This might be the most vulnerable post I have ever written. I have shared stories about my food addiction, my morbid obesity, my extreme weight-loss attempts and ultimate success, and some of my deepest, darkest (though hilarious) thoughts. But, this — on this, I hesitated. I didn’t want to admit this truth to myself and I certainly didn’t want to admit it to the world. But I think it must be shared because it might help others.
It has been exactly two years since I first wrote about my experience with Intermittent Fasting, and since then, the response has been overwhelming. At first, I feared that people would think I had some kind of eating disorder or that I was trying to attain some unreasonable weight or shape. If you know me at all, you know that I am far too committed to my health to knowingly do anything that would adversely affect it. And you may know that I also committed my health to God as a spiritual act of worship, so to harm my body is to offer a lesser sacrifice to Him, something I wouldn’t want to do.
In the last few years since I adopted the Intermittent Fasting (IF) lifestyle, my discipline and practices have evolved and I have settled into a pattern that works very well for me. I feel good, my weight is easily and steadily maintained at a healthy, comfortable number, my workouts are strong, and it doesn’t have a negative impact on my family, my work, or my schedule. In fact, my husband has joined me in the IF lifestyle and I am so proud of him. Like I have done, he told his doctor that he was trying it and his doctor said as long as he feels good and remains healthy, he has his MD’s seal of approval. Newer to the game, my husband is still finding his rhythm, but I have to say it has been wonderful having my best friend and partner in life join me in support. And I love him far too much to watch him do anything that would potentially cause him harm or be unhealthy.
To the contrary, as we watch his father, my father-in-law, disappear deeper into the clutches of Alzheimer’s disease, the evidence suggesting IF can slow aging and prevent dementia gives me more hope that maybe, hopefully, our story will be different. I take his health just as seriously as I do my own because we are better together when we are strong and healthy.
I hope you will first read, if you haven’t, the first post I did about IF, because this is meant to be an update. I’ve had considerably more experience with it, made a lot of observations, and have come to believe more strongly than ever that for me, it is the most maintainable, most effective, and most rewarding thing I have ever done for my physical and spiritual health. Maybe, if you’re looking for your path to a healthier life, it could work for you, too.
In the last few years, I have discovered and embraced the incredible power of simple hand-written notes to enrich the lives of others. Every summer when I was a little girl, my parents and grandparents would send me hand-written notes and cards while I was at summer camp. They continued when I went away to school and these have become cherished treasures I keep in my hope chest to this day. In a world of text messages, email, and social media, hand-written notes and cards have become rare — endangered, even — and at risk of extinction. So I’m fighting back to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Columbine. Sandy Hook. Virginia Tech. Parkland. Santa Fe. Noblesville.
Noblesville?
They are the names of schools and towns forever burned into our memory by the horrifying bond they share — the experience of an active shooter situation. And now, the place my family has called home for over 15 years, the place we chose to raise our daughter, has joined the dubious list. On Friday, May 25, 2018, just a week before the end of the school year, Noblesville West Middle School was the scene of a code red, active shooter. I joined those in my community, praying, as details leaked out over social media and network news. (more…)
I am so far from being like Jesus Christ that I can’t even see the finish line from where I am. I’m not even close enough in my life to the only standard by which I should be judged that one can compare. But every day it is my prayer that I am at least moving in the right direction. And once in a while, I realize that the Holy Spirit really has been hard at work in my life — chiseling away at my heart of stone and replacing it with a softer, compassionate heart of flesh. The process has been slow as there was a lot of work to do and my stubborn humanness often resists, but progress has been made. I am not who I used to be and I’m glad. This morning, I had one of those moments when I realized I was different. As I faced a familiar situation, my reaction was patently unfamiliar, and it was nice.
I am writing this late on a Sunday evening, reflecting on an intensive training experience I have had recently. It may take me a while to appreciate the full scope of the work The Holy Spirit has done on my heart, but I feel compelled to document it. I was humbled. I was stretched. I was reluctant. I was eventually obedient. I was changed. (more…)