Before leaving on vacation, I dutifully packed 35 Medifast "meals", fully intending to continue the plan by eating 5 Medifast products and the 1 Lean/Green meal each day. As soon as we got to California, though, I quickly realized that I could not easily follow that plan AND be receptive to the hospitality that was being offered and avail myself of the wonderful opportunities to try new cuisine and broaden my horizons.
Had I stayed on plan, I would have missed the opportunity to eat the best Chinese food I've ever tasted at the Yum Yum Restaurant in Calexico, Victor's juevos rancheros, the best orange juice EVER!, barbacoa (similar to pulled pork with hot chili spice), refried beans, tripe soup (yes, I even enjoyed the opportunity to eat soup made with the lining of a cow's belly!), and authentic tamales.
It was wonderful to eat freely without guilt or hesitation. I find that my relationship with food continues to change. Even while trying new food, I found myself choosing NOT to eat chocolate cake, fast food, hotdogs at the zoo, etc. I felt completely free of any compulsion to eat, and completely free to eat that which seemed a good thing.
Now, that I'm home, I'm 100% back on track. (If you read my last post, having my pants fall off my hips was a MAJOR rush... one which I am excited to continue... umm... that is to say, I'm excited to continue losing weight so that my pants continue becoming looser. Don't worry, East Tennesse, I'm retiring those gray jeans. It's the experience of getting smaller and healthier that I crave, not the opportunities to flash poor hapless men. Although...)
Not only was it a rush to lose my pants (three times! but who's counting!) but also to be able to do things with more ease and confidence. Several times during travel, especially in Mexico outside of the reach of the Americans with Disability Act accomodations, I was SO grateful for the strengthening exercises I had been doing. None of the bathrooms in Mexico had grab bars and that would have been HIGHLY problematic just a few short months ago. Instead, I managed.
Because of losing weight and exercising, I felt stronger, more adventurous, healthier, more vivacious, and more attractive. Flirtatious, even.
When I turned 40 back in 2001, God "told" me to hold my arms up to the sky and prepare to be amazed at what was going to happen during this decade of my life. It has been and continues to be an amazing journey of healing in every possible way that a person can be healed, especially emotionally, spiritually, and now physically. Once I stopped defining for God what healing entailed (strong "normal" legs), I have been enfolded in healing grace and would honestly choose God's way of healing (healthy in a wheelchair), as weird as that might sound, to having a standard-issue body. God, you dazzle me.
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His ways are so beyond our ways! He gives us what we need and the good things we ask for but often if not always via a very different route than we would have chosen but the end result is so much better than we could ever have imagined! So amazing and dazzling! :)
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