Health-Wise Wednesdays

Topic: Metabolism

Maintenance is the word now, and I'm doing well so far at maintaining my weight. I checked in this morning, and I'm 134.6 lbs, a little over what I was last week and still in the 134-135 range, which is good for me. I'm pleased that I've been eating better, enjoying what I eat (very important both for losing and maintaining weight loss), and feeling energetic. That's what matters most. Of course, getting multiple compliments at church this Sunday didn't hurt one bit ;-).


Ever meet one of those people who eat and eat and eat and never put on any weight? Yep, that was me. It's funny how I find old classmates on Facebook, and the first thing they tell me is, "I remember you, you were the girl that was always eating!" I'd sit at the lunch table with my friends, clean my plate, then eat everyone else's leftovers. Whenever one of the girls was dieting, I'd have a picnic. I'd eat breakfast every morning, easily eat 3-4 lunches, and always had seconds at dinner. Not to mention the snacking I did in between: cookies, candy, chocolate, you name it. Yet at graduation I weighed all of 103 lbs. At 5'4", that's pretty slim. Let's face it, I had the good life. I knew it, and I milked it for all it was worth.

That, obviously, didn't last forever. It lasted till my first child was born. I gained quite a bit of weight (45 lbs), and lost most, but not all of it. By the time my second child was born, I was able to get down to 127 lbs but not much lower. Now, I'm not saying that at that point I was overweight. But I did notice that staying thin became a bit harder. I still ate more than most people, and with 2 toddlers and a full-time job I had plenty of exercise. Yet try as I might, I couldn't get down to the 120 lbs I wanted to weigh. That was new territory for me.

As a teenager I was very self-conscious about my weight. I know that sounds crazy, but I was afraid I was so skinny I looked anorexic. I tried everything to gain weight: milk shakes, vitamins, lots of sweets, but I burned it faster than I ate it. My mom and many others told me not to worry, it would all catch up with me soon enough. I couldn't imagine it happening, though. I'd been a heavy eater with no consequences all my life, and I was sure that would be true always.

As my children got older and I was running after them less and less, the weight began to pile on more and more. I began adjusting my eating a bit; no more seconds after dinner, and less snacking between meals. It was a big deal for me, who'd never dieted a day in my life, but I had to face the fact: my metabolism was changing, and I needed to change with it. That's one of the issues I've noticed with people who, like me, had an active teen life but in later years become more sedentary. An active person can eat more and not put on any pounds. Someone sitting behind a desk all day, however, needs to realize more than just their activity level needs to change.

No one wants to get older, but we do. No one likes to change their habits, but we must. As we get older, our bodies, our metabolisms, change. Our activities change, and therefore our activity levels do too. I convinced myself for a long time that I could eat more than the average person because I always had. Once I accepted the fact that my body was not the same as it was when I was 16 years old, I was more willing to make the adjustments necessary to live healthier. That's the first step: admitting that changes are needed to get back on track.

This is true in our spiritual lives as well. We begin our walk with God with much enthusiasm, reading, learning, growing, then comes a time when we need to step it up. We need involvement. We need to get deeper into the Word. We need to allow God to challenge us. But we stall. Why? Because it's hard to accept change. It's easier to stay where we are, content with just knowing that Jesus loves us and died for our sins. Even though we know that isn't enough, we hesitate to go forward. We receive the talents from our Master, but we're afraid to invest them (Matthew 25:14-30). Yet the truth is, when we admit that changes need to be made, and we accept God's work in our lives, we feel better, healthier, stronger and more energetic in our spiritual lives.

My son has taught me that lesson this week. He started swimming lessons with huge tears in his eyes. He told me he didn't see the need to learn how to swim; he's played in pools and at the beach without having to swim, why couldn't he just stay the way he was? As his mom, though, I know this is important for him. We live in South Florida. Most of the parties he gets invited to are pool parties, and he's the kid at the shallow end of the pool holding on to the edge for fear of getting in too deep. He's afraid of going too far into the ocean because he doesn't know if he'll be able to get back to shore. To remedy this, he has to learn to swim. Yes, it means stepping out of his comfort zone and daring to try. The first day was scary, and the second day was even scarier. But by the end of lesson 2 he started to feel more sure of himself. He realized his instructor wasn't about to let him drown. He saw his mommy sitting nearby, watching his every move. He knows Jesus is always with him. And he began to trust. I'm confident if he keeps at it, he'll master swimming. I'm also confident that if he gives up or doesn't try, he'll never reach his full potential.

I need to be willing to do the same. To step out and step into the roles God has prepared for me. To make changes in my life so that I look more like Jesus. To reach out to others in love. It's not always in my nature to do these things. But if I'm ready to admit that my physical metabolism is changing, I also have to admit that my spiritual metabolism changes, and I need to make adjustments to it, not stay stagnant in the same place all my life, but be on the move so I can be spiritually fit. How about you?