This day in 2011, Willie and I decided that it was time for a change.  Together we took the steps to lose weight and transform our lifestyle.  This morning I woke up to tell Willie today was the day and he didn’t remember.  I take that as a good thing because that means we’ve come a long way.

I still remember everything about that day.  The conversation we had and how I really wanted to get barbecue that day for dinner. I know it sounds silly, but I still remember.  The next day Willie and I went to the gym together for the first time.  We walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes.  I remember being totally exhausted when we were done.

Flash forward to now:  we’re both marathoners.  We still workout 5-6 days a week.  I teach group fitness at our gym.  I’m in the best shape of my life. But I sit here contemplating, does the journey ever really end?

I have to say no.  At the first, the journey was about losing the weight.  It was about incorporating the healthy habits into daily life so those things would become a healthy lifestyle.  When I reached my goal weight, the journey started to become singular.  It was time to break away from our goals to our own personal goals.

The journey transformed into finding my way in the non-weight loss mode life.  It was hard.  I struggled.  I felt lost and I did feel a lot of anxiety.  The biggest fear of anyone losing weight is gaining it back.  We’ve all seen the stories, people lose the weight and then they gain it all back.  Our pictures were floating around the internet and people would post mean nasty things about us gaining the weight back in a year. That terrified me and for a long time it held me hostage.  I would be upset when I stepped on the scale and saw some gains.  My mind would go to the worse possible conclusions.

At that moment, the journey became an emotional one.  The part of the journey where I had to build my self confidence and trust myself.  I had to learn to let the fear exist but not take over my life. I had to trust that I would make the right decisions day in and day out and just lead a happy life.  That’s when the running came in because it helped with the fears and then I fell in love with it.

The journey has continued into truly living the healthy life, finding happiness and staying happy!  The emotional eater in me still rears it’s ugly head sometimes but I’m proud to say I don’t make the choices I made before.  I will always struggle with my food addiction but it doesn’t control me anymore.  I can move forward and live and that’s the most important thing for me.

Willie and I are always learning new things and finding new ways to continue on the path to success.  I am proud that say that 3 years later, we are still considered a success story especially in our hearts and minds.  It’s always a good day when you can look back to see how far you’ve come.