Welcome Kat from FitMindBodySpirit!!

Never too late….

I was excited and honored when Susan asked me to write a guest post for her this week while she is away on vacation. Then I panicked for a moment about what to write about… Weight loss is one of the most challenging things I have encountered in my forty three years here on the planet.  It is challenging, but no matter what our situation, as long as we are breathing, it is not too late to reach for our goals, whatever they may be.

It is never too late to reach for our dreams and live the life we want to live. We all have challenges in our life at certain times. My road to weight loss has been full of ups, downs, starts and stops and has taken me much longer I initially expected.  I am grateful that I am still in the game and that I haven’t given up.  A little history…

In early 2006, I went on a spa trip with my girlfriends to Rancho La Puerta, a wonderful health spa in the northern mountains of Mexico, about an hour outside of San Diego.   I had wanted to go to Rancho since I was a little girl. My mother went there when I was in the first grade and I remember wanting to go with her then. I looked forward to hiking and eating healthy food and getting a spa treatment or two.  I knew that my weight had crept up over the previous 5 years, and was the highest it had been in my adult life. It had been 5 years since my last successful dieting attempt, I knew that I would not be running up the mountains, but I expected to be able to keep up with my girlfriends and have a good time.

What I didn’t expect to happen was what I now call my “Aha Moment”   The first morning on “the ranch” I chose to do the gentle “rolling hills” hike while my girlfriends did the more strenuous mountain hike. I didn’t expect to be last in the crowd of the “easy hike.” I didn’t expect the “easy hike” to kick my ass completely. I didn’t expect to get really deep blisters on my feet the first morning of the week. I can go on and on with the list of challenges that I faced with that week. I had an emotional meltdown after a Pilates reformer class that left me feeling clumsy and not graceful. The tears turned into heaving sobs and I was in touch with a part of me that I hadn’t seen in awhile. I was blessed to have a close fried with me to help me get through those tough and raw emotions.  My trip was much more uncomfortable than I had planned.   As I was dealing with the physical pain from the blisters and my sore body, I also had to deal with the emotional wrenching process of confronting my morbid obesity and utter lack of fitness.  Looking back now, I am very clear that this was my “Aha Moment”.

In 2007 I went back to the ranch with my girlfriends.  I had lost about 25 pounds by this time, but had been exercising regularly for the year. It was a very cool feeling to be able to hike the more strenuous hikes and to be able to see the top of the mountain. It had been a good year and I was so pleased to see the progress with my fitness and the weight coming off.

I haven’t been back to the ranch since 2007, but I have continued to exercise.  I have lost a little over 70 pounds since my first visit to Rancho La Puerta. This past year I got in the habit of daily exercise and am committed to losing more weight and becoming more fit. This past June I ran my first 5k, something I never expected to do.  Next week I will begin training for the Las Vegas Rock and Roll Half Marathon on December 5th.

It is never too late to reach our goals. We need to believe in our abilities and visualize our success.  We need to gather the tools that we need to be successful. Keep on trying and don’t give up. Ask for support and believe in yourself. Seek progress, not perfection. Don’t forget to breathe. Forgive. Be grateful. Learn to love yourself. You ARE worth it!

Gently moving forward,

Kat