After the conviction from the Holy Spirit, I repented of my sin of physical carelessness, i.e. gluttony. Here is another pivotal Scripture to which we can consider in regards to the stewardship of our physical bodies:
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.
. . .
For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go one presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Romans 6:1-14
By God's divine providence the only job I could immediately get at that time was at a women's gym! I completed a workout 5 to 6 days a week which included cardio and strength training with both free weights and machines. I began to slowly change my eating habits by monitoring my portion sizes and eating more fruits and vegetables. I weighed myself once a week at the same time everyday after similar activities with similar clothing so that all things besides my weight would be equal.
I began to get frustrated as my weight would remain the same after 4 weeks. My coworkers encouraged me that I was gaining muscle mass and to continue in my efforts. I began to keep a food diary. It convicted me to be further disciplined with the contents of what I was eating, seeing it all written down.
After learning that it was necessary to consume at least 1200 calories a day to function or else the body would go into starvation mode, I was concerned that I might not be eating enough and began to count my calories.
First I went to Fitness Magazine online and found their Caloric Needs Calculator to determine how many calories I needed in order to maintain my current weight. In order to lose weight, I needed to consume fewer calories than what I needed to maintain, about 500 calories less.
Now my food diary was also used to count my daily caloric intake. This was very helpful because I could eat whatever foods I had a craving for, :-D, as long as I remained within my caloric goal for the day. I used a food calorie database, Calorie King, and found the quantity of calories in all the foods most anyone ever eats, I just had to measure how much of what I was eating.
After the first 4 weeks of muscle gain, while continuing the discipline of exercise and calorie counting, the weight (fat) came off easier than I anticipated. I lost a total of 34 pounds from August to December and went from 184 to 150 pounds, a size 12/14 to 8/10! When I started my measurements were 40.5, 41, 45 and I finished at 38.25, 33, 39.5, that's chest, abdominals, hips!
Anyone looking to honor and glorify our Lord Jesus Christ with the one body they've been given, which was created by God, purchased with the blood of Christ, by losing weight or adopting healthier eating habits can do so. Be encouraged: you CAN do it!
Stay tuned for some helpful healthy living/weight loss tips in the final part 3 of The Stewardship of Our Bodies.
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