Bold move for this girl.
What I decided is that I would eat what the Lord provided. I would not pack special food that would have to be eaten in private. (Even though I think this is a perfectly acceptable practice) I would not fill out a tracker everyday. I would not exercise but I would try to stay active throughout each day. I would not read or write blog posts. I would not even do my First Place 4 Health Bible study. Lord willing, I would shift my focus completely off of food and weight loss for an entire week.
I didn't really know why I decided on all of this except that it's what God put on my heart to do. I had to check myself several times and ask if my motives were pure. Each time, I concluded that this break was the right thing to do. The theme for our trip was "Jesus + Nothing = Everything" and I really wanted to embrace that. Even though I frequently waiver emotionally and have my slip-ups, I have never completely logged off for an entire week, nor have I wanted to, honestly. It was a scary prospect but I felt like it was what I needed to do.
The trip went pretty much as expected, regarding the food, etc. I got up really early one morning to run, but it was just too difficult considering our sleeping arrangements (about 40 people in one big room). I had more fast food in the past 8 days than I did in the entire year of 2010 and 2011 combined. I ate things like sloppy joes, packs of chips, Chips Ahoy cookies, and yes, even S'mores. I ate what everyone else ate. I ate when everyone else ate. And it was okay. It was part of fellowship. It was part of being unified, which was a goal for the trip.
Just to keep it real, I should admit that a little part of me was hoping I would return home, step on the scale and see a miraculous 10 lb loss. Mostly I knew that wouldn't happen but it was a thought in the back of my mind. In reality, when I got home I found that I had gained about 5 lbs. I had mentally prepared my self for as much as a 10 lb gain, so I handled the gain just fine.
So that pretty much catches us up. I'm here. I'm healthy. I got to taste a bit of the "normalcy" that perhaps will be my norm someday. But for now its back to the safety of what I have come to rest in. Tracking, running, blogging, focusing...In Jesus' name I will press on, with the much needed reminder and assurance that there is more to life than weight loss. I'm so thankful.
Here are a few pics from my trip:
Glory and her daddy
Bible School sweeties
Jonah and his boys
Takin' a break, scratchin' the sand fleas :/
This hip is where Glory spent most of the week. Sweet time with my girl:-)
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6 comments:
Looks like a wonderful time of fellowship! Your attitude is fantastic! Thank you for the reminder that there is life beyond weight loss :-)
Hey Keelie,
Just checking in after being gone for a month. I kind of did what you did, without a wonderful mission focus that is. My two daughters and I went on a long anticipated trip to England and France for just over three weeks.
It was a wonderful trip. We reconnected with our family in England, made new friends, saw the Mona Lisa, the Eiffel tower, Big Ben, Buckinham Palace, and much more. Tried to speak french to our taxi driver who did not speak english, learned how to use the tube/metro, mastered the tricky door locks at our Paris apartment...
As far as eating goes, it was a carb fest for the entire three weeks! We ate tons of bread, scones, chocolate, biscuits (aka: cookies) ALL THE TIME. It could have been very stressful for me but I decided to let it go and eat what the locals/my family were eating. More importantly, I enjoyed it. But then, what's not to love about scones with clotted cream for breakfast? :)
The amazing thing was, I came back weighing the same, maybe a little less, than when we left. All I can attribute it to (besides the grace of God) was the large amount of walking we did. We put on a lot of miles, but surrounded by the beauty of Bath, London & Paris, it was never that tiring. (My girls may beg to differ...) Oh, and we were on the go so much that we didn't snack either.
Your trip sounds great. Yay to us for being able to drop the routine, enjoy ourselves and then get back on the wagon upon returning home. We CAN do it and we ARE doing it! :)
Just breathed a big sigh of relief because I've been waiting for you to come back and write everything you wrote in this post! I (and many others) have prayed for you and everyone involved in this trip.
I like that you checked your motives. Countless times I've been on the wrong end of that evaluation, but your own confirmation about why you were doing this really set the stage for these beautiful results.
PS: that's a very serene look in your last pic! :P
Josie
God will and CAN do what you can't. Your determination to do what God has called you to do? He will be faithful. You know this. I know this. He is all powerful to do what we cannot. Bible school aside, you determined to do His will. That is the key. Always.
Proud of you!! You are God's hands, arms & hips -glad that you had a blessed time blessing others!
By the way I used your post from today as an example in our biblestudy. I am taking the "made to crave" biblestudy this summer. In it we had to list things about our bodies that we like or appreciate it. I metioned how I follow your blog and how you took the week off to eat what the Lord provided, and to focus on him. I loved how you used your "hips" to hold the little ones that came up to you. It made me appreciate my hips as well! Just wanted to pass this along to you!
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