"If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies" -author unknown...
This has definitly been a year of change...And the culmination of the change happened yesterday at Ellen's Run. Last year, I had finished Ellen's Run (5k walk/run) in over an hour of walking. Last year, I was beginning to contract pneumonia. Last year I was very overweight, very depressed, hating myself and what I had become after years of pregnancy, eating unhealthy, never exercising, raising children, etc. etc. etc. You name an excuse, I had it, I used it, I made it my mantra. And then last year Ellen's Run happened and changed my life...
This is what I have learned this year...(not ALL good mind you)
* exercise is NOT the devil
* my body can do more than I ever dreamed possible
* life is too short for saying 'I can't do that'
* people say the stupidest things when you lose weight
* it takes a long time for your brain to catch up with your body in terms of change (still working on that one)
* shopping in regular stores is tricky when you're used to having to 'hide' body flaws
* I still hate swimming...tolerate it but hate it nonetheless
* if you put your mind to it, you can do pretty much anything
* I now need a cushion on my piano bench because the 'cushion' I always had is no longer there.
So, in this year of change...I am now thinking...what will this next year bring??? How can I possibly outdo what I have done this year?!? :) Exciting even as it's daunting...
This has definitly been a year of change...And the culmination of the change happened yesterday at Ellen's Run. Last year, I had finished Ellen's Run (5k walk/run) in over an hour of walking. Last year, I was beginning to contract pneumonia. Last year I was very overweight, very depressed, hating myself and what I had become after years of pregnancy, eating unhealthy, never exercising, raising children, etc. etc. etc. You name an excuse, I had it, I used it, I made it my mantra. And then last year Ellen's Run happened and changed my life...
This is what I have learned this year...(not ALL good mind you)
* exercise is NOT the devil
* my body can do more than I ever dreamed possible
* life is too short for saying 'I can't do that'
* people say the stupidest things when you lose weight
* it takes a long time for your brain to catch up with your body in terms of change (still working on that one)
* shopping in regular stores is tricky when you're used to having to 'hide' body flaws
* I still hate swimming...tolerate it but hate it nonetheless
* if you put your mind to it, you can do pretty much anything
* I now need a cushion on my piano bench because the 'cushion' I always had is no longer there.
So, in this year of change...I am now thinking...what will this next year bring??? How can I possibly outdo what I have done this year?!? :) Exciting even as it's daunting...
SO SO proud of you and all that you have accomplished!!! you are amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about what stupid comments have been made to you about losing weight (and hoping I didn't say one of them!!).
ReplyDeleteNo Rebecca you absolutely did not say anything bad!!! lol - I have had people who never spoke to me much before say to me, 'Wow! look at you - How much weight did you lose???' as if amazed and appalled and as if it was okay to ask such a personal question...lol
ReplyDeleteI always remember the woman who said to me once (after I'd lost weight) "You're much to pretty to let yourself go like that!" It nearly made me cry to think she considered me to have been "letting myself go" when I had never stressed more about my appearance than when I'd been heavier. People are stupid - do they really think we want to look fat? They really do say the stupidist things.
ReplyDeleteI'm very proud of you. Next year, we'll both finish faster and I'll be thinner (you have no more to lose!)
Well, at this point I am not trying to lose any more...just maintaining and I have to admit that is the most daunting part of losing weight is the idea of gaining it back someday! I do believe that because I am loving the exercise that it won't happen but again, it's always there, looming in the background of my success. :)
ReplyDelete