A Lifestyle Change

Discovering Balance Part 2

My entire adult life I’d been fat so I was resigned that always would be. Sure, I dreamed of waking up one day in a smaller body, but magically that hadn’t happened. I would try here and there, but nothing seemed to work long term. I beat myself up daily for not being committed enough.

When I turned 40, a close friend passed away from ALS. We had talked a lot about life and the resounding message was that it’s so short. He would have given anything to save his own life, but it was out of his hands. I assessed my life, and knew I had to make changes. I didn’t want to live in the shadows. I wanted to live my best life.

Over the next 2 years, I would change my lifestyle drastically. The difference this time was my motivation. Suddenly it became about living a good life and not about weight loss. I love to cook so I started remaking recipes in a healthier way. My friends are always asking me to share my recipes, and that’s how a “A Healthy Makeover” was born. I rediscovered my joy in food and activities I had stopped doing. 

For so long, my body – or my perception of it – kept me from living life. I was eating so many delicious things and living an active life. I felt more confident; every activity was new and something to conquer. When I did conquer it, I felt amazing. I subsequently lost almost half my weight in those two years. Back then, weight loss was inconsequential compared to the bigger picture. I had made these changes and suddenly I was living life again. I cared less about the weight and more about my new outlook. 

The thing is, I suddenly went from invisible to an “inspiration” receiving all of this praise for my weight loss. I started to really hearing it. My favorite response was “It’s not a diet; it’s a lifestyle change.” This became my mantra and boy, was I smug. Finally I could say “If I can do it, anyone can!”

Tomorrow I’ll be sharing how my “healthy” behaviors became unhealthy.