35 off for 35 on

When I set out to lose weight 10 months ago, my dream was to lose 35kgs. I also turned 35 this year so why not lose a kilo for every year I have been on the earth?

I didn’t expect to lose 3.5kgs so 35kgs was really in the ‘never never’ land.

As of the date of this post I am narrowing closer and closer towards the goal.

There were 2 physiological reasons to take so much weight off:-

1. That would bring me down to 80kgs which is an appropriate weight for my height and build; and
2. The mirror told me there was definitely 35kgs there to shed!

I also wanted to lose something of that magnitude to try and ‘nail the fork into the road’ so to speak. There was no interest in losing a few kilos then putting them back on a few months later.

What was needed was some radical weight loss, but with the right structures and disciplines in place to keep them off.

Besides, putting the weight back on would involve buying another wardrobe. I would rather spend it on baby clothes for our second child expected later this year.

The memory of those early days of exercise, eating less and embracing lifelong strategies is still vivid. It was exciting but also meant death to my old ways.

It was like emigrating to a distant country with a new language and strange traditions.

Could I really fit in?

Preachers often talk about ‘falling into sin’.

Well for so long I seemed to ‘fall into food’. One US politician who lost weight put it this way: ‘I am a recovering foodaholic’.

It is of course the abuse of something God given and meant to be enjoyed.

Good things can easily become idols and emotional strongholds and food must be on the top of the list, particularly in the West. We have an abundance of tasty food that we struggle to enjoy in moderation.

It has been interesting to see the response of old friends and associates. Some almost didn’t recognise me while others thought I must be gravely ill.

One lark asked my wife if she had remarried.

At the end of the day it is not about weight or shirt size but stewardship of the body.

We don’t want to follow the world’s obsession with the body but a healthy lifestyle has so many positive spin offs. Regular exercise and fitness constitutes, in so many ways, ‘redeeming the time’.

The Apostle Paul told Timothy that bodily exercise had some value. Not as much as godliness, but some value nonetheless.

It is remarkable that our major contributor to the New Testament, on writing a pastoral epistle, would make that observation.

So there is value in every believer putting some premium on looking after their bodies. After all it is the only body God has given us to serve Him in. I can’t use yours and you would not want to borrow mine:)

While we may by default aimlessly surf the net for a hours at a time, why not spend 30 minutes a day going for a brisk walk or doing some sport?

The benefits will follow you the rest of the day.

For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. 1 Timothy 4:8

By Robert Apps

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