Day 1: Spiritual Warfare is Real

Day 1: Prep--2-3 lb. meat [no pork, dairy, starch, fruit (except what's listed), condiments], unlimited uncooked green leafy veggies, fat free dressing only

Breakfast: 2 eggs and warm lemon water
Snack: half an orange and 20 oz Slim4Life fiber and energy packets in water
Lunch: romaine salad with celery and cooked marinated turkey leftovers and S4L honey dijon
Snack: half an orange
Dinner: same as lunch
Snack: taco meat with fat free ranch (yum...)
Snack: marinated turkey leftovers
Water: 120 oz

Suffice it to say that day 1 is going well as far as the food and healthy eating, but emotionally I feel like I've been beaten like a pinata. If it could go wrong, it has, in preparation for this week.

Not to pull a complaint session (I hate complainers!), but I just want to highlight that if you are doing something that is going to change your life for the better, Satan (and I believe that Satan is a real entity) will pull everything he can to put a stop to it.

For instance:

• My lia sophia business is booming, and I've got so many bookings on my calendar right now. God has truly blessed me. This weekend, I had 3 different parties cancel or postpone that seemed like right-on hostesses, that were all going to be this week. I have been a little pre-occupied with my schedule and trying to fit everything in, and let these bumps take my mind off of my business. 

• My computer rendered itself unusable last week. Luckily, the day before I had the forethought (what I like to think of as God's whispering) to back up all my files on an external hard drive before I lost them all completely.

•  My car that I've driven for the last 7 years and was always referred to as the one that "didn't look pretty, but will run to 300k miles" was taken in and found to be fatally ill, leaving my hubby and me with 1 car and 5 jobs (I do a lot of part-time work plus his 1) to run to.

• After line judging at district volleyball last evening, my ankle flared up for the first time in weeks, causing me to limp painfully all day today (and all night tonight at my last matches of the season). 

• To top everything off, I am in the middle of a miserable sinus infection which has not reached the point where I am hacking, but just obnoxious enough that I cough when I try to talk, my voice is so strained I can barely be heard, and struggle to breathe clearly through my nose. I'm not bad enough to go to the doctor yet, but it's inevitable. 

I definitely felt the weight of being under attack this morning, although I couldn't pinpoint exactly how or why I felt this. I was frustrated with my husband because I couldn't communicate to him exactly what I was feeling, yet it wasn't his fault. We had a chance to talk about it later today, though, and I told him pretty much what I thought was going on.

I proceeded to spend the rest of the day in a funk, instead of giving these things over to God, letting Satan get the best of me. My attitude is that I can do this on my own, by myself, without anyone's help. I can see how this entire process is going to be bigger than losing a few inches of tub around my middle.

The point of all this is to say that God blesses those who love Him, and He works for their good. For me, losing this extra baggage and living a healthier lifestyle is going to potentially change my life. I will have more energy, presumably live longer, have more self-confidence, and will hopefully find myself more equipped to physically start a family, whether we are mentally and emotionally ready for that. Satan is doing everything in his power to pull the plug right at the start, to make everything that I've set my mind and will to do for naught and cause me to give up before I experience success. It's not my will that he is wearing down, it's my morale. I can physically do the steps needed to succeed at this program and new lifestyle, but if my heart is not in it, what's the point?

That is where I am this evening. I know that God is bigger than any problem I will face, and Satan is under God's control. Now it is time to put all this behind me and start living it out. But for now, I will sleep. Tomorrow will be a better day.