2011....a year of transformation



I cannot help but look back at 2011 in sheer amazement. I almost wrote....at what happened to me. But it didn't happen to me. I did it.  And that still shocks me sometimes. For those of you who haven't been a part of the journey with me... on February 17, 2011 I joined a boot camp.  I lost inches, and pounds, got stronger (mentally and physically),  and found the part of me that was really me, that I had given so fully to my roles of wife and mother, that I got lost along the way.  I feel more like me than I have in probably a decade, and I stand in awe of it all sometimes. In October of 2011 I made my goal weight, and ran my first 5K.
My neighbor said this to me (and I paraphrase).........there is no magic potion or pill or fix. When you couldn't run down this street, you walked, and when you could run a little, you did, and when you could run a little more, you did, until you could run the whole thing. And, I was like, wow, you're right. And that is how it pretty much how it went. Looking back, while I am all for goals, I am glad I didn't set any, because I would have set them too short.
In a way, I guess, something has happened to me. People tell me I am an inspiration. And, not just my mom either. Quite a few people. It is shocking. Me. How? I really don't feel like I have done anything extraordinary.
And, while I do have to admit that I like to work out now, it is still a CHOICE, and many days a hard one to make (especially if I am reading a good book, or enjoying my coffee, or have a lot of laundry, or sleepy....). I am also THRILLED that people are now walking, or trying new exercise classes because of something I have said, or done, or just lived. That to me is inspiring. It makes me want to keep doing it and do even more.
The same with food. I have been getting quite a few emails from friends wanting to know my "diet". And like my neighbor said, there is not magic pill. I wish I could say there was a Beth Morris Diet Plan....I'd write a companion cookbook and make millions. If only it were that easy.

If you read back to some of my first blogs, I talk about hating to work out and my love of pizza and beer.  That is another amazing thing to me.  I still like pizza, but not really in the same way.  My palate has changed I think, and for the better.  I can pass up sweets, even some that I used to really love.  I like pizza, but it has to be good pizza, or I am not wasting my time and calories on it (and I live in Georgia, so good pizza is hard to come by).  I rarely drink a beer, and again, it has to be one I am sure I will like, or why bother. That to me is the transformation.

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