Infertility- The Silent Struggle We Face and 3 Ways to Love the Body You Struggle to Like

Infertility sucks. I got rid of the fibroids when I had my hysterectomy, I still have the endometriosis on my rectal wall, the silent struggle we face with an illness no one talks about or knows where it comes from. 

It's really hard sometimes to love our bodies when they've let us down. God isn't punishing you ok, let's clear that up right now. Hurt happens, we live in a sinful world. But when we give God our hurt, He makes ALL things new, He brings beauty from our mess and our hurt. Yes, women were created with the beautiful ability to bear children, but that wasn't the purpose God created us for. Our sole purpose in life is to love others to Jesus. Forgive yourself, forgive your body, move her and celebrate all she DOES do for you. 

I never had children of my own, but my husband and I just adopted the most beautiful and precious baby girl that I may not have had if I'd had my own and I would never want to think of my life without her, I can't remember my life before her. You are not a mistake. You are a chosen, loved and beautiful child of the Most High God, never forget that. 

Are you sick of trying diet after diet and NOT losing weight?

Hey there friend, I'm Lindy Schlabach, Christian Fitness & Nutrition Coach. I gained 100 pounds in my late twenties and struggled for years to get it off. Seven years ago, I found a basic system that worked and has helped me lose 90 of those pounds. I’ve been working with women in online fitness and nutrition ever since to break chains of diet culture, embrace their bodies and fueling instead of dieting.

In this podcast, I'll teach you how to:

• • Lose Weight in a Way that honors God without obsessing about the scale
  • Meal Plan and Prep for Your Family
  • Follow a MACRO based plan that allows you to eat the foods you love.
  • Recognize and pray through triggers keeping you stuck.
  • I’ll help you Plan your week and schedule your self-care time.
  • Cultivate a spirit of self-discipline in your workouts you actually enjoy.
  
  It's time to give God your health journey and watch Him make you new, from the inside, OUT.

Join The Biblical Weight Loss Framework: https://www.herweightlossmindset.com/framework

Join my FREE Community: https://bit.ly/JoinTheChristianWeightLossCommunity

Join my Insiders List with weekly tips for weight loss for Christian women: http://herweightlossmindset.com/herweightlossmindsetinsiders

Transcript

Fertility sucks.

I know the struggle of fibroids and endometriosis, and I remember the day that my OB told me that I needed to have a hysterectomy.

Not being able to carry a baby can create some pretty horrible inner monologues and the lie straight from the pit of hell.

Here are three ways to love the body that you struggle to like.

Are you sick of trying diet after diet and not losing weight?

Are you tired of doubting your ability to actually lose weight in a healthy way?

Do you wish you could find a laid out for you plan that will help you stay accountable to your goals?

Hey friends, I'm Lindy Schlabach, Christian Fitness & Nutrition Coach.

I gained 100 pounds in my late 20s and struggled for years to get it off.

So, grab your pre-workout and let's chat.

Being overweight is hard.

Knowing what to do is overwhelming and knowing who to trust is a constant struggle.

I created the 5-Step Biblical Weight Loss Framework that will help you heal unhealthy mindsets, set goals with God, help with meal planning, macros, fitness plan for you, and much more.

We work through video training, homework prompts, accountability, and group coaching in the student community.

I promise you will stay encouraged on your journey.

I want to invite you to the Biblical Weight Loss Framework and take a Holy Spirit-led approach to weight loss God's way.

This 5-Step Proven Formula will give you a step-by-step approach to healing your mind so you can heal your body and walk in your God-given purpose.

Remember the day my OB told me I needed a hysterectomy?

I had spent 18 months in medical menopause with a lupron shot in my arm every 28 days.

Many, many laparoscopic procedures.

I hemorrhaged for about a year and a half and struggling to find the joy and peace in my life.

I had come back to Christ about 18 months before I started bleeding and I really felt like I was living life right and I was all of a sudden angry and frustrated.

I was single and doubting that I would ever meet anyone.

I live in a very small town.

We have about one stoplight with a dollar general and hubby and I get our pizza at the gas station.

It's very delicious pizza, but it is a gas station, just the same.

So what's my point?

The dating pool was basically like a dry, sad puddle and I was hopeless, but God, I was resentful of my body and jealous of those around me who were living the life that I'd always hoped for and prayed for.

I found myself in a party full of shame and fear.

One day I was at my mom's sitting on the couch.

We were watching my niece and nephew.

I will never forget it.

I was chatting with my pastor and told him about my pity party.

He blankly said over the phone, Lindy, self-pity is sin.

It slapped me across the face and it convicted me in...

At the time, I didn't feel the best way, but...

Soon after that, I realized that it was just what I needed to hear.

But I decided that I would give God my best.

I would choose joy even when I didn't feel like it.

We read about Job.

We read about Esther.

We read about Naomi.

We read about all of these people in the Bible that have struggled, and God provided a way.

So, February of 2020, I had the hysterectomy, and in that same month, my now husband, whom I prayed would move in next door, literally moved in next door.

And here we are today with a beautiful daughter that God had just for us.

But it's really hard to love your body when you feel she's not giving you what you want or what you need.

I mean, we feel innately that creating life is what a woman was designed for, right?

But God actually created us to share the gospel and to love people to Christ, not to reproduce.

Of course, biblically, we know that we want to have babies, right?

But God created us to share the gospel, to talk to people and love them where we live, work, and play, and be an example of who Christ is.

So here are three things I would like to encourage you to do today to love the body that you live in that maybe you're struggling to like.

I want to encourage you that it's okay to be frustrated, but it's not okay to live in shame.

And whether you've experienced infertility or maybe just frustrated with your body or hormones, these apply to any woman who is struggling to love herself.

I hope these will bless you.

So the first thing I want you to do is focus on gratitude.

Right now, think about three things that your body has done for you already today.

Did she get you out of bed?

Were you able to brush your teeth with your hands?

Or walk to the kitchen?

Pour a cup of coffee?

Were you able to see your beautiful children?

When we focus on what our body does do for us, we can love her a little bit better.

It's not always easy, but it's worth it.

When we can look at our belly, I can look at the stretch marks on my belly and see a life of pain.

I look at the stretch marks on a belly of a mom who's given birth and I think, wow, those are beautiful marks of life.

For me, it's pain and sadness and suffering, but I don't have to live there.

The second step is forgive yourself.

Listen, you have to forgive yourself.

You might not even know that you have to forgive yourself, but if you have struggled with infertility and cannot carry a child, you have to forgive yourself for that.

You've probably talked so much smack about your body since she's not doing what it is that you want her to do, and you've built a wall between your body and your brain.

You must forgive her.

When we forgive ourselves for our infertility struggles, God can heal us from the inside out.

And this will actually change your body.

Your brain, forgiveness in your brain, will actually heal in your body.

Your brain and your body are basically two separate entities.

We don't think about that, but they are.

My tip, move her.

This was a habit I'd built about 12 months before my infertility journey began.

And on the days where I felt so depleted and worthless, I could move.

I could go for a walk.

I could do a workout.

I was limited with my bleeding.

I couldn't lift weights, but I could do the bar program I'm doing now.

I could in the best shape of my life, never lifting more than a two pound weight.

I could do a little bit of yoga.

I could definitely go outside, and I could have a little fun with dance cardio, even if I felt like a fool doing it.

Listen, my friend, I see you and I feel you.

My hysterectomy removed the fibroids in my uterus, but I still have endometriosis on my rectal wall, and I feel it monthly.

But I still move.

I still focus on gratitude and what I can do.

Maybe you'll heal your body and give birth.

Maybe you won't.

Maybe you'll need a hysterectomy.

Maybe you'll adopt like we have.

Either way, know that God didn't do this to you.

He loves you.

But when Eve ate off that stupid tree, sin entered in, and so did sickness and death.

But when we can heal and give God our struggle, He will bring beauty from our ashes.

When we glorify Him in our life, regardless of our circumstances, He gives us more than we could ever ask for or imagine.

We read that in Ephesians.

That is the promise of His Word.

Stay the course.

Speak life and love and forgiveness over your body, and watch how she starts to respond lovingly to you.

Exercise her not to punish her, but because you love her.

If you're a hyster sister and you need help with some healing in your weight loss journey, join the Biblical Weight Loss Framework.

We're going to take a Holy Spirit led approach to your weight loss journey, and watch how God shows up for you in a mighty way.

This is an intense opportunity to move through that forgiveness aspect that we just talked about.

You are loved.

You are seen.

You are not the mistake.

You are not being punished for your past.

I lived that lie for years.

Trust me, you are not being punished for your past.

God loves you.

He sees you.

He knows exactly where you are.

He knows the pain.

He knows the hurt.

Maybe you have struggled with miscarriage after miscarriage after miscarriage.

You are seen and you are loved.

God will answer your prayer.

When the time is right, it's probably not going to look like what you want it to look like.

A year and a half ago, Daryl and I started on our surrogacy journey.

We prayed the whole way.

We felt God wasn't leading us there.

We started working with an adoption agency.

We felt God was calling us not to go into debt to have a baby.

We surrendered our baby journey July 9th of last summer, 2024.

We laid it down.

We're like, God, we're not doing this.

We're not going into debt to buy a baby.

Six months later, we brought home our daughter.

Five months later, we brought home our daughter.

Less than five months, like exactly, almost like five months in a week.

It wasn't our timing.

It wasn't our plan.

But not only did he provide us with a baby, we had the finances to pay cash to our lawyer and for our home study.

He will provide us the process.

You have to surrender this part of your life.

He will give you exactly what you need when you need it.

And then it's our opportunity and blessing to honor him with how he leads us and how he provides for us.

He will bring beauty from your ashes.

Stay in faith, stay in prayer, stay in forgiveness, and watch him work in your life.

Hey, sis.

I hope you enjoyed today's episode.

If so, would you take 30 seconds and share it with a friend?

Also, please leave a quick review for the show on Apple Podcast.

It lights me up to know this podcast is helping you.

Okay, it's time to go make a protein shake and get my sweat on.

No more standing in the kitchen waiting for motivation to appear.

I will meet you back here for another episode.

God bless.