Starting at Rock Bottom

This post is inspired by two things I saw on Facebook this morning that got me wound up. Most of you who read this blog know that my journey to health and fitness started at Rock Bottom! I was 38 going on 80! I had 3 back surgeries between the ages of 22 and 29 which had me in so much pain, that I felt like I had the “right” to be the Queen of the Couch Potatoes! I had been overweight for most of my life, including being obese for 15 years. I had high BP and was borderline diabetic. I drank WAY TOO MUCH, as in about a 12-pack of beer a DAY! Smoked 1.5-2 packs of cigarettes EVERY DAY! And was poisoning myself by eating quick, highly processed foods that had little, if any, real nutritional value.

So, if you tell me you are too far gone, or you are too old, or you just don’t have it in you to exercise because of aches and pains from this and that….for the most part, it will fall on deaf ears! But starting at Rock Bottom means there is NOWHERE to go but UP!:) THAT in a way, for me, was VERY freeing! Yet at the same time, it seemed like starting the same old thing for the umpteenth time. I just figured IF/WHEN I failed again, no one would be surprised! But then I realized that NO ONE thought I would REALLY do it. So I set out to prove them all wrong. BUT THEN…something AMAZING happened. I actually started to feel GOOD! And I wanted MORE! That desire for MORE, and to be better, and look better, and have the body I have ALWAYS wanted, AND most importantly to help others get this feeling for themselves are the things that inspire me to keep going to this day.

I am NOT saying it is easy! Every day, I have to make the HARD choice to eat a salad over a burger, or go to the gym on a Friday night instead of my favorite bar or simply my garage to chillax and tip back a few with my hubby. It is HARD! But ultimately, it comes down to the choices YOU make! ONLY YOU can do this for you! I can give tips that worked for me. I will try to help anyone I can in any way that I can. But YOU have to do the hard stuff!

And NO! You will NOT be “DONE” tomorrow! You will not wake up tomorrow and be the “All New YOU!” Unfortunately it does not happen that way. Each day you will wake with new challenges. Some WILL be more difficult than others. And some days you WILL feel like a complete and utter failure! But remember….as soon as that moment is over…it is the PAST! Let it go! You can not change it, but you can make better choices in your next moment:)

So…I will leave you with those things to think about and the motivations from Facebook that inspired this post.