Diet & Wisdom Appetizers

I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately because of pain in my knee resulting from an injury sustained several months ago. The pain wakes me frequently throughout the night. I keep having these dreams that I’ve been shot in the leg or been run over by a semi or that I’m falling off my bicycle (which I actually did recently) and I realize it’s the very real throbbing in my leg that’s aroused me. It’s quite unpleasant.

The one thing I keep fixating on throughout this painful process is that the need to lose weight has become more than emotional or for vain purposes like wanting to look better. I NEED to get this extra 35 pounds off to relieve the pressure on my knees and joints. The amount of pressure added weight puts on our hips, knees, ankles and feet is extremely high.

Obviously most of us know carrying even 10 or 20 pounds beyond what is comfortable for our frame can lead to serious illnesses, like Type II Diabetes, heart problems, circulation problems, knee and joint pain and many, many others putting us at risk for things like Cancer, heart attack and strokes.

As if the chronic pain in my knee wasn’t enough of a reminder that I’m overweight, an incident that occurred a few weeks ago brought it all home to me with a very real painful reminder. I had an MRI on my knee and when I was laying on the table and the technician was fitting the specially designed shell over my knee that tells the machine which body part to focus on, it got … (oh the embarrassment) sort of stuck on my leg.

Actually what it really did was pinch the heck out of my knee because I have a fairly good pocket of excess fat surrounding my knees. Both knees are kind of spongy with skin hanging all around them completely hiding the fact that I even have knee caps. As the tech was slowly lowering the device I felt it trap a pocket of fat between the edge just as he was getting ready to click and lock it in place. I started wincing and yelling, “Ouch!!! Release! Release! You’ve got my fat!” Oh, the shame of it!

Now as I’m staring down my options of either painful injections or surgery to repair the damage, I keep hearing that still small voice reminding me it is now imperative that I get rid of some of this extra weight. Of course in my defense, that’s what I’ve been trying to do God! How about a little help!!!

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I am the queen of yo-yo dieters and have exhausted every weight loss trick in the book. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on exercise equipment, gym memberships, diet fads, pills, foods, books and resources, but yet, my success is not happening – at least not at the rate I think it should be happening. The reasons for my lack of success are simply because I abused my body with diets and gimmicks and now I’m paying a very high price.

Because like so many who have walked this road with me, we are learning weight gain, food addictions, excessive dieting and exercise are about much deeper issues. I can proudly share that I am finally coming to a place of acceptance of who I am AT THIS WEIGHT, and I’m finally starting to like myself. Just when I was getting used to the idea that I may have to remain at this weight a while, the cold hard facts of life have reminded me once again: it’s not about the number – emotionally anyway, but it becomes about the number when you are facing a health crisis.

I will get this. I really will. It may take the rest of my lifetime, but with a little luck and help from my Lord and Savior I can extend the rest of my life one extra year for every pound lost. I want to be around for the long haul, Lord!

(In case you might be interested, God really does have a lot to say in His Word about “numbers” and “fat.” I suggest a keyword search on biblegateway.com when you have time. It’s fascinating reading!)

Once you’ve had your fat pinched by an MRI machine, there’s no denying it starts to be about the number, at least a little bit.

If we only have the will to walk, then God is pleased with our stumbles. — C. S. Lewis

20 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep.” Ezekiel 34:20 (NLT)

PRAYER FOR TODAY: Lord, I do thank you for gently reminding me that taking off weight is more than about vanity, it’s also necessary for health reasons. I’m doing my best, but if I’m messing up and missing something, please point it out to me so that I can complete this weight loss journey and have true success. As always, I ask that you continue to walk this weight loss road with me and be my guide. I ask all these things in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.