Earlier this week I had to write a short bio about myself. Cue anxiety.
How do you condense yourself in a few words so that people really understand who you are and what you are all about? It's nearly impossible. I used to just say “I have a weight loss blog,” but seeing as my weight isn't falling at the moment, that seems misleading. If I go broad and say “I blog about life,” that doesn't seem to fit in a box.
I read a brilliant post from MizFit the other day, and I yelled at the computer because I loved it so much. Read it. Seriously. Go now.
Life is my sport.
There’s no cheering to be done. There’s no training-PRE and focus on recovery-POST. There’s no finish line.
It’s just a little bit (eating and moving) each day until Im dead.
Life is what I do.
Can I get a “hell yes” for MizFit? Gah. Lightbulbs.
When people ask about motivation, I try to explain that this is about life, not a clothing size. Below is an excerpt:
What are my options every day?
- Be pissed and upset at genetics, binge eating habits, societal pressures of beauty, injury, circumstances. Give up.
- Continue pushing towards HEALTH. Stop looking at everything as a battle. Learn to live in order to continue living. Find life.
I'm not sure what happened this week, but I started noticing signs of life. Signs of this NEW life. MY life.
Last Saturday was the NAMI Walks 5K. My friends Retta, Lydia, and Townsley joined me. When we started off, we didn't know what the route would be. We quickly discovered we were going in one circle. Retta checked her Garmin and realized we had only gone about 0.4 miles in 1 loop. After going around a few times, we noticed most people had stopped walking. (Of course, we were probably the only ones worrying about the true 5K distance.) Usually, I would have gone “sweet, we can stop early!” But we went on. We did all the loops necessary to finish the 3.1 miles, and while seemingly no big deal, I recognized it as a victory for me and not taking the easy way out. I was joking during the 5K that I wanted to get done in time so I could get some grits from the local food co-op (food motivation – not so great). When I was leaving the 5K, I drove past the cemetery where my mom is. Instead of running to food, I went and sat in front of her grave for a few minutes. I usually don't go to the cemetery, but it just felt good to take a second to digest some things.
I went to Trader Joe's earlier in the week to grab some meats and veggies, and while staring at some cookies for too long, I walked away. I then happened upon the pub cheese. I put it in my basket. Then I stared at it in there. Out loud, I said:
“If it's not at my house, I can't eat it.”
Back into the cooler it went. I asserted my control. Lightbulb moment.
Yesterday, as silly as it is, I realized I could wear a Rainbow Brite faux-Snuggie while I was working. An unanticipated perk of working from home, which was the result of me making my big life change of leaving the corporate world to start my own business. Sharp contrast from professional dress I spent the past 10 years in.
This morning, I went to Zumba at my gym for the first time since before my ankle injury (over a year ago). And it was so much fun. I grabbed some Starbucks on the way home and had the entire day to be happy with how my day started.
These are signs of my new life. They may seem small to some people, but I'm beginning to realize that it's the little things that make the biggest difference.
We should never apologize for what we are – even if it's hard to describe or doesn't fit neatly into a category. The excitement of life is that it's multi-dimensional.
