Friday, October 3, 2008

Counting Calories Pays Dividends

So far there has been one highlight of the month of October for me. I’ve been looking at the nutrition plan guidelines that I was given last month then marking down what I’ve eaten by those guidelines. The customized spreadsheet I’ve created looks like a ledger from a disorganized small business. Decipher it and you’ll find tangible evidence of everything I’ve put in my mouth since Wednesday. Looking at the tally proves to me that the old saying isn’t true. There is an accounting for taste. Okay, that’s a really bad pun but I had to write it.

I realize I’ve only been tracking my caloric intake and trying to eat the right foods for 2 days but already it seems to be working. Today I went to see my primary care doctor for my second visit in the 6 month weight loss effort required by my insurance company. The good news is that I’ve lost 6 pounds over the last month.

Although my visit to see the doctor was no joke it did come with a punch line. If you go back and read my post from a month ago today you’ll see what a difficult time I had finding a place to check my weight. The reason I had such difficulty was because my doctor said that the scale reading had to be verified by someone with medical authority like a nurse or physician’s assistant. That’s why I went to 3 different places for help. Finally I bought my own scale to use.

I took the scale with me today. While I was with the doctor I told him the brief version of the “trying to get weighed” story. I pointed out to him that I had the digital scale with me. In an offhanded manner he said “that’s okay you don’t have to bring it with you. Just get on it before you come in and tell me what the number is. I’ll take your word for it”

Why didn’t he tell me that a month ago? I still would have had to buy a new scale anyway but it would have saved me the frustration of the events of September 2nd.

Perhaps I shouldn’t complain. The things that happened to me while trying to get weighed had a very serious emotional impact on me. I realized how extreme my situation is and that it’s time to do something about it.

Of course I write that now in retrospect but I didn’t see it at the time. I know now for certain that the frustration with my initial weigh-in was a set of circumstances that God put before me. They were to help me realize the degree of seriousness with which I needed to approach my weight loss effort.

It has taken some time but now I am sure I understand. I’m so glad the The Holy Spirit kept working in me over the month until I finally opened the eyes of my heart and saw what I really needed to do. I’m just 3 days into it but I believe that this time being on a diet is going to be different. This time it's because I'm being obedient to God and His will for my life.

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