After being disappointed in myself yesterday about eating dessert but not burning it off, I prioritized walking today. I also missed hanging out alone with God. I used to do that mostly with my journal and Bible in hand, but I’m not doing much reading or writing since the accident. I like this new thing the Lord is doing, though, connecting with me as I walk. 

I asked the Holy Spirit to direct my steps, then started walking with Matthew 1 on my Bible app on my phone. I think I listened to the first three chapters. (I’m doing the gospels right now. I started with John, my favorite, then moved onto Luke, my second favorite. Poor Mark. I always leave him until last . . .)

I felt drawn to walk up to where a friend of my son’s just moved into a condo. It was a bit of a trek, but not too far for my new lifestyle. I walked around the complex, praying for the people who lived there, but mostly for our friend.

After that I ended up walking the parking lot of my favorite coffee shop, praying for the owners to know God and asking Him to bless their business and send them customers. Then I circled the elementary school and prayed again for the kids and teachers there. At the empty strip mall I asked the Lord for a church there, one Jerry and I could attend and serve in that would know how to care for my failing neighborhood. By the time I reached home I’d walked four miles, burned 445 calories, and enjoyed sweet fellowship.

I tried to do a little running in the dry patches, but was interrupted often by unshoveled sidewalk spaces.  I told myself I could be grateful for the icy spots because they gave me an easy out from pushing too hard. That didn’t change my frustration level, and I wasn’t really grateful. Come on, people! Shovel in front of your house!

Once home I craved my BeFull shake, which I skipped due to all the holiday left-overs for the last couple of days. The shake was so good.

I did have half of one of my famous homemade cinnamon caramel rolls with a little coffee. But I still have lots of calories to spare today, so I’m not too worried about that.

The scale has been up and down this week, playing around with about thee pounds, with all this crazy holiday eating, but it has stayed between 186 and 188. I hope I never, ever see 190 again. Let me rephrase. I PLAN to never, ever see 190 again!!

Should have started the BEPure cleanse before Christmas, but decided to wait until after the holidays and get a fresh start.

Real Time Update:

It feels fantastic to be down another 20 pounds since I wrote the above entry in my weight loss diary. I’m tall for a woman, almost 5′ 9″, so even 170 looks relatively NORMAL. I still have a muffin top to work on, but I’m thinner than I’ve been in a long, long time. YAY!

Now for a confession. I’m walking about half as much as I did in December. The good news is I am finally feeling better and able to do more work on the computer. The hard part is prioritizing exercise now that I’ve picked up most of the balls I had to lay down last June. Lord, help me to keep my health, my exercise, my time alone with You as a top priority even as You return me to productivity.

What About You?

How do you balance exercise with responsibility?

Tagged: balance, cinnamon rolls, fellowship with God, losing weight, prayer, priorities, walking, weight loss