I Lost Weight Running After the Lord

**Disclaimer – I am not a professional. In no way am I condemning or judging anyone in this blog, I am speaking from my personal walk with the Lord. 

The Lord has been speaking to me about this blog post since the international leg of our race and I didn’t feel it was right to type it up until now. This isn’t going to be a typical weight loss story, it’s how chasing after the Lord changed my lifestyle in more ways than one. 

When pursuing a relationship with Jesus, I noticed things in my life started to change. Anxiety decreased, relationships were deeper and stronger, I had more joy and I started living my life for Him and not for the world or myself. This can look so many different ways and that’s the beautiful thing about being a part of the body, we are all so different and our relationships with the Lord are beautifully unique to us as individuals. 

The Lord never really spoke to me about my health or my weight, I didn’t feel any type of way towards it. I was just living my life, doing my thing in college. We all expect to put on the freshman 15, right? It’s normal so I am okay. In July 2018 is when I really started walking with Jesus so I went through most of college just living life for me and my wants, not really thinking about long term. A phrase often said amongst my friends and I is “we are here for a good time, not a long time”. So I was doing just that, living in the moment and living the typical college lifestyle. 

One day that phrase hit different for me. At the time, I was saying we aren’t here for a long time meaning college. I looked at my lifestyle and realized that means this world and this life. The way I was headed was not a healthy track. I was setting myself up for failure with my health. I thought ahead and told myself I want to be able to run around with my kids one day and not just sit and watch. I want to be able to travel and backpack or to just walk up the stairs without struggling to breathe like I was.

Now, I am no where near perfect or the ideal image of health but I am happy and heading in the right direction. I am able to hike mountains with my friends, run around and play sports and walk up the stairs without totally dying (even though these things for sure still knock me out sometimes haha). 

I started seeking after the Lord and a healthier lifestyle just came with that. Praise God for that!! I am confident in my identity in Him and that means I don’t have my stuff together, but I trust Him and He knows all. I didn’t even realize I was losing weight, it just happened by the change in choices. I want to live life for my Heavenly Father and spread His glory! 

Shoot, I was craving cookies at 9 am. I am a human and I’m not perfect and that’s okay. I get to eat cookies at 9 am if I want and not feel shame about that. It’s really beautiful walking with Him and just handing it all over.

Live your life for the Lord, not for others or even yourself. Take a step of faith and talk to Him today, He’s waiting.

Here is a side by side of my journey thus far. I’ve lost roughly 60 pounds – 

Dec 2019                               Aug 2020