Busted!

One of my worst fears from early on in my weight loss journey happened to me today. After losing 112 pounds, I popped a stability ball!

Picture this: I drag my groggy self into the gym around 5:45am. I go straight into my weight circuits, and things are fine. I'm in a groove, the machines I need are all available, and I'm bobbing along with the bass pumping through my earbuds. One minute I'm doing my medicine ball twists on the stability ball, and the next minute, I'm on the ground.

What's so ironic is that I haven't worried about this possibly happening in a long time – probably 50 pounds ago. The balls at the gym have a 550 pound weight rating, so once I got out of the 400s, I stopped worrying about the potential for poppage. In the seconds after I hit the ground, my mind was really confused. It was kind of funny. Yet kind of a shock- Was I still big enough to pop the ball? I wasn't mortified, just mildly discombobulated. Do I laugh? Do I cry? I think I managed an audible grunt-chuckle-scoff. Within a few seconds, the sole witness, a trainer who is always there in the mornings (and gives me regular kudos which are greatly appreciated), came over and grabbed the flaccid mass of vinyl from the ground and offered a hand to help me up. He knew what I was thinking:

“Don't worry about it, sister – these things happen. Are you okay? This isn't the first time it's happened and it won't be the last. <pointing at the tear> Look, there was a weak spot in the vinyl. I'll tell management about this and make sure they know about the defect. Don't worry about it.”

I got up, brushed myself off, thanked him, and went and grabbed another stability ball. And I finished my set.

On the way home, I literally laughed out loud. It wasn't embarrassing. It was funny. Who loses 112 pounds and pops a 550 pound-rated ball? This might sound odd, but it made me realize that I've taken a big leap forward in my self-confidence. Instead of blaming myself for being too big, I blamed the ball. I am strong, and there is nothing to be embarrassed about. And contrary to my former fears about the ball popping, it actually doesn't make a POP! noise. It just lets out a rush of air and gently, but quickly, dumps you on the ground. Who knew?!

Here's me after my workout, sporting a new Skinny Emmie shirt I am going to wear at FitBloggin'