I'm back in the land of reality, rested and relaxed from my cruise. Hubs and I went on a 5 nighter from Fort Lauderdale to Key West and Cozumel. We were supposed to go from Cozumel to the Bahamas, but Hurricane Earl made it too dangerous to go, so we spent the last 2 days at (rough) sea. Despite this hiccup, we had so much fun. I haven't been truly disconnected from my Blackberry, email, etc for years, and it was great. Hubs thought I'd have a nervous tick after 1 day without access to technology, but I proved him wrong 🙂
Before the trip, I know I talked about how I was going to try to be active and do things out of the box from what Fat Emmie would have done. Fat Emmie wouldn't have even gone on the cruise. She would have stayed at home and not even entertained the idea of going on a boat with small bathrooms, unfamiliar situations, lots of walking, and being in a bathing suit.
The first stop was Key West, which was beautiful, but wicked hot! We walked around part of the island and did what I had been looking forward to the entire trip: something completely adventure-seeking and out of my old comfort zone:
We went jet skiing! We were out for about an hour and a half with a group of about 6 other people. We sped around the entire island- starting on the Gulf side, then crossing under the bridge that is the only entry to Key West, then into the Atlantic, past the southernmost point in the US, then back where the Atlantic and Gulf meet, around our cruise ship and back to the dock. It was AMAZING. The feeling of whizzing through the ocean at 40+ mph in the sun and sea felt incredible. We saw dolphins and in the Atlantic had to jump a lot of waves! I couldn't believe that me of all people was attempting this, and enjoying it so much.
Have you ever had a moment of sheer happiness and peace? I've had them probably 2 times, and this was #3. Where you just ARE in the moment without any cares in the world, worries about what is to come, all personal hangups forgotten. Bliss.
This would not have happened 12 weeks ago, when I was losing weight but not working on my fitness. I wouldn't have believed that my body could handle this activity, and in all actuality, it probably couldn't have. I would have been over the weight limit of the jet skis 12 weeks ago. I wouldn't have been able to fit in the life jacket for sure- it was still quite tight, but at least it buckled! I wouldn't have been in a bathing suit around others without shame.
I know you guys might think I'm some raving psychotically happy person just back from vacation bliss. I don't care. I want to tell you something important:
Are you waiting to take action to improve your life? If you're working on improving your health, relationships, whatever, that's awesome. But I know that there are people reading this that still haven't made a leap. You're wondering if you're strong enough mentally to undergo a change that will be extremely challenging and difficult. You can think of 100 ways that it will go wrong, which leads to inaction. You stick with your status quo. I have been there more times than I can count. Believe me, this whole long process I'm undergoing can be hard. Not fun. Frustrating.
But you know what? The payoff is SO. DAMN. WORTH. IT. This jet ski experience might not sound like much, but for this Emmie in this body doing this stuff and having so much fun is PROOF. Proof that I'm doing it. Proof that it works. Proof that a little pain and frustration is a very small price to pay for being able to start living. You don't have to wait until you're at your ultimate goal to enjoy the changes. I'm still VERY FAR away from any kind of weight goal, but as far as fitness and being active and able to do functional, everyday activities? I'm doing it. And doing it well. One of the other jet skiing ladies asked if I did this often, because I looked so natural. I've never jet skied, and have only been on a speed boat once. Definitley not natural, but my body was able to adapt to it. The next day, a couple who jet skied asked us how sore we were from it. Sore? What were they talking about? I didn't have any soreness or pain? Oh yeah, that's because I'M FIT, BITCHES! (Not that they're bitches, they were awesome. But you know what I mean.)
In the end, only you can decide to make a change for the better. I just want to tell you how amazing it can feel. I can only hope that those of you who are struggling right now to take the lead and make changes in your life to improve it can experience this kind of joy I did on this jet ski. I don't have all the answers or any secrets to share. I make mistakes and hit bumps in the road. But when you can have a moment to soar and truly appreciate success, the freedom is indescribable.
I'll share more in coming days about the rest of the trip. I was excited to share this with you, because you give me the support I need to push myself on the hard days.
