I know a lot of people are striving for a more "perfect" goal. But for me getting to 170, losing 50 pounds was exactly what I needed. I now weigh almost 40 less than I have weighed in over 15 years. This is a huge success for me. It was as much of a mental success as a physical one.

How does one deal with the daily stress of this thing called life? I don't believe there is a simple answer to this question, as everyone is different and will therefore have different ways of coping with stress. In June of 2001, my husband of 14 years and the father of my three children was taken from us in a very brutal way. So began my downward spiral, of which I would not be aware until much physical and emotional damage was done.

Pre-Grace and Strength I ate a LOT of bread. Then I went 6 months without one bite, and when I did eat some I realized just how awful it made me feel! I still have a piece of pizza on occasion, but recently I tried this cauliflower pizza crust and it is delicious! It really is a great clean-eating option for pizza crust! My kids even liked it!

Prior to lacing up my running shoes and heading out the door I always take a good bit of time to ponder the mighty change the Lord has done not just with my desires to strengthen my body but even more importantly the desire to seek Him in ALL things. I also seem to linger a good while on the mere fact that I never fully grasped the physical, emotional and spiritual weight that I carried all those years while being obese and even morbidly obese until the burden was gone.

For Such A Time As This…..God brought me to the door of Grace and Strength Ministries.  About 8 months prior to the start of this life changing journey, I began praying and asking God to please help me with my weight issues.  I had tried many diets over the years, but none of those loses remained.  I gained the weight back plus some.  And then I saw my friend Monica on facebook.  I began to watch for her next post showing her success.