While I was a kid and a teenager I could eat anything I wanted and not gain any extra weight. I realize I was fortunate to have a fast metabolism, or whatever it is that burns your calories quicker. I didn’t excel in Human Anatomy and Physiology so bear with me here. The point is that I never had to worry about my weight.
I headed off to college and gained the ‘freshman 15.’ It just popped on there like it had always been around. “Where on earth did that come from?” was my question one day as I grabbed on to real, live love handles. If I had known how gross ‘love handles’ are and that you can actually hold onto them I would never have joked about them.
I fell in love with a man that didn’t mind my love handles. I got married, got pregnant, ate lots of ice cream, had a baby, stopped nursing and stood stunned in front of the mirror. What was 15 pounds of extra love had become a little more. I’m a small person. I’m short and my frame is petite so it wasn’t terribly noticeable but it was causing trouble for me. I was out of breath, tired, lethargic, constantly bloated, and just all-around crummy feeling. To make matters worse, I didn’t like how I looked so my self-esteem was in the dirt.
Are you wondering where I’m going with this? Stay with me – I have a point.
I came to a breaking point with my eating habits and my lifestyle and made radical changes. In the course of a few months I dropped all my extra weight by choosing a healthier lifestyle. The results were wonderful. I felt energetic, healthy and good about myself. That was over 2 years ago. Since then I haven’t fluctuated more than 5 pounds. Every now and then I’ll start to get that bloated, lethargic feeling because I’ve let my habits slip. I begin to drift back to my old ways – my harmful ways. At that point I have a choice to make – continue down the slippery slope that leads to a worse version of myself or get back on track with healthy habits.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to start writing about weight loss all the time, I’m drawing a parallel here. My little story about choosing a healthier physical lifestyle is very similar to choosing a healthier financial lifestyle. I found myself in a bad spot with finances and chose to make a radical change. I cut back, started living frugally and within my means and it’s had fantastic results. There’s a certain excitement that comes with the initial rush of victory. You want to shout, “Hey! Everyone look! I’m actually doing it!” The excitement wanes as time goes by and the tough choices, the healthy and frugal choices, become more difficult to make. It’s easy to slip back into the old, harmful habits. We might even rationalize that we deserve it. One little slip here or there is no big deal. No one is absolutely perfect and I think it’s healthy to allow for a little wiggle room. It’s when the little slips start to become the norm again that the alarms need to sound.
Similar to my choice with weight loss, getting back on track with my finances is a choice. I can continue down the dangerous path of overspending, overindulging and overdrawing or I can choose to stop and get back on track with responsible spending. Making a few poor choices in a row does not mean you’ve failed. If you’ve strung yourself out with a series of bad financial choices or otherwise all you have to do is stop and make the choice to change. When you make that decision to turn around and once again abandon those destructive habits it’s freeing. Well, I think it is anyway.
Have you had a similar experience with either money or healthy living?
Why I do what I do ~ One of the things I love about parenting is how unpredictable my life is. I never know what I’m going to hear or see or find throughout my day. Sometimes it’s something gross but it usually makes me laugh. Most often, I find things in strange places. I frequently discover small plastic animals or dinosaurs sleeping in my casserole dishes or mixing bowls. They always make me stop for a second and smile. Last night, I rolled over in bed and felt something poke into my behind. It jerked me awake. I reached my hand to grab my offender and retrieved a small plastic sheep. No one had been playing in my bed that day and, in fact, my bed was made before I climbed into it. I’m beginning to wonder if she’s starting to play practical jokes on me …
photo credit: Dawn – Pink Chick
If you enjoyed this post you may want to subscribe to free updates by RSS feed or Email.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
This post comes at a perfect time! My hubby and I are doing the Dave Ramsey thing…and I’ve recently become more disciplined at working out. I tried to exercise at night after my hubby got home, so he could watch the kids. But, I found I was too tired by that time (and would slip up again and again…). So, I work out between 5 & 6 am BEFORE he goes to work. Sounds a little more tiring…but I have a LOT more energy throughout the day
Britt´s last blog ..$5.00 Off Coupon and a Free Month of Hosting!
Good for you! I know just what you speak of! Of course, for me, the freshman 15 was a good thing for me. I stopped worrying about what I was eating and how I looked to others but was still pretty healthy. NOW, on the other hand, I have 10 more pounds from baby # 3 and 5 pounds from baby #2 to lose! And, a lifestyle change is in order! Working out is near impossible for me right now. I can’t run (pushing 2 in a stroller and 1 on my back?) and I can’t bike (for similar reasons) so I’m stuck with walking which isn’t cutting it. I might have to do what a friend of mine did and start running back and forth in her little house until she could run for 30 minutes inside! I’m not sure I’m up for that kind of crazy yet!
Andrea´s last blog ..When school isn’t free
I wrote a similar post last week. I’m on a Target fast because I was spending too much money there. I barely entered Target for a year and then I slowly let the habit slip back into my life.
I’m also working on the weight issue as I recently had a baby and gained too much weight. It seems to be staying so I’ve brought back the healthy habits I used to do before I had my first child and I feel so much better because of it.
Julie´s last blog ..Food Friday: Crispy Baked Fish
Boy I can relate to everything you said here! I love the fall mainly because it is so beautiful here in Maine, but I also like the familiarity of routines and schedules!
Stephanie´s last blog ..What Have I Been Doing?
Boy do I know that routine really well. We gave up the snacks at our house not because it was the healthy thing to do but it was the frugal thing to do. We are now eating healthier and losing weight too.
The Knowledge Lady´s last blog ..Diet pills and all that jazz