Sunday, April 20, 2014

Very interesting Easter and cleansing my body

I am always so moved by Easter.  As a Christian, it is a day of rejoicing and feeling the Spirit alive inside.  I can't have a bad day if I am remaining focused in God's love for me.  Even after what happened today.

My mom has been with me all weekend and, when she came on Good Friday, I asked her if she would come to church with me today.  I was baptized as a Roman Catholic and practiced that faith for a while as a kid, along with other things.  After a certain age, my parents never took us to church but they always said we could go with friends if we liked.  So I went along with friends to Baptist, Catholic and Lutheran churches, as well as even a stint at a Kingdom Hall with Jehovah Witnesses.  There is also a Jewish history in the family not too far back.  If all of this is as confusing as it seems while I'm typing this, you can understand the long road I traveled to find my own faith in a non-denomination Christian church that believes in the Bible.  Asking my mother to come to church with me was a big deal.  She hasn't been inside the walls of a church since I was child.  When she said she would, I was, of course, extremely delighted.  She was incredibly nervous, convinced she wasn't wearing clothes that were appropriate or that the walls would come crumbling down, so I held her hand as we walked in.  It was actually so sweet ... here was a child holding her mother's hand for comfort.

The service was amazing and my mom was really getting into it.  My friend, who goes to church with me every week, was explaining things to her as we went along.  She even picked up a Bible afterwards and said that she would like to go again with us.  I was so happy by that and really felt God's blessing on all of us.  In the parking lot, my friend and I were parked in the same row with my car in front of hers.  She pulled out and left room for me to pull out in front of her, honking at me to let me know it was safe to proceed.  I made sure it was safe to do so since there are always a lot of people walking behind the cars with such a big church.  I was halfway out when - BAM - I got hit by another car.  I drive a SUV and the other driver was in a truck.  So we all pulled back in and got out of our cars.

The man who hit my car came over apologetically and admitted he was in the wrong.  After we all made sure everyone was okay, we started exchanging information.  The funny thing was that I was at peace with what happened.  Clearly the most important thing is that no one is injured.  Never have I experienced a car accident before where the other driver was so quick to admit fault.  I guess, if you're going to get in an accident, the parking lot of a church with people who have just been through Easter services is the place where you'll find forgiveness and peace (although, of course, I don't recommend getting in an accident!).

After I reported what happened to my insurance company, my mom and I proceeded to go out to our destination.  She wanted to go to an Easter buffet so that no one would have to cook.  I agreed to it originally, even though I wasn't too keen on going to a buffet, because she really wanted to go.  Perhaps there was a secret part of me that wanted to go as well because I knew there would be good food.  They do have a great selection with top of the line choices (think lobster, prime rib, etc.), so I knew there would be a lot of choice there.  I filled up one plate, which wasn't horrid, but I did go up for some dessert after that.  Yes, I know I shouldn't have done that.  I haven't been eating sweets, but somewhere in my head I rationalized that, hey, it's Easter and we were just in a car accident after all.  I mean, I deserve it after all of that, right?

I know ... wrong.  Very wrong.

After we left and got home, I felt sick to my stomach.  I had food that I don't normally eat, like lobster, and way too much dessert.  I had two huge cookies and a creme brullee.  I can eat those things out of my house and not have the desire to keep on eating them once I get home as long as the stuff isn't in my house, but oh my gosh did I feel bad.  I started logging everything into MyFitnessPal after my mom left.  I had to do that to keep myself accountable and really honest.  I am committed to doing that, no matter what.  After I logged in everything for my lunch, I ate 947 calories and 70 grams of carbs.  Shit!  It could have been much worse, but it wasn't great.

I beat myself up for a few minutes after I saw what I did, then I knew what I had to do - work it off.  So I burned over 1,000 calories in exercise.  I was dripping in sweat, but it felt so good to cleanse my body and take such good care of it.  As I stood in the shower afterwards, I knew that things have definitely shifted in my life.  Before, when I would have done something like that, it would have been license for me to continue eating, rationalizing that I had already messed up so I could keep on going.  This time I said, nope, work it off.  That is such a major shift in my life.  This was one meal in the course of a great week with my food. It's not the end of the world and I did take care of myself in the end.

Like I said, very interesting Easter.

Water Challenge Day 86:  Drank 178 of 178 ounces 

2 comments:

Diane Fit to the Finish said...

Our church service was so good too!

I'm so glad your mom came with you and that no one was hurt in the car accident. We live in a small Southern town and the one time my daughter was in an accident everyone was their usual Southern nice!

I've done similar things at restaurants before - it can be really hard to stay in control. Good for you on working off those extra calories!

Kathy said...

Hi Diane. I am so glad I was committed enough to work off those extra calories too. It brings a lot into perspective when you think about how much work has to be done to negate a bad food choice. It makes me think twice about splurging!

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