I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday morning! My sister, who is visiting from Pennsylvania, is going to church with us this morning and then spending the rest of the day with me. I'm looking forward to some good "sis time" with her!

Periodically I like to go back and re-read some of the blogs I wrote when I was on the weight loss phase of this plan. They are a good reminder to me of where I was on various points along my journey, because I never, ever want to forget.

I thought I'd share with you something I wrote in March of 2008 - I hope it will be an encouragement to somebody today!


"One of the things that amazes me is how some of the greatest personal pain can, in time, become some of our greatest blessings.

I’ve seen this in my own life as we dealt with our daughter’s struggle with anorexia, and again as we entered the world of autism following our son’s diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome. There is no denying the pain that these things brought into my life, and there were days when I felt like all of the hope and joy had been permanently sucked out of my life. But in time, God’s healing transformed these events into blessings by using them to not only grow me as a person, but to strengthen the bond of my family, and eventually allow me to reach out to others who were where I had once been.

In the midst of these experiences, well-meaning people told me that someday God would use this pain as a springboard for helping others, and that made me angry. I certainly wasn’t looking for that kind of outreach or ministry and I couldn’t imagine ever allowing myself to revisit the pain in order to retell my story to someone else. But in time, that’s exactly what happened and my life is richer for having done so.

One area of great pain for me was spending over 20 years living with obesity. I wouldn’t even say the word “obese” out loud, and would NEVER say “fat.” I was overweight, heavy, over my ideal weight, or any other euphemism you can think of. I never allowed myself to refer to my body as obese, even though I was well over 100 pounds overweight. I was mortified at my size and went to great lengths to keep my weight my “dirty little secret,” going so far as refusing to get on the scale at my doctor’s office.

When I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast last June, all I wanted to do was lose weight and get back to the thin person buried under all those pounds. My desire was to try to forget about everything that I’d felt and experienced related to obesity over the past 20 years. All I wanted to do was get as far away from that pain as quickly as possible.

But a funny thing has happened over the past 8-1/2 months! My weight loss journey has been very healing - and very liberating - as I have come to understand many of the issues that led to my weight gain. I have lost almost 100 pounds on Take Shape for Life/Medifast (96 so far!) and over 100 pounds from my all time high and I have truly been set free from the bondage of emotional eating, but I am no longer running away from the 20 years I spent as an obese woman. My desire to run away from the pain has been replaced by a deep and driving passion to reach out to others who are still struggling.

People are asking me on an almost-daily basis about my weight loss and several have been very open about their own struggle. I, of course, tell them everything I know about Medifast, but I also share some of the things that led me to placing my own first order. It’s still not easy to be that transparent about something that has been such a private struggle for so many years, but I hope that as I honestly share my own struggle, it will let them know that there really IS a way out for them.

A couple of verses from the Bible that pretty much sum it up are 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” [Emphasis mine]

So today, March 11, 2008, I am able to honestly say that God has used this painful period in my life to transform me in ways I could not have imagined, and I am thankful for this journey – all 20 years of this journey. I don’t know how God is going to use this experience in my life, but I am willing to tell my story – all of my story – if it will help one person move from where they are now to where they want to be. I can’t NOT share!"


It's been over a year since I wrote that. I lost a total of 126 pounds and have been at my goal weight for almost a year. I am amazed and humbled at how God continues to use my story to encourage others. I now work full time doing exactly that - walking alongside others who are on their own weight loss journey. I've seen so many people, including many of my own family members and some of my dearest friends, lose weight and get healthy. Sharing my story has gotten a lot easier over the past year, because as I share it other people become hopeful that perhaps this program will work for them, too. I've been able to release the embarrassment and shame I carried about my weight. All of that has been replaced with joy, and I love sharing that joy with others!

Have a great, on-plan Sunday!