I sit here tonight with mixed emotions. I am extremely excited to have lost a ton of weight. I started this journey at 313 pounds and tonight I stepped on the scale to see 221 pounds. That is a total loss of 92 pounds since Oct. 21st of last year! So what's with the mixed emotions, you ask. Let me tell you. Just 2 days ago I stepped on the scale to see 217 pounds! I was at 96 pounds lost and only 4 pounds away from my goal weight! I was living it up! I was there baby! Only 4 more pounds to go and I would hit my goal and finish my weight loss story and begin my weight maintenance and getting toned and ripped story. Now, just 2 days later I find myself moving backwards, and that brings me to the moral of my post today. There will be speed bumps. There will be road blocks. Sometimes the tires will fall completely off the damn car! The important question is how will you respond? I once read that life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it. I am starting to believe it. I thank God for how I will react. The old me might have given up and said forget it. The old me was convinced that I was too busy, that it just wasn't possible to get healthy and fit. That was the old me.
What I have learned during my journey of weight loss and getting healthy is that you can never give up. There will be struggles. There will be times that you want to say the hell with it and go back to your old ways. But if you stick to your plan, you will succeed. There will be ups and downs, but if you stay the course you will find yourself reaching your goals. That is exactly what I plan to do. I will be concentrating on my diet, my exercise, and my rest over the next week leading up to running another 1/2 marathon next Saturday. God willing, I will reach my goal weight this week. I plan to give it everything I've got. I don't want to look back and wonder what could have been. That is my motivation this week.
I feel like I was meant to hear Pastor John's message this Sunday at PLC in Cedar Falls. During his sermon on Being Authentic, he told us how as we draw closer to God and move toward crossing the faith line to accepting Jesus as our Savior, that the devil will ramp up his efforts to derail us. It really hit me when John talked of the devil running along side of us and whispering in our ear that we will never win, that we aren't good enough, that we are bound to fail just like all the times in the past. Wow. How many times have I heard that voice over the past 9 or 10 months! Every time I gain a pound or two and am disappointed with what the scale is telling me, I hear that voice whispering that I will not succeed. Many times while on a long run, my legs become tired, my side begins to ache, and that voice tries to whisper that I can't do it. It reminds me so much of one of my favorite songs, The Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns. Read the lyrics below and tell me that you haven't felt this before, man I know I have...
Oh, what I would do
to have the kind of strength it takes
To stand before a giant
with just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound
of a thousand warriors
shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand
But the giant's calling out
my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
time and time again
"Boy you'll never win,
you'll never win."
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
the Voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the Voice of truth says "this is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth
That song gets me every time. Let's just say, it's on my list of favorite songs to run to. How many times has that voice whispered in my ear "reminding me of all the times that I've tried before and failed" and "keeps on telling me time and time again 'Boy you'll never win, you'll never win.'" The funny thing is, that whisper is drown out by the other voice in my head. The voice of truth that tells me that I WILL SUCCEED! There is no doubt that I have felt God's presence during my journey to getting fit and living a healthy lifestyle. And I ask you this, if He is on my side, then what shall I fear? How can I possibly give up when I feel that this is my purpose? I tell you this, I will never give up. "I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth." Who's with me?
Michael
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