Connecting the dots.

For the past few years since my youngest son was born, I existed just to connect the dots between things that dictated my schedule. Constantly floating and dragged along, I was just trying to make it to the next thing so I could call it a day and slip into my favorite state of sleep. I was not an active participant in my life and didn’t try to be. I let myself be run over by my apathy.

Last fall, I hit what I consider to be rock bottom, finally admitting that I wanted life to pass by as quickly as possible without me taking an active part in it. Everything was a dreadful chore that I wanted to avoid. I wanted to crawl into a cozy shell and sleep until my kids were grown after having raised themselves. I wanted to close my eyes and open them to a magically clean house…but instead opened them to tears and panic that shut my body down. I kept digging deeper into the cool sand on a blazing hot day, but there was no relief. I couldn’t escape.

Therapy, not the retail kind, helped me turn the corner. With lots of work and determination, I took control of motherhood again. I started running my household. Life didn’t run me ragged anymore and my kids were happier because I learned to find joy. I couldn’t say this 10 months ago, but I can shout it now: MY KIDS ARE AWESOME. I remind them daily, in what I do and say, that I am so glad to be their mom. I would say that they are completely different kids now than they were then, but the truth is that I’m the only one who has changed. We’ve had a Dog Whisperer moment.

My health also reached a new low at the end of last year, and I had started a string of tests and lab work, possibly heading to surgery. But after a few months of actually living my life, I was in a position to tackle my deteriorating health. I started tracking my calories without changing the content of what I was eating, and that was a huge eye-opener! My portions were enormous, for both meals and snacks. Easily two or three times what my body needed. No wonder I felt sick all the time. I even craved that sick, overfull feeling and would eat more. It was a bizarre circle. I never thought of myself as using food to cope, as I clearly used shopping, but in hindsight, food was another crutch. It was a crutch that I didn’t recognize because I didn’t eat outside the “usual” times (breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning snack, and afternoon snack). My crutch was hiding in plain sight.

Along with tracking calories, I started running, because that’s what fit people do, right? But a couple of months into it, I knew that what I really wanted was to be STRONG. I instantly fell in love with weightlifting, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since (no more running!). It’s much easier to do stuff around the house now. Things like going up the stairs and pouring dinner out of heavy pans are as effortless as breathing. Best of all, I haven’t had any more of the pain that sent me in for testing. And there’s the lovely side effect of burning fat, speeding up metabolism, and dropping sizes.

The fitness level I’ve gotten to this year has changed everything. Life used to dictate the dots for me to connect, but now I’m drawing the picture. I’m making the schedule and I’m enjoying all the stops.

5 thoughts on “Connecting the dots.

  1. egfr says:

    I saw your blog when you first started. Just checked in and saw this awesome update. Way to go, weighlifter! I’m still a runner though!

    • Cristina says:

      Thanks! It’s been a long road, and I never thought I’d get to place where it’s unusual to see the UPS guy coming up the driveway. Though now when he comes, he’s delivering 50+ pounds of gym stuff, and is shocked when I take it from him with my own hands, LOL.

      • egfr says:

        That’s great! We don’t see UPS that much anymore either. It’s once a month now, the UPS guy just comes around here to deliver oatmeal and cliff bars from S&S nowadays, not much else!

        • Cristina says:

          LOL, yeah sometimes when it’s S&S time I get disappointed, because it messes up my no-deliveries streak.

  2. Nikki says:

    This is a phenomenal turnaround. I’m so glad the therapy helped you to re-focus your life. You’re much stronger than you think!

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