'The Watchers: All Eyes Are On Him'

A few years ago I found myself overweight and unhappy with the way I felt in my own skin. In the past, I would try to “diet” but before long would give up and return to my old eating habits.

This made me feel worse as I would always gain the little bit of weight I had lost and then some. I knew I didn’t feel good about myself but I didn’t realize how being overweight effected my life.

It hurt my relationship with my husband and I found it hard to play outside with my kids or engage in any physical fitness capacity with them. It changed the way I interacted at parties, always trying to not stand out because I didn’t want to be noticed.

Than a little over 2 years ago, Matt (my hubby) and I decided to commit to living a more healthy and fit life, not only for ourselves but as an example for our boys. We began eating right, incorporated exercise and physical activity into our daily routines.

This physical activity came in the form of P90X, one of Beachbody’s exercise programs. We started it together on May 5, 2009. I have to admit I didn’t really know what I was in for. I knew I was out of shape and boy did this program prove it! But I gave it my best, each and every time, every day, right there next to Matt in our living room. It was a pretty good feeling to have at the end of each workout to realize that I made it through and did a little bit better than the time before. After a while, even our boys would get in on the work outs with us. Getting on the floor for pushups, doing an exercise called Super Man, Banana, even ab work. Our living room wasn’t just for hanging out watching tv anymore, it was now our home gym as well.

Because of our results and the complete transformation we went through both physically, emotionally as well as in our relationship, we felt a passion to help others experience the same success in their own lives.

We coupled this idea with the fact that we are devoted to serving New Song Church and created Fitness Ministry as a way to combine both faith and fitness. We have seen some amazing transformations with some of our regular attendees, and it all stems from the fact that we tended to their spiritual and emotional needs before we could really dig in and attack the physical body. With faith, and trust, we sweated together in workouts and gathered after in community as we shared our stories of struggle as well as success. It has been a blessing to be a part of their transformations, and continues to inspire us to stay focused not only on our own health and fitness, but on helping others experience similar success in their lives.

Leslie Dultz

If you would like more information on healthier living, nutrition, or fitness, please follow Leslie's blog at TNTFITFAM where you can link to her other sites.