Stronger

So...blogging again...I'm gonna touch a lil bit on a topic that has been bothering me for awhile. Weight loss. It saddens me that so many people have turned to dangerous methods of losing weight. Starving themselves, taking weird hormones. Is it THAT important to post a "pounds lost" success? I mean, this is slowly killing people. Who KNOWS what could happen in the future...the effects of these hormones, etc. It scares me. Why is weight so important to us in society anyway? Are we that superficial? So bent on getting thin that we would harm ourselves?

I know from experience that being the"perfect" weight will not make people happy. For me, once I got down very close to my goal weight, I felt healthier, I felt stronger. I lost weight the hard way. I worked out HARD. I ate less(but regular amounts of healthy food!) And I got so much healthier & stronger. But here's the thing...my life didn't "magically" change. I had the same problems, the same emotional issues, that I did when I was heavier. I expected things to be different. To be treated differently. And I think I thought that the people around me would also change. But they didn't. I didn't either. My body size changed. Inside tho, I was the same. And that was painfully obvious when the tough issues of my life hit home.

Weight loss MUST come with other changes as well. Mental, emotional, and most importantly, spiritual changes. The number on the scale means nothing. How you grow, how you develop, what you learn from your journey, is the key to KEEPING that weight off. This is the part that I worked on a tiny bit, but never even scratched the surface of...my deeper emotional issues of WHY I ate, WHY I was overweight. And so, the weight slowly started creeping back.

The number one key to being healthy (NOT losing weight...that is just superficial) is letting God take control. To admit you can NOT do it on your own. You need Him. You need His strength, His grace, His power. Once you give up control, lean on Him, and fall in love with Him as the only One who can save you & heal you...you WILL be successful. This I know. This I KNEW. But I lost sight of it.

I've got it back...I am fighting again. I am running away my pain. Not running away FROM it, but running it away...a few miles at a time. And letting myself fall in love again with the One who will help me to succeed so I can be the best I can be for Him. He's given me hope again...

And THAT is what makes a person beautiful! :)

P.S. I've got a few good tools coming my way in the form of two books & a song..."Reshaping it All" by Candace Cameron Bure, "Made to Crave" by Lysa TerKeurst, and the song "Stronger" by Mandisa...LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! I will prob blog more about the books when I get them & read them!