The Journey

michelleedwardsmom
Oct 21, 2021
3 min read

In today's blog, I thought I would tell you about my crazy journey with weight loss. All my life I have struggled with body image. First of all my smile in my opinion is my worst feature. I hate that when I smile you can't see my teeth. My husband on the other hand loves my smile, so that tells me God gave me this smile just for him. The other thing is my weight. I love food and because of that, I would eat a lot. McDonald's and Taco Bell were always my go-to places. I still struggle with McDonald's, but not so much Taco Bell anymore. In fact, I haven't eaten there in over a year now.

The struggle became real when I got pregnant with Grayson. Preeclampsia kicked my butt and gave me an extra 45 pounds to deal with. The picture below was when Grayson was two months old and we were heading home from the Nicu. When Grayson was about six months was when I knew I needed to change. I had no energy and food was consuming my every thought. I started exercising and trying to eat right but would fail consistently.

All my life I wanted to be able to run a full mile. Just a mile. So I started the couch to 5k and within two months I was able to run a mile! That was and still is one of the biggest accomplishments in my journey. I did it! I actually stuck to something and saw it actually happen. I didn't give up like I normally do. At the same time, I also gave up soda. In one year I only had five sodas. That was huge for me! Again when we put our minds to it we can really do anything!!

And you know what, I didn't stop there! To this day I still have a love/hate relationship with running, but I kept doing it. With the encouragement of some awesome friends, I decided to train for a half marathon. That is hard work! The week before I was supposed to do my half marathon I decided to join friends on a half marathon they were doing, but I was just going to do my 10 miles for training. But after 10 miles what's another 3 so I actually finished my first half marathon before I was supposed to do it. It was an amazing feeling!!! I didn't run the whole thing. I walked and ran some. I'm learning that it's about finishing, not how you finish it. In my second one, I almost had to quit at mile 12 because I was in so much pain, but I finished. I limped my way over the finish line, but I DID IT!! Slow and steady wins the race!!

I learned a lot about myself during my training. Our bodies are incredible! When we feel like we can't breathe and are going to die but keep going, the body feels amazing afterward. It took me two years to lose the weight that I gained during my pregnancy. It was a slow and steady pace. I'm learning that my body is beautiful the way it is right now, but I'm loving that I can still make it stronger. We were created to love our bodies. We are beautifully and wonderfully made by God. He made us in His image! When we look in the mirror in the mornings instead of criticizing it, we should be thanking God!

Find someone in your life who will encourage you to do crazy things. Take a jazzercize class, train for a mile, do yoga or do anything you have always wanted to do. In 2019 I made it a goal to do a new thing every month and it was so much fun! You can do anything! Stop saying tomorrow and do it today! We all have a journey in this life and how we decide to spend it is up to us!! Let's make it fun!