Reclaiming My Life!

It seems as though I have qualities to inspire others. I LOVE THAT! We have decided... after a long time of nagging and begging (on my part)... to join a fitness center! I am so excited! I have been ready for a long time now to do something... with a more determined spirit... to become healthy. I am sick of living my life the way I have been. I am tired of missing out on all of the fun things in life that I enjoy doing! I refuse to waste the life that God gave me by sitting around being "unable" to... well... at times even walk! That is NOT an option for me!!

My family needs it too. Hannah has... unfortunately... got the same "fat genes" as all the women on my mom's side of the family seem to carry around with them. She struggles with her weight daily. It breaks my heart! I refuse to feel like I have failed her anymore! I have poked and prodded her to be excited about getting healthy! She is excited to go to the fitness center too!

Rich... he is now almost seven years out from having his heart transplant. He needs it too! He was a hard egg to crack ... I tell you what!!! I had to nag him... HARD CORE! I got so frustrated that I even had a break down and cried my eyes out one day. I think that day was the clincher! I have been talking to them both about wanting to join a fitness center now for about 6 months. I told him that going out for dinner 3 times during the month and a pizza is equal to the cost of our membership. I asked him... what are we doing here.. trading our lives... for food? We finally live in a place that is close enough to be convenient. So... the day of tears... Rich agreed that it would be fun to do something together to make ourselves healthy! Really... this is a chance... and a change of a lifetime! Something that we can share together for the rest of our lives. I am so jazzed!!!

Rich even wants to go buy us each an MP3 player so we can have music while we work out. YES! Hannah has her I-Pod... and she got all excited and had to buy her an arm band for hers so she can workout with it. I say... "Whatever gets you excited... lets go for it... be healthy!"

Hannah and I are going to get workout clothes. We are going to get bright shirts and have sayings put on them. Mine is going to say..."to reclaim my life!!!" and hers is going to say... "to take Matt's breath away!!!" (Matt is a guy from the town we lived in) Matt and Hannah grew up together for alot of years as neighbors. Matt has a place in Hannah's heart... whether or not he knows it!

Anyhoo... we went and toured the facility last week! It is nice!!! They have every piece of equipment you can imagine... all state of the art. They have an indoor basketball court... a pool and hot tub and sauna. They also have CPR trained staff with supplemental oxygen and an I.C.D. (defibrillator)... and they have a place to take your blood pressure if you need it done. When we walked through... Rich was winded... but I could see the excitement in his eyes. I think he was happy thinking about doing something to get us out of the house.

You know how excited I am! I am ready! Bring on the pain! Bring on the sweat! Bring on my new self!!!!!! I weighed myself at Rich's doctor's appointment the other day. I had gained 10 pounds back from the 45 that I had lost. But that has not dampened my spirits!! I will be victorious! I will reclaim my life! Our doctor cleared us all to be able to workout. The facility requires each person to have clearance from their doctors... so yipee for that!

I have told everyone at work that we are joining. Our membership starts on the first of February! I have inspired a couple people at work to think about starting to eat right... and one of my co-workers said she jumped on her treadmill the other day! You know... it's not hard to diet. It just takes determination to change your life. I don't want to DIE!!!! Not yet anyway! I have too much to do yet! One lady at work said that she is always trying to find someone to walk with her. She said that walking is free. I agree with that 100%. I have tried that. My motivation level just kind of fizzles after a while. For me... I think that if we make that financial commitment... we will feel more obligated to get off our butts and go do it! For the cost of our membership for the three of us... is the equivalent of getting three of the burgers off of the dollar menu every day! We will be trading soggy grease soaked buns on dollar burgers for "buns of steel"! I'll buy that in a value pack!!

I also think that any kind of gastric bypass is not for me. I have thought about that heavily in the past. I even contacted some of the facilities that do that.

It's not about a quick fix. It's hard work... and determination that is going to do it for me. We have been eating more healthy lately... and a lot less of it! Once we start our exercise with that... the pounds will melt off... and our bodies will slowly and surely conform to our new rules!

I think that taking on this giant of mine... and defeating it the true... honest and old fashioned-non high tech way will be more rewarding. It will be a feeling of accomplishment for us all!

Be inspired! Take control of what is bogging you down! Remember... WITH GOD... ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!