Week 23 - How My Journey Began

I didn't loose any weight this week. I did however exercise every day (except Sunday my rest day) this week. So, my back felt so much better this week.

I thought I'd finally share how I began on this fitness journey. When Brooke was a baby I decided that I really needed to start exercising. My family has a history of both heart disease and high blood pressure, and I was worried my fate would be the same. We have an elliptical, so I started doing it every morning while Brooke took her morning nap. (Aubrey just played nearby). I felt better knowing I was doing something healthy for me and I had more energy, however I wasn't loosing any weight and at times gaining weight. I knew I needed to do something with my diet, but I just wasn't ready to make that change. (The small baby stage for me is very challenging, and I didn't feel I had the time or energy to devote to a diet.)

The fifth Sunday in January the Bishop taught a combined Priesthood and Relief Society meeting where he issued a fitness challenge to the ward. I was not in the meeting due to my Primary calling, however I heard about it through our Relief Society Presidents email system. The challenge was to Walk (run, swim, etc.) 100 miles and Read 100 chapters in the scriptures (or Conference Reports) within a 4 month period. I believe that it is important to follow our leaders and that if we are obedient to their council we will be blessed. If there were any area in my life I needed a blessing it was in my personal fitness. So, I decided to take on his challenge and had faith that if I did the Lord would bless me in this area. I didn't think it would be too much of a stretch since I was already reading my scriptures and doing the elliptical daily, but I felt if I showed obedience and kept track of my progress on the Bishops chart something would be different and I would be blessed. So for the 4 months I worked on my 100 miles in both areas and charted my progress. I was happy to complete the Bishop's challenge right in the specified time period.

A few days before the challenge ended and I completed my goal, my friend Rachel told me about this Supreme 90 day program she had picked up at Bed Bath and Beyond for $15. I knew programs tended to work for me and it was right in my price range. I couldn't afford anything pricey, especially if it may not be effective. I asked if I could come over and check it out. As I looked at the diet and the principles it taught, it rang very true to me. You see Aubrey has stomach troubles. She had Acid Reflux as a baby and then it recurred as a toddler and preschooler. She was complaining several times a day that her stomach hurt. I took her into a gastroenterologist who told me that it looked like her Acid Reflux had come back. I was given medication to give her. As I began her on the medication I just felt uncomfortable about it. I did not want my 3 year old to have to take acid medication for her entire life. The insight came to me one day that it was the processed food that was causing her the stomach trouble. (Her favorite foods at the time were: frozen chicken nuggets, frozen  taquitos, mac & cheese and hot dogs.) I drastically reduced the amount of processed foods in her diet and her stomach troubles went away. I was able to take her off of the medicine and use only her diet to control her acid problem. (I hadn't made any changes to my diet though, just hers.) So, when I found in this diet that the dietitian Tosca Reno's big push is to stay away from processed foods and replace with natural ingredients (fruits & veggies, whole grains and lean meats), I knew this was a program I could believe in. In the next couple of days I bought the program and went shopping for the food items I would need to follow the diet. I was ready to start my new fitness program on Monday.

I woke up Monday morning and had the sudden flash of insight that my new diet program was beginning the day after I had completed the Bishop's challenge. I had not made this connection yet. I had the strong feeling that this program was my direct blessing for being obedient to the Bishop and completing his challenge. I was in tears as I made this realization. I started getting really excited that this time I would be able to get in shape and loose the weight. As I was day dreaming about being skinny again the doubt started to creep in. I'm kind of a "don't count your chickens before they hatch" kind of a person. So I started having those thoughts. The "you've tried lots of diets in the past and have failed" kind of thoughts. And, "Don't get too excited until you actually see results."

It happened to be time for my scripture study at that point. I had been reading in the April Conference report for my scriptures. I pulled out my Ensign to the report I was on. The talk was by Steven E. Snow and was entitled "Hope". The entire talk was about the importance of having hope for righteous desires in your life. Once again I was in tears as I read the article. I knew that this article was talking directly to me. One of the last lines in the article is, "It is my prayer that our hopes will lead to the fulfillment of our righteous dreams." I decided that instead of having doubt I would have Hope in my dream to become fit.

It was that Hope and the faith that Heavenly Father has directed me to this new lifestyle that has completely sustained me through this process. Even though the progress has been slow, (my average is loosing 2 pounds a week and sometimes less or none at all) because I know this was a blessing from my Heavenly Father because of my obedience to the Bishop, I have not taken it lightly. How could I not stick to a course that was given to me so directly from a loving Heavenly Father who wants me to be healthy and happy? I am so grateful for the direction I have in my life from a Father in Heaven and for the gift of the Holy Ghost who whispers to me the directions I should take in my life. I would not have had the strength to make this lifestyle change if it were not for my Faith and Hope in my Heavenly Father and the help and strength He has given me. I am so grateful for my knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father and the gift of the Holy Ghost in my life who has started and sustained me on my fitness journey.