"Sometimes the weight you need to lose isn't just on your body."
It's interesting how much life can change in a matter of months. The first pic is me, back in October 2018 on our first trip to Disney. It was a whirlwind trip and it was during a time in which a lot of things were crashing down against me. I was struggling at work with some significant stresses. I was struggling physically after years of diagnoses with Lupus, Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia. I was sleeping for hours and hours upon end and then to top it off, my struggle with depression and anxiety came to a head. Not knowing what to do and after years of failed diet and exercise attempts, I turned once again to diet and exercise.
You see, I'd decided that I was destined to be overweight and tired my whole life. That's what the diagnoses said right? That's what my life was and it was ok, because I was tired. It was ok to drink 5-6 diet mountain dews today and live off of carbs because my stomach didn't tolerate much else. It was ok to nap for 2-3 hrs and sleep 10-12. I needed it, right?
Well, sometimes when you hit rock bottom, you have no where to go but up. After Disney, I decided I desperately needed to change. I needed to get some exercise and I needed to change the way I was eating. I didn't want to diet- I wanted to change. I decided to cut out most processed food and significantly limit carb intake. I cut out soda COMPLETELY which was no small feat. Finally, I started back exercising by completing 21 Day Fix. I'd like to say everything was fixed at that point but there's a lot of other factors that came in to play that I handled. However, one thing did happen: physically, I felt better.
I wasn't so tired. I was starting to lose weight. I had more energy. And though I was struggling with things, I was able to channel some of my nervous energy into exercising. After 21 days, I got a little bolder and I turned to 80 day Obsession. Despite a few stomach viruses, I committed and completed the whole program. At that point, I had lost about 30 pounds and many many inches. I made changes that helped my mental health and my physical health. My physical fitness has evolved but so has my mental fitness. This once destined to be forever tired and over weight woman has run over 206 miles since March 30, 2019!!
Through this journey, Jon and I connected early on and we've both been each other's accountability partners, besties, and biggest cheerleaders ever since. We've begun doing virtual races together, designing exercise routines to meet our individual and collective goals, and created a group for our families to help encourage them to run. We have big goals for our future and want to document our journey for ourselves, and for others.
While weight loss and a healthy life style is important for health and physical reasons, it's so important for mental strength and health as well. We've evolved and with Jon's help and support I continue to evolve and recognize that its a journey, not a destination. The most important weight you lose may not be what's on your body but what your body is holding you back from. It can also be weight and constriction on your mental well being.
We hope this blog serves as a sense of motivation, guidance, and support for each other and for any one else wanting to improve their life.
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