
And I don’t know how to lay it aside
So, I decided to seek help from a nutritionist and started the journey of healthy eating. It was going well for the first few months, but then it got harder. I wasn’t able to keep up with all the grocery shopping and cooking. I found myself in Jennifer’s office explaining to her why I couldn’t do it. I told her it was impossible for me to sustain a lifestyle that included cooking healthy meals every day. I told her I couldn’t do it. I told her I didn’t have the time.
But she didn’t want to hear it
She told me to go home and reflect on what brought me to her office in the first place
Later, that evening, I made a list. I wrote down the reasons why I contacted her office. I put the list on my wall. And every day I wake up and remind myself why I choose to eat healthy. I remind myself that I’m important and worth the effort it takes to live my best life.
Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (American Standard Version)
The truth is… I’m not able to fully run the race set before me if I don’t lay aside THIS WEIGHT
Thank you for sharing your journey and struggle. I to have been fighting weight and gain and loss and back and forth for some time now. Though I have loss an incredible amount of weight, the pull to slack off has been overwhelming at times. Times like lately! Your post has inspired me to get back on the horse and keep my goals in sight. Not just my weight goal but ones like being a part of my grandchildrens lives one day. Thank you!