Love the skin you're in!

Love the skin you're in! Sounds cliche-ish right? Well that's because it is, but with a twist.

Often times we hear people complain about their weight, their hair, their clothes, their looks, and the list goes on. Well today I'm going to focus on weight. Yup, the dreaded conversation. I know, but guess what, hopefully after reading this, you'll gain a totally new perspective on YOUR body weight. Oddly enough, we complain about both types of weight - weight as it applies to our body and wait as it applies to time. When did we become so impatient? Think about it, we rush to the stoplight only to be stopped. We rush to get home from work only to become even busier. The worst yet, is when we rush through our self care. I know it seems I may be going on a tangent, but stay with me, I promise, I'm going somewhere.

So you're probably a few or even excessively more than a few pounds overweight and you're probably fixated on how you look. You may even be a bit down and out about it. Well let me tell you this, I want you to stop right now, take a deep breath and say, "GOD I thank You." Why you may be thinking? Well, first off, we ought to thank GOD in all things, seriously. Now with that being said, you may be saying, but our bodies are the temple of the LORD and we shouldn't allow ourselves to get to the point of a place of bodily discomfort. Well you're right, however, I want you to think of it this way. You've been so tremendously blessed that you've had an abundance of food! Think about it. If you were starving and deprived of food, there's no way you'd be saying you need to lose weight. Instead you'd be wishing and praying for food.

The next thing is this. We ought to be healthy because our body is the temple of the LORD and we shouldn't abuse it or overindulge. However, now that you're at that point of needing to 'fix' it, be easy on yourself. You didn't gain the weight overnight and so you definitely aren't going to lose it all overnight. WAIT, and be patient with yourself. It doesn't matter how long it takes you to scale down to be your ideal weight, all that matters is you consistently take positive steps toward better health.

Now here's what I want you to do, start before you're ready! If you didn't catch that, read it again. Yup, that sounds odd, but it's definitely a powerful tool. Start - before - you're - ready! Sometimes when we continue to wait for the right time, the right time never comes. So beloved, start before you're ready. Here are 7 simple tricks to help guide you along your way.

1. Drink an extra glass of water each day.

2. Swap your drink for a glass of water.

3. For 5 minutes, walk in place, do jumping jacks, squats, pushups or something that's super simple for you to start with. This will increase your blood circulation and eventually you can add more time and reps.

4. Go to bed 30 minutes earlier than normal so you can wake up 30 minutes earlier to spend time with GOD.

5. Step outside when you wake up (use wisdom) and take some deep breaths. Too many of us breath shallow.

6. Drink one less cup of coffee per day and if you have coffee a few days a week, then skip one of those days.

7. If possible, when you buy a cup of coffee, pay it forward. Pay for the person's coffee who's next in line.

Start doing these things and you'll see how you begin feeling better. The bottom line is, beloved, stop being in such a rush to lose weight (translation- being impatient with yourself) and start taking strides towards losing the weight you've gained OVER time.

Start loving the skin you're in! Remember, as simple as this may sound, there are others who wish they had the skin you're in.

Abundant blessings and love.