My whole life I have been skinny and didn’t understand as I gained weight. In my thirties my weight rose to 130 pounds and I told myself it was good because my body worked better!

My weight continued to rise another 10 pounds each of the next two decades. I wanted to do something, but what could I do? Exercising most days didn’t seem to do much. My real problem comes from weakness due to scoliosis, and the need to eat food for energy to function.

January 2011, God gave me 5 new vertebrae and started to grow nerves cut in 1976 during scoliosis surgery. 

I started to be able to run 5 days every week.

It took food to give me energy to be able to run. I added another 10 pounds, bringing me to my high weight of 160 on my 5’4″ and shrinking frame. Some of it was muscle but my face showed something different.

Over the next few years of running, I grew stronger and gained confidence! Two different years, I notice the shorts I was buying were two inches smaller from the previous year.  The last thing I heard before life took a turn was my daughter say, “You are very skinny!”

The next three years we drove 5,000 mile many times a year to visit family as Mom died and moved Dad out of the house. My real problem came when Bart, my husband of 36 years started to have difficulty walking and keeping his balance. This lead to neck surgery to save his spinal cord. Two years later he is still recovering and getting stronger. The first year after his surgery, he could do nothing! It took everything I had to keep life going, and I had nothing left to keep me strong. Then COVID hit!

So now after a year of stress and the covid fears I find myself struggling to fit into my clothes. I try running. It helps, but I can’t do it regularly yet. My weight goes down for a few days, but I can’t yet keep going and my weight goes back up.  Getting busy with cleaning and yard work is good, but my body isn’t as strong as it was, and it gives out.

Two days ago Bart read something in Readers Digest about intermittent fasting. There were a couple ideas: one was fast two days a week; I have fasted for 24 hours many times, I loose weight, but food gets thrown out. The other idea is to eat everything in six hours.

Hope has arrived. I have tried the eating everything in six hours for two days. I am pleased to find my weight lower than I have seen for months. It is hard to eat all I want in 6 hours. Bart believes he is seeing more energy in me and I have less pain today. I guess it will be a wait and see. I will keep you posted.

God Bless you all with The Peace only Jesus can give. Amen.