After 45+ years of marriage and 7 children, the pounds were starting to add up and they were taking a toll on her. But I truly did not understand how bad it was getting for her. She was having problems with her hip, walking was becoming more difficult, and was not walking as fast or as easily as she had before. I knew she was not comfortable with her body and wanted to lose weight badly, but I did not realize that it kept her from doing things she wanted to do. She hated the selection of clothes that were available in her size, and the way the were made was disgusting to her and many other heavy women. Show would look for new clothes and would come home almost in tears because there was nothing that she wanted to wear in her size, unless you were into wild prints, beads or sequins and flowered prints. Necklines were three times the size they should be and was absolutely not flattering to the style of the clothes.
Later after she lost a fair amount of weight, I finally realized some of the emotional pain she was in. I already knew she hated being in pictures and did not allow the kids to take pictures of her. She hated being overweight, hated shopping, hated her body and missed the one she used to have. I had not realized that before she lost a lot of weight that she did not want to go to many places because of her weight. She had no spring in her step, would try to dress nice, but as I mentioned before was fustrated with her clothing choices.
After losing 40 pounds she finally went shopping for the first time to get new clothes (1st time after losing weight), and wow what a difference, she had already lost a few sizes and now could find clothes that she liked and enjoyed wearing. There was renewed hope, a spring in here step, and she looks fantastic in her new clothes. It was then that she started looking up old classmates and visiting them, and I realized how much being overweight made her insecure.. she did not want anyone to know how heavy she had got nor see her. The inner struggle must of been silently killing her, and it saddens my heart that I did not understand... that I did nothing to help her.
Weight loss is a lot of work, it is not easy if it was almost no one would be overweight. If you plan on losing and getting back in shape, it will require a lot of commitment and hard work, not only will you have to change your eating habits, but you will want to add some type of exercise and strength training. Losing weight can make you look good in clothes, but excerise makes you look good for the beach!
Over the next few pages I will try and explain how she got started, some of the food she eats, the exercises she does and hopefully inspire you or someone you love to have a successful weight loss journey and life style change. The benefits outweigh the hard work required, but remember to take it one day at a time. There will be some bad days, but the majority of them will be some of the best ones in your future.