Day One: I love my uterus

On day one of accentuating the body positive, it seems only right to start with the largest muscle in the female body - the mother of all body parts - the uterus.  MY uterus, specifically.  I mean, why on earth would I be thankful for YOUR uterus?  I'm sure it's very nice and you like it a lot, but I have no feelings about yours one way or the other.

MY uterus, on the other hand, is responsible for having sheltered and grown and ultimately ejected into the world four of the cutest, squishiest little humans I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.  I was blessed with healthy, full-term, relatively uneventful pregnancies.  I was able to see their little hearts pulse on the ultrasound screens and feel their kicks and hiccups in the middle of many a sleepless night.  I know so many women whose hearts ache to have that experience but may never.  It's not something I take for granted.  Not only is my body a blessing and a miracle, but thanks in large part to a properly functioning uterus, I was able to help create and carry around a few little miracles of my own.

Yep, my uterus is pretty nifty and, cramps, bloating, and other unpleasant stuff aside,  I'm pretty thankful for it.

Coincidence that the uterus looks like a super strong buff dude?  I think not.

My little miracles.  A few years post-uterus. 

Dear Body: Sorry I Was Mean to You

Sundays always somehow end up being a day of reflection for me.  Maybe it’s because I get to attend church bright and early and be reminded of all the ways I want and need to improve my spirituality.  Maybe it’s because I have a little more quiet time on my hands than I do Monday-Saturday.  “Quiet,” incidentally, is a relative term when you have four kids bouncing off the walls and banned from their beloved electronic devices for the duration of the day.  But still, the hectic running-from-one-thing-to-the-next pace slows way down on Sundays.  I like it.

Today, like many, many, MANY Sundays before, I’m thinking about all the ways I’m going to be nicer to my body in the coming week.  “Nicer” is also a relative term here, since there’s usually a lot of tough love built in to my weekly planning.  A little harder with the cardio, a little heavier with the weights, a little lighter on the calories. 

I’ve spent a lot of years – close to thirty of them – hating my body and thinking less-than-charitable thoughts about it.  Thanks to my brain, my body gets bullied by me in ways I would never dream of bullying another human being.

“Why do you have to be so ugly?”

“Do you realize that most people probably can’t stand the sight of you?” 

“Nobody will ever date you or marry you.” 

“I’m embarrassed to be seen with you.” 

“EVERYONE is embarrassed to be seen with you.”

I’ve somehow managed to convince myself that if I ever stop noting all of the things I hate about my body, it will mean that I’ve given myself permission to just give up and be overweight and be OK with that – something I am simply NOT willing to do.  Complacency got me here.  I refuse to let it carry me further into the abyss of depression and severe health risks that come with the continual packing on of pounds year after year.

BUT … what if I could work diligently and consistently on trying to be healthier while still appreciating those things about my body that DO serve me well?  What if I could be grateful for what good it DOES help me accomplish day after day rather than focusing obsessively on how it hinders me? 

Can I still love all of the wonderful things about this divinely-created vessel, this miracle that I’ve been given, even though it’s a work in progress?  Yes.

Do I have to wait until I’ve reached my idea of perfection before I can appreciate it for all that it does for me RIGHT NOW, TODAY?  No.

On this day of reflection, I have given myself permission to love what I HAVE while working toward what I WANT.   But just like the nerdy kid who’s been mercilessly tormented by the bully day after day, year after year, my body needs to know I mean it.  A mere “sorry I was mean to you” isn’t gonna cut it. 

So … to show this vessel that I truly am sorry and want to be kinder and gentler, I’m committing to thirty days of charity toward my body.  We will still work out together, sweat together, drink obscene amounts of water together, make multiple middle-of-the-night trips to the bathroom together, and say bad words together when passing up that piece of chocolate cake or eating our 37^th carrot stick for the week.  That won’t change.  What WILL change for the next thirty days, however, is that I will take the time to thank this body of mine for all that it helps me do and be day in and day out.  I’ll rejoice publicly in this miracle that I’ve been given and in the fact that, miraculously, it still manages to be kind to me in spite of the many years of bullying it’s endured from me.

Tomorrow begins 30 days of positive, grateful thoughts about my body.   My hope is that it will help my overall attitude and success in my journey to be a healthier, happier woman, because I am so much more than a bunch of numbers that try to tell me how to feel about myself.  

photo:  turbocharged.us.com

Transformation Tuesday - Angel T.

It's not Tuesday but I don't care.  Any day of the week is a good day to read about another human's weight loss success.  Am I right?  Am I right?

Today's transformation story is a little bit dirty:

Angel started out at 216 pounds after a pregnancy.  Now, at about 138 pounds, she's discovered a love for playing in the mud.  

Angel says she has been big nearly all of her life and had tried Atkins, herbal drops and even diet pills, but nothing brought her the results she wanted.  Finally, after watching people around her lose a lot of weight and growing tired of that dreaded roll that spilled over her waistband every time she sat down, she decided to take some action.  

She joined Weight Watchers and followed it for about nine months.  She was three months into it before she started exercising due to a prolonged surgery recovery.  She remained strict with her diet for those first three months, then added the treadmill and a weekly cheat meal to her plan.  Now, some of you may find this discouraging, but she says she ate A LOT of broccoli.  Sorry, broccoli haters.  I guess the green stuff can't be avoided if you want to get into those skinny jeans.  

After 9 months and a 50 pound loss, she kicked it up a few notches by hiring a trainer.  She says she cannot believe the results she's achieved and the things she's able to do now.

"In July my sister signed me up for the mudathalon, a 5k with 40 obstacles," Angel says.  "I was so nervous!  I am not much of a runner, but I could not believe the things I was able to do.  I could climb and jump over walls and climb ropes.  Who would have thought I could do such things?"

She says she has done several mud runs since then and she loves them.  While she's proud of the fact that she's down to 15% body fat, she also loves how happy she's feeling since losing so much weight.   She says:

"I am HAPPY! I have always been pretty confident but now I am extremely confident. Believe it or not I am now in the process of getting my own personal training license and am looking for a career change in weight management.  I have so much energy.  I feel younger than I did when I was 20!"

Her advice is to stop looking at your eating plan as a diet but rather to simply focus on changing your habits long-term.  Oh, and get off the couch!  That's her other piece of advice. 

As for Angel, she's traded her comfy couch for a slimy mud pit ... and she's loving every minute of it.  

Transformation Tuesday - A Look Inside

I know you all have been holding your breath waiting for my next big transformation post, but while I'm waiting on my current victim to finish answering my interview questions, I thought I'd share with you a little somethin' somethin' I came across a few weeks ago:

First of all, is it just me or does this picture I kiped from Amazon look like an invitation to look in her pants?  Hey, whatever gets you to buy the book, I guess.  Out of sheer curiosity, I clicked the link and it doesn't take you to the inside of her pants.  But I digress ...

Anyhoo ... I am currently having a love affair with this book.  It's a glorious mix of snark, wit, and reality.  If you've struggled with weight issues and all the emotional crap that comes with it for years and years and years ... you will LOVE this book.  I feel like she crawled inside my brain and stole all my thoughts and feelings.  I'm not finished with it yet, but when I do get a chance to sit down and read it, I have a hard time putting it down.  This girl just "gets" me.  I highly recommend it.  It's an entertaining read.  If you want to know HOW to lose weight, you may want to head on over to the Richard Simmons section.  That's not what this book is about.  This is more about how she dealt with her feelings as an overweight person and as an overweight person trying NOT to be an overweight person.  Plus, reading about a girl who lost 200-ish pounds after carrying them around for most of her life is just plain motivating and inspiring, if you ask me.

I would add, too, that if someone you love is fighting this battle, this book will give you insights that can help you have a little more understanding and compassion for that person's very real everyday struggles. Along those lines, and all joking aside, I think the "Look Inside" icon above fits perfectly as an advertisement for what this book provides.  If this is your struggle, you'll get a glimpse inside yourself.  If this is the struggle of someone you love, you'll get a peek at how it feels to be him/her.  

CLICK HERE for more about the author, Jennette Fulda.

Transformation Tuesday: Amberlee Booke

Amberlee Booke

5'5"

Highest weight:  200

Current weight:  134

Total lost:  66

One goal of mine in writing these Tuesday posts, besides inspiration for myself and others, is to show that there are all kinds of methods out there for losing weight.  No program is the "right" program.  If it works for you and it's improving your health, it's the "right" one.

For some people, a program with pre-packaged foods and personal coaching can provide a much-needed structure and accountability.  Today's success story, Amberlee Booke, was able to regain her health and confidence with just such a program.

Amberlee gained her weight after getting married and experiencing a great deal of stress at her job.  After developing a habit of skipping meals all day followed by eating nothing but junk in the evenings, she found herself carrying 200 pounds on her not-so-tall frame.  She saw herself in a picture one fateful day and decided it was time to make a change.

"I was determined to prove to myself that I could do it," Amberlee says.  "I followed the program 100%.  Didn't cheat once. I'm still proud of myself for that."

(Did she say she didn't cheat once?)

Since her program of choice requires eating a protein and vegetable meal each day along with the pre-packaged items, she found herself struggling to eat enough meat.  Remember, this was a girl whose main food group consisted of junk food, so adding protein was quite the challenge.  She says she was ready to quit.

"I was able to have a health coach and friend to help me through it.  I'm so happy I didn't give up!"

In 7 months, she'd lost 66 pounds and hasn't looked back.

Amberlee appreciates everything about her new life.  She was happy to fit into pants she hadn't worn in years, but thrilled when those became too big, too.  At 28, she is wearing a bikini for the first time in her life.  She has energy to try things she would never have dared to before.  She is more happy and confident than ever.  That confidence has helped her get through some hard times recently.

"I recently went through a divorce and I know it helped me through it because I believed more in myself.  If I'd still been heavy, the weight would have been just one more thing I hated about my life."

Amberlee is excited now to be passing her new healthy lifestyle habits onto others.  She has helped her dad change his life as well by coaching him to a 110 pound loss.  She has also become a coach for the program that helped her lose her weight.

"I love helping people believe in themselves, too!  I'm not perfect every day but now know the habits to a healthy life.  I won't ever let myself get back to where I was before."

If you'd like more info on the program Amber followed, contact her at ambshealthyhabits@gmail.com.