Hi GiJiM family! Hope all is well. And if all is not well, my prayer for you is that all will be well soon in Christ Jesus.

Repeat after me, “Yes I can with God’s help!”

This photo is me riding my stationary bike while watching tv, writing, checking e-mails, texting and snacking. 15 miles. YAY! This is how I do it! 😉

I asked God for help

Ok, so for at least four years I was trying to lose 9 pounds to get to my comfortable weight and nothing worked. I mean nothing — walking/running on treadmill, standing/lying crunches, arm exercises with dumbbells, cutting back on food/sweets. My metabolism did not budge, it was dormant. In 2015 at 53 years old I was wondering if my metabolism would ever wake up again.

One day I was fed up and asked God for help and He did. The Holy Spirit reminded me that when I was in my 20s I use to ride the stationary bike and liked it. So I mentioned this to my husband and he said to me, “Sweetie, why not? Go for it!” I immediately started researching and reading reviews of stationary bikes. I didn’t want to spend too much money; however, I wanted something sturdy. After much research I finally decided to order from Walmart the Sunny Health and Fitness Folding Recumbent Bike. This bike exceeded my expectations Best bike ever! Yeah! Not so fast…

Yes I can with God’s help!

The bike had to be assembled. It took me two months to ask my son to put it together. Then it took a week for me to talk myself into getting on the bike. Now, the bike is right next to my bed so I can’t miss it. But you all know that it’s mental, right. Well I finally got on the bike and after 2 minutes I thought I was going to pass out. I was saying, “What is this? What did I get myself into? This is not for me!” But then I started repeating, “Yes I can with God’s help” and stayed on the bike for 15 minutes, taking breaks like every 2-3 minutes. I’ll confess, it was not a pretty sight. Hey, but you do what you got to do! 😉 It was grueling but I did not give in to my feelings or give up on my goal.

The second time was better

The second time was better and it kept getting better and better until I started riding six days a week for at least an hour, at least 13 miles. This also served as a stress reliever, I needed it. Every time I’d get on the bike I’d ask God to help me and He did. While on the bike I watch television, read my Bible, pray, meditate, work on my laptop, pay bills, snack, etc.. Well, my dormant metabolism spiked and I started shedding pounds like crazy and wound up losing 20 lbs in four months. Yeah! Not so fast…

I lost too much weight 

This created a different problem, now I had to stop losing weight! I had lost too much and didn’t realize how bad I looked until I saw a pic of me. Even though I was healthy, I had to do something about it so instead of six days on the bike I cut back to three days. I was able to get to my comfortable weight and now I’m maintaining. In my opinion, when it comes to losing weight there is no “one size fits all.” You have to find what works for you because we all have a different body makeup. Replacing the treadmill with the bike made the difference for me. At 55 years old, my work out routine works for me. In order to eat what I like to eat (and I do love to eat!) and keep my weight under control, I have to work out. People ask me all the time, how do you keep your weight under control? I tell them. you have to “move,” you have to do some type of physical activity. I know it’s hard at times but not impossible with God’s help.

Yes You Can with God’s Help!

This is what I’d like you to take away from my story. Make up your mind about what you want to do/accomplish. Whatever that is, do it.  Don’t talk yourself out of doing it, talk yourself into doing it. If you want to lose weight or maintain your weight, a combination of food portion size control and exercise works.

The bottom line is this: whatever you want to do/accomplish, do it and when the going gets tough, keep repeating “Yes I can with God’s help!”

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3 NLT

From Deb’s  to yours…

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