Laps

I am not a very healthy person.

Try as I do to just forget about eating healthy and keeping my body in shape, it's just not something I can "forget" away.

I was brought to the abrupt realization that I need to change the way I live by my doctor, who told me that if I didn't change, I might one day have diabetes, heart problems, and all sorts of other nasty medical issues.

I've heard some people say that, in order to be a Christian, you have to eat right and exercise daily. I don't believe that. I do believe that my body is a temple for Christ, and I have not been giving it that respect.

Some people are naturally good at sports or being fit. Not me. I don't like exercise. Maybe because, for my entire life, exercise has only been something to improve you. So when I exercised, it seemed to me like that said, "You're not good enough." And I hated that. Especially when I didn't see immediate results except fatigue and time wasted that I could've been doing something else.

I'm a picky eater too. I was fed all manner of high-calorie, high-fat foods when I was little to get me on the growth charts, and I'm sorry to say that my "high-calorie, high-fat" tastes have not worn off.

I like comfort food - fried chicken, mashed potatoes, pizza, that kind of thing. I don't like many fruits and vegetables - something about the texture of them unsettles me. On top of all that, one of my favorite things in the world to do is bake. Bake cookies, bake brownies, bake cakes, make ice cream. And being "healthy" says that I can't enjoy any of those things, that those things I enjoy so much are "bad."

So I've had to compromise. I've made some resolutions. No dessert except on weekends. At least one fruit and one veggie a day. No pizza or chicken for breakfast (generally I'm not a huge fan of breakfast foods). And I've started swimming laps. Every day. I swam 40 laps today, and my legs feel like jelly.

And, I've had to come to the conclusion that I may not see immediate results. It may be weeks, or months before I see or feel any changes. But I'll have to get through it.

And, who knows, maybe in time I'll learn to enjoy it.