What's Different Now

Those of you who've been following my blog since the beginning, or have read older posts, know that I've tried before to lose weight and get fit. Tried and failed, and tried again. And failed again. And again and again. Those of you that have seen me recently have seen the progress, the success, this time. Some of you have read about it. And all of you are asking, "What's different now? What's different this time? What caused the change?"

I've considered these questions often. In fact, almost daily. Reality is, I don't know. Honestly. It's not like I planned this, unlike other times. ;-)

No, this time, it came out of the blue. One day I just stopped eating bad things. I reduced my carb intake in order to get my blood sugar levels under control. Once I did that, I had complete control over my appetite; cravings were eliminated and portion control became quite easy as I was never really hungry. I immediately noticed results, losing maybe 5 pounds that first week. Few things motivate me better than seeing results and when it comes to losing weight, well, let's just say that this changed the "game" completely. I wanted more results, and I wanted them to last.

Once the binge eating was eliminated and I was eating healthy meals and smaller portions, I knew that in order to see the results I wanted, to change my body, I'd have to do much more than just eat right. I had to start exercising. So I did.

I'll get into the workout transformation in another post. This post is about what's different about this time. While I may not know the answer to that, I do know this:

I was tired of not liking myself because of how I looked.

I was tired of being uncomfortable in my own skin.

I was tired of being embarrassed to be seen in public.

I was tired of never wanting to socialize with friends because of my appearance.

I was tired of being "the pretty, fat girl."

I want to be fit.

I want to look in a mirror and LOVE who I see, inside AND out.

I want to be fit enough to run around with my nieces and nephews and not be winded in the first 30 seconds.

I want to cycle a century.

I want to run a marathon.

I want to run, cycle and swim in a triathlon.

And finally, I want to live a long, healthy life with my husband by my side, doing God's work, whatever that looks like.

I guess that's what's different. I WANT THIS. More than anything I can think of. And this time, I'm willing to work for it.

That's really all there is to it. It's not rocket science or anything. It's just me wanting something and being willing to work for it. Pretty simple, really.

Here's to good health!