As I was considering what to write about for this week’s post I could not help but reflect on the impact that my father has had on my weight loss journey. When I first started getting serious about losing weight, my dad helped me kick start the process by taking me to find the perfect gym to join. I’m not sure if he knew just how nervous I was about joining a gym at the time, but without him I don’t think I would’ve had the confidence to take that leap. Whenever I heard the term “gym,” images of jocks and pretty people in spandex shorts came to mind—maybe it was the Bally’s commercials that made me think this way! I just knew that I would not fit in. For years, I had been trying to avoid being noticed as fat; why would I want to stand out even more by hanging around all of the pretty-perfect-body-people?

I can’t remember all of the gyms my father and I visited, but I do remember one not so successful trip to one facility in particular. It encapsulated everything I did NOT want in a gym. It was small with tons of weight machines and the free-weights section was right near the front door. All of these thick-necked men were lifting more weights than they could probably handle while making these ridiculously weird tense facial expressions as they flexed muttering, “. . .one . . . (grunt) . . . two. . . (grunt) . . . three. . .” followed by dramatically dropping their weights with a loud yelp! The cardio equipment was limited too, and I can’t remember seeing any women or group classes for that matter. And I most certainly can’t remember seeing any overweight people. The gym was everything I expected it to be. Not for me!

Thankfully, my father got the hint and made a U-turn away from that genre of facilities. On our next visit, we found a small local gym just about five minutes from where we lived. This place was much larger, but small enough that it seemed like everybody knew everyone’s name (kind of like the “Cheers” of gyms). The receptionists were friendly; the patrons smiled, and, guess what? There were actually people who looked like they were out of shape! What I mean is, there were other not so pretty-perfect-body-people like me. Not only did we agree that this was the place for me, but my dad joined as well.

At that time, my dad proved to me what he has always demonstrated—he’s with me through it all. I don’t know who that person is for you, but to make it through the oftentimes frustrating and scary journey to optimal health you’ll need someone in your corner to remind you that you’re not in this alone. I’ve been blessed to have that person in my father.

I can’t help but also be reminded of the love and security that I have in my heavenly Father, Jesus Christ today–more than anyone He reminds me of His nearness through the small and big demonstrations of His love each and every day. I hope you have or can identify someone to be that support system just like I have—then you too can be “stuntin’ like your daddy!”

Happy Father’s Day!