Back in June, I “announced” that it was time for me to become more serious about my health. The Lord (YHWH) made my body after all, and He wants me to be a good steward of it.
I had just stopped breastfeeding my youngest, and I have the hardest time sticking to a very healthy eating plan while nursing. I get this mind block, and I feel like if I restrict my calories, then my baby might end up suffering somehow. Which isn’t true at all. So while my diet itself wasn’t terribly unhealthy, I ate as much as I wanted.
I also wasn’t exercising like I should. Sure, I took walks several times a week, but I wasn’t doing any high impact workouts at all.
So in June, I decided to change. That’s all it takes sometimes. A decision. And since then, I’ve lost 28 pounds.
Related: Taking Care of Our Body Because It Is God’s Temple
My motivation has stemmed from several different places. First and foremost, I want to honor God with my body. That is my most important goal.
Secondly, I want to be a blessing to my family. Before getting in better shape, I worried about health problems that might be in my future, and how that would affect my ability to be a good mother and grandmother one day. While of course I cannot control everything, I do want to do a good job with my decision making.
Thirdly, I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but there is a virus going around, ha! I decided that since I do not want to be vaccinated, my best line of defense was to get in the best health possibly.
Related: Facing a Vaccine Mandate
To work on my lung health, I downloaded a Couch to 5k app on my phone. Ladies, when I completed the first session, I didn’t think I was going to make it! I had an extremely difficult time running even one minute intervals, especially in the summer. By the grace of God I stuck to it, and just “graduated” the program. I can now jog 3 miles without stopping. It’s a miracle, I tell you. My breathing is so much deeper than it was before. I now jog 3 miles every other day. At first, I was trying to jog every day, and my knees were hurting terribly. Every other day seems to be a good balance for me. For reference, I am 41 years old.
On my off days, I either briskly walk for thirty minutes or complete a workout video on YouTube. So far, this seems like a good balance for me, and the extra weight is coming off!
As far as my diet goes, I’m sticking to Plant Based Whole Food items as much as possible. I really enjoyed reading How Not to Die by Michael Gregor and am currently in the middle of Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, which is also good. How many of us live to eat, instead of eating to live? I think most of us do. It takes a total mindset shift to make healthy diet changes in our American culture, unfortunately.
My diet isn’t perfect. For example, I start each day with a granola bar with milk chocolate chips. It’s a small treat that I’m not yet willing to give up. On occasion, I splurge on the weekend. Several days ago, my husband and I ate at a Mexican restaurant. I ordered a vegetarian quesadilla, thinking the cheese would be a treat. Well, it was covered in cheese and sour cream, and my stomach hurt for the rest of the evening after eating it. My body just wasn’t used to so much dairy, and honestly, while it was good, it was also very rich to my taste buds. I’ve regretted it!
My only problem with this diet is that I don’t love beans or nuts, which are essential. I’ve been incorporating nut butters, chickpea pasta, and chili (I like beans in chili) into my diet to help fill any gaps.
My family did get sick in September, and my body handled it very well. I’ve been toying with sharing that story, but I’m not quite sure yet.
Weight Loss Results
Okay, now it’s time to share some numbers. I am 5’2″ tall for reference.
When I decided it was time to get healthy, I was hovering around 148 to 152 pounds. This is pretty much the most I’ve ever weighed, not counting pregnancy. My original goal was 135 pounds, just within the healthy BMI range for my height.
When I got to that weight, I realized my body still had access fat to lose. I continued with my new habits, and currently weigh 124 pounds.
I never thought I would see the 120’s again!
It’s not so much about numbers for me, but instead, about health. At the same time, measurable progress is easy to follow, which is why I’m tracking my weight.
I’m very happy with my progress. Right now, Eat to Live is really motivating me. There is some evolutionary talk in the book, which I of course ignore.
We will see how this continues to go. I bought one of those body fat scales, and I still have visceral fat that I would like to lose. I want my organs to be as free of impediments as possible.
I’ve realized that God did not create my body to be full of fat and sluggish. It was time to take care of what He entrusted me with.
I hope you have a lovely day, ladies. If you have weight to lose, I know you can do it! Taking a small step in the right direction today is all it takes to begin a real change.
Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today. Would you like to look for something special for the little ones in your life? Please stop by my Etsy shop or online store.
This post contains affiliate links which provide my family a small commission at no cost to you.
Wow , good job! Thanks for sharing. After having four children I have some weight I can loose… I have been looking into eating wholesome foods so this was nice to see.
Thank you so much, Victoriya. Wholesome foods are definitely a blessing to our bodies.❤️
I’m proud of you!
You’ve done a great job!
Sticking to a diet is really difficult!
I am not on a weight loss diet, but have been trying to stick more to a less carbs/gluten diet, to try to kick recurring yeast/candida. I can do ok at home (we also do plant based, mainly Whole Foods), but then I find us out running errands and it takes longer than usual, so, starving, we hit Taco Bell. Then I sort of am back to square one. I find that sticking to the plan is a real challenge but I do feel better when I do it.
Keep it up!
You’ve inspired me to get more serious about exercising too. I don’t struggle so much with weight as with overall balance in health. Stress management, and the lack of it, is taking its toll on my body, which is dangerous in that others can’t see it, but it’s there, causing damage.
I’m glad to at least know that, although our journeys are not the same, that we do have similar goals. Let’s encourage one another to press on!
You can do it!
Thank you so much, Laurie! Yes, eating out can be really difficult. I’ve gotten a cooler to keep in our van, and we mainly bring food while we go out. That is difficult in itself. My go-tos are Subway or Panda Express, but that wouldn’t help you much if you are avoiding carbs. Thankfully, there is a quick service Mexican restaurant in our town that serves very fresh food, and I can always count on their tacos.🙂
I think a lot of us deal with hidden health struggles, and it’s really tough. Stress has been a struggle for me, too. I will say that the exercising has lifted my mood, I think. Hopefully exercising would help you, too!
So far, I’m the only person eating plant based in my family, while I have found ways to omit meat from all but 2-3 of my family’s meals each week. We’ve all switched to plant based butter, but they still eat milk and eggs. My husband avoids carbs, while I do not. Meal planning can be difficult, haha.
I admire people that take charge and change their habits to better their health. It can definite challenging but it’s then becomes a healthy obsession. My wife is at the beginning of her journey. We just had baby #2 and she is hovering around your starting weight if 148 and identical height. I shared this with her. Thank you for the inspiration and continue doing what you’re doing!
Thank you, Phil! I hope it is helpful to her.