Alisa Keeton - The Wellness Revelation: Lose What Weighs You Down So You Can Love God, Yourself, and Others

A s a fitness instructor for more than two decades, Ive seen the same two clients over and over again. Initially, it was difficult to tell them apart.

The first one enthusiastically embraced all the cardio sweating, the muscle training, and the recommended do and do not food lists. Her face lit up as she described the half marathon she was training for. But then something changed: That enthusiasm turned into obsession, and she became less delighted and more driven as she sought to push her BMI just a little lower and the number of dumbbell curls just a little higher. She no longer exuded joy but instead an anxious intensity. At some point, I longed to tell this client, I cant offer you any other ideas on how to obtain the perfect body if you keep moving the target on me.

The second client also dove right into the workouts, and she sounded pleased when she told me about the weekend she spent purging her pantry of all products with refined flour and added sweeteners. She, too, was delighted to see her body responding to her efforts. But then something happened. Maybe her toddler came down with a nasty bug, or her work schedule changed. She began missing her early morning workouts and canceled her meetings with our nutritionist. Then one day I realized I hadnt seen her in a couple of weeks, so I called and left a message telling her that I missed seeing her. I was so happy when I spotted her at the grocery store but I stopped myself from saying hello after she turned red when she saw me and ducked down the bread aisle. The smell of shame filled the air. I wanted to tell her, I still see and value you. You were never just a body to me.

The names and personal details of these two clients may change, but their stories arent all that different. Both realize they can improve their lives by taking better care of themselves. The problem comes when they look solely to their bodies to give them the sustaining confidence or comfort they crave. Can you relate?

If so, welcome to The Wellness Revelation. It is awesome that you desire to improve your quality of life through better health and well-being. This book is designed to put you on that path, while helping you avoid the dead end that comes from missing this truth: Your Creator loves and values you as you are. As you seek to improve your physical fitness, He wants to free you from whatever is weighing you down. Im not necessarily talking about pounds. I am talking about the weight that keeps you turning toward food (and neglecting your body) or turning away from food (and obsessing over your body). I am talking about the weight that comes from trying to keep life under your control. Are you stressed out and burned out? Then you have picked up this book at the right time.

Maybe you have struggled with your weight your entire life, riding a constant roller coaster of numbers that go up and down along with pant sizes. Or maybe you have recently begun to find yourself more stressed out and pressed upon by the world and all its demands. Perhaps you just dont feel as well in your body as you do in your spirit. The Wellness Revelation is going to change the way you perceive yourself and lay out strategies to improve your health. This time the change will occur from the inside out.

True confession: You could say I am a fitness dinosaur. Ive been around since the prehistoric age of spandex leotards and Reebok high-tops. I went from participating in an early aerobics class in the mid-1980s to becoming a group fitness instructor in 1993. In 1996 I graduated from Arizona State University and went full-time into the fitness industry. I was in. All the way.

By 1998 I was the model of fitness with an award-winning physique. I had a successful personal training career and was newly married to a man who was going to take on the world. The money was rolling in, and on the outside, the package looked close to perfect. But on the inside, I was a sad, afraid, and miserable woman desperate to be loved. I felt empty inside as I watched my marriage not even a year old nearly crumble under all the expectations Id placed on it. Ironically, that void rested like a heavy weight inside me.