I Can Do All Things

After having kids I would work out and lose the baby fat. When we moved to Alaska I slacked on my fitness and eating habits. I gained about 30 pounds. Last year around this time I really focused on getting healthy. I changed my eating habits and incorporated fitness into my life. I was doing really well with it. I only lost about seven pounds but I lost a lot of inches. However, I was miserable. How could I be miserable if I was losing inches and dropping a pant and shirt size?

I put fitness before anything else. I turned it into an idol. I was all about fitness and was trying to incorporate it into every minute of my day. Then I quit.

I quit because I stopped focusing on Him and focused on something else. My fitness was my “god.” I stopped praying as often as I once did. I stopped my Bible reading all together. I was more into fitness magazines and finding new exercises to try.

Starting on 1 January 2013 I got back on the fitness and healthy eating wagon. However, this time it is God focused. I ensure I do my Bible reading as soon as I wake each morning. I have my prayer time soon after. I do not get out of bed until these two priorities are done. I ask Him to convict me if I am beginning to turn it back into an idol. As I work out I praise Him for giving me the strength I need to complete my routine. I ensure that my workouts are no longer than an hour to an hour and a half. During my rest periods I pray.

My fitness life is all about Him.

It is so easy to turn fitness into an idol. Yes, our bodies are a temple and we should honor it BUT there is a line that can be crossed when it becomes obsessive. We need to have Him as our center of all things including fitness.

Usually I struggle with temptations and all times I cave in and indulge. The past two days I have had temptation come my way and each time I have succeeded in fighting those temptations. During those struggles I pray. I pray like crazy. I literally cry out to Him asking Him to help me. God always gives us a way out when we are tempted.....

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We just have to look for those doors He gives us.