Throughout most of my life, I have never had to struggle with my weight. I have been very fortunate to have a fast metabolism and to have been of great health and able to be active. Then I had four children...
These four children have been the biggest blessings I could ever ask for. But with each child, came a new set of stresses and the weight was harder to lose and keep off. When I was pregnant with my fourth child, I was put on bed rest with preeclampsia. As you can imagine, having three other children at home, bed rest wasn't an option. I still had to carry on and live a busy life chasing after the three little ones (my youngest at that time was just over a year old). I couldn't ask my husband to take off work, nor could I ask my parents to watch them as they would be doing that after I had the little peanut. But, I managed. I was doing okay.
Then the unthinkable happened...after picking up my daughter from school, I came home to a surprise visit from my sister. She was there to tell me the news that my mother was in a coma at the hospital and that they were reading her her last rites. She had a major stroke a few days before and she wasn't going to make it. My family waited until that minute to tell me ANY of this because of my health condition and as far as I knew my mother was in the hospital for a routine surgery and was recovering well. Heartbroken, I hurried off to the hospital. If my blood pressure was high before, you can imagine how high it was at that point! I hardly left my mother's side in her last days as we waited for family from out of town to arrive before we took her off life support. My family is quite a fun group. We don't grieve well together (or do we?) There was love in that room as I sat holding my mother's hand during her last minutes. I started screaming when she took her last 3 breaths. The nurses rushed in and she was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
My son was born 9 days later. I went through some very dark times since her death, but the birth of my son helped me through the darkness. I never really had time to grieve my mother's death as I have had a family to raise. The last thing on my mind these days is my own health. It's only been two years since her passing, but my motivation to exercise has dwindled. Since I have had my youngest, I have gone through spurts of running and exercising, but as you can imagine, it's getting harder and harder to keep up with the routines. Life happens. So, I have decided to make it my goal to lose weight by signing up for runs that look appealing to me...runs like The Dirty Girl Mud Run! Runs that are fun! Runs that will allow me to be surrounded by encouraging people!
I sit at about 25 pounds over my goal weight. It might not sound like much, but since my last child, I have been on blood pressure medicine. I don't like the medicine. It makes me tired. It wears me out. So, my goal is to lose some of this weight that has hung on for over two years the natural way...through exercise and healthier eating options. I hope that these little steps will help in the long-run to make me a healthier person and allow me a better opportunity to get off the medicine that I dislike taking more and more each day.
I was happy to be chosen as a blogger ambassador for the Dirty Girl Mud Run. It is a great way to start my journey into a healthier lifestyle. I look forward to crossing that finish line surrounded by amazing women who have their own stories to share! Did you know that one cancer survivor runs in every wave of the Dirty Girl Mud Run?
We all have stories. We all have reasons. What's yours?
1 comment:
Beautifully written! Congratulations, Ann.
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