Praying for fitness

Friday, Sep. 04, 2015

Getting healthy is hard work.

I acknowledge this reluctantly, because I never questioned my well-being until a couple of years ago, when my physical and spiritual flab started hanging out for all to see. It was something of a shock; I thought I was fit because I exercised on a fairly regular basis, and being a Sunday Catholic seemed to satisfy my faith requirements. But then one day the mirror reflected this person who was fair, fat and past 40. Meanwhile, my daily dose of Pope Francis led me to realize that that rather than walking in fear of the Lord, I feared to walk with him. 

So I started a diet/exercise program, and also began studying about this Catholic faith into which I was born but never really gave much thought. Focusing on both at the same time, it’s clear that gaining a positive relationship with God has much in common with losing weight. 

First, each requires ongoing dedication. Every morning when I wake up I have to say ‘yes’ to God and a healthy lifestyle. This commitment comes under attack as soon as the alarm clock goes off: Do I look forward to a day of God working through me, or try to do things my way? Do I roll over for another hour of sleep, or get up to exercise?

These temptations continue throughout the day: Do I complain to my coworkers or say a prayer for those who have raised my hackles? Is lunch a salad or a burger and fries? Before bed, do I pray to God or watch television? 

I grudgingly admit that willpower alone won’t get me through. Because restaurant menus offer too many enticing items like lasagna, I don’t eat out much anymore. To keep from having “just a bite” between meals, my kitchen cabinets don’t contain snacks. 

On the faith side of things, I have a daily reflection, while my reading list includes titles like “Jesus Rediscovered” and “The Spirituality of Imperfection.” I also look for ways to act in charity and love.

Good friends are important, too; they’re always ready to provide an encouraging word, a shoulder to cry on or a kick in the pants, depending on my needs on any particular day. 

My biggest struggle is accepting that this is a never-ending process: If I want to be healthy I will have to choose the spiritual and physical good, constantly and consciously, in every situation, from now until I die. Even if I reach my “perfect” weight I will have to continue to diet and exercise to stay there. It’s the same with my spiritual life: Every time I relax because I feel as though I’ve got God, I find that what I’ve really done is once again regulated him to the tabernacle, and I have to start all over again to bring him back into my life. 

I wish I could say that now that I’ve made up my mind to do it, I do in fact maintain a healthy lifestyle, but inevitably I backslide. I’ll have dessert at every meal for a week, or go days without acknowledging God except perhaps the hurried reading of the daily reflection. Too often I am grumpy, petty, selfish or even downright sinful, despite my best intentions. 

What’s encouraging, though, is that these occasions have become much less frequent over the past two years. I’m still soft in the middle, and I’m far from being a saint, but I can run a 5K, and I feel as though I’ve at least set foot on the stairway to heaven.