Stumbling Blocks shouldn't block you...
Many times I have fallen during my diets. I would get to a certain point or a certain weight and be excited with what I had accomplished. However, it would only take one stumbling block to make me feel like I couldn't maintain it and would give up, reverting to my old ways. It was one stumble after another after another. I would allow anything to give me the excuse to quit and not worry about it anymore. In recent years, since getting married to Kate and having kids, I tried a few times to lose weight.
The first time I was able to get down to 245 pounds from my 287 weight. I was going to the gym, working out, and eating better. Then in April 2008, everything changed. I was working at my job as a delivery driver and was hit by another driver. My back received some compression fractures and my knee was injured (resulting in knee surgery). I decided that losing weight was no longer important, since I wasn't physically able to do much for many months. I know that is a good reason, but there was no reason for me to start eating the way I did. I gained back the 40 pounds I had lost.
I know that it was hard to exercise while being in a turtle shell and that I was not able to do much, but I didn't track my calories anymore and was eating like I shouldn't have been. It took me a long time to recover and give losing weight another chance. You can look at my earlier blog and see my picture from October 2009, I still had all the weight back on me.
Between 2009 and up until a few months ago, I was up and down on my weight. I would go for a few weeks while working out and eating right, just to give up or let one bad day ruin all the progress I had made. I don't know why but I just could not keep it up.
In December I knew that my diets would never lead to anywhere and that I was going to stay unhealthy if I didn't make a change. I needed to lose weight, get healthy, and stop allowing one little hiccup stop me. I became determined to instead of letting those stumbling blocks get in my way, to instead use them as motivation and create a deeper desire inside of me.
I prayed and I broke myself down. When I was building up my new foundation I prayed and thought about how I can use those stumbling blocks to my advantage. One thing I found was when I would stumble I needed to see what caused that stumble and how to get around it. Once I would find the root of the problem, whether it be depression, anger, boredom, or just laziness, I would look at how to use that to my advantage.
It's finding that opportunity that seems to be the hardest part about stumbling. In times of depression or anger, I noticed that yoga would greatly help me with those issues. Yoga allows me to collect my thoughts and be able to just think about what it is that is bothering me. On top of that, I would get the exercise I needed by the stretching yoga provides.
In times of boredom, I knew that I couldn't just sit around and eat. I needed to occupy my mind. Whether I read my scriptures, worked out, or went for a walk, I would find something to do. It is very important to not let those stumbles get in your way. I have learned that gaining knowledge and learning from those stumbles makes you stronger and healthier.
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