Watch your weight...

I know this can be a touchy subject because so many people are working (or is it "wishing") so hard to reduce their weight and keep it off. There may be some people, like me, who have also been more like wishing hard to add weight...just a little. Recently, I surprised a medicare professional when I said "At last!" after I stepped on the scale and saw I had added about 6 kgs in the past 6 years. Indeed, I'd been working on it not just wishing. Of course, now I need to watch it.* The bottom line is, it's a challenge for people for different reasons.

Well besides our diet and low/no exercise level, there are many other reasons why people gain weight. In fact I was not surprised to discover that these 2 reasons which can be the root cause (symptom) and result of each other - almost like a cycle: 

1. Lack of sleep**
2. Lots of stress**

There are some of us that don't sleep enough at all or at times - including me. I know that personally there are times when despite my best intentions, because I let all I need to do get to me and stress me, I don't sleep long or well enough to be refreshed enough to properly deal with the work-load (& stress) facing me. Then when I don't perform as well as I expect myself to, I worry about it, get stressed and don't sleep well and the cycle continues. Guess what, as this cycle continues, one's body only gets better at retaining fat and some people add on to that by eating to hopefully ease the stress and both cause weight increase.

This whole thing is so aptly put in Prov 12:25 says:

Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. (NLT)

So let me help you "up" here. Watch your weight - as you monitor your BMI,* remember to:

 

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (1 Pet 5:7 - NLT)

Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail). (Ps 55:22 - Amplified)

When you do, your physical weight will improve as you're less stressed and sleep more.

Sources:

*http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/english_bmi_calculator/bmi_calculator.html

**http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/5-surprising-reasons-you-are-gaining-weight