This Is The Story Of My Belly Fat…….

My second born will be a year and a half soon. I promised myself I’d get back into ‘shape’ after each pregnancy. The first time around, it wasn’t too difficult to get back into shape…..(At around 40 weeks of pregnancy, I was 20kgs bigger)……I started running 6 weeks after I gave birth, and I also played league netball…….my body started shrinking back, and 9 months after I gave birth I could fit into my skinniest jeans *party party party*💃💃💃.

The second time however *cough cough* (lol) eish! Ok, it took me a while ….(I’d also gained roughly the same amount of kgs)….firstly, it took me forever to get off my butt and start exercising……ok, in my defense, it wasn’t just because I was lazy (let me state that I was actually lazy but that wasn’t the only reason😄) but life with two little ones is just on another level (my kids are 25 months apart), it took me forever to adjust and welcome the hecticness as my new life 😄.
Anyway, my point here was that I started exercising a few months later ……but as well, my body just wasn’t the same as after the first pregnancy 😳🙈…..probably because of age and the fact that this was the second time my body was going through this ….But within just 3 months of playing netball, I could see myself lose the extra kilos…..and when I joined gym, my body started to firm and tone up *party party party* 💃💃💃💃……BUT…it seemed as though my stomach had just not gotten the memo 😄🙈…..everything was coming back together so nicely, but my tummy was just not budging 😳….I actually started looking like I was pregnant again because now I was getting skinnier so my tummy was more out there ….and it doesn’t help that I have one of those big outie belly buttons that just adds to the preggy look 😄.
Anyway, I chatted to one of the fitness staff at gym, and he advised me to start focusing on doing abs as often as I could. He said that even if I dedicated 10-15min a day, it would go a long way. I took his advice, I kept my workout routine and just added the ab sessions. I started aiming for a short ab session at least three times a week. Literally, in about a month, there was a noticeable difference….I was stoked, I couldn’t believe it *party party party* 💃💃💃…those short ab sessions had made such a difference ….my pregnant look was disappearing lol!

At gym today, I had a thought……..what if we were really persistent in working hard on the areas in our character/spiritual life/etc that we struggle with?
We each have things that we know we struggle with/would like to improve about ourselves……(specifically speaking to us Christians: those ungodly traits that rear their heads every so often) ….some of these things have become so ingrained in us that we simply accept them as part of our personality…..and sometimes we fast and pray against them…..sometimes we nurse them…..sometimes we ignore them…..but what if we treated those things like that stubborn post-pregnancy belly fat, and did everything to make sure that they are thoroughly dealt with, and don’t have a chance to breathe?
Let’s say I struggle with forgiving people…..what if I stared unforgiveness in the eye everyday and decided that I was gonna go out of my way everyday to express and practice forgiveness all the time, no matter how uncomfortable or how much I didn’t wanna do it, until it wasn’t an issue anymore and unforgiveness didn’t have a hold on me?
Let’s say I have a problem with giving……what if I stared that attitude in the eye everyday, and decided that I was gonna give so much, whether I felt like it or not, whether it was from a comfortable place or not, until giving became something that I do effortlessly? You get my point?

I think sometimes we can get so comfortable with sin, maybe either because we know that God accepts us just as we are, or we’ve believed the lie that that’s just who we are. Either way, brothers and sisters, let’s not allow mediocrity to pin us down when we know we’ve been called to “greaterness” (I’ve officially made this a word :)). If it can take a few weeks to get a handle on belly fat, simply because of dedication and discipline, then how much more will our dedication and discipline achieve in spiritual matters when coupled with the Holy Spirit?

No Pain, No Gain!

No Pain No Gain

That’s a term we’ve all probably heard……..but I’ve heard it much lately in the fitness circles. I remember after I joined gym, one of the fitness guys was showing me around and showing me how the equipment works. And when he was showing me one of the machines, I remember he said something like “When it starts burning, that’s when you know it’s working”. And so, since then that’s how I’ve motivated myself when I’m working out, that if it’s burning, that means it’s working.

The natural inclination is to want to stop when it feels like it’s getting too intense, but in actual fact that’s when you need to be pushing harder because something great is happening in your body…….your muscles are becoming stronger and your body is getting to a new level of fitness and endurance.

What happens if you stop? Well, you don’t necessarily lose anything that you’ve already gained, but if you stop at the same point every time, or stay at the same level or continue doing exactly the same thing…..you will most likely just remain at the same point……so generally, with fitness, after a while you need to push yourself to a more difficult level …..whether it’s adding more weights, adding more time, increasing the difficulty setting, you get the point…..otherwise your body gets used to that level of exercise, and the exercise isn’t that effective anymore.

“When it starts burning, that’s when you know it’s working”. A very similar principle applies to our spiritual growth. As a Christian, it’s great and all to fall in love with and be taken by all the niceties and benefits and promises of living this life, but the reality is that a bulk of the Christian life involves being reshaped and sharpened and chiseled and moulded into a different person….which is always uncomfortable and often painful. This moulding almost always happens through life’s challenges, and what I’ve found is that oftentimes when we face challenges, our usual response is to pray to God to take them away, to stop the burn, not realising that something great is happening in your journey…….your character is becoming stronger and you are getting to a new level of faith and endurance.

We need to change our perspective on challenges because challenges are a godly thing! We need to be challenged in order for us to move to the next level, growth often comes when we are pushed beyond our current levels of comfort. So, in actual fact, we have to welcome challenges because they bring growth.

Scripture, more than once, admonishes us to look forward to trials. I’ve always thought that James 1:2-4 was a crazy scripture, but I’ve only recently got to understand it. “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. (Say what??) For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

It’s usually hard to think this way when we’re going through them but trials do work for our good. I’ve tried to change my perspective, and my prayers regarding challenges. When I used to pray mostly for God to take me out of that challenging situation, I now pray mostly for God to give me the strength to go through that situation, and for my character to be strengthened from it. It’s not as easy as it sounds but it actually makes life that much easier, because I’m not as fazed by challenges anymore. And also the knowledge that trials and challenges don’t necessarily say anything about the status of my relationship with God is freeing (although the outcome/response can be an indicator of where we are with Him or how much we know and trust His love)

Ok, lemme stop here…..my point is that Christanity burns 😄.