Health and Fitness for the Freelancer: Did My Body Give Up or Is It Just Me?

Health and fitness have rarely been high on my list of priorities. I enjoy walking, but I would never say I love exercise. Usually, I have to remind myself not to use curse words when exercising because I dislike it so much. I enjoy a nice slow hike and a nice slow walk. Occasionally, I like to practice punches just in case I actually need to defend myself, and I like to dance in private the way Phoebe on Friends runs through Central Park. However, as I get older, my common sense has started to take over which is really annoying sometimes.

In my forties, my body doesn’t recover as quickly after an injury as it used to. I also don’t lose weight as fast as I did in my twenties and thirties. My body does gain weight at an alarmingly quick pace though. All of this has been floating around in my brain for the last year or so, and I recently reached a dreaded conclusion. It’s time for me to start taking better care of myself physically. While I have coping mechanisms for mental stress and solid faith support for my spiritual well-being, it occurs to me that I am solely responsible for getting my body into some kind of reasonably healthy condition. No one else can do the work for me.

To be honest, I’ve struggled with my weight my whole life, and when I was younger, I just quit worrying about what others thought about my size. I still don’t care what others think about my size, but I do care about whether my body can keep going in its current condition. I care whether I can be there for my family and friends. I care when my body doesn’t let me do things I really want to do. When I decided to start a writing career, I knew I would be sitting a lot more than in previous jobs, and I even wrote about how important it is to remember to move when you have a sedentary job. Life experience shifts how we think about things, and my life experience is telling me to get up and move and change my eating habits.

For the last three months, I have consistently tracked my weight, meal plans, and exercise. Sometimes my weight is up, and other days it is down. Sometimes my meal plans are in the healthy category, and other days it looks like someone let a child loose in the grocery store. Ironically, my exercise has remained consistent which is probably why my weight has trended slowly downward during these last three months. I’m definitely not where I want to be, but I’m making a pretty good start.

As a rather private person about my health, I’m going to take a chance and share my personal experiences with you about weight loss, healthy eating, exercise, and learning to love myself for maybe the first time in my life. My weight struggles have always influenced my writing so it feels appropriate to share these experiences. If you are also in the process of taking better care of yourself, I hope you’ll find a safe space here. I don’t judge how other people conduct their weight loss journey because it is different for everyone, but I just want you to know that you aren’t traveling the road alone. Whether you’re a writer, a freelancer, a parent, an employee, or a retiree, I hope you’ll find something that speaks to you on your journey. My hope is to post every Monday about my progress, thoughts, knowledge gained, and other experiences. Stop by any time you need a laugh on the struggle to get in shape and love yourself while living your everyday life.

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Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, CSB)