I Was Fat, Now I’m Not–Part Two

I am often asked, “So how did you lose your weight?” Here are a few things that worked for me.

• Talk to your doctor. I had a doctor tell me when I was 14 that I was so huge that the fat in my body was taking over my liver…and that if it didn’t do something that my liver was going to shut down. THIS CREATED URGENCY!!!
• Exercise! I have read so many things that say that Americans do NOT get enough exercise!!! I do some sort of exercise at least six days a week.
• When I am in the gym I do very little socializing…I am there for a purpose…to exercise. I have seen people spend two hours in the gym and not do anything except talk. This does not help!
• (I actually use the gym membership that I have–this helps!)
• Lucretia and I budget for a gym membership. We figured we can pay a few hundred dollars now–or several thousands when our bodies begin to rebel against years of abuse and neglect.
• If you don’t know what to do in a gym–ask…or…maybe hire a personal trainer.
• Find a workout partner and MAKE each other work out!!!
• Understand that exercise actually gives you energy…so when you are tired–go anyway…I always feel better when I leave the gym.
• Understand that “temple maintenance” IS a spiritual issue…we are called to be good stewards of the body God has given us. (This HIT me hard in 1995…I lost weight, went to college and put it all back on…and then realized that I was dishonoring God by neglecting my body!)
• Eight months ago I lost five pounds in five weeks…I continued eating the way I had been…and I didn’t really exercise any more than I had been. What did I do? I basically stopped drinking sweet tea. (This about killed me!!!)
• Think about it…I would drink 4-5 glasses of sweet tea per meal…this is around 600-800 calories twice a day…NOT GOOD!!!
• Stop using TONS of dressing on your salad!!! It does no good to get a salad and then put two packs of dressing on it.
• Cut back on fried foods…this was also hard for me…I am a preacher–I love fried chicken!!!
• Make “better bad choices.” You do NOT have to eat bean sprouts for the rest of your life. I eat pretty much anything I want within reason. BUT you will discover that as you get healthier you actually want less “bad stuff.”
• When on a diet–have one day a week where you reward yourself…eat whatever you want. (Saturday’s are mine and Lucretia’s Sonic day…we split a large order of onion rings!!!) :-)
• Don’t feel like you have to clean your plate…once you are full–STOP EATING!
• Drink A LOT of water.
• STOP DRINKING SOFT DRINKS!!! These are PURE sugar…and they go straight to the gut.
• Start NOW…I talk to so many people who say, “I am going to start next week…” and next week NEVER arrives!!!
• Establish “mini-goals.” If you want to lose fifty pounds–get there 10 pounds at a time…and when you lose 10 pounds–reward yourself with a treat…ONE treat. :-)
• Buy a pair of jeans that you want to fit into…and then try them on once a month until you get there.

Those are some things that work for me. I love food…specifically dessert. AND guess what–I eat dessert pretty much whenever I want. I just don’t eat half of a cake. Folks–it is not feast or famine when it comes to this issue…it is really all about your lifestyle. We can choose to be healthy or choose to abuse…what’s it going to be? It is a spiritual issue!

Let me be VERY clear here…this IS a struggle still with me…I battle image issues and can remember the names I was called as a kid. There are days when I do not want to go to the gym…and I want to eat a double whopper with cheese…but I can’t…I won’t…I’ve came too far.

You can do this!!! Philippians 4:13 is true!!! Go for it!!!