Cellulite, weight loss and wrinkles don’t define you.

In my last blog “What I eat in a day”, I mentioned that I only count calories a few times during the year. Over the last few weeks I have been asked why don’t I count calories year long. 

 

1. It’s a pain in the ass.  Seriously.

2. I don’t want to be confined to a piece of paper or app to tell me what to eat all of the time.  Maybe I want that extra serving, or another beer…or whatever!  

  

My son, Logan,  was born on February 9th 2004, I was 25 and weighed 180 pounds.  That was really hard for me, because all through high school and my early twenties I weighed roughly 110lbs.  ALL of the weight I gained, from 110 to 180, happened during my pregnancy.  That was a lot of weight in a short amount of time on a 5’3″ frame.

Eventually, I got my weight down to 130 pounds and have stayed within 5 pounds of that  weight for the last 10 years.  It wasn’t easy to lose the weight!  I had a lot of unhealthy habits that I had to break AND build new habits to create a healthier lifestyle.  But, now I have the habits in place to maintain my weight.  

 

Of course my weight fluctuates, but never really more then 5 pounds.  My set point is 130 (your set point is the weight that you typically hover around for the majority of the year.  You CAN change that set point, it just takes time.)  Sometimes I have a little bit more muscle and less fat (lower body fat percentage, usually during the Spring and Summer), other times, it’s the opposite, more fat and less muscle usually during the colder months.  But, same size clothing through the whole year, just sometimes a little looser then other times.  

 

But why?  I will still have cellulite, wrinkles, scars and fat. Those ARE a part of me BUT they do not define me. Do I love them? No. But damn it, I am not going to beat myself up over my “flaws” – those aren’t flaws, those are me!  Beating myself takes up space in my head and doesn’t make me happier with myself.  

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll never be 110 pounds again. I am not the same person.  I didn’t have a child, a business, a house to take care of, a husband…and I was in my early 20’s!  It was just me – no responsibilities. Plus, I didn’t have MY muscles…I love MY muscles!

 

I worked hard for my muscles.

I worked hard for my stretch marks.

My scars tell a story.

I worked hard for the body I have – and I am proud of it!

  

 

 

 

 

I am happy with how I feel, how my clothes fit and how I can perform in the game of life. The number on the scale is just a number.  It doesn’t define you.  You define who you are, not a number, a wrinkle or cellulite.  Stop worrying about what you look like and start focusing on how you feel.  When Ben was going through chemo, I didn’t care how I looked.  But, when I ate crappy food or didn’t exercise, I could tell a difference in how I FELT.

 

Focus on making your self feel better, stop worrying about the scale or how you look.  We have seen it time and time again, happiness is not tied to how you look.  Stop chasing that.  Start chasing feeling better!