Day 18

Slow in Coming

This vision is for a future time.  It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled.  If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place.  It will not be destroyed -Habakkuk 2:3

Slow in coming….now there’s an understatement.  It’s funny how we spend years abusing, stuffing, and neglecting our bodies, but when we decide to change we want it to happen overnight!  Our mind and our spirit have made the decision to change- but why is our body taking so long to line up with our new vision?  It’s been two weeks- we deserve to have lost at least 10 pounds!

Welcome to the patience and endurance test.  There is no easy way out.  You will have to invest weeks, months, maybe even years until your vision is fulfilled.  I am not saying this to discourage you.  I believe the sooner you can reconcile with the fact that you have committed to a long term goal, the sooner you will find peace. 

I was a serial dieter for years.  I was always either planning, starting, on, or quitting some sort of diet.  I had periods of success, followed by periods of weight gain.  There are a few reasons for this.  One of them is the fact that diets do work.  This is actually a negative thing for the serial dieter.  You see, during my weeks and months of “freestyle” eating, I would simply tell myself “I will start such and such diet at this time”.  Knowing that I was starting a diet, I would eat freely and put on a couple more pounds.  Then I would struggle and fight while on the diet to lose weight.  I would lose weight and then return to my freestyle eating.  Again, knowing I would simply do another diet when my fat jeans got too tight.  I admit, I am oversimplifying a bit.  I do not think this all happened on a conscious level.  It’s just looking back, I see it so clearly.  I do believe that every time I lost the weight I was truly hoping to keep it off.  The problem was, I wanted to keep it off, yet return to my freestyle eating habits.

Girls, if you are going to successfully lose weight and keep it off, you need to understand this: you will never be able to return to your lawless eating!  You  cannot have your cake and eat it too!  You cannot lose 25 pounds and then return to fast food and ice cream.  You cannot do it!  Trust me.  Again, the sooner you understand and accept this, the sooner you will find peace.  Sure, you will still be able to have your favorite foods- occasionally.  Note the key word here is occasionally!

I believe that is why your vision is slow in coming.  It takes time to retrain your brain, your emotions, and your body how to eat.  It takes time to fully accept this new why of thinking about food.  It takes time to say goodbye to these habits that you have had for years.  It takes time to undo the things you have done for years.  I know it’s hard to hear this.  Trust me, it was a frustrating thing for me to learn.  Especially considering I was once the self proclaimed “Queen of Instant Gratification”.

 I had finally had enough.   I turned my weight loss over to God, it took me 8 months to lose 20 pounds.  It seemed like forever!  Seriously, working out 6 times a week and losing an average of ½ a pound a week.  No body wants to sign up for that program!  But here’s the deal- the weight loss is gone.  It hasn’t come back.  In fact, I have new goals now.  No matter when you read this, I will have new goals.  Whether it is for fitness, fat loss, or cleaner eating, I will always have new goals.  I will always have a “future vision”.  And this I have learned:  Any future vision that is worth having will at some point seem slow in coming.  But when it comes, it is the most gloriously rewarding moment there is!  I encourage you all to stay the course and experience it for yourself!