Fatness, Fitness, and Faithfulness

When you look at the three words that form this week's title what do you see?  Yes, they all begin with F, so there is an alliterative quality.  No, that's not the correct answer.  There is a common word that ties them to together or separates them.  The word is discipline.

I must confess that I often see myself as fat, and my doctor would agree as I teeter right along, or slightly cross back and forth the line between being overweight and obese, as medically defined.  Yes my BMI is approximately 30, and no I am not proud of that.  The primary reason is a lack of sufficient discipline.  That lack of discipline has taken me over the course of 30 years from a skinny 155 pounder coming out of high school to a peak weight of 240 pounds (approximately) which may not even capture my true peak since I wasn't weighing in regularly.  That 85 pound gain over 25 years, at that point, wreaked havoc on my body.  Just over 5 years ago now I was diagnosed first with severe sleep apnea which is a dangerous enough condition, then around 3 months later with the trifecta of type 2 diabetes, underactive thyroid, and high cholesterol.  Yea me!  Not exactly, my lack of discipline had painted me into a dangerous corner that then forced a new discipline upon me.

When you deal with diabetes discipline becomes an absolute necessity.  To control your blood sugars you must keep a regular check on them by testing which involves using a sharp lancet and shooting it into your flesh to draw blood that is then absorbed onto a test strip which is inserted into a glucometer and presto, bammo your blood sugar level is revealed.  Sounds like a ton of fun doesn't it. . .   This is a discipline that gets combined with a change in dietary habits, and the regularly scheduled taking of medicines, to try and keep the amazing G0d-created machine that is our body functioning at its best available levels.

Discipline in the activities I chose to do or not do, and the foods and drinks that I consumed over those 25 years would have made a difference in the choices I would have available to me today.  But, you may say, some of us were born this way, or have genetic conditions that put us into these positions.  That can be true, however, even in those situations the discipline you exercise, or choose not to exercise, impacts the severity and/or ultimate outcomes you may face.

So my fatness was a essentially a result of my failure to exercise discipline.  Now for the past five years I have chosen improved habits under the forced discipline of lifelong medical conditions.  I choose a more fit lifestyle.  No, I am not perfect, and no I am not a middle aged fitness model.  Yes I am 30 pounds lighter today than 5 years ago when all these crazy diagnoses were revealed.  Yet as a I stated earlier I am stumbling right along that overweight/obese line. 

 I struggle most with the food choices that make a huge impact on my fitness and my fatness.  Through the help of a friend, who is a life health coach for my employer, I recently began using a tracking application called My Fitness Pal which has been tremendously helpful.  The thing that has been most interesting is finding that my diet has been such that over 50% of my calories are coming from fats.  Already with the diagnoses of diabetes and high cholesterol this sounds like a recipe for major heart issues in the future.  NOT GOOD!  I have been, with the aid of this simple app, attempting to improve my numbers, and it is HARD!!! 

Discipline. . . discipline. . . discipline how do I improve thee?

This discipline or lack of it translates into other areas of our lives as well.  It can be identified in our finances, our family, and our faith if we are willing to honestly examine those areas as well.  Let's take faith for example.  I was raised in a home where we went to church and believed in God, yet I never got overly excited about God's Word, church attendance, or service to others.  Yes, that is all a lack of discipline, but first it was really a lack of understanding.  Which if we circle back to the fatness/fitness issues above is at the heart of that issue as well.  I floundered around for far too long just believing in God and essentially thinking that I am a good person, I'll be okay.  Unfortunately, that is not how this works.

"for all have sinned and fall

short of the glory of God."

Romans 3:23 

My belief alone was not going to do me a bit of good as James, the brother of Jesus wrote;

"You believe that there is one God.

You do well.

Even the demons believe- and tremble!"

James 2:19

Again, when these truths began to sink in it was time to make some changes.  Alas, discipline again enters the scene.  I had to make some changes and some choices.  In December of 2004 at the ripe old age of 36 I made the decision to follow Christ, and began to walk in His discipline, as a disciple.  Similar to the struggles on the health and fitness side, it doesn't always come easy, but it is worth it!  Yes I have times when I bottom out or plateau, but I trudge on.  Those are common to any worthwhile endeavor.  As Andy Andrews writes in "The Traveler's Gift", 

"I will persist without exception."

I can't think of a better place to cutoff my ramblings for today.  This week seek out discipline in your life and know that it is a challenge, then persist.  That is how you will Make Today GREAT!