Often we hear about overweight/unhealthy people that have some sort of "lightbulb moment." It becomes the motivation to start on a new plan of their choosing. Usually for me, these moments consist of something that causes me to be suddenly aware of my size or my inability to do something that others around me are doing. Other examples would be people seeing an unrecognizable photo of themself, or having a health scare. Whatever the lightbulb moment is, it serves as a reality check sometimes fleeting, other times permenant.
Something I realized this past weekend is that these moments happen frequently, but whether or not they are a lightbulb moment is determined by the outcome of the event. This past weekend I spent with 4 other girls who are all very slim. We hiked, we shopped, we ate, it was all very relaxing and nice. On Sunday one of the girls mentioned she would like to head out for a run. This of course prompted other girls to chime in and say they should go as well. Before I knew it, we were all headed out on a run.
A few years prior, this is the type of thing that would have scared the crap out of me. Whaaa wha whatt?? An impromtu run? Who does that? I would have thought. I would have contemplated in my head how to get out of it, and then caved with the pier pressure and gone. Or I would have been totally delusional about how much "running" I had been doing at that time, and agreed to go along. Either way, it would have been a wake up call as to just how out of shape/out of touch I was with my own self and the person I wanted to be as I could barely breathe 4 minutes into the run, and would have to walk. I've always wanted to be a person that can just do whatever. Whatever the moment requires. Whether its hiking up a mountain, an unplanned swim in a lake, or in this case a run with the girls, I want to be able to do it.
Yesterday, I'll admit, I was not thrilled with the idea of going for a run because normally Sunday's are rest days for me, and I haven't tested my ankle on any sort of distance. But I agreed without any panic. I knew that my sessions at CrossFit and my strict Paleo eating have been preparing me for just this type of thing. The reason why this was not a lightbulb moment for me is because I was ready for this. I was capable of holding my own on the run. I wasn't the fastest, but I wasn't the slowest either. I got in a great morning workout, and learned that my ankle is just fine.
Most of all, I realized that life is full of these piviotal moments that you are either ready for, or they make you see how you need to improve. I feel very fortunate to be on the other side of the fence on this occasion. I'm looking forward to noticing more of these could-have-been-a-lightbulb-
I think it is great that you went for a run! That says a lot about how far you've come. Life does change as the weight comes off and as fitness improves. I feel like that every time I mop the floor now, which used to be exhausting but now is a breeze :)
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