Healing Our Health

I’m just going to jump right in and say, with Covid hitting us in this 2020 year, and everyone having to quarantine for months on end, many of us are now battling our weight even more than ever. Maybe you were battling it before having to quarantine. I know I was; still am.

Covid aside, I have battled my weight for decades. I have lost and gained so much weight I shudder to think how high the numbers are. This brings me to today’s post.

It’s a huge understatement for me to say many have tried several weight-loss programs, have lost the weight, then found themselves bouncing back up to an even more elevated weight. How disheartening and discouraging!

I get you.

I won’t bore you with the details of my yo-yo life with all those programs. Although, I will share that story later. What I do want to share with you is how I finally found what I believe to be the one where getting healthy for me is concerned. For that, you will need to know a little backstory.

In 2005 I had a severe back injury. After taking high doses of pain medication, along with suffering severe depression, anxiety and stress, I began to have issues with my stomach. I was terrified of ending up like my mother, who passed away from stomach cancer in 1995. After many weeks of badgering my doctor, I was finally sent to have some tests run. They diagnosed me with (what the doctor called) a small to moderate hiatal hernia and put me on medication to manage it, but also told me I would always have it.

From 2005 to 2020, I went up and down with my weight. Unfortunately, I never got my weight below 200 pounds, then ballooned back up to over 260. That’s quite a bit of weight for someone who’s not much over five-foot-three-inches tall.

With all that said, the last time I bounced back up was the last straw for me. I had worked so hard with the last program I was on. I had also discovered that my hiatal hernia was causing severe sensitivity to white refined sugar, fruit sugar, aged dairy, and gluten. However, I did lose fifty-five pounds. Then my weight began to bounce back up again. I couldn’t seem to get it under control, so I did what I always do: I quit.

My stomach had started acting up again. I was having severe acid reflux, pain, heartburn, and many other symptoms that had lessened but never gone away. I wondered if I would ever be able to get my weight down again and feel good physically. I knew God had healed me in three areas: mental, emotional, and spiritual. I needed the physical healing. I had a knee injury several years ago and with my elevated weight, I was in constant pain from that which prevented me from exercising as I needed to.

In the eight years since my healing from depression and anxiety, I have learned that miracles happen instantaneously, but healing often takes time. Almost four years ago, I asked God to show me what to do to get healthy. He has shown me many things in those years, taken me on a beautiful although often frustrating journey, and I even believe He led me to the last program I was on so I could discover what was making me have the issues I was having. Therefore, I no longer eat sugar, very little dairy or gluten. I have learned much about nutrition and how important it is to take care of the body we have because we are in fact the temple for the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). But I was still fat, and I was in pain. This concerned me, greatly.

It was at this time I was invited to do what’s called a Nine-Day Shred; having two meal-replacement shakes and one sensible meal a day for nine days. I figured, why not? I had already decreased my eating because of stomach issues and was literally fearful something else was wrong. But a doctor friend of mine suggested two shakes a day and my medication for acid reflux and to watch what I ate. So, a nine-day shred couldn’t hurt, right?

I ordered the supplies, joined the online group, and began with everyone else. My journey, I’m discovering, is just beginning.

Within the first couple of days, I lost almost five pounds! The shakes have been amazing. I did the research and learned they pack so much nutrition into them, which is why they are called a meal replacement. Unlike some protein shakes which claim nutrition, but only give you an elevated amount of protein only, the shakes I’m drinking have so much more in them which help my body at the cellular level, which is very important. We need to heal and repair our bodies from the inside out, which is what’s happening when I drink two shakes a day. Here was the answer I’ve been looking for.

From the cells in my body, to my metabolism, immune system, my blood sugar levels, even my organs (including my stomach), my body began to respond to the program in ways I’ve never experienced with all the other programs I’ve done. And I have done many programs through the years! Not only did I lose pounds, but I began to lose even more in inches.

It’s funny, the losing inches part, because of course, I did not see it. It was quickly dispelled when, at the end of the nine days, I had dropped almost seven pounds, but a whopping ten inches! After reading the victories of others in the group, I was convinced. I was also asked to become an associate with the company, which I jumped on at this time because I just couldn’t let this opportunity go by.

Another reason I jumped in is because I truly believe the Lord led me to this part of my healing journey. I saw it as an opportunity to branch out Walking Healed Ministries. Although God had given me the gift of this ministry in the area of healing emotional, mental and spiritual issues, I truly feel He has now given me the puzzle piece for physical healing. This will not only make my life complete, but many others as well, along with making Walking Healed Ministries a well-rounded and complete ministry. God is so cool like that!

All this aside, I am amazed by the true nutrition within not only the shakes, but the snacks, and the other goodness I am receiving from the things I’m eating and drinking. Yes, I still eat good food. My body is responding in so many positive ways. One way that my body responded is that during the first nine-day shred, I was feeling so good I totally forgot to take my stomach medication! I didn’t even miss it, neither did I have the pain, bloating, heartburn, acid reflux, or lethargy which comes from many of these. In their place was a sense of well-being, energy, happiness and joy because the brain fog from bad food was gone.

Another blessing is that my husband saw my results not only physically, but within my mood and attitude and when the second nine-day shred came, he joined in as well and is having amazing results!

I know this post is long, but I just cannot stop talking about the wonderful things that God is allowing to happen through this life-change in our lives! In this, I’m happy to offer this to everyone who reaches out to us. If you’re ready to make some lifestyle changes and take control of your weight and especially your health, please email us by clicking the link below.* Let us help you get healthy because when it all comes down it, we are better together!

Here’s to Health!

• For more information on the Nine-Day Shred and how you can heal your health, email us at shelley@shelleywilburn.org.