Body for Life is finished (until Monday)

You've now seen the before and after pictures. Here's my official Body for Life entry essay:

After three successive pregnancies and breastfeeding babies, my body was in a physical state that it had never been in before. In fact, my emotional and spiritual health were in a place that I had never been before, either. Being active was important to me. Chasing around three small children kept me very active…and exhausted and haggard. My cravings and sugar addiction were out of control. I didn’t have the time to really exercise. At least that’s what I told myself. The truth is that I wasn’t willing to MAKE time to exercise and eat well.

And then one day my family and I were out for a walk. It was a beautiful fall day, crisp and cool. And suddenly I saw an obese guy jogging down the path. He had a buddy with him, encouraging him by mere presence to continue his slow jog. I knew that couldn’t be easy. I knew it might be embarrassing. And I knew that it was time for me to change.

So I pulled out my sports bra from the back of the drawer. I searched for a very inexpensive used treadmill. And I started walking and jogging for twenty minutes three times a week.

After a while, I was ready to change my diet. So I approached the dreaded ‘diet’ section at the library. I planned to use Dr. Phil’s approach to weight loss. But something about Bill Phillips book ‘Eating for Life’ encouraged me to pick it up. I grabbed it and quickly realized this could be the best path for me.

I made a goal to start eating this way for twelve weeks. I was unclear on what the twelve week challenge consisted of until a few days before I started. When I realized that it included weight lifting I was excited to complete it, but knew that it would be difficult with our very tight financial situation.

So I started lifting small cans of vegetables. After a few weeks, I graduated to large cans of vegetables. Until finally I knew this wasn’t a passing fad. It would be worth it to invest in some free weights.

It took some time to work out the kinks and fall into a regular pattern. But as I felt more comfortable with the different aspects of the challenge I also felt more comfortable with my physical body. And my emotions. And my spiritual health.

Completing this challenge has been a lot easier than I would have expected. Experiencing such positive results kept me motivated to continue. Good friends and family helped remove temptations from my line of sight. People stopped offering me goodies and started asking about the challenge and what I was doing to look so great.

I have always pictured myself as being fit, healthy, peaceful and calm. I have strived to be a role model for my children. I have valued my physical strength and wanted to improve on the talents and gifts given to me.

I now feel that I am accomplishing these goals. I now feel like the outside of me reflects what I’ve always wanted the inside of me to be. I’m now content.