When I first attempted to start losing weight early last year, I thought doing hard exercises for long hours until all my joints hurt was a greater idea than cutting down on my daily food intake.

Funny, but it’s true.

I’d rather go through hard labor than eat less rice or skip meals.

My unspoken motto was, “It’s better to be tired than hungry.” LOL. Because when I’m hungry, I tend to be impatient. Hunger has this devilish power to put me in a grouchy mood.

You see, prior to giving birth I’ve always been slim even though I ate a lot. So the words exercise, diet, or diet pills were simply not in my vocabulary.

Little did I know that as we get older, our metabolism tends to slow down. Which means — you don’t burn calories as fast as you did when you were younger.

Ouch! Truth really does hurt sometimes, doesn’t it?

The thought of being old, wrinkled, and overweight haunted me for weeks. It made me paranoid!

The next thing I knew — I started exercising religiously with this motivation in mind: I have to slim down to have my self-esteem back. Because when you’re slim, you look good.

That’s how I see it.

It’s all physical — nothing more, nothing less. It’s all about me.

Weeks later, I wasn’t motivated anymore. So I stopped. Why? Because I wasn’t losing weight as fast as I wanted to.

I was impatient. very impatient.

I made two more pathetic attempts. But I just flunked miserably, leaving me more discouraged than I had ever felt before. For months, my weight had been fluctuating from 60 kilos to 59, then back to 60, down to 59 again, then back to 60. It was topsy-turvy!

Then it hit me. God made me realize I had the wrong motivation.

Upon realizing how superficial I had been, I made a decision to run regularly on weekends. But this time, I had a different motivation in mind.

I want to take good care of the body that God has given me, so I can serve Him, my family, and others. After all, He is the source of my strength. My life is not about me — it’s about Him. We are all created to give glory to the one sitting on the throne. I repeat, to give. Not to receive.

With God being my number 1 motivation, I was able to keep myself motivated in achieving my goal. And what’s amazing is, I wasn’t even thinking about losing weight anymore. I just run because I want to be healthy!

And here’s the good news.

To this very day, I weigh 51 kilos (112 pounds) and every one I know sees the big difference. Yes, I am no longer overweight! (SIDE NOTE: my eyes are twinkling while writing this part.)

For the very first time, I had victory in my hands.

I am a living testimony that if you put your trust in God, everything is possible. And sometimes, you don’t even need to lift a finger. God is always willing to do all the hard work for you!

Thank you, Lord, for the change of heart.

Categories: I Love God | 5 Comments »