Before and After Photos

With a heart of levity, an appreciation for satire, and a desire to send a helpful message while making friends laugh, hoping not to offend while reaching a few hurting hearts who struggle as I have to find balance, seeking to highlight the real dangers and concerns that come with all the hyped up diet and "health" products, I bring you my own personal BEFORE and AFTER story. I pray my story can help someone realize sooner than I did that true health and lasting peace with yourself require balance. Too much of anything, even those things that seem so good for us like running, cleanses, or diet plans, are not good for us. Trading too much running and excessive meal planning for a balanced workout program and an "eat whatever my body craves whenever it craves it while opting for whole foods over processed" diet plan changed my life for the better. To God be the glory for leading me back to health.

Truly, though, an obsession with any physical aspect of yourself will lead to despair. Too often I lament over my wrinkles which I can't prevent but often try to remove with photo editors while forgetting that they represent a blessed life filled with smiles and abundant laughter for which I should rejoice. I can't do anything to remove the stretched out skin around my mid-section, but I can choose to see it as a reminder of the precious gifts for whom that skin stretched to hold for a full 9 months instead of being delivered too soon....children I once thought I would never be able to conceive or birth. I could whine about minor genetic conditions that cause me occasional pain and seem unsightly, or I can rejoice that I am healthy and strong, able to do things I never could before, not even during the vibrancy of my youth. I can work on those health areas I can control and should change to make me more effective in my roles as wife, mom, teacher, and friend, but I must keep my priorities balanced. Focus on what you can and should improve without shirking more important obligations to God and others, but do not obsess over what you can't control or fall for quick fixes or gimmicks with short term gains and long term losses. Life on earth is too short to waste on the trivial.