I’ve accomplished something few people ever (have to) do. I’ve lost 160 lbs. from my top weight (which was very high, as I’ve been obese since childhood). I’m a smaller size than I was in high school. Unlike many who lose massive amounts of weight, I didn’t have any surgeries of any kind, although I hasten to add there’s nothing necessarily wrong with doing that. I achieved what I have through clean eating, moderate cardio, and mostly…weight-training! I look better than I ever have, I’m smaller than I was even as a teenager, I’m more fit than I was at the age of thirteen, you get the drift. Yet at the age of thirty-four, it is all too easy to see what I have left as “less than”. Nobody gets as heavy as I did without getting some battle scars, and I have mine. Loose skin, stretch marks, the haunting of old injuries which came from being heavy and body-unaware for so long. As I was never thin, becoming “normal” to the world, when I’m used to seeing myself (and being seen as) “abnormal” is as much of a mind-bending experience as one wants to have! Believe me, it’s not all positive.

Yet I celebrate each new muscle as it comes into my view. I still have joy with each inch of fat lost, every pound dropped, every new exercise I can do that once was nothing more than a wispy dream in my mind’s eye. I cherish going from fibromyalgia and extremely high weight running my life, to thinking about fibromyalgia maybe once a month. Strength-training gave me back energy, passion, and HOPE. Anyone who has had their life decimated by the physical pain and the isolation that obesity can bring will tell you, exercise is a miracle-worker. I’ve gone from not being able to get up and down off the floor to working out for seventy-five minutes and going, “That went fast! That’s all?” (I don’t work out like that every day, I promise. Just for endurance workouts!) I took photos of myself the other day in workout wear, something I never would have done in a million years before. I only wish I’d taken them at my top weight, so I could see the difference in pictures for real, and not just in my mind’s eye. With all that accomplishment behind me, I still have to stop myself from comparing my own body to that of ladies like you, who are gorgeous beyond gorgeous. Not to mention a few years ahead of me in fitness! 😀

Like the preacher Joyce Meyer says, “I’m not where I want to be, but thank God I’m not where I used to be!” That’s me. I know my current body is far from perfect. But wow, is it powerful and beautiful compared to what it was a year, six months, or even one month ago! I look at those photos, and in my mirror each day and I am PROUD of who I am, how hard I’ve worked, the example I set for the world, and what I’ve achieved. Every woman who works out regularly should feel equally so blessed, and should pause and celebrate that strength. Stop and smell that rose daily! We worked hard to gain these abilities. Sometimes our greatest asset is not the body that we work so hard to build, but the soul inside of us that persevered to build it in the first place.

Marianne, you do some of the most enriching work in the world. God bless you, and thank you for being such an inspiration through YOUR hard work and wonderful spirit! 🙂

Totally agree!

😉 Seed planted!

Thank you, Melissa 🙂

You are so right, unless people deal with their heart beliefs then they will continue to be dissatisfied with themselves no matter how much they change their appearance.

The flipside to that is like you’ve said before when you change your heart belief to that of loving and accepting yourself then the chances are you will begin to look after your body more /live healthier accidently than you ever did on purpose. Dealing with the heart issues/beliefs about yourself also produce much more lasting change because it’s no longer about will power.

Prov 4:23 🙂