Part 1: "Journey to a Healthier Me"

Before we get started, you have to understand 2 things : 1.  I came from a family whose lives revolved around the TV. 2. My mother and almost her entire family were obese. This made gaining weight very easy.
        Now, when you think of weight loss what do you think of? For me my first thought was blood, sweat, tears, and...oh wait... more sweat. And like many people out there, I have struggled with my weight since I was an adolescent. Now, don't get me wrong, I wasn't severely obese or anything, but I was probably about 40 or 50 pounds over weight.
      One day my very concerned mother actually came up to me and told me that I should "maybe start thinking about exercising".  She tried to be as gentle as possible with the subject because of course she didn't want to cause me to have some sort of complex. Although I did not develop said complex, this was a very critical moment for me that changed my young mind forever. It made me more aware of my body and what I looked like, and being the couch potato I was, I would always look in the mirror and see my sad flabby stomach.
       At first it just made me depressed. This of course consisted of the vicious cycle: eating junk food, eating too much, and then from the sleepiness of it all: vegetation. Then one day I did it.  I somehow found the motivation to do something about it, and I tried what everyone does: sit ups. I think it was actually one of my "skinny" friends who did a zillion crunches who got me to thinking: if she could do it then maybe I could. Well, I tried, but to be perfectly honest I hated the redundant up and down motion that comes with them coupled with the lack of results.
     How frustrating right?  You do sit up after sit up and nothing happens. It's not only frustrating but very depressing, and so the struggle began. After just 2 weeks of doing this I just gave up. Not that I didn't want to continue but, I didn't seem to know how to do anything about it. I wanted to find the motivation, but it just wasn't there.
     Listen,  I know I didn't give it much of a chance did I?  Typical right? Give up just because I don't see results right away.  But you don't understand. I grew up without knowing how to really take care of myself. I didn't realize what it meant to be healthy and live an active life.
     Of course now I realize that's no way to think, but I know it's hard to stay positive and motivated when you don't see anything happening. I think that is what happens to a lot of people. Sometimes I think we think it's too hard and we don't have time in our busy lives so we just don't try. Right? But with this way of life I'm going to show you, you'll see it doesn't have to be like that. So don't fret. Stay strong. Stay positive.

Until Next Time,
Dawn