I Never Dreamed
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I had such a surreal experience at church yesterday. I had three different people stop me at three different times and say essentially the same thing to me, resulting in basically the same conversation.
Wow! You’re looking great. So, you’re done, right? You’re not trying to lose any more weight.
Well, actually, I’ve got around 10 pounds to go.
{Insert look of concern} You’d better be careful. You don’t want to lose too much weight. Have you talked to your doctor about that?
I had a health risk assessment last week. My BMI is still a little high. Normal is 18-25 and I’m at 26.5.
Really? Your BMI is still high?
Yeah, it’s my height. It’s because I’m so short.
Yeah, but you don’t want to lose too much.
No, but I do want to get into the normal range for my BMI. I want to reach my goal weight, just to see what it looks and feels like. I want to be able to say that I did it. If I get there and it feels unhealthy or hard to maintain, I’d be okay with gaining a few pounds. I’m happy where I am now, but I would like to reach my goal weight. I’m hoping the last ten pounds come off my thighs.
Well, okay, but you be careful. You don’t want to be unhealthy.
Seriously? It was less than 2 years ago that people were concerned about my health as relates to my weight for an entirely different reason. My poor husband was afraid I was going to have a heart attack or develop Type 2 diabetes.
Now, I’ve got people worried that I’m trying to lose too much weight. I can’t even tell you what a surreal feeling that is.
I can tell you that it made my day! First of all, it’s just nice to know that people care about you. Then, there is the fact that people see me as being trim and at a healthy weight now. I often still have trouble seeing that myself, focusing instead on my still-heavy thighs. (I’ve still got a pudgy belly, too, but I can live with that. I’m 41 years old and have given birth to three kids. That’s to be expected.)
It’s so fun that I’m starting to meet people who have never known me as fat. It’s fun to see people’s reactions when I tell them how much I’ve lost. I’ve even started wondering if I want to tell people. Maybe I should just enjoy being this new, healthy-sized person. I am proud of my accomplishment, though, and I do want to encourage other people who want to lose weight.
If you’re reading this and you’re just starting on your journey – or maybe you’re trying to get psyched up to start losing weight – I just want you to know that you can do this! I know it seems hard and the journey looks long and you think you’ll never get there, but time goes by so quickly and it is so worth the effort. The things that feel like sacrifices now won’t feel that way forever.
Even those things that may temporarily feel like a sacrifice won’t feel that way for long. Last night, I did not want to get on the treadmill and run. I hate doing long runs on the treadmill. Somewhere around mile 3, however, I realized that I felt really good. I found a pace that left me feeling stronger and better than I had in a long while. I felt like I could run forever and was so glad that I’d made myself do something that I hadn’t really wanted to do.
What’s encouraged you in your weight-loss lately? What sacrifice have you made that turned out to feel more like empowerment than sacrifice?
Do or do not. There is no try.
Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.