Oh, I am sure, at the time, I faked interest, but really, who I was kidding? I had no earthly idea (and still do not to this day have any idea) how to choose life over junk food. Fear has never motivated me to eat healthy. Nor has the shame of being unable to fit comfortably in a single airplane seat provided me with the incentive to change. Even, the thought of dying from obesity, sadly enough, does not scare me into health reformation! Today, I am 44 years old. I have outlived his dismal forecast by 10 years, but I have not dodged the inevitable obesity side effects bullet. Decades before its time, the cartilage in my knees has been replaced by spurs. Walking from my car to my apartment feels like a marathon. The simple act of tying my shoes, which I mastered so easily in kindergarten, now, taxes me to the point that it is easier to just wear flip flops.
You see, what I had not factored into the Doctor’s “death by obesity statement,” was that it will not be one of these "die peaceably in your sleep deaths." With each passing day, my body tries to warn me and woo me into reformation with its messages of pain.
At first it whispered, "my knees hurt," and then it politely tried to tell me "I can’t breathe when you walk a flight of stairs.” And as the weight increased and the birthdays passed, the obesity associated pain and discomfort increased to the point where my body now has to shout, just to get my numbed attention.
Well you know what? Pain is a powerful motivator for me. And while I still have absolutely no clue on how to succeed at losing weight, I do know how to pray and today, I am asking God to please do for me what I cannot do – change my desires, soften my heart and cultivate in me a healthy appetite and desire to live life at its fullest for Him – Amen.
