The best advice someone gave me was to look at yourself “naked” in the mirror and ask yourself if you were pleased with what you saw.
Nothing had changed about my busy lifestyle. My kids continued to be my priority. My boys played every sport and I was there every step of the way. But have you ever felt exhausted? Maybe a kid wasn’t doing right in school. Or maybe you didn’t like your job. Or did you feel the weight of having too many bills and not enough money? Or maybe you finally looked in the mirror and didn’t like what you saw. Well, I have been through all of the above. And let me tell you, it was never easy and every day was a battle. But every day, I got up and did it all over again. Maybe there are some things that I would have done differently, but nothing was or ever will be more important to me than being a mom. So as the days continued, I just continued to do what I did best. I continued to be a single mother of 3 kids that woke up every day to make things happen. Carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders with very little support, I continued to work hard every day to give my kids the best life I could.
So what happened? What changed for me? How did I change? What made me want to change my lifestyle?
Let me tell you a little about my family. My family has a history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, cancer, liver disease, etc. I decided that I could be a statistic or I could be an exception. I could be the one to say that it stops with me.
Every year I would do a fast for 30 days starting January 2nd ending January 31st. Before I started my fast in the year of 2014, I asked myself what I wanted from this fast. So I started asking myself in December, what was my purpose. I finally looked at myself “naked” in the mirror and I could honestly say that I didn’t like anything that I saw. I said so many hurtful things to myself. I told myself that my body was ugly. I told myself I was fat. I told myself I looked disgusting. I told myself that I was going to be just like everybody else in my family. It probably wasn’t just that. I’m sure I had some other issues going on inside my head. But it did show me that one thing I did not possess at that time and that was self-love. I knew one thing that I could do to help me love myself again was to take control over my health. So I knew that on January 2, 2014, something was going to change and I was beyond ready. At this stage, my kids were 15, 12 and 9. They were a little bit more self-sufficient and sports went from baseball, soccer, football and basketball to just basketball and football. So things were slowing down a little.
So January 2, 2014, I started the Daniel Fast. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. For 30 days, I ate nothing but vegetables and drank only water. I know some of you are thinking that you could never do this. Actually that’s what I thought in the beginning too. Now this was not my first time doing the Daniel Fast. But this was the 1st time that I put a purpose with my fast. It wasn’t just my health; I prayed to God and asked God for a lot of things during this fast. But I knew that I had to do my part. I will not sit here and tell you that it was easy. But I will tell you that every day got easier. What was amazing was that I was 155 lbs. when I started this journey and at the end of the fast I was 145 lbs. YES!!!!! I lost 10 lbs. in those 30 days. Now not once did I exercise. This was just a result of me doing the fast. Some may say that isn’t really a lot. But for me, that was enough to fuel my fire. I noticed my clothes were looser, my face was slimmer, and my pudge was going down. With these results, I knew that I had the power to go above and beyond what I started. So before my fast was over, I knew that I wanted more. I knew it was time for me to take things to another level. I wanted to start working out and I wanted to continue eating healthy. I didn’t want to continue on the Daniel Fast but I knew it was time for me to start a lifestyle change, not a diet, and start an exercise program.
Stay tuned for Blog 3 and I will tell you where my fitness journey began and who helped change my life. Until then, take care of yourself and remember, it’s never too late to get in shape.
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