Honestly, this year, I've finally had it. For the past 4 years, I've been gaining weight. I love that with this body I carried a child and fed that child exclusively for close to a year. And for all of those years, I put parenting and work first. But now it is time to focus a spotlight on me and my own health. Afterall, I want to be healthy enough to enjoy the fruits of this labor! Time to shed the extra weight.
But I don't want to be "skinny." I want to be healthy and strong. These are important distinctions when my daughter sees me counting calories, stepping on the scale, zipping up my jeans. I'm responsible for giving her her first information about body image -- and creating in her lasting impressions of her own body.
I don't want to can't mess this up.
So when I tell her I want to loose weight, I say I want to get healthier. When I'm exercising, it is to be strong -- not because a pair of jeans would look better if I were a bit thinner. When I drink water instead of juice, it is to fuel my muscles.
Because she is right there with me, stepping on the scale too. That makes me cringe a little, but for now it is just her stats and she's proud of being 34 lbs -- but she'd be proud to be 50 lbs, or 30 lbs.
This daughter of mine is an athlete and when she says "Run with me, mama!" I want to have the energy to go for as long as hard as she wants to -- and to push us just a bit further. She's a swimmer, a hiker, a biker, a runner, a gymnist, a climber... I am so proud that she delights in being physicial. What an inspiration!
