Becoming Active = My Daily Vitamin

I was reflecting last night on how different my life is in so many ways now that I'm half the size I used to be. One of the the things that stuck with me as I was mulling this over was the difference in how active I've become.

Looking back, it's sad for me to think of what a slug I was. I'm not meaning to say this to put myself down, but it's the truth. That's how I lived from day to day - lazy, unmotivated, tired, and so out of shape I barely had motivation and energy enough to accomplish the simple things around my own house. Everything was a chore! The sad part of this equation is the fact that I must have thought it was okay to some degree. I know I wasn't 100% happy with myself, but I obviously didn't let it bother me enough to do anything about it for many years. I guess I wasn't sick enough of my body and lifestyle to do something about it sooner. My heart is crumbling in some ways looking back.  It's almost as if I wasn't that person, and I think, "How sad for her. I was wish there had been something I could have done to help her sooner."

I'm not really even sure I can tell you when or how I came to fall in love with being active. I do know that it didn't happen overnight and I do know that for the longest time I felt like it was a chore. I wasn't enjoying it, but I felt like if I wanted to lose weight, I had no choice. (I was in diet mode.) Once I started to see my own progress, even in the smallest way, it motivated me to work towards taking a little more weight off. (Never in my wildest dreams did I think that would include over 130 pounds.) I think I got to the point of enjoying who I was becoming when I wrapped my head around the idea that this was a lifestyle - something I wanted to keep doing the rest of my life. I learned that what I was doing for myself made me feel good. It made me look at things in a different light, and really, it become easier. Easier not only to move physically, but easier to eat better and give my body the fuel it needed.

As time went on, not only have I fallen in love with getting to the gym and having sore muscles, but I've discovered a love and passion for hiking and running. Two things I never dreamed I'd participate in like I do now. The last two summers all I can do is look forward to hiking and getting outside as much as I can.  And the fact that I ran my first  half Marathon last summer and am currently training for my second here in 6 weeks almost makes me giddy. Like I'm a normal person now. I love the fact that being active is like my daily vitamin. Not a day goes by that I'm not thinking about what I'm going to do that day to be active. 

What a wonderful life it has become!