A few short years ago I found myself in the presence of a nurse assigned to cure my less-than-stellar health condition. She told me of her progress from casual walker to triathlete. “I started by walking,” she said, “but it didn’t work. So, I ran, and then I cycled to the bay. Then I swam across the bay. I am one year younger than you and I am doing triathlons. You must exercise. None of this “but I can’t” stuff. You must walk until you are panting. I go to the pools, and I see those people water-walking. They are chatting away to each other, but they are wasting their time calling it exercise. Why do they even bother?” I couldn’t help myself. I said, “For a free bath…?” She was neither amused nor deterred. I wanted to ask her if she had ever lost a patient? But I decided it best to sit and listen nicely.
I know that drag that comes with poor health, it is depressing! Although equally depressing is the thought of fixing the problem. I don’t know about you, but I enjoyed all that food. Leaving it behind was like abandoning my best friend. When given the choice between that which tasted best and that which was best for me, taste often won.
But when the inevitable happened, it was literally “do or die!”
A few thoughts:
1. Truth is your only starting point. Next to your mother, and a bossy triathlete nurse, your scales may be the only honest friend you have this side of heaven.
2. I have tried the keto diet. It does work (I lost 15 pounds), but it has potential side effects of which you must be aware; believe me.
3. Except for crying out for endurance to get over the next hill, prayer is usually left out of one’s process back to good health. Believe it or not, God does care about how we feel, and he does expect the best out of the body he has given us. It pays to consult your manufacturer.
4. Seek the encouragement of your brethren…
John Staiger
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