Thursday, May 14, 2015

It's Just a Number

In keeping with "blog posts gone real" this week, I'm gonna go ahead and do another fun post.  This one is about the day I found out I was fat.

On my list of habits to make (that are forever being procrastinated) is "need to start working out again."  My hubs and I used to work out religiously and then, life got in the way.  Now it's just one of those things I can't ever seem to find the time to do.  I know it's just a good habit that I need to make.  Again.  But I want to be healthier so I started by looking at some different exercises on Pinterest.  I started making infused water.  I realized I was starving myself all day by only eating 2 meals.  Added a meal (breakfast) and 2 snacks (9:30 and 2:30).  I started writing down what I ate, which made me very conscious of the bite of something here and there.  I made an effort to eat more fruits and vegetables (which is killing my grocery bill, I don't mind telling ya!).  I'm trying to eat dinner before 7 (some days that goes better than others).  So here we are...and I'm feeling pretty good about these changes I made and I focus on them for a couple weeks.  My energy is through the roof (I think from all the water? Or maybe because I am no longer starving.) and I feel great.  Now I know it's time to throw in exercising.  So again, I take steps...I buy new running shoes.  I make a new running play list on my Ipod.  I look at running apps...The first thing the running app asks for is my weight.  Hold up.  There's one thing you should know about me.  I don't own a scale and I don't believe in weighing myself.  I believe you know if you are fit or not, just by the lifestyle you are living and by looking in the mirror.  And clearly I knew I was not looking fit these days.  So, I had to go to the nurse's office at my school and weigh myself.

Now.  If you had asked me what I weighed I would have said "about 135".  Imagine my shock when the number looking back at me was 158.  Point 2.  OMG.  "How'd that happen?"  "How long has it been since I worked out on a regular basis?"  "How much weight DID I gain last winter?"  And from that moment on, it was all I could think about.  I could not get "158" out of my head.  When I went to bed, all I kept thinking was "I weigh 158".  And then I did something I knew I shouldn't.  I looked up how much someone my age and height should weigh (I mean, I clearly wasn't sleeping).  Yeah, remember that number I THOUGHT I weighed?  That's what I am SUPPOSE to weigh.  135.  And on the chart it said I was "OVERWEIGHT".  I couldn't go to sleep because all I kept thinking was "I can't believe I weigh almost 160 lbs.  How on earth am I going to lose 20 pounds?  How did this happen?"  And then, I remembered why I don't own a scale.  For this very reason.  I already knew I needed to exercise again.  But now, I was officially freaked out.  Stupid running app.

So I had to take a minute to get my head right (and by minute I mean an entire day).  What is it about a number, a label, a name, that is so defining...so debilitating?  Why does that become who we are?  Suddenly I forgot about all these wonderful gifts and traits that God has given me and all I was was "fat".  Now, this is very important, please don't say "you're not fat" in response to this post.  That is not what I am going for and it's not my point.  What do you see yourself as?  What are you focused on?  When I was thinking "I want to start the habit of eating healthier by exercising and eating better", I felt great.  I felt excited.  When that turned into "I have to lose 20 pounds", it was like a giant weight hanging around my neck.  And now, I felt like "I can't do it."

Sometimes, instead of thinking of what you need to stop you need to think about what it is you are trying to start.  I am trying to be healthier.  I am trying to take care of me more.  I am trying to have more energy.  I am trying to sleep better.  And yes, maybe I am trying to look better in my bathing suit.  But I am not trying to be 135.  Because after all, that's just a number.

Stay Focused on the Positive Side!
K

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