I am sticking it out, still at the gym, and the pounds are still coming off, albeit a bit slower than at first. I love being able to ride up hills in a higher gear and not being out of breath after a few flights of stairs. My husband pokes my ribs and is happier than the witch was when Hansel stuck his arm out thru the cage in the fairytale. There is less and less of me to cook a stew on! I have always upped my nose at people who went to the gym all the time and had no time for anything else, but I am experiencing that taking the time to exercise actually gives me energy so that I get more accomplished. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and even if it is a 50-year-old construction I am not going to let it turn into a ruin. The exercise and diet change has worked! I have put away some clothes that were saggy and found some old clothes under the bed that I haven't been able to fit into for a while. Physical exercise works! You can actually change things with it! The apostle Paul knows it too. He says to Timothy (who perhaps was a fitness freak?!) that physical exercise is pretty good, but spiritual exercise is even better. It changes you on the inside! Just like you can break old habit patterns and shape new ones in a physical way you can take practical steps to get closer to God. Lately I have been conscious of what has gotten into my mouth. Spiritually, we need to watch what goes into our eyes and our ears. We need to fix our minds on that which is good, wholesome, truthful ..... it will make a difference in our spiritual well being. Paul puts it this way: "We'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we are in. Study how he did it, because he never lost sight of where he was headed: That exhilarating finish with God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over it again and again". That's how the Message Bible puts it. I love it. And I aim to live it.