At the end of October of last year since I had been back at my pre-pregnancy weight for almost three months by then I found myself dissatisfied with the emptiness that I find comes with a goal based entirely on a number on the scale or on my appearance. I mean after all we are more than the numbers that dreadful scale flashes back or sizes sewn into our pants aren’t we? So, since I felt that I had my weight under control (at least for the time being) I needed a more meaningful goal.  Then I remembered how much I enjoyed running before I was pregnant with my son and how my goal was always to run an actual race. I had it! I was going to train for a half marathon. About four weeks into my training I realized that the pain in my right foot at about mile 2 ½ might be a problem. I took my self to the doctor hoping for a simple fix of needing an orthotic or learning how to stretch my foot properly. No such luck. I found out that I had a stress fracture in my foot that apparently I had done repeatedly from over training and it had never quite healed properly. To allow this injury to heal properly meant over two months in a walking cast. I literally cried in the doctor’s office when he told me.

 

I had always been such an all or nothing kind of person that I could not fathom doing anything but giving up on my goal- I mean if I can’t run, then why bother with exercising at all? I’m not going to lie, I got stuck in this mindset for a while and then something fantastic occurred to me. See since my time on The Biggest Loser, it is nothing for my weight to swing 10-15 pounds in less than a 2-month time frame. I thought for certain that with not being able to run (and therefore because I am so all-or-nothing not working out at all) that my weight would inevitably climb again. Not to mention it was the holiday season! I decided to try moderation, at least in my approach to exercise. I completely avoided the scale; I did however keep taking my Livea.

 

You would not believe how surprised he first week of January when I got my cast off and decided to face the scale and recommit to my fitness goals because the cast was now off. I did NOT GAIN a single pound.  I had managed to maintain my weight by walking and taking my Livea. To some people this may not be a big deal, but to me this was a huge event in my life. I have not been in a place where I have ever been able to maintain a weight without exercise that bordered on abuse of my body. I am so thankful this year for being able to approach exercise as something to nourish my body and keep me healthy as opposed to something used to beat my body into an arbitrary shape or weight goal. I believe the moment where I realized that I could live a healthy life of moderation, like how I look and enjoy my fitness goals was when I got on that scale and realized my eating- even with enjoying holiday treats- served to nourish me and sabotage me this year! Thanks Livea Lifestyle.

 

“The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man.”-Euripides