I Wear my Biggest Flaw on the Outside

Do you remember that Wisconsin newscaster, Jennifer Livingston?  She replied to a viewer's email about her weight on camera and opened up a national discussion on obesity and bullying.  And the "Girl on Page 194" of Glamour Magazine, Lizzi Miller? 

She and Glamour were alternately celebrated and villanized for showing "reality".  These women are both gorgeous, beautiful, and completely not what they seem.  Jennifer runs a household with three girls, a gorgeous anchor-man hubby and competes in 5k races--in addition to her newscaster duties where she clearly is smart and effective--oh and she has a thyroid problem.  Lizzi is a plus size model (size 12-14, really? LOL) and is an avid softball player and belly dancer.  At the time the picture was taken she was 20 years old and was clearly confident and awesome. 

What do they have to do with me?  I am THEM--big, flabby, but, smart and confident too.  I have this outward "flaw" that even some of my best friends don't understand.  They suggest diets, just eating a bite, making better choices, just work it off!  They ask, "why can you manage everything else in your life so successfully but fail so miserably when it comes to your weight and eating habits".  LOL, yes, one of them said pretty much that exact thing...and we laughed and then I asked her if she didn't think I ask myself that very thing every single day?  Then I went home and cried...and I don't remember exactly what I ate but I can pretty much guarantee it was too much of the wrong thing too late at night!

Being overweight for many of us is a constant battle of choices.  Most of us know the science of calories and how to burn them off.  It's just that we choose wrong more often than right.  Yea, lets go to the Cheesecake Factory, or to the frozen yogurt place or to the place with those yummy pitchers of margaritas!!!  You, my skinny-but-judgemental friends, will just burn off those transgressions with your super potent metabolism.  Me, not so much.  Even if I drag myself out of bed to the gym, to the walking shoes or the Wii Fit workout--I am wired by my genetics to be heavier than most people.  I just don't have too many Olympic athletes in my family.  We just aren't built that way. 

So, what to do, what to do???   Today I choose to get out and walk, eat healthy and to make good food choices.   I did that for most of the week last week and I dropped 8.6 pounds and bettered my obese BMI from really awful to a still awful 38.26.  Baby steps.  And I know that working on this from the inside is just as important as working it on the outside.  The key today is just to keep working it!