Don't Tell Me I Can't

I’ve always been athletic from the time I was old enough to throw a ball, swing a tennis racquet or lift a weight. I literally grew up in the gym, on the field or on the court. I was that girl who was ready to lace up any pair of athletic shoes and make it happen. I still am that girl she just got a little lost along the way.

Through the years my eating changed the way I viewed sports and physical activity. I was still ready to play but my larger size limited the amount of exercise I could do. And honestly it was just damn embarrassing to work-out, play tennis, hike or golf rockin’ a big girl body.

So less than five months ago when I decided I didn’t want to be “that fat girl” anymore much to my surprise I began hearing a lot of you can’t do that, you can’t still play that sport, you can’t run that  distance, you’re too old for that.

W-H-A-T! are you effing kidding me? You don’t get to vote on my fitness level, my commitment to my health, my desire to compete at a higher level, my guts and my determination. No, no, no, you do not have that privilege. Sometimes I’m amazed at what people will say. When I posted on my regular Facebook account and began talking to friends and family about the cross country half marathon in November I would be running I literally had people crawling out of the wood work telling me that at 50 I was too old, I was going to get hurt, I couldn’t run that far, I’d slow down the race. And best of all…what the heck was I trying to prove?

For starters don’t tell me I can’t cuz that’s when shit is gonna get serious! I’ve turned those “negative nellies” as my Grandpa would call them into my biggest motivators. Since those comments came flooding in I have shaved 3 minutes and 7 seconds off of my mile time and 18:50 off of my five mile time. I still have 33 days until race day and here’s what I know for sure...I will be lighter and I will be faster, and I will be that 50 year old Mexi-"CAN" girl that finishes the race vs. the Mexi-"CAN’T" girl that lets stupid  comments get in the way of her success.

We only get one shot at this life and it’s up to us to make the very best out of each day. As Steve Prefontaine said “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift”

 Let’s win the day ladies!

Strength

What are you going to overcome today?

Why Now? Why this Time?

My weight loss journey has been a long one, littered with successes and epic failures for the last 25 years. I’ve always eaten healthy but my portion control has been waaaayyy off and binging on food has been my “go to” coping mechanism. For the most part I’ve worked-out and played sports my entire life even at my heaviest. But the last 25 years has certainly been done half assed and with out focus or clear goals. I’d stop and start, a few pounds lost and then of course it was time to celebrate with food. And you can probably guess the rest. I’m spiraling out of control shoveling tons of food into my pie hole promising myself that I would start again tomorrow, on Monday, next week, when the planets aligned…ummm yea right! By the time I figured out that I had spiraled out of control I’d packed on an additional 10-15-20 pounds of weight

So why now? Why this time?

Something happened that caused me to realize that at 50 years old I either needed to get serious about my health and fitness or I was going to be one of those older women. You know the ones you see at the grocery store and at the mall. They look like they may have been pretty when they were younger but now they’re invisible and one step away from needing a Little Rascal to get around. Yea, didn’t think I wanted that for my future.

Sometimes it takes someone with the courage to be brutally honest with you to finally turn the effin light bulb ON! For me that person was my boyfriends Mother. Almost five months ago she and her husband were visiting my boyfriend and I. Uggh I just hate saying boyfriend at my age…seriously a boy friend is totally awesome when you’re 16 but not at my age in a committed relationship…it’s no bueno! And a significant other just sounds lame to me…anyway I regress! J

 My boyfriends Mother said to me that I needed to stop remodeling our home and spend that money on a tummy tuck. Holy shit did she just say that!!!!!! So I did what every good fat girl would do I began stuffing food into my pie hole at warp speed for a little over a week eating anything and everything in sight. Finally after a binge on pizza and ice cream I realized I didn’t need a effin tummy tuck what I needed was to get my health and fitness in order STAT! That was just the wake-up call I needed. I thank her each and every day for speaking up and making me see that I was killing myself one bite at a time.

In her defense she has struggled with her weight all of her life. She had gastric bypass surgery done almost 30 years ago and not a day has gone by since her surgery that she doesn’t experience significant medical issues from that decision. She is still 80-100 lbs. over weight and has a very difficult time getting around. I’m confident her comment came from a place of love and concern. It was up to me to either be bitter or better about her observation. I have chosen to be better.

So after 5 months I’m stronger than I thought I was, more focused and certainly healthier and lighter than I ever thought I could be. I look forward to sharing my weight loss journey with others. It’s up to us to WIN EACH AND EVERY DAY…so let’s get busy!

Thank you...

We must develop an attitude of gratitude and give thanks for everything that happens to us, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation. When doing so, you will open yourself up to some very unexpected experiences in life.

So with that being said I must say thank you and express my gratitude to all of the remarkable ladies that are a part of Mama Laughlin’s Fit Camp for encouraging me to write this blog. This is certainly an unexpected turn in my weight loss journey.

I’m certainly not a writer. I grew up in the late 60’s and 70’s when “spelling it like it feels” was all the rage and grammar wasn’t all that critical for a little Mexican girl to grasp growing up in a small town.  So I’m sure you’ll find what I call “Mexican moments” throughout my blog when the spelling and grammar are somewhat questionable…what.ev  you’ll at least get the idea J So here goes ladies…