I got started just before I saw that picture of myself at Great Wolf Lodge. I was 156-8lbs! I was kidding myself about the way I looked. I always had trouble with my body image and after having a brush with Anorexia when I was in high school, I could never really see myself in the mirror for what I was (heavy or slender). After two children and a divorce, I turned to food to comfort me. When I saw that picture, that is when I got mad and said "enough." I started working out and was really into spinning. I lost my first two inches slowly. I lifted 3x a week but the food factor was a real mental issue for me, like many women.
I had a skiing accident last year and had 10 pins and a 6 inch plate put in my leg to restore my shattered tibia. Three weeks on the couch and everything went to flab. I was still slender but had no tone and it has been an uphill battle since. The Dr. said I had thinning bones and finally just last month my lab result showed great improvement. I was lifting more but recently took up Yoga. Yoga is helping me to restore balance and develop the muscle and coordination I need to walk normally. I have had to go this route because squats would impact my leg and I would have swelling. I am not pumped or even ripped, I could lose another 10 lbs and need plastic surgery on my stomach to get rid of the loose skin where I have had C-sections. But, I am slender, confident and have swag!!
To be honest, I struggle with "loving" to working out but never regret doing it. If I am to be who I really am which is, a health vibrant woman at fifty, then I do it. I love the results.