The Beginning

This past summer I discovered that I had begun "Menopause" at the early age of 39. While doing research on how to reduce the symptoms associated with this female rite of passage, I read all the healthy recommendations I've been hearing forever. No caffeine, reduce--if not eliminate processed sugars, eat your fruits & veggies, drink lots of water, exercise....the list goes on and on. Sigh! Why does every path lead back to this? Why is this information so simple and yet so hard to practise consistantly? Truth is, we all know the basics and yet most of us just don't do it. Or we do it...for a little while and go right back to our bad habits. Maybe we know someone who does do all the healthy things but we don't want to be like them. My call to live a healthy lifestyle actually began when I attended my first WCF encounter in 2004 (not sure of actual date). I had lost a lot of weight by practising the Atkin's diet and was existing primarily on coffee, diet pop, meat, vegetables & sugar-free chocolate. That and exercising hours daily as a fitness instructor. It felt good to be sculpted and thin but in my heart, I knew I was risking my health but I didn't care. On that first encounter weekend I was pretty self-satisfied and deciding that I liked my life the way it was, I was open to receive so long as God left my perfect little world alone. Don't touch anything! But, Lord, if I am really wrong and headed for destruction--show me. It was the next day when I got my answer. I sat at a table with some other Christian ladies and unainimously they began confronting me with all the bad things they heard about artificial sweeteners and what they do to your body. This was an unprovoked attack and I listened, but I was mad. I debated for a while and politely left the table when I could do so without appearing upset. I went to my room fuming and regretted going on the weekend. Some Christians are so opinionated and can't just live and let live! Was there any way I could leave without causing a scene? I was furious. How dare they? It was then that I heard that calm voice inside me say, "Melissa, you asked me a question--you just don't like the answer." That deflated my anger instantly. It was true that those women couldn't have known my inner doubts and I hadn't asked their advise...could it be that they had been used by God to reveal the answer to my own question?" But I can't stop what I'm doing and eat healthy, it's too hard," I protested inwardly."I know it is but I will help you," was that familiar voice inside. I prayed and decided I would stop risking my health to be thin. I knew it wouldn't be easy but I figured that if God cared enough about me to confront my behaviour, then it was probably really important. I made some changes right away but had no idea that I was beginning a struggle that would take years to conquer. Many times I looked back on that weekend thinking that I must have made the whole thing up in my mind and read into the circumstances. I tried to return to my old habits that had made me look & feel successful, but after that, it just didn't work anymore. The Holy Spirit would gently remind me that I was making a choice and that there would be consequences. Sometimes I wished that I hadn't had that experience because before that weekend, I just had a suspicion that I could be headed for trouble, but now I was certain. I could no longer enjoy blissful ignorance!