Day 10 | Health

Left: Me in the Philippines in 2012; Right: Me around Christmas in 2015

Today I am incredibly thankful for my health. I went to the gym tonight and as I was working out, I was looking at my body and how much it has changed. It still is very unfamiliar to me and I find myself weirded out often thinking, Whose body is this? Do I look like that? 

In college, I kept gaining weight. No matter how much I rode my bike, or ate well or whatever, I consistently was gaining. The summer between my junior and senior year, I weighed almost 190 lbs. For a 5'7" girl who is not big-boned, that was a lot of extra weight to be carrying around. My joints hurt and my acid reflux was super bad.

Well, during that summer, I got a parasite and lost about 20 lbs. It was a much needed change in the right direction, though I wouldn't repeat it or suggest getting a parasite as a diet plan. Fast forward to last January. I had a test done called the ALCAT. It's a food sensitivity test. My results came back and basically said that I couldn't eat anything. I had to go without: gluten, dairy, sugar, black beans, tomatoes, corn, dates, lemons, raspberry, soy, bell peppers, red meat...and more. It was something else. But over those three months of not eating those foods, I began to lose weight and feel so much better. My metabolism got with the program.

Now, it's about a year later and I haven't put back on any of that weight and in the new year, my parents are helping me continue to improve my health by paying for me to have a gym membership. I lost quite a bit of strength throughout the last year, but overall, my knees are feeling better and I haven't had hardly any heartburn.

It's been quite the journey towards taking care of my body, but the Lord has been good. He has made the way for all of these changes. I want to take care of my body not for my own sake, but so I can be around to love and serve others for a long time to come. I struggle with the time commitment. I struggle with feeling like taking care of my body and exercising is selfish and self-worship. I struggle with feeling watched and awkward and like I'm doing everything wrong.  But at the end of the day, I'm thankful that I'm healthy, that I can grow and get stronger. I'm thankful for my health. It is a gift!

On a lighter note I'm also thankful for the cafe at my gym. After working out I had a pesto turkey burger and a chocolate shake and it was the jam! Oh man. You guys. I seriously love food and am so very thankful for God that He not only made food important, but He made it enjoyable. WHAT. A. GIFT.