My testimony: I got tired of watching other people have these amazing weight loss success stories. I saw everyone around me get active and live healthy, but I just couldn't bring myself to put down the Big Mac and grab something better for me. I prayed and prayed to God asking for help, I saw myself deteriorating and I'm not even 25 yet. I was out of shape, tired all the time, my attitude was awful, I just felt defeated. One day I talked to God and told Him I want to be the best me that I can be for His glory. If you know God, sometimes He is blunt, and He answered me back and said "you are the only factor holding you back." Then I got a text from a friend and we casually had a conversation and he told me that he was doing a challenge to drink at least 100oz of water a day. So me being the competitor I am, I told him I'd join him. Now, I hated water, I loved my soda, juice, and milk, and water was always so "blah"too me. The first day was the hardest, I choked my water down and finished the 100 oz by 9 that night, the next day I finished by 7, and the next day I finished by 5 and even drank over the 100. It became easier to get my water in daily, before I knew it I was drinking a gallon a day, completely cut out all other beverages, and had lost a little over 10 lbs in 2 weeks from doing just that. Then one of my best childhood friend's mom popped up on my newsfeed and I saw she had lost so much weight, and she messaged me and told me she added me to this group. So as I was added, I started seeing all of these success stories with these people who looked amazing and I realized I wanted that. So I reached out to her and she gave me info. We did a call and she told me all the details and we got to the money part of it and I immediately shut down. This program (isagenix) was expensive and I just wasn't sure. So I told her I'd call her when I saved up the money, knowing I had the money in my account that I had saved up for a rainy day and I could do it right there and right then. But I was still so hesitant. I was unsure if I was ready , could I really do this? Could I really be a success story? I prayed and prayed and prayed some more. Then I went and talked to my mom about it. See, I've always been a very confident girl, very outspoken, very outgoing and so my family knows none of my insecurities because I learned at an early age how to keep all of that bottled inside. I had to appear strong, never vulnerable , and always in control. But for the first time, I opened up and I cried to my mom about my frustrations with my weight and about my insecurities and fears. She encouraged me , as she always does, and told me to seek God. So I did. God was again, very blunt and He said "if you can invest in everyone else, if you can give time, attention , and money to other causes and people, why won't you do things for yourself? You can't glorify me with your life if you never consider that the life I designed for you and the plans I have for you require you to do hard and difficult things. This will be hard, this will be really hard, but with me, you can do all things." So I sucked it up, sent the text that I had the money and I did one of the bravest things I think I've done in a while, I chose to take care of me.
Now down 36+ lbs and counting, I am so proud of what God has helped me to accomplish. This is truly such a life style change. I feel more beautiful than I have in so long. I feel more confident and it isn't a front. I feel healthier, I have more energy, and I feel more alive than I have in such a long time. I want to be a whole and complete person in mind, body, and spirit. I want every aspect of my life to reflect God's goodness and glory. I'm not doing this for my appearance, although it will be nice, but beauty fades, I'm doing this so I can be a better daughter, friend, cousin, sister, aunt, future mother, future wife, and an overall better person, I'm doing this for me.
Know that if God is in everything you do, you will accomplish it with the right attitude . It takes much prayer, determination, lots of time with the Lord and diligence to do all of the things God has willed for your life. Know that "you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you,(Philippians
4:13) stands true until the end of time. If you have a goal whether it be to get healthy, build a company, go to school, or whatever it is, God has your back and He will be there every step of the way walking with you.
