Dieting has always been hard for me, simply because I love the taste of food, good food. Southern born and reared provided me with a taste pallet that welcomes fried, sweet, buttery and fatty foods. All of the foods that I consider just plain good, increase weight, blood pressure and cholesterol. After the age of thirty the increase in all three appeared to be in a relay race which brought on a number of other added problems.
Back, leg, knee pains coupled with constant headaches plagued my every day activities. These conditions along with poor digestion and circulation were destroying my very being. Even though my weight was totally out of control, I told myself that all of the problems were not caused by weight gain. I would make statements like "Big and Sexy", "I am happy with me"," I can find all the nice big clothes I can buy" and the big one "If he don't want me fat, I don't need him". All of these were statements while I was literally killing myself growing from 125 pounds to 274 pounds.
No, I did not wake up one day and just say enough, I have got to change. It took divine intervention. Sitting on Myrtle Beach early one morning with my daughter, we both noticed a man walking at a steady pace and praying out loud. The man was extremely thin almost appeared malnourished but was more noticeable by his level of prayer concentration as he passed us two times. I don't know why but we turned to each other and at the same time said it is time for change. This was the day before our first day of our 45 day fast and the journey began.
When I think about the journey, I remember a statement from +Minister TD Jakes book, Let It Go, "No one ever won a marathon by getting lost in the woods".
