As Ann has shared, my life has been a dreadful ride on a self-engineered weight roller coaster. I am a true champion in weight loss and unfortunately the same applies to weight gain. My weight in the last six years has ranged from a low of 200 to a high of 400 pounds. This severe fluctuation of weight has afforded me a bludgeoned self concept and large scale self hatred. Diagnosing my struggle is easy; I did not love who I was and so allowed myself to eat in epic proportions without any regard for me or my health.
When I began working with Integration Fitness, I weighed 360 pounds. I am now teetering around 325, which to me is great. However, the reality is that our struggles are different and mine is in no way more profound than yours. With this understanding, I know that we all need support! Because it is HARD! We live in a work with an abundance of stresses and temptations, it is not FAIR, but it is our unfortunate reality. This is why it is imperative for us to have a collective stride, team morale and a means of support (this blog) to make the hard times less daunting.
Probably one of the most fulfilling and inspiring aspects of Integration Fitness is the strong sense of a common morale. Although our struggles are varied, I believe we all need support and inspiration in our lifestyle changes. Whether it is leaving the gym seeing the smiles of the 9:00 cycling class, Sara's humor as we work out with weights or aspiring to Hollie and Rachel's more advanced workout levels; I feel a sense of encouragement. We are all a team and this blog will be an essential channel of support, encouragement and accountability.
Spenser: All of us at Integration Fitness are thankful that you have put your very real and honest story into words. Your bravery to do so will inspire others and allow them to voice their own ups and downs. We continue to be proud of your accomplishments.
ReplyDeleteSpencer,
ReplyDeleteFirst off I want to commend and thank you for sharing your story. I too am a food addict and hope sometime I can tell you a bit about my journey with food, it has taken me many years to understand where my desire to overeat comes from and how to handle it, particularly when as humans we have to eat, not like with alcohol and drugs where you can simply eliminate them from your life, with food we are faced with a choice at least three times a day and man oh man it is hard to choose wisely particularly in this junk food nation we live in, it is easy to slip up.
I applaud your accomplishments and am sitting on the sideline cheering you on all the way!! Integration Fitness has given me the opportunity to see what an essential component exercise is to being healthy and feeling good!! I have become addicted to my treadmill classes and that is an addiction I can be proud of!
Please keep blogging, I will be reading...Hollie
Go, Spenser!! Congrats on taking up the challenge! Thanks for including all of us by doing this blog. You're an excellent writer. I really look forward to following your story and being your cheerleader (I'm sure a 46 yr. old woman is not your ideal cheerleader fantasy, but if you'd like to pretend I'm a 22 yr. old hottie, please feel free...) ; ) And, no, I'm not a creepy cougar hahahaha
ReplyDeleteKeep fighting the good fight and know that you have a "village" behind you. We're your Village People!! YEA for you!!