If you ask my husband what is one word to describe me the best, I’m pretty sure that word wouldn’t be patient. Not that he would ever mean that in a mean way, but my patience runs very, very low. I’ve always been a person who wanted fast results. I hate waiting for things to arrive, and I hate when things take so long. If I am given an option to go home with something right away, I want to do that! If I can make something come in an overnight shipping or two-day shipping, then I’m going to pick that! But when I know I have to wait longer, I get very impatient. Not just with those things, which I know seem very trivial, but also when it comes to my kids helping me in the kitchen. I wish I could be that kind of social media mom that loves baking and cooking with her kids, and posts pictures of them laughing and smiling, having a grand time. But I’m not. I’m really not. Obviously I’ll do it because I love them, and they get so excited to do it with me, but if I could pick to not have them help, I would.

However, there is one big thing that I struggle with, when it comes to having patience, my weight loss journey.

The Struggle with Patience

I’ve never always been the weight that I’m at now. I used to be very skinny, because I played a lot of sports as a kid. The weight gain has been in the course of 12 years, from trauma, and emotional eating. I understand that it’s really not an excuse, but that’s how my story started. Trying to lose weight has always been something I’ve wanted to do, but I’ve never wanted to work hard for it. I always wanted to do the fastest way possible. It took a long time for me to realize that I can’t do it that way. I’ve tried diets where people claim to have fast results, and I’ve even tried taking some green coffee bean pills that were supposed to work fast as well.

One thing that I’ve learned is being impatient will not get you what you want sooner. When it comes to my weight loss, I know that trying to get it done quicker is going to actually cause more damage to myself than good. I could get hurt, or even not allow myself the healthy amount of calories because I’m so impatient with losing the weight, that I do things that can actually hurt me. All for the fastest results.

One thing that really makes being patient hard is when I know I’m feeling so much better than I did when I was eating whatever I wanted. But then when I look in the mirror, I can’t see the change. I feel like I am stuck and have lost nothing. Do my clothes fit better? Yep. Do I feel like I have way more energy? Yep. Am I seeing the scale drop? Yep. I can see all these things, and know these things, but it doesn’t seem to get any easier, and my impatience keeps running wild!

Gaining Control of Our Patience

Being patient is truly one of the most difficult things to deal with, and I feel that struggle more when it comes to my weight loss journey. I know I need to have control when it comes to being patient. I know that big weight changes will not happen overnight, and that’s okay. What I cannot allow myself to do is get discouraged and depressed because the numbers aren’t changing as fast as I want them to. I see the non-scale victories, but the numbers are still high. So how do we gain control of our patience?

I honestly wish I knew the answer to that. But one thing I know is that the Lord is in control of my life, and He knows my deepest desires. I need to be patient and rely on Him, because He is the one who is guiding my way.

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Exodus 14:14 NIV

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

Romans 8:25-26 NIV

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12 NIV

There are many other verses that show how important it is to be patient and wait on the Lord, and to rely on Him and His plans for us. It’s not a simple thing to do, because I’m still working on it! But I know that if I continue to trust in Him, and to be patient in Him, then I know the Lord will do what He knows is best for me!

My friends, I don’t think having control of our patience is ever going to be something that we will be perfect at. I think we’re always going to have these moments of wanting things done when we want them. But I believe that if we wait on the Lord, and we are faithful in the things that we have to do, then our reward will be great!

This week, instead of getting impatient with myself, or mad, or discouraged, I’m going to work on my patience. I’m going to work on telling myself that slow and steady wins the race, and to be encouraged by all the non-scale victories! If you struggle with patience as well, maybe not in the same way I do, then that will be my prayer for you this week!

Until next time, friends!