well, the PPP is kinda at a stand still...i've been working out but only like 2-3 days a week and my caloric intake has been higher than it should be for the past week...but i'm still pressing on...
I'm learning a lot from this project...or re-learning a lot of things that i learned very early in life...
1. it's harder to lose weight than it is to gain it
2. the healthy choice is never really the fun one
3. working out is not easy, nor is it always going to be something I want to do
4. i feel better when i eat well and exercise
5. it's really easy to come up with an excuse to choose the opposite of healthy
6. i need to remember that this "lifestyle change" is to the Lord's glory, i need to be reminded that He loves me and has made me worthy of health and that it's worth it to make these choices now
7. it takes a LONG time to see real results and to keep them
8. macaroni and cheese, chai tea lattes, and chocolate chip cookies are my weaknesses..
I'm convinced that this experience, like every other lifestyle change that i've ever had to make will help me to be increasingly empathetic toward my patients who are being asked to give up the things that they "love" for benefits that they can't always see or feel as worth it..we are weak and we like cookies and choosing what is good for us is not always number one on our list of things to do..
In Philippians, Paul is talking about straining toward the goal which is righteousness, healing, ultimate holiness for believers...he uses athlete imagery all the time because it's such a neat parallel to what it's like to walk with the Lord and fight for more of Jesus... "Not that i have already obtained this or am already perfect, but i press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own...I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" Philippians 3:12,14 and in 1 Corinthians "Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. they do it to receive a perishable wreath, we an imperishable. So i do not run aimlessly; i do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."...Paul is talking about setting aside your selfish interests for the sake of loving other people and attaining wholeness...because the end goal is worth it...but i think this applies to a healthy lifestyle on a physical level, too...i set aside what i would rather eat to eat what is good, and i set aside what i would rather do to workout...because the end goal is worth it...
