Hey friends!
When I told my husband that I wanted a section of the blog to be dedicated to healthy living, I half expected him to laugh at me. After all, I am no poster child for what healthy living looks like.
I love the taste of a coca-cola drink poured over nugget ice in a mason jar. A dinner of Hawaiian pizza with cheesecake for dessert is perfection. I am often seen with a Starbucks peppermint mocha frappaccino in hand. I do not wake up each morning with an insurmountable urge to exercise. I bite my nails. I sometimes stay up way too late scrolling through social media. None of these things would fall into the category of “healthy living”.
And then there is the worst invention of mankind…the dreaded scale.
This digital square device has no regard for what I have been through. It doesn’t take into account the 7 pregnancies I have had or the 4 children I have birthed. It doesn’t take into account the grief that I have had to deal with head on. The scale doesn’t care about my excuses. It is brutally honest.
There was a time that I let its honesty affect me. I cared about the number it spat out at me each morning. And more than just caring, I allowed it to speak into my life. It said things like “You are too chubby”. “You need to lose weight”. “Your baby is now 6-years-old so you can no longer chalk this up to it being baby weight”. And it makes me sad to think how many years I allowed this voice of negativity to shape me. How many thoughts were wasted because I cared too much about what the scale said.
The Lord has been especially gracious to me over the last several years. He has helped me to see who I unequivocally am.
I am more than a number on a scale.
This revelation has been life-changing for me. When my life is over, my epitaph will not say “Here lies Tiffany. She was ___ lbs”. Because this number is not what matters. I am so much more than that.
I am a devoted wife. I am a homeschooling mother of four. I am hilarious (at least I like to think so!). I am organized. I am a successful entrepreneur. I am a trusted friend. I am an encourager.
I love Jesus and I love people…and that, my friends, is what really matters.
I do want to explain that this newfound freedom doesn’t mean that life is a free-for-all or that I shouldn’t take care of myself. Quite the opposite! When you know who you are, you genuinely want to care for your mind, soul, body, and spirit. As cliche as it sounds, I truly do want to be the best me that I can be.
My sweet friend, Julie Ledbetter, says it perfectly, She reminds me to “embrace my real through honoring my body with movement, nourishing my body with what it needs and mastering my mindset. Stand confidently, live authentically, and love my body unconditionally.”
So, that’s where I am. I am not perfect. I don’t have it all together. But I am striving each day to be the best version of myself. And that is way more important than any number on a scale.
