The Devil is a Liar

I have recently had great success with weight loss. I have never been obese, but this past summer I really "let myself go" and was the heaviest I've ever been post pregnancy. I just kept saying, "This is the heaviest I've ever been." But I wasn't doing anything about it. Sure, I could bike 100 miles in a day, so I was in some sort of shape. But my clothes weren't fitting, I didn't like what I saw in the mirror, and when vacation pictures came back it was staring me in the face. So my mom and sister motivated me to join myfitnesspal.com. And it has worked wonders. Over the last 8 months I've lost over 30 pounds. I am now the thinnest I've been since pre pregnancy--almost to my wedding weight :) And the real kicker is, at my most recent doctor's appointment my cholesterol reading was the best it has ever been in the 13 years I've been getting physicals and having my cholesterol checked. I have a family history of high cholesterol, heart attacks, heart disease and diabetes 2. I have always been told that because of my genetic predisposition of high cholesterol I will need to take medicine to lower my cholesterol. I've already had bouts with lipitor. But in the end, I don't want to take medicine for the next 60 years. I've tried other "natural" remedies with a little success. But nothing like this latest cholesterol reading. It. was. amazing. My husband looked at me and said, "Nichole, do you know what this means? You don't have to take medicine! You can do this without it!"
And I wanted to believe him. But through all this there has been this voice in the back of my mind saying, "You can't keep this up. You're going to fail. And one day soon you'll be fat." This voice isn't new. It interrupts my life a lot with those kind of things--"You're no good." "You're so awkward." "You're so slow...or lazy...or apathetic...or ugly...or you struggle too much with anger...or patience...." And I listen to that voice for awhile before I realize that it's the devil talking. And the devil is a liar. And I don't have to listen!
So as I sat worrying the other day that this recent success would be short lived, that I would not be able to maintain the level of exercise to keep me healthy, that someday I will grow old and tired and slow and fat, and someday I would probably have to take medicines to keep me healthy I suddenly realized that old voice of the devil. And I said, "I don't have to listen to this. The devil is a liar."

So my manifesto is:
I CAN do this.
I CAN stay healthy.
I CAN stay thin.
I CAN make good choices.
I CAN stay active.
And not because of anything in me, but because of the Holy Spirit living in me that gives me the strength I need to do all this. Every day.

I am meditating on 1 Peter 5:6-11
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.