Written by Imperfectly Pamela, Contributing Writer
9+ years ago I decided to treat myself better. My food choices were crazy & fitness was, well, there was no fitness.
I had also just had my 3rd child & knew there needed to be a change. My oldest son had made a couple, very innocent comments about my weight. Things.needed.to.change.
I started slowly with some walking dvd’s (Leslie Sansone anyone?). They were 20-30 minutes. Totally doable with my homeschooling/new baby gig.
I also was taking things out of my diet due to problems for baby (breast feeding). I started reading a book called “Body By God” by Dr Ben Lerner. I felt strongly that he was right about his way of thinking.
“Your body is by God. God preprogrammed you to look great, have outrageous health, and experience incredible happiness. In the human body, God created a perfect design, equipped with all the organs, tissues, and cells necessary for health, production, and reproduction. The problem, asserts Dr. Ben Lerner, is when we as humans interfere with God’s design for our bodies. Junk food, high-stress living, and neglecting exercise are just a few of the things we do to hinder our bodies’ performance.”
So, I was well on my way to my healthy lifestyle. About a year after my 3rd child was born I had a reaction to some food. We will call it the “fatal pudding incident”. This brought along – Ambulance, fire trucks, Epinephrine and an ER. About 5 weeks later after being scared to death to eat anything, I found out I was allergic to ALL 3 THINGS IN THAT PUDDING along with a bunch of other things. As the years go on I have become allergic to even more.
While that does make eating out difficult, I have found a way. I always offer to bring things to friends houses to eat & I have no problem letting restaurants know I have a list of allergies & would like to be able to enjoy my meal there. They sent out the manager with the info I need & we are good to go.
As the years have gone on I have become addicted to my workout HIGH as I call it 🙂 I do workout 6 days a week giving myself a true day of REST on Sunday. I may walk with my husband but I try to make sure I am giving this day to God & also letting my body rest from the work I have put it through during the week. I also try to take a week here and there to just do less intense workouts as well. Our bodies get stuck in ruts some times & we need to shake things up!!
My family (kids ages 19(married son), 16(son) & 9 (daughter) have all had their own journeys through this time of Mom getting healthy.
My oldest I call my drive-through/fast food son. I didn’t know any better. He played baseball most of his life & he is a healthy adult now though & follows a healthy way of eating for the most part. He knows the benefit of drinking lots of water & eating a balanced diet.
My middle child also plays ball. He knows the benefit of eating well & drinking lots of water but at this time is going through the teen sugar phase & just being a kid.
My daughter inherited food allergies from me 🙁 She gets hives when she eats gluten & dairy (thankfully she isn’t as allergic as I am to it though). My boys suffer from acne almost from the time they hit puberty. I have explained to my daughter that if she sticks with eating like she does & drinking lots of water that we can, hopefully, keep her from having the same issues.
Our family watches what we do. They will eat what Mom/wife makes them. I have reminded myself of that regularly.
I have bad days. The days that those thoughts get in my head that I will never be good enough. I won’t ever reach the goals I have set for myself.
You know what? That is a lie. I am fearfully & wonderfully made. I was created in the image of my God & He knew exactly what He was doing!
This is a journey. A life-long journey. I am grateful you have chosen to follow along with me & maybe let me give you encouragement along the way or vice versa.
This is how I have chosen a healthy lifestyle, how have you?
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