The Feeling of Fitness

It seems like forever ago that I thought that being fat was my fate. Today, I see clearly that fit is my fortune. There's something to be said about how good moving and stretching feels. Just the fact that I'm 200-plus pounds lighter and I can move and stretch, downright excites me. I look in the mirror and it's both Thanksgiving and Christmas every day. I cannot express how I feel in this new, low fat, high energy body.

A message to anyone struggling with morbid obesity and eating disorders: It doesn't have to always be this way. I am or have been both those things. Even now I fight against binging and making food choices based more on wants than needs. But I'm better than I was or have ever been. Anyone can be better if they so choose. I'm a believer that what you say is what you will have.

I know it's holiday season and I don't mean to be "deep," but I still hurt. Not just for me but for anyone that has previously, or currently, experiences the shame, pain and hurt that being obese can cause. This is not to say that some big people don't love it and flourish in it. Dare I say some are even jolly. However, I wasn't. As far as I've come, I still relive the pain of my obese past. It was hard to focus on what I physically could not do when my ankles and back hurt, but at some point, I started to focus on what I could do. With the right frame of mind, positive self-talk and the motivation of family and friends, anyone can do anything.

This is not a downer, but rather, it's an uppercut to negative thoughts and feelings of despair. I feel change in the wind and I am giddy at the prospect of the future. I know that many of the things I've accomplished are directly related to the confidence I've gained with weight loss. I'm fitter than I've ever been and have the energy to accomplish more at 40 than any other period in my life. I foresee big changes in my life as I head down a path so bright I need shades.

But I'm not looking to go alone. In church the preacher says that if you are afraid to walk down the aisle for prayer alone, grab the hand of your neighbor and ask them to walk with you. Today, I extend my hand as a neighbor and invite you down a path of health and wellness. I invite you to take the first step in exercising and eating right. No, it won't all be done in a day but small changes reap big rewards. If I could bottle how great I feel now that I'm fit, I wouldn't even sell it. I'd give it away so everyone would know what fit feels like. Come on. Take my hand and I'll walk with you.