Time for a Reality Check

I'm facing an uncomfortable reality this morning.  Many of the clothes in my closet don't fit.....at least, not comfortably.  Yes, I can still zip the jeans.  But can I breathe? (I can hear you giggling......maybe you can relate??!!)

I got on the scale this morning.  I weighed 5 pounds more than the last time I got on a scale, whenever that was.  This knowledge did not make me very happy, but....reality check.....whose fault is it, really?!
In the not-to-distant past, I had disciplined myself (with the help of Weight Watchers) to lose weight,  about 40 pounds.  I have since "found" 15 of those pounds.  Well, as of this morning's weigh-in, make that 20.  I am not happy about that.  But, again, whose fault is that??!!

When I first began to put some of the weight back on, I blamed it on my ankle surgery.  After all, how can you lose weight when you spend your days sitting in a chair with one foot propped up on pillows?  Again, reality check.....that was 16 months ago!!  I really don't have a good excuse now.  Reality is that I have been completely lazy and undisciplined about my eating habits.  And about my exercising habits.  Or more accurately, the lack thereof.

Again, I have excuses.  I can't get out and walk around the block.  I could blame the not walking on my ankle (that excuse has worked well for a while now, after all!) or on the fact that my knees are bad.  Well, one is bad and one is shot.....but that's a story for another day.  I could point out that I live about 10 miles from the nearest "block".  Or that I live on a very steep, gravel covered mountain road (see previous excuses about bad knees and fused ankle that doesn't bend).  But.....reality check......I have a treadmill gathering dust downstairs.  I have quite a collection of "Walk Away the Pounds" DVDs, enough that I would never need to get bored doing the same walking routine.  I have a Wii.  And a WiiFit.  And many other Wii games that would burn calories.

Reality.....in this area of my life, I have been completely undisciplined.  I have been like the alcoholic who says he can quit whenever he wants to.  Or the smoker who says she can give up cigarettes whenever she wants to.  I would tell you that I can quit eating BlueBell ice cream whenever I want to.  That I really don't need that Cadbury egg; I just enjoy it.  And on and on I could go.  Reality check......if that were true, why haven't I done it?

And here, I believe, is the bottom line......because I can't.  Not on my own.  In my own strength I am powerless to do anything.  And I don't mean that if I have Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem or ___________, then I can do it.  I can't.  And I have the track record (and the points trackers!!) to prove it.  In my own strength, I can do nothing about this issue.  But with the power of Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit within me, I can!!  That's the ultimate reality check.

Here's where I am with this issue today.  I admit that I am overweight.  That my clothes don't fit.  That this affects my health.  All those things are true.  But even more true is that I am powerless on my own to deal with this issue.  Also true is my overwhelming desire to honor Christ in EVERY area of my life.  Not just the "spiritual" areas.  Every part of me......body, mind, spirit......wants to glorify Him.

I have just begun reading "Made to Crave.....Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, not Food", written by Lysa Terkeurst of Proverbs 31 Ministries.  Here's one thing she said in the introduction that has been resonating with me....."Nothing changes until we make the choice to redirect our misguided cravings to the only One capable of satisfying them."

There's a reality check.  No matter what the scale says.  No matter what size my jeans are.  Or how easily they zip.  Success is not defined  by those numbers.  Success is knowing I'm made for more than just another Cadbury egg.  Or another scoop of ice cream.  Or another slice of pizza. 

I'm made for more.  And the One who made me desires all of me. 

It's time for some changes.  One of those changes is that food is not my master.

I am made for more than the endless cycle of gaining and losing and gaining and losing.

It's time to make better choices.  About what I eat.  About how I spend my time.

It's time to remember that I was made for more.  It's time to give up my Scarlett O'Hara mentality of "I'll think about that tomorrow."  It's time to eat to live, not live to eat.

It's time to remember that my body is the "temple of the Holy Spirit".

So, today I reaffirm my desire to be all that Christ Jesus desires me to be.  Even in the area of food.  Especially in this area where I have struggled so much.

"For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body."  (1 Corinthians 6:20)

"I can do all things through Him who gives me strength."  (Philippians 4:13)