Three Years Later

I'm not wired to remember most dates. I can't tell you the date my husband proposed to me (but I do remember the day we got married!), I have no clue regarding the date I graduated from high school or college . . . you get the idea :-). There are a few key dates that are indelibly imprinted on my brain, and today is one of those dates. In addition to being my youngest daughter's wedding anniversary (10 years for them - congratulations!), this date has another very special meaning to me.

There are days on the calendar that we know up front will be special, and there are other days that only become significant as we look back. Three years ago today, I had no idea how important this date would be, but it's a significant date because I made the decision three years ago today to open a little white packet and begin my Take Shape for Life/Medifast journey. It was a simple choice, but that first choice led to a second, and then a third, and before you know it, my whole life changed. I couldn't have been more skeptical as I opened my first packet of oatmeal (is there anybody who DIDN'T have oatmeal as their very first Medifast meal?). I also had just a smidgen of hope that perhaps this time would finally be different for me. I'd tried just about every other program out there and failed miserably at each and every one, but part of me remained eternally optimistic that maybe, just maybe, I would somehow, someday find a program that worked. After seriously considering taking out a second mortgage on our home to pay for weight loss surgery, I thought I'd give this program a try before risking my life and our house. I'm so thankful I did!

Three years ago today marked the beginning of a very new - and very wonderful - life. I didn't know it at the time, and I certainly couldn't have imagined that in less than 11 months I would lose 120 pounds. I couldn't have imagined that in less than a year I would be able to stand in one leg of my size 24W slacks, or that my goal size would be a 6. I couldn't have imagined that my diabetes would be gone and that I would be off of all medication. And I certainly couldn't have imagined that I would be maintaining my weight loss more than two years later.

I wrote my very first blog three years ago today. Here's how I ended that very first blog on my very first day on the program:

" And today it begins. I am hopeful, and I am refusing to listen to the voices in my head that tell me I will fail at this like I've failed at everything else.

God is my refuge and my strength, and I want to honor Him with the way I care for this temple He has given me."

One little choice - to try yet again to get to a healthy weight - and it changed everything. That's the power of the choices we make. Choose wisely :-)