Living your BEST Life!
I had a thought today about this very subject, and felt the need to write something to share. During my career in the military I had a blast, I really pushed myself to do better, and be better. I then got married, had a few kids, 4 to be exact. I got out of the Army and then defined myself as a full time wife and mother. You know the roll of mom, the mother does a lot for the family, cooks, cleans, attends to every little whim and problem of each and every family member, supports her husband and what he does for the family, all the while doing her best at being a Stay At Home mom. That was my role. I did the best that I could. As involved in my family as I was I some how lost the person I was, I forgot my own interests and who I was as a person, and focused on my family. I didn't consciously do that, it happened slowly as time passed by, the same way my waist line expanded. It happened slowly without me fully realizing I was gaining weight. I wore stretch pants too often which aided in me not realizing my own weight gain. After a time had passed and I had had my forth child, I remember hating my own body, how I looked, how I felt. I couldn't even tie my shoe with out getting red in the face from not being able to breathe while bending over! I had a hard time even rolling over in bed when I was at my heaviest weight. I had to gasp at night at times from not being able to properly breathe while I was sleeping because of all the weight I was carrying. I just felt horrible, and knew I needed to do something about my weight, but didn't really know where to start, or what to do. One day in 2005 as I'm going along my day getting things done in my house, the same things we all do every day, I got a phone call from my other brother, he had the horrible task of telling me that my brother had been killed in a car accident. It was just devistating! How horrible it must have been to have to call someone and give such horrible news over the phone about someone you love dearly! I became depressed, serverely depressed, and began to turn to food in a way to comfort myself from the loss of my brother! My brother who had two children and one on the way with his wife. He was about to be ordained in our church to an elder that sunday and instead we all went to his funeral. It was just such a tragedy what happened. We went to his funeral service, and hugged good friends and family that had come to pay our respects to christopher's family and all that loved him, and then we all went out separate ways. That was one of the hardest times of my life was losing my brother. The other was when my mom passed away 23 years ago at the tender age of 39. Two very hard times in my life! I turned to food for comfort after that my brother had passed away. Food is something that not everyone will understand, but that was the start of my food addiction. I ate to feel better, and to soothe the pain of my brother's passing. I got into some bad habits of eating that I'm not proud of and that had "helped" me gain a lot of weight all without me realizing it because I was in this depression over the loss of my brother.
Now a couple years later in 2008 I remember going home on vacation with my husband and kids to see my family, february to be exact. I was TOTALLY excited to see them all, it had been such a long time, and it was just time to see everyone again! Then there was this other side of me that was ashamed that I had let myself go to such a degree that I was obese, I didn't want people to see me at all. I was quiet, didn't talk much, and just was embarrassed by the fat overweight woman I had become! It was interesting because it was like black and white. On the one side I had SO much fun, I laughed alot with my sisters and my brother. Then on the other side I despised what I looked like, I felt horrible, and I desparately wanted to do something about my weight, but didn't know where to start. I learned of several of my family members losing weight and had success in eating right, and had lost a significant amout of weight. Neighbors even had success in losing their weight through healthy eating and exercise. Something amazing happened to me. I started to believe in myself! I had this familiar feeling that I had when I was in the Army, the feeling of wanting to BE BETTER! There was a foreign yet familiar feeling awakened in me that I loved! A time had passed with our vacation with our visit to family, and we left to go back to our home. I made the CHOICE to start being better, and to eat healthier, and with that eventually came the start to an exercise regimen that I hated at first but then would grow to love! Over time I lost 41 pounds, and to date I have lost nearly 50 pounds! It's been over 4 years now, and my life has changed significantly since the day I started my health and weight loss journey! It's been an exciting journey! The best thing that has happened and that I've ever wanted since starting was to help others in their own stuggles with weight. I feel so blessed that by my own courage to start on getting healthier myself, others have seen my example and have been inspired as well to get healthier for not only them selves but for their families as well! I feel so blessed, TRULY!! I honestly feel like a better person since I invested in myself! I'm so grateful I had the courage to even start!! Now I'm on a mission to pay it forward to others and help others become healthier individuals! I can truly say I'm LIVING MY BEST LIFE! and things are only getting better from here on out!!
Now a couple years later in 2008 I remember going home on vacation with my husband and kids to see my family, february to be exact. I was TOTALLY excited to see them all, it had been such a long time, and it was just time to see everyone again! Then there was this other side of me that was ashamed that I had let myself go to such a degree that I was obese, I didn't want people to see me at all. I was quiet, didn't talk much, and just was embarrassed by the fat overweight woman I had become! It was interesting because it was like black and white. On the one side I had SO much fun, I laughed alot with my sisters and my brother. Then on the other side I despised what I looked like, I felt horrible, and I desparately wanted to do something about my weight, but didn't know where to start. I learned of several of my family members losing weight and had success in eating right, and had lost a significant amout of weight. Neighbors even had success in losing their weight through healthy eating and exercise. Something amazing happened to me. I started to believe in myself! I had this familiar feeling that I had when I was in the Army, the feeling of wanting to BE BETTER! There was a foreign yet familiar feeling awakened in me that I loved! A time had passed with our vacation with our visit to family, and we left to go back to our home. I made the CHOICE to start being better, and to eat healthier, and with that eventually came the start to an exercise regimen that I hated at first but then would grow to love! Over time I lost 41 pounds, and to date I have lost nearly 50 pounds! It's been over 4 years now, and my life has changed significantly since the day I started my health and weight loss journey! It's been an exciting journey! The best thing that has happened and that I've ever wanted since starting was to help others in their own stuggles with weight. I feel so blessed that by my own courage to start on getting healthier myself, others have seen my example and have been inspired as well to get healthier for not only them selves but for their families as well! I feel so blessed, TRULY!! I honestly feel like a better person since I invested in myself! I'm so grateful I had the courage to even start!! Now I'm on a mission to pay it forward to others and help others become healthier individuals! I can truly say I'm LIVING MY BEST LIFE! and things are only getting better from here on out!!
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