Starting over

I've been going through a whirlwind of mixed emotions lately with all the changes going on in my family. 
My Birthday, which was last week, was spent on the couch after work, dealing with another colitis flare up.  I have no clue what set it off, other than, maybe the few fried veggies I ate at the fair a few days before.  My Birthday dinner consisted of egg noodles and crackers...Happy Birthday to me! 
I felt inspired to pick up some books that I had been letting go by the wayside and never finished.  "Battlefield of the Mind" & "Women to Women" by Joyce Meyers.  Let me tell you, they really blessed me and encouraged me in such a way that I can't explain.  I could feel sorry for myself and ask "why me"?  If it's one thing I have, I can say I have Faith.  I believe in the power of prayer.  I confess every day that I am healed of Ulcerative Colitis.  The flare ups may pop up every now and then but I will not let it beat me and ruin my life.  It's not what defines me.  I admit, I have been living in Fear and have anxiety when going out in public, always looking for where the bathroom might be, just in case.  I will not live in Fear any longer.  I love my little book that Steph gave me called "The Bible Cure for Irritable Bowel Syndrome" by Don Colbert, M.D.  I keep it in my purse and pull it out when I need some advise.  A lot of the cause of this condition is "Stress".  I have had my fill of stress, believe me.  The advise he gives for Getting a Grip on Stress is to Forgive, Forget and Apologize.  Wipe clean your Slate.  Understanding the types of stress.  Renew with God's Word.  And the most important for your mind, body and soul is to Reinvigorate with Exercise.  I finally started doing this last night and let me tell you, do I ever feel Reinvigorated!  Just starting out riding the bike for 20 min. and walking on the treadmill for 20 min. gave me so much energy.  It made me ask myself, why did I ever quit doing this?  I know that part of my healing is going to be to destress and the key to destressing is exercising.  And of course, I also started watching my portion sizes when I eat.  My menu is very limited anyways, due to so many foods that I have to avoid.  I don't want to over eat though on foods that I can have.  It's a new start again, but I feel good about it.  One step at a time....