Nerves Galore!

I can't even begin to describe the butterflies in my stomach, sitting here at my laptop this morning.  My belly is aflutter with excitement and trepidation.  I am starting a journey here that is going to hold my feet to the fire.  Until now, only a select few have known that I am writing a book.  There's been relatively little pressure as I have quietly worked on it for the past 10 years or so.  I honestly don't remember the date, but I clearly remember the moment, when God birthed this project as a fleeting thought.  I was in a church, listening to Iris Blue talk about her experiences as a severely abused little girl, and how God used those horrid circumstances to bring her to her ministry to women.  I was spellbound by her story.  She experienced incredible abuses and she spoke from what she knew to encourage the women in the audience.  It was an epiphany as I realized that I could do the same thing, but from a different set of experiences.

I have knowledge and experience in physical fitness, healthy living, weight management and nutrition.  I have experienced the benefits of consistent exercise and eating well for decades and I want you to know that it's not as hard as you might think!  It's totally worth the effort.  If you could just feel for a day, what it's like to be fit and healthy, you'd have the motivation to live that way, too.  I hear women (mostly, but sometimes men) constantly pre-occupied with their weight, clothing size and diet.  They're always evaluating, comparing and examining.  I can't say that I have met more than a few women who will say that they are happy with their bodies.  I confess that there have been many times when I, too, have fallen to complaining about a body that isn't perfect and doesn't look the way I wish it did.  However, there have been many times where I can look in the mirror and say, "You're lookin' good, Falldine!"  

I tell people that I have lost 160 pounds and technically, that is true.  Your eyes probably zoomed right over to the picture of me with my bike.  You're thinking, "No way did she lose 160 lbs!  How did she do it?  She doesn't look like she could have ever been that big!"  Relax, y'all.  I didn't really lose 160 pounds all at once.  But I have lost 40 pounds, four times.

I first lost 40 pounds back around 1983 when I met my future husband.  George's love for me taught me to love myself, which was a totally new concept.  That was all the motivation I needed to finally pay attention to what I was eating, enough to actually drop weight permanently.  Until then I exercised like a maniac, but never really learned to feed myself a diet consistent with loosing weight and maintaining the loss.  George was the first one to help me know what amount of food "normal" people ate.

The second, third and fourth times that I lost 40 pounds were in 1986, 1989 and 1991.  I gained about 40 pounds with each of my pregnancies and lost it all shortly after each of my children were born.  Here it is 2009 and I weigh about what I weighed in 1983 when I got married.  My weight has fluctuated about 10 pounds up or down this entire time.  Yeah, I like it better when it's a little on the down, but even when it's on the up, I am not miserable.  (Right now it's a little on the "up" end and I am motivated to pay attention to what I'm putting in my mouth.)

I know what it takes and I'm putting it all down in Free To Be Fit.  I have to tell you one more thing, and then I need to step aside from my computer and get my day in gear!

The foundation of my life is my relationship with Jesus Christ.  He is everything to me.  He is my motivation, my strength, my creativity, my reason, my very life.  I cannot live a day without talking to Him.  I am fueled by His power and apart from Him I collapse into a heap of mere flesh and bones.

The Bible has everything to say and instruct when it comes to how to live a healthy and productive life.  The very foundation of Free To Be Fit is Galatians 5:1.  It says this:  It was for freedom that Christ set you free, therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject to a yoke of slavery again!  I see too many people living like prisoners in their own bodies, victims of their own bad choices.  Free To Be Fit teaches you HOW to get free and stay free. 

Next time I sit here to write, I want to tell you where I am in the process of getting Free To Be Fit in your hands.  I've got a long, long way to go, but you can help if you would pray for me.  Deal?

Until then, have a great day in the Lord,

Joan