I found Diane's blog shortly after starting my own and was an immediate follower. I was drawn to her blog mainly for the fact that she lost a large amount of weight and had kept it off for over a decade already. The fact that she was a mother and had to work her healthy lifestyle around taking care of a family was an added draw. Her emails of wisdom and encouragement over these past three years has meant ever so much to me.
And now...Diane from Fit to the Finish:
Three years can seem like a long time or a short time, depending on where you are in life. For small children, three years likely seems like a lifetime, while older adults often complain that the years just seem to fly by more and more quickly the older they get.
Leah has been on her weight loss journey for three years, about the same amount of time that I’ve been blogging. Leah was one of the first blogging friends I made and although I’ve never met her in person, she inspires me every time I read her blog.
It’s easy to quit trying to lose weight. Lord knows that I quit about 500 times before I finally lost my 150 pounds. Leah never quits and her success is a testimony to her perseverance and her dedication to losing weight on her terms, and in her own time.
Perseverance in this weight loss process is what gets you to the finish line. Perseverance helps you when you are tired of exercising but you do it anyway. Perseverance helps you make good choices when your friends are all eating cake and you decide to say no.
I’ve told Leah and my own blog readers this many times, but this weight loss journey isn’t a race. There is no prize for finishing first. The prizes come all along the journey. When I was morbidly obese, the ability to tie my shoes more easily was a prize I got after losing about 50 pounds. As I continued to lose weight I celebrated small victories like being able to get up from a chair without holding onto the arms or walking for 15 minutes without stopping.
I’ve seen Leah celebrate victories large and small during these three years. She now runs when she used to not exercise at all. She handles family visits with planned healthy meals that everyone can enjoy, and she shares her faith with her readers and credits much of her success to her relationship with God. I admire all of these things.
No matter where you are in your journey, remember to celebrate each prize, or victory, you experience and never, ever give up on yourself.
No comments:
Post a Comment