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This is a blog post one year in the making.
That is a bit of a strange thing to say, but I have been composing this – whatever ‘this' will be when I am done writing it today is – in my head every day for a year. You see, it was today one year ago that I changed my life. Dramatic statement? Yes. Does it feel dramatic now that I have accomplished what I wanted? No.
You see, it was one year ago today, August 17, 2005 that I decided weighing over two hundred pounds sucked (and the second digit wasn't a zero or a one) and that I should do something about it. Twelve months later, I weigh 76 pounds less and proudly tip the scales at “slightly overweight” versus “morbidly obese”. That is seven clothing sizes; 12 inches on the waist. Gulp.
Why did I do this? And for that matter, how? Well, it was sort of like the day that I quit smoking (I'll bet some of you never even knew that I smoked, eh?): I was sitting there on the couch and thought, in these exact words no less, “What the fuck am I doing?” I was obese. I was constantly tired. I couldn't walk half a mile without feeling like a nap was in order. My personality was changing from funny, playful and (dare I say) kinda cute to being a cranky bitch, humorless, direct. My outward looks (which I generally don't think include ‘kinda cute' even now) had long gone out the window. I was frustrated by my lack of energy. Was this a way to live a life? Besides the obvious fact that physically I was not in great shape, I was having a hard time being motivated to grow Latitude. I wasn't enthusiastic about anything. And I was that realization of sitting on the couch last year that I had to do something. And so I did.
I walked 1563 miles. I ate no more that 1000 calories per day. I drank gallons upon gallons of water. I stretched. I lifted weights. Most importantly, I wrote everything down. “The power of the list”, it has been said. I was obsessive about that list; still am actually. No Weight Watchers, No Carb free or South Beach diets. Simply portion control, ‘conscious eating' and moving. I looked at this change as a job, one that I went to everyday. And yes, I did spend nearly 20 hours a week getting my ass in gear and that is the price that I paid.
Am I done? Nope. I've got another 20 to go and then I'll be done. Then I will be ‘average' (and never in my life has the goal of ‘being average' meant so much), in fact, the mid-range of average. And then, of-course, I have to stay at that weight for the remainder of my life.
I'm not going to turn this into an Oscar acceptance speech. The people who motivated me know who they are, and they know that I am eternally grateful. Thank you for believing in me, for helping, and for letting me know that you are impressed. That means the world to me. |
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08/17/2006 04:51 PM |
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